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Introduction:
What is the FHLC 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 all 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 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."
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 all 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 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”
Quotes from IM GM Arthur Bisguier “Ten Tips to Winning Chess”
Chess has a longer and richer
history than any other game. Historians are uncertain of the
exact details, 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”.
In the middle ages, chess was known as the “Game of Kings” and the “Royal Game”, because it was mainly 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.
In America more than 82,000 chess players, from beginner to grandmaster, enjoy the benefits offered by the US Chess Federation. Members include people from all walks of life – school children and retired people, musicians and computer scientists, politicians and professional athletes.
The game was popularized in the US by a brilliant tactician, Paul Morphy around 1860. Germans and 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.
* It is worth noting that the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans all have their own version of chess, more or less similar to international chess. Many men and women Chinese players have risen to the top levels of international chess in the past two decades
In the middle ages, chess was known as the “Game of Kings” and the “Royal Game”, because it was mainly 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.
In America more than 82,000 chess players, from beginner to grandmaster, enjoy the benefits offered by the US Chess Federation. Members include people from all walks of life – school children and retired people, musicians and computer scientists, politicians and professional athletes.
The game was popularized in the US by a brilliant tactician, Paul Morphy around 1860. Germans and 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.
* It is worth noting that the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans all have their own version of chess, more or less similar to international chess. 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. He became a fugitive from US law, having organized a chess tournament in Serbia despite being forbidden to do so by our State Department.(around 1996,when that country was under international sanctions, and we had to resort to bombing to stop their atrocities in Kosovo). 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.
