"Poor kids checkmate crime" is the heading of a well-illustrated article on how chess is helping a group of underprivileged students attending the Adam Clayton Powell Junior High School in New York City's Harlem. The story was written by Wayne Grover and is published in the Jan. 21 issue of the National Enquirer.
"A chess team made up of inner-city kids who grew up surrounded by crime and drugs competed in the national chess championship - and tied for first place," says Grover.The Raging Rooks of Adam Clayton Powell Junior High School in the Harlem section of New York City overcame 62 other teams, including those from some of the most prestigious private schools in the country.
They trounced the defending champions from the posh Dalton School in New York - where the $12,000 annual tuition is more than the family income of many of the kids in the Rooks!
"These kids come primarily from poverty-stricken broken homes. They are exposed to crime and violence every day and they see drugs being sold on every street," said Richard Gudonsky, a science teacher who started the school's chess club.
"But with the help of one of the best players in the country, Maurice Ashley, our chess team has changed these kids' lives and given them hope to escape from grinding poverty.
"The confidence and sense of self-worth that they feel has changed their entire outlook on life."
The chess club, which now has about 60 members, was started as a simple activity to keep kids busy.
But in 1989, chess master Ashley began dropping by to coach them in the finer points of the game - with amazing results.
"Ashley's patience and ability to work with these underprivileged kids and bring out their inner intelligence is incredible," declared Gudonsky.
Within two years, the club's eight-person team went from stumbling unsure players to competitors in the junior high United States Chess Federation (USCF) championships.
Said Ashley, "I saw kids who hated homework study and memorize classic chess games of the past, with all the hundreds of moves and counter moves. I saw the light go on in their minds."
The contest was held in Dearborn, Mich. Teams poured in from 30 states, many of the kids immaculately dressed in private school blazers. At first the Rooks were intimidated.
"The boys were jittery," said Gudonsky. "But we knew they were ready. They had practiced every day for months, even skipping lunch at school to practice.
"As our team worked its way up to first place, I could see their confidence building. Kids who had never had much of a life beyond poverty and hopelessness beat kids from some of America's best schools!!
"The boys were joyous. I saw them fill with pride."
Chess team captain Kasaun Henry had to live in a single room with his family for part of the school year after their apartment was torched.
Since the contest, he entered an adult tournament in New York and tied for first place.
Henry said, "Chess has changed my life. I know I'm not dumb - I have a chance at life now!"
Former chess club member Charu Robinson, 14, lives around the corner from four crack houses - but competing in chess helped him earn a scholarship to the prestigious Dalton School.
He said: "Because of the discipline required to master chess, I became an excellent student. Instead of having to sell drugs to survive, like lots of the guys in my neighborhood, I'm going to college in three years!"
"By studying chess, children learn the game of life," says Ashley.
"It's an effective way to get kids to study, concentrate and analyze their options in life," says Ashley. "It's a game that's modeled on life, with two antagonists trying to outsmart each other."
Chess reveals how long-term goals can be more important than instant gratification, he says, and it can teach players how to evaluate various options - a skill that can be carried to other areas.
"There's so much chess does without the kid realizing. It's perfect for developing young minds, and they don't know it's happening."
Ashley went through about seven years of intense tournament competition to earn the title of senior master. Although he competes professionally, Ashley spends most of his time teaching the game.
He has also arranged for his students to play world champions, grandmasters and "Deep Thought," the top-ranked chess computer.
- CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SOLVERS! - Jack Crandall, George L. Cavanaugh, William DeVroom, Ken Frost, Gordon W. Greene, Hal Harmon, Brian Harrow, Alison Hermance, Stanley Hunt, Frank Knight, Hal Knight, Steven Kennard, Raeburn Kennard, Nathan Kennard, Kay Lundstrom, Roger Neu-mann, Gary Neumann, Elsa Oldroyd, Ted Path-akis, Knute Petersen, Vern Smith, Edwin O. Smith, Eugene Wagstaff, Loile Bailey, Kim Barney, Russell Anderson, K. James Michelson and S. Anderson.