Guest Opinion

During a time when everyone seems to be talking about what’s wrong
with our public schools, Tucson’s chess educators exemplify what we
have been doing right.

It’s a little-known fact that Tucson is home to some of the most
talented chess players and most successful chess coaches in the
country. Since 1994, the Catalina Foothills High School chess team has
won the national high school chess championship four times. Over the
past 20 years, Tucson has a produced a slew of national individual
champions, including 1997 world junior champion Tal Shakad, 2000
kindergarten-through-eighth-grade Champion Leo Martinez, and 2006 high
school champion Landon Brownell. In 2008, the Southern Arizona Chess
Association (SACA) was named Scholastic Organizer of the Year by the
United States Chess Federation.

Tucson’s emergence as a national chess epicenter is in part due to
organizations like SACA, which have organized monthly scholastic chess
tournaments for more than 40 years. At the same time, world-class
instructors like Arizona state chess champion Levon Altounian, World
Chess Federation Master Robby Adamson and World Chess Federation Master
Ken Larsen have created a dynasty of powerhouse chess clubs throughout
the city. Other factors contributing to the strength of Tucson’s chess
community include the creation of the Scorpions—Arizona’s first
professional chess team.

The value of Tucson’s chess community lies not only in the creation
of national champions, but also in the promotion of chess literacy.
Chess is a powerful educational tool with the potential to improve
educational outcomes. Research shows that chess can increase cognitive
abilities, improve student achievement and promote emotional
intelligence. Now more than ever, chess provides an innovative solution
to the problems faced by our educational system.

Unfortunately, in spite of the abundance of talented chess teachers
in Tucson, all Tucsonans do not have equal opportunities to benefit
from chess education. Due to budget cuts, most schools have started
charging students to participate in after-school chess clubs.
Subsequently, only students with the financial resources and an initial
interest to seek chess instruction outside of school are exposed to its
benefits. In addition to low-income youth, women and girls have been
traditionally under-represented within the Tucson chess world. Last
year, women made up less than 10 percent of chess players in local
tournaments.

To counter these inequities, the nonprofit organization 9 Queens has
worked to extend the benefits of chess to Tucson’s underserved and
under-represented populations. In addition to providing free
after-school chess programs in Title I public schools, 9 Queens
launched the 9 Queens Initiative in August 2008, a series of monthly
free chess workshops exclusively for women and girls.

Since launching the 9 Queens Initiative, the percentage of females
participating in 9 Queens chess tournaments has increased from 10 to 50
percent in the beginners’ sections. However, in spite of the relative
success of the program, there is still much work to be done. Women and
girls still make up a small percentage of tournament players in
championship sections of tournaments. In addition, schools are
continuing to cut funding for extra-curricular programming like
chess.

On Sunday, Oct. 18, 9 Queens will celebrate the one-year anniversary
of the 9 Queens Initiative and honor Tucson’s growing population of
female chess players at All Queens Chess Day. The day will include a
free chess tournament exclusively for women and girls, and members of
the Arizona Scorpions will offer free beginner chess lessons for anyone
(male or female) throughout the day. It takes place from 1 to 4 p.m.,
at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange, 6230 E. Speedway Blvd.

In light of the strength of our chess community and the power of
chess, all Tucsonans should take advantage of this opportunity, not
only to celebrate the success of local chess players, but also to
replicate their success by promoting basic chess literacy.

Jean Hoffman is a co-founder of 9 Queens. For more information,
visit 9queens.org.

This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2009.