Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 21, 1994 TAG: 9404210227
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Don't go easy on them because they are small. Their knowledge and experience with the chessboard belie their age.
The two Roanoke youngsters are among the top chess players in the nation for their grade levels.
Mark, 11, is a fifth-grader at Lincoln Terrace Elementary School. Jonathan, 12, is in sixth grade at Addison Aerospace Magnet School.
Chess is their love. They thrive on it.
Mark has been playing chess since he was in the first grade. He plays every Monday with other students in chess clubs. Jonathan also spends several hours every week at a chessboard.
Last weekend in Rye, N.Y., Mark finished seventh among 405 players at the national elementary and high school tournament sponsored by the United States Chess Federation. Jonathan was eighth.
"To have two top-10 finishers in a national tournament is something to be proud of,'' said Chris Bush, coordinator for the chess program in the city's schools.
Mark was the top fifth-grader in the tournament and Jonathan was the top sixth-grader.
They are products of a chess program that reaches 1,800 children annually. Instruction is provided during and after school. Free classes also are offered at night.
. Other top finishers from Roanoke included Jeremy Hummer, third place among fourth-graders, and Martin Davis, fourth among fourth-graders.
The chess program was established several years ago, but it has attracted little public attention.
Bush, in his second year as coordinator, is trying to change that.
He brought 20 children who traveled to New York for the tournament to the the city School Board meeting this week so they could be recognized.
Bush said some schools are having to turn away students for chess clubs because the clubs have gotten so large. Fishburn Park Elementary's club has 80 members. More than 500 children belong to the clubs at other schools.
James Madison Middle School finished 21st in the nation in the competition among elementary and middle schools.
Carol Davis, Martin's mother, said chess has helped many youngsters build confidence and self-esteem.
"These are not eggheads,'' Davis said. "Playing chess no longer has a stigma attached to it."
She said chess can help keep youngsters out of trouble. "It keeps a lot of kids off the streets, where they might turn to other activities."
Davis said the game also has social and intellectual benefits for students. Studies have shown that chess can help students improve their reading and analytical skills.
Bush works long hours to help the students improve their skills.
"He teaches them free, three nights a week,'' Davis said. "He doesn't have to do it, but he does it for the kids. He is spread so thin.''
The School Board has approved $15,000 in matching funds for the chess program for next year. Private funds are raised to match the public funds.
Raising the private money has been more difficult since the death of millionaire heiress Marion Via, who helped finance the chess program, Davis said.
Roanoke players defeated two celebrities at the weekend tournament:
Eric Smales, a sixth-grader at Addison, defeated Boston Russell, son of actor Kurt Russell.
Adam Tanner, a third-grader at Raleigh Court Elementary, beat actor Max Pomerance, who starred in the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer," the American world chess champion of the 1970s.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***