USA Today: "Chess making comeback in U.S. schools"

[KeithAmmann]

Chess making comeback in U.S. schools

Getting a group of third, fourth and fifth graders to sit quietly is considered by some to be an impossible task. But all Ross Pancoast has to do to get his class of about 20 students at Beverly Farms Elementary School in Potomac, Md., to focus is set up a few chess boards.
Once he brings out the clocks, black and white pieces, and score sheets, the typical classroom commotion turns to silence.

Pancoast, who teaches chess before and after school at about nine schools in Montgomery County Md., says he’s seen a “resurgence” of the game in the school system.

And it’s not just a local phenomenon. Over the past few years scholastic chess, or chess for educational purposes, has taken U.S. schools by storm.

“We’re seeing more of these (chess programs) across the country, especially as more and more educators are seeing the impact of the chess program on their students,” says Jerry Nash, scholastic director of the U.S. Chess Federation. . . .

My favorite reader comment:

@Mr.B

When the lights go out, out comes the chessboard… when I head out to a bar with my friends (even when we were in college) along comes a roll-up chessboard. Play blitz games for drinks. You’d be surprised how many people are interested in chess, even just to watch. Break out a board, and a crowd will form.

Seems that most people–even if they don’t understand the game–are still fascinated by it. The haters are disappearing.

Now that’s what I’m talking about when I say chess could be made to work on TV.

[EnriqueHuerta]

@anjiaoshi

My favorite reader comment:

@Mr.B

When the lights go out, out comes the chessboard… when I head out to a bar with my friends (even when we were in college) along comes a roll-up chessboard. Play blitz games for drinks. You’d be surprised how many people are interested in chess, even just to watch. Break out a board, and a crowd will form.

Seems that most people–even if they don’t understand the game–are still fascinated by it. The haters are disappearing.

Now that’s what I’m talking about when I say chess could be made to work on TV.

I agree with the reader’s comment, but more so if you have a clock included.

• Enrique