Scholastic Chess - Big Money In The USA

No wonder some people are so bitter against Susan Polgar and Paul Truong, who got elected to seats on the USCF Executive Board. They had a chance to grab for the gold ring, and they lost it. Cha ching - down the tubes. Bye bye, $$$. Where’s the Real Action Now? In the Nation’s Schoolrooms By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN Published: May 20, 2007 Scholastic chess has become the game’s lifeblood. Almost 60 percent of United States Chess Federation members are under 18. The most exciting scholastic events are the national championships. In late March and early April, more than 1,000 players competed in the junior high school championships in Sacramento. That was followed last month by the high school nationals in Kansas City, Mo., with more than 1,400 players. The cycle ended last weekend with more than 2,000 children, some only 5 years old, playing in the elementary school championships in Nashville. And yes, even children this young can show talent. One Georgia family seems to have chess running in its veins. Ryan Joseph Moon, 11, who goes by Joseph, won the K-6 section with a score of 6 ½ out of 7. His ranking is almost that of an expert, which makes him better than more than 90 percent of adults who play in tournaments. Joseph’s brother Benjamin, 9, won the K-3 section, also with 6 ½ out of 7. It may not be the last such sibling act: They have a brother, Richard, 2 (who has yet to begin playing). Henry Moon, the boys’ father, an associate professor of management at the London Business School, who commutes between London and Georgia, said the family traveled to more than 20 tournaments a year. He and his wife are home-schooling Benjamin because he missed too many days of school. Moon said it was difficult to balance chess and school. “You are always trying to dance between the two,” he said. “I think that is true for any parents of kids who compete at a national level.” He said the family spends more than $15,000 a year on travel and lessons.