Chess parents upset by schools’ switch of vendors
Doug Carroll
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 5, 2007 12:59 PM
Elementary-school chess players seem to be the pawns in a tug-of-war that is raging between a local, parent-run organization and the Gilbert Public Schools.
The school chess program, run by the district’s Community Education Department, was put up for bid recently because the district has experienced difficulty in finding coaches.
The non-profit Gilbert Parents Chess Alliance and Chess Emporium, a business in north Phoenix, each bid on a contract to administer chess clubs for the 2007-08 school year in the district’s elementary schools.
The district’s governing board awarded the contract to Chess Emporium on June 12, but the parents group filed an appeal last week challenging that decision.
“They felt we didn’t have the experience necessary to run a district-wide program,” said Debbie Maneth, an officer with the GPCA. “They took the easy way out.”
Because Chess Emporium is not affiliated with the U.S. Chess Federation and uses its own rating and tournament system, opportunities for competition will be limited for district students, Maneth said.
Here is the full article.
I’m a chess Dad from Gilbert and I’m outraged!
I’ve been in the chess community in Tucson, AZ for over 15 years. Chess throughout the state (and country) owes much to the GPCA. I hope that the school district corrects this mistake soon.
– Enrique
I teach chess for K-5th graders in Nebraska. A lot of my students are from lower incomes, and we don’t push USCF events for most of ours kids just because of the costs of memberships and entry fees. Some of our more serious chess kids like to compete, and we do take those that want to, to USCF events. But for most, we go to free or very low-cost non-USCF non-rated tournaments. Having an organization not be affiliated with the USCF is, to me, not a bad thing in and of itself. If the coaches are caring, dedicated people that love chess, that is far, far more important.
For the last 9 years I have been a volunteer chess coach for a Middle School and High School in northwest Phoenix, about 30 miles from Gilbert and 10 miles from Chess Emporium. I have chosen to take my students the extra miles to play in the GPCA weekend tournaments because:
1. They hold USCF rated games and enforce USCF rules. Chess Emporium doesn’t.
2. They hold longer time control games than Chess Emporium. (G/40 and G/60, rather than G/30).
3. The space provided for the players is larger (not cramped, elbow to elbow).
4. The TDs are more alert and responsive, and organizers provide a more family friendly environment.
5. They allow parents and coaches into the tournament rooms to observe the students.(But they do enforce silence and staying a reasonable distance separated from the players). Chess Emporium allows nobody into the tournament rooms. This makes a big difference when coaches and parents have to stand outside a school in 100+ deg. heat in Aug. and Sept. in Phoenix!
I hope Gilbert School District reverses their decision and continues to allow GPCA to do the great job of promoting chess that they have done for so long.
chess emporium runs the most organized tournaments that I have been to. The gilbert tourneys are at best painful. States grades was a disaster.
Kent, The Chess Emporium requires kids to join their organization before they can play in tournaments. It’s $10 or more higher than the USCF, they get no USCF rating and the entry fees are no cheaper. The Chess Emporium brags that they teach over 3,000 kids a year in their school clubs. At well over $100 a kid, the owner is making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and has shown absolutely NO interest in helping poor and disadvantaged youth.