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Chess In the Media

Kings and queens of the park (Hoboken Reporter)

In the past decade, chess has seen a major resurgence in popularity for America's youth. This trend is readily evident in Hoboken, where the five-year-old Hoboken Chess Club has evolved into one of the state's premier chess programs.

In an effort to support this movement, the city dedicated three concrete chess tables Wednesday and held a Chess Festival at Church Square Park. The new tables have been dedicated to Hoboken's own coach and teaching guru, Peter Croce, who founded the Hoboken Chess Club.

"Chess is gymnastics for the mind," said Croce Wednesday at the dedication. He added that in the past five years, he has taught over 1,000 children how to play chess, and his students have competed in state chess championships for the past four.

Hard-up hustlers of the chessboard (International Herald Tribune, France)

Davor Kolmjenovic, born 60 years ago in Zagreb (Croatia), insists he has beaten the world's number two player Veselin Topalov, but he still eats with his hands. Kolmjenovic, a grandmaster, makes a living of sorts out of playing chess, but he keeps left-over bread wrapped in a napkin. He takes night trains, sometimes hiding in the toilet; sleeps wherever he can, taking sustenance from little fruit packets he buys in food stores.

He makes between €300 and €900 a month, and participates in around 50 chess contests a year, with prizes that range from €20 to €1,500 for the winner. This "fortune" is shared between the 100 or more grandmasters who currently play the chess circuit in Spain. Most of them are Russians, Argentines, Cubans, Serbs, Croats, and from various former states of the Soviet Union.

All of them are ranked among the world's top 300 players, in a sport which requires at least four hours daily practice. Chess is a mental activity that also demands "soul and spirit, like playing an instrument," according to Chilean Daniel Barría. Barría plays no instrument. He's married and has a child. He barely gets by. Barría says that this fight for survival at minor tournaments that give small cash prizes but no points to help climb the international ranking is "a cesspit."

Queen of chess in SLC to promote the game for kids, especially girls (Salt Lake Tribune)

Venturing into uncharted territory has been part of Susan Polgar's repertoire since she was 4. That's what brings her to Salt Lake City tonight. As a guest at a chess festival named in her honor, the grandmaster will arrive with an agenda to promote the game, especially for young children and girls.

"I want more exposure for the game. Chess needs somebody out there to speak out on behalf of chess," Polgar says.

The Hungarian native, now a U.S. citizen, will be at the Susan Polgar Chess Festival - which runs through Sunday in various locations in Salt Lake City.

Do you know of an interesting, humorous, or unique chess story published online? E-mail us at newsletter@uschess.org.