Boy Scouts Merit Badge Unveiled [VIDEO]
By Spectrum Studios   
September 11, 2011
boyscouts225.jpgOn Saturday, September 10th the Boy Scouts Merit Badge was unveiled in Saint Louis outside the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis and the newly opened World Chess Hall of Fame. An initial group of 20 scouts received the brand-new badge while special guest astronaut Greg Chamitoff thrilled the crowd with stories of playing chess in space. Local scouts participated in a human chess game, which depicted the most recent Earth vs. Space match, hosted on uschess.org/nasa2011. That game was declared a win for Earth after 22 moves, but the new finale, as annotated by GM Yasser Seirawan and WGM Jennifer Shahade, played the game out to a draw.

The video below features interviews with local scouts, Greg Chamitoff and the first-ever chess merit badge counselor Jeanne Sinquefield (also the co-founder of the Saint Louis Chess Club.)