Wednesday, October 05, 2005

On the Up and Up

Chess in the USA seems to be on an upward trajectory. Take the case of Philadelphia.

In Philadelphia, which has the seventh-largest school system in the country, 18 of the city's 280 public schools have added chess to their curriculums in a pilot program. About 4,000 students are getting chess instruction this year, according to Marjorie Wuestner, executive director of the school district's office of health, safety, physical education and sports administration.

The goal, she said, is to have all second and third graders receiving chess instruction by next year.

Read the full article in the NY Times.

The amount of money that goes into chess in the US is something that we can only dream about Down Under. Consider the World Open and the HB Global. Just staggering! Plus some universities offer scholarships while other private interests provide funding for fellowships like the Samford (the most recent recipient of which is GM Nakamura).

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