A Tech-proposed UIL chess puzzle-solving competition to be statewide pilot program

A Tech-proposed UIL chess puzzle-solving competition to be statewide pilot program
Posted: November 13, 2010 - 12:11am
By Joe Gulick
Avalanche-Journal

Chess, one of the most competitive games in the world, will be the subject of a University Interscholastic League competition next year for elementary and middle school students in a pilot program proposed by Texas Tech and designed by Susan Polgar, Tech’s chess grandmaster.

The competition will not involve actual games of chess but solving chess puzzles designed by Polgar, who is the founder of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) at Tech.

Students in grades 2 through 8 will have 20 puzzles to solve in a 30-minute period, Polgar said.

“Every single move in chess is problem-solving,” she said. “Each move is a new problem to solve.”

Polgar and Lynn Elms, the UIL regional director, noted the pilot program is a historic moment for Texas Tech, which has been associated with UIL for at least 75 years.

“This is the first competition that Texas Tech has ever proposed. We are pleased Susan and something as exciting as chess is involved,” Elms said.

The Chess Puzzle Solving competition will be presented in diagrams similar to the ones that appear in Polgar’s weekly Avalanche-Journal column, but the puzzles will be ones designed for younger players, Polgar said.

The elementary students will choose from multiple choice answers in which white can checkmate black in one move. Older students will have some puzzles that are checkmates in one move and others that are checkmates in two moves.

“I believe chess can help children improve their thinking skills in general. It can help their discipline and improve their self-confidence. Chess is a wonderful tool in building relationships,” Polgar said.

Last January, Polgar presented the proposal to the UIL State Legislative Council in Austin. That resulted in a mini-pilot program this year in Lubbock, Laredo and Corpus Christi.

The UIL Legislative Council in October determined Chess Puzzle Solving would next be a statewide pilot program, which means all schools will have the opportunity to compete, said Elms. All of the Houston schools have committed to the competition, and they are expecting good participation from other schools in the state, she said.

If it is successful, the pilot program could become an annual UIL event by September 2012, Elms said, and they are also hopeful Chess Puzzle Solving competitions for high school students would be added later.

College scholarships for skilled chess players are available, Elms said.

“It can be a way for kids to get more dollars to come to school — to compete in college. But that’s way down the road. We have to take care of second through eighth grades first,” Elms said.

Chess is a natural subject for competition among students because it is a great educational tool and an equalizer, Polgar said.

“In chess, children are forced to think before they act,” she said.

The game is also an inexpensive activity, Polgar said. Rather than activities that require expensive equipment or musical instruments, chess can be played on a very modestly priced set.

Source: Avalanche Journal

South African Zuma urges school children to play chess

Zuma urges school children to play chess
Monday, October 25, 2010 - 09:32

Pretoria - Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president has urged school children to play chess, "We want to convince parents and teachers that chess is one of the most powerful educational tools available to strengthen and enhance a child's mind," Zuma said at the Moves for LIfe Chess Programme on Sunday.

Shockingly, one thing very few people know about Jacob Zuma is that he himself is also a chess player and believes that chess is a "serious sport". "It is an important game in many respects, the main benefit being that it contributes to the development of strategic thinking as well as concentration, analytical skills and problem solving. These are traits that are important for school going children," said Zuma.

One thing he is right about is that the game of chess stood the test of time and still does, remaining one of the best mind building games there is even with today's technology. "No amount of video games can teach a child the same level of patience, strategic thinking, concentration, analytical skills and the attention to detail that they would gain from this timeless intellectual game."

The good news is that the government said they will do everything they can to promote the playing of chess and to create a culture where people play chess "We will play our part as government. Both the Departments of Basic Education as well as Sports and Recreation are involved and already working to promote the game," said the President.

Source: http://fromtheold.com

Chess in Education Success

Chess boom in Turkey

I recently had a chance to sit down with Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici, President of the Turkish Chess Federation, during the Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiad. I first met him in 2004 at the Calvia Chess Olympiad. Since then, he has done tremendous things for chess in Turkey, especially in the arena of scholastic chess. Here is the summary of our chat.

The president of the Turkish Chess Federation (TCF) Ali Nihat Yazici had a dream, which had become a real fairytale story.

In 2002 Ali on behalf of the TCF approached the minister of education of Turkey with the idea of introducing chess in the schools. At that meeting, he was asked, what is his goal with the project?

He made a “blunder” by responding with the question: “Can you imagine Turkey having the next Karpov or the next Kasparov?” His dream was rejected at that time. However, he learned his lesson. He realized that the approach had to be modified.

Ali had to wait over two years before he got the next opportunity to present the “new plan” to the next minister of education. He was asking for an appointment for over two years. One night out of nowhere he received a phone call from a contact to come and meet in ten minutes. The minister was having kebab with the contact and he was willing to give Ali ten minutes! He was on his way immediately. When Ali met the minister, he presented the idea of chess in the schools to help educate the next generation of Turkish children to grow up more intelligent.

After his presentation, the minister said thank you and told him that it sounded very interesting. He said he will be in touch. Ali left the restaurant and thought sure the minister will call…one day.

To his biggest surprise, the next morning shortly after nine, his phone rang. It was an unknown number. It was no other than the minister who he met the previous night. The minister invited him to meet and discuss the idea further. As Ali was driving at that moment, he almost caused a mass accident in his (pleasant) shock.

Well that was 2005, the year when chess was introduced for the first time in some Turkish schools. Since that time, the number of school children involved in the chess program grew to 2,250,000 in over 10,000 schools, with around 50,000 chess teachers! Mind boggling numbers!

The TCF chess in the school project currently receives 1.5 million euro in governmental support. That is a huge number! However, through the various forms of taxes, the project also generated 1.8 million in revenues for the government.

In addition to the support from the public sector, the TCF succeeded in attracting major contribution from the private sector. Since 2005 IS Bank supports scholastic chess with 1.6 million Euros to enable schools in need to also introduce chess to underprivileged children.

The TCF has developed its own teaching manuals and recommended learning materials for students. 300,000 of the first edition of the student “source-book” was printed by the non-profit branch of the TCF, Satranc. Many doubted Ali’s decision at the time, asking “what will we do with all those copies?” Since then, over two million copies were sold, and it became a major source of revenue for the project.

In Turkey, chess for the past five years has been a part of the curriculum as an elective. There are only four elective subjects: art, painting, religion (general) and chess. The children who chose chess as an elective learn it two hours a week throughout the entire 32 week school year.

This year in the city of Burdur (west of Turkey) the Turkish Chess Federation started a pilot project with kindergarten age children, starting at age four. So far it was very well received, and the TCF has donated already 10,000 chess sets and boards to the project.

While the above project mostly focuses on the social benefits of chess as a side effect, a certain percentage of kids naturally will take a more serious interest in the game and desire to compete. At Turkey’s 2009 scholastic championship, 30,000 school children took part. There are around 1,300 chess clubs in Turkey today. 14 of them compete in the first division. Each of those clubs receives 12,500 euro support yearly from the TCF. The TCF currently has 200,000 paid members, including 60,000 rated players.

In the first division team league, many of the players have contracts guided by the template designed by TCF. The league is designed after the most successful professional sport in Turkey, which is soccer.

While historically Turkey hasn’t been known as a country with much chess traditions, in the past decade or two it made leaps of progress. Today Turkey can pride itself with having 4 home-grown Grandmasters and 12 International Masters.

A very impressive story! Certainly today Turkey is a place to learn from and an example to follow for any country which would like to see chess being a part of the curriculum.

Congratulations to the Turkish Chess Federation and personally to Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici for the job well done!

Beating the perception about chess

Chess for Success tournament tries to beat perceptions about the game

By Allan Brettman, The Oregonian
November 07, 2009, 6:32PM

Jerryd Bayless, Phillip Margolin and Susan Polgar. Remember those names.

Linda Hu and Camille Franklin don't know any of them, but they do know chess.

This morning, 8-year-old Hu, a Woodstock Elementary third-grader, and 9-year-old Franklin, a Vernon Elementary fourth-grader, hunched over a vinyl chess mat. Their rapid moves on the board and shoving arms somehow imitated a fencing match.

With countering claims of "check," it was over and Hu thrust her right arm in the air -- the signal to call a tournament judge.

In the bigger scheme of things, both Hu and Franklin, were victors, along with about 70 other participants in the girls-only Chess for Success practice tournament at Harold Oliver Primary.

The gymnasium floor in the school on Portland's east side was half filled with lunch tables covered with chess mats. Parents on folding chairs filled the other half.

Chess for Success executive director Julie Young watched the action from the perimeter.

Chess, she said, has long been perceived as a men's sport.

Today's event and Chess for Success try to erode that perception, though the nonprofit program has more boys than girls.

Other youth chess programs may emphasize strategy and the importance of winning. That's not Chess for Success' game.

"The main thing is," Young said, "we want it to be fun and social."

The program targets schools with a high proportion of children receiving free or reduced-price lunch. With the help of a Meyer Memorial Trust grant, it was launched in 1992 in nine schools. Today, it's in 87 far-flung schools, mostly in the metro area, and reaches about 3,400 children a year.

As for Bayless, Margolin and Polgar? All linked by chess, Young said.

Bayless is a Trail Blazers basketball player. Plays a mean game of chess, too, and along with Mona Lisa, he is one of the subjects of promotional posters for Chess for Success.

He's not a mollycoddler when it comes to playing the impressionable youngers.

"He plays to win," Young said.

Margolin of Portland seems to always have a best-selling thriller on The New York Times' list.

For 17 years, until June, he was president of Chess for Success. The novelist credits chess with transforming his approach to school as a young man.

"He says," Young said, "'We trick kids because they think they're just going to play a game and we teach them how to think.'"

And Polgar is regarded as among the best female chess players in the world.

The Hungarian native is director of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence at Texas Tech University.

And she heads a foundation that promotes chess, her Web site says, "with all of its educational, social and competitive benefits ... for young people of all ages, especially girls."

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com

Building strong chess programs in Texas

Brownsville ISD Schools Are Building The Strongest Chess Program In Texas
(Posted Today 04:51 pm)

Chess coaches Eddie Payne and Daryl Inman interviewed numerous coaches and parents of Hanna High School and other South Texas attendees during this fall’s Texas Grade Championship in Houston on November 22-23. The goal was to discover the secret to South Texas’ domination in scholastic chess.

Among those interviewed was Dan DeLeon, a long time chess advocate, father of chess competitors in state events, the owner of The Chess Store that opens a sales room at state events, and a man who is very knowledgeable as to how southern Texas teams are building their chess programs.

Payne and Inman learned from DeLeon and confirmed with other sources how this most southern county in Texas has achieved dominance in scholastic chess from elementary through high school levels. As one would expect, the basic reason for success is money, but most of the money is from government grants.

First, money is provided from the ISD’s budget: Brownsville ISD has committed itself to greatness in chess in many ways. They provide a $400,000 budget, which is spread over 65 schools in their district. The money pays for equipment, books, DVDs, and registration fees for tournaments. This budget came into play after a group of candidates for the ISD Board successfully ran on a “pro-chess slate.”

Second, professional chess players have become involved: San Benito High School (of the Brownsville ISD) has contracted with Alphonso Almeida, an International Master with a USCF rating of over 2,400 points to coach and train their students.

In recent years, Susan Polgar, women’s world chess champion, visited the Brownsville area and was very engaged in chess programs in the local schools and with clinics that she provided. Her influence impacted female chess players heavily, while stimulating desire to play chess among all students. Currently, Polgar is working to build a strong West Texas chess program through work with Texas Tech.

Third, financial support is given to chess instructors: Brownsville ISD provides a $2,000 stipend for their chess coaches for each 25 active chess players. When the 26th and 51st players are added, a second and a third coach are hired, respectively, with this stipend. These stipends are in support of time spent in training programs during school and for overnight trips to tournament events.

Fourth, financial support is given for state and national tournaments to winning schools: When the Brownsville schools compete in regional tournaments, their top two schools receive full funding to send the two winning teams to the Texas championship tournaments. The funding pays for all players, coaches, and one parent per student for transportation, rooms and meals to the event.

When Brownsville schools finish in the top two positions in Texas state championship events, they receive full funding to national chess championships for players, coaches, and one parent per student. Hanna Elementary School’s six grade team is the reigning national champion.

Fifth, funding is sought outside of the local tax payers: By combining Title One and Migrant Worker funding into an “enrichment program,” Brownsville pays for after school training in a variety of activities including band, flag football, intramural basketball, art, chess, field hockey, and other enrichment events.

The Brownsville district is seeking funds from the 21st Century Project, a federal government grant that is under state control as an “enrichment program.” These monies permit after school training and a summer camp of one month duration for the chess program as a part of the various other sports and arts. The fund pays for equipment, books, DVDs, and other supplies for chess. Additionally, college students used for instruction are paid $18 per hour and licensed teachers are paid $21 per hour for their work in the after-school and in the summer camp programs.

“In the past three years, another southern ISD, Corpus Christi, has received four government grants for ‘enrichment programs.’ Each grant was for $3 to $5 million dollars,” said DeLeon, a resident of that city. Enrichment programs are available to all students who may participate in flag football, intramural basketball, art, chess, field hockey, or other events to broaden the experience and development of all students who wish to attend. No one is denied access to the enrichment programs. “This is not a ‘latch-key program’; it is a legitimate attempt to improve the culture and experience of the students,” said DeLeon.

Brownsville ISD is actively in a quest for government funds for enrichment programs. They have used some of their grant money, some tax dollars, and all donations to chess to build a chess program that provides champions and highly rated players in the United States Chess Federation ratings. They are a force to deal in competitions and are growing at a faster rate than most schools in the state in their cultural programs, one of them being chess.

Brownsville ISD has found the money to make it happen.

“By comparison,” says Coach Payne, “we are not hurting. We have raised sufficient money to buy books, DVDs, and chess equipment. The ISD, thankfully, has awarded the chess program a modest budget that covers our pressing expenses for state tournaments and the ISD has paid for Think Like a King, a software tool that trains students and manages in-school club activities. We are very grateful for this support, without which we would be contained to an in-school program only.

“However, to pay for trips to a national championship event, to create a summer camp and employ University of Dallas chess champions to visit and teach, and to have other quality programs of instruction, the chess program is lacking in funds. We can’t expect a small ISD to make this happen. If we get funding of this level, we must source out grants and federal funding. Money is out there for this type of quality enrichment event; we just have to source it.”

Mexia can be proud of the accomplishments of the high school chess team. In the calendar year 2008, the chess team placed fourth in the Texas Scholastic Chess Championship—Junior Varsity, first in the SFA Spring Invitational Tournament, third for the seniors in the Texas Grade Championship, and third for the juniors in the Texas Grade Championship.

In 2009, the team has won first place in the Region III Chess Championship which includes all teams from Mexia to Oklahoma to the Louisiana border. Also, the Blackcats have a 5-1 record in match play since August, losing only a very tight match to Klein of Houston, a previous state champion with a 21 year program under the same coach.

A total of 13 trophies were won in the past twelve months and were on display at the February school board meeting. Yes, the chess team has made Mexia proud!

Source: http://www.mexiadailynews.com/

SPICE free workshop

Education Briefly

Chess champions to show skills at free exhibition

Chess champion sisters, Susan and Sofia Polgar, will share their skills with teachers, children and young adults Monday.

The Texas Tech Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence will host two free events in the basement of the College of Education building. Events include the "Chess in the Schools Workshop for Teachers" from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the "Polgar-Polgar Simultaneous Exhibition" from 5 to 10 p.m.

For more information or to register, contact Hal Karlsson at (806) 742-3130 or Paul Truong at (806) 392-0758.

Source: Lubbock Online