Chess Index / Introduction / Current Activities / Past Activities / Photo Album
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Introduction:
What is the Fullerton Lions Chess Program?
1)
Youth Chess in Fullerton.
Under the auspices
of Peter Baron, a Lion since 1999 and recently elected club
president, the
Fullerton Host Lions Club has vigorously supported youth
chess programs in the Fullerton School
district, with the district's
encouragement This entails running lunch or after-hours chess clubs at
al
l Junior-High schools (and since 2007, two new middle schools) and
one elementary school throughout
the year, and less frequently,
visiting other elementary schools; organizing workshops and year-end
citywide team or individual tournaments. We also work with the Boys
& Girls club during the summer.
2)
Importance of Chess:
Chess is a
great game - it rewards intuition and imagination while satisfying the
killer instinct, but
also requires tactical and strategic thinking to
be successful. It teaches life skills of patience,
perseverance, a
never-give-up spirit.
Chess is one of the oldest games in the world, it is globally the most universally played game, and
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has been played in
the U.S. by some of our great statesmen (Franklin, Jefferson and
Lincoln) as
well as some current ones (Governor Schwarzenegger, who routinely
played on sets waiting for the
next film shoot, and had his children
take chess lessons). It is a game for all ages: last year the L.A.
Times reported the youngest "expert" ranking ever, an 8 year-old, while at
the other end of the spectrum,
my brother in law at 81 still plays well enough to beat one
out of tw0.
At its best chess is a game which teaches not only quick thinking, but
also concentration, good
sportsmanship* and, very importantly, learning from your
mistakes. At
intermediate and advanced
levels one must learn to think both
stategically and tactically**. These are life skills that
will stand
any student in good stead, no matter that he or she gives up
playing the game as other priorities intrude!
Pete Baron, Coordinator of Chess Activities
Fullerton Host Lions Club
* Remember Susan Polgar's motto: "Win with
grace, lose with dignity
** Here is a wonderful commentary on the game of chess by America's greatest statesman:
In "Benjamin Franklin, an American Life"
Walter Isaacson writes: "One of Franklin's famous
passions was
chess,... He saw the game as a metaphor for both diplomacy and life, a
point
he made explicit in a bagatelle he wrote in 1779 on "The Morals
of Chess" ..."The game of
chess is not merely an idle amusement, several valuable qualities of the mind, useful in
the course of human life, are to be acquired or strengthened by it.
For life is a kind of chess, in which we have often points to gain and
competitors or adversaries
to contend with". Chess, he said, "taught
foresight, circumspection, caution, and the importance
of not being
discouraged. There was also an important etiquette to be practiced:
never hurry your
opponent, do not try to deceive by pretending to have
made a bad move, and never gloat in victory:
"Moderate your desire of
victory over our adversary,and be pleased with the one over yourself."
3) A Thumbnail History of Chess
Quotes from IM GM Arthur Bisguier “Ten Tips to Winning Chess”
but most agree that it was invented about 1,400 years ago in India. Although this early version, called
chaturanga, has changed through the centuries, today’s chess players would find it remarkably similar
to the game we play today*. More than 13 centuries after its invention chess continues to fascinate everyone
who enjoys an exciting mental challenge. The “Game of Kings” has become the “King of Games”.
played by nobility. That changed, however, as its popularity spread in the mid-1800’s. Today the World Chess
Federation (FIDE) brings together millions of chess players from nearly 150 nations. Modern chess
enthusiasts thus share a rich heritage. Among their number they can count such famous personalities as
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Pope John Paul II.
US Chess Federation. Members include people from all walks of life – school children and retired people,
musicians and computer scientists, politicians and professional athletes.
English dominated the game until the early thirties, when the Russians made it their national game, and
dominated the scene thereafter. The only non-Russian world champion in the last 70 years was Bobby Fischer**,
who won the title in 1972, only to forfeit it by refusing to defend it. Although the US has some excellent players,
at this time none of them belong to the “top ten” group.
Many men and women Chinese players have risen to the top levels of international chess in the past two decades
** Bobby has not played competitive chess since 1972. Bobby lived in Japan for a while, then found refuge in Iceland, the scene of his
1972 triumph, where he passed away in early 2008.
