Chess makes a comeback

When I was in the 8^th grade I decided to join the “Chess Nuts,” our junior high school chess club. Bad idea! I lost every game I played and quickly became a former member of the Chess Nuts. 

It was this memory that came to mind when I saw an article in USA Today entitled “Chess making comeback in US Schools.”  The article states: ”Over the past few years scholastic chess, or chess for educational purposes, has taken U.S. schools by storm…This increased interest can be seen in the number of young people competing in chess at high levels.” Four of 24 people competing in this year’s “Super Bowl of Chess” are under 14 years old.

This interest in schools is not an accident. It seems that an organization entitled, “America’s Foundation for Chess,” has created a curriculum for second and third graders using chess as a teaching tool. Here is what their website has to say: “ America’s Foundation for Chess has created a professionally designed, standards-based curriculum titled First Move ™, utilizing the game of chess as a learning tool for 2nd and 3rd grade students. Students are having fun learning, while the requirements set forth by the No Child Left Behind Act, and state standards are being met.”

How many of have heard of the Super Bowl of Chess? How many of us are aware of the America’s Foundation for Chess? To find out, I went to their list of supporters and was pleased to see some familiar and not so familiar names: Hasbro, Screenlife, WonderChess, and Chess Master. 

Here’s an idea: How about more game companies getting involved in supporting the use of not just chess but board gaming in schools? And while we’re on the subject of supporting these kinds of grassroots activities, how about having the Super Bowl of Chess take place during Toy Fair next year? 

Dollars invested in creating board gamers in the school room will create board gamers for life. Seems like a good investment to me.