DOWNTOWN — Ten Chicago schools stand to get $1,000 grants to start their own chess teams in the second year of a program initiated by the Chicago Chess Foundation.
The nonprofit's Rook, Rattle & Roll program will provide $1,000 grants to 10 schools before the end of the calendar year. Both public and private schools are eligible.
"Children of all socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds deserve an opportunity to learn chess and compete in scholastic tournaments,” said Jim Altenbach, a foundation board member and school psychologist with Chicago Public School for 38 years. “Considerable academic research demonstrates that chess improves test scores, academic performance, concentration, decision making and creativity."
The grants will provide chess sets, coaching guides, educational resources and chess coaches to the schools.
The foundation has been promoting chess in Chicago schools for years, but it's had most success thus far through Rook, Rattle & Roll.
It emphasizes that while teaching chess has educational benefits, it's not all intense competition.
Candice Usher, chess coach at Dulles Elementary in Washington Park, said the school received a foundation grant last year and it simply allowed team members to "let their hair down and just play a game for a few hours."
Chess has made inroads at Marshall High School and Faraday Elementary on the West Side, and a girls' team at Earle STEM Academy in Englewood won a national tournament here earlier this year.
Interested schools should contact Anna Reed, the foundation's program coordinator, by the end of the year.
Chess should also enjoy a rise in interest in the United States with the championship match between title holder Magnus Carlsen and challenger Sergey Karjakin in New York City next month.
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