APortland Press Herald, Portland, Maine, Friday, June 12, 1959
Chess Is Being Played In The Best Schools
Editor of the Press Herald:
Through the courtesy of Dr. J. Melnick of 333 Congress St., Portland, President of the Portland Chess Club, I received a clipping from page 2 of your May 20 issue, containing a photo and article by staff reporter Panagakos pertaining to chess in the elementary and secondary schools of Portland.
Let me congratulate you upon giving so much space and attention to this worthwhile activity, and congratulations to Portland for having a man like Mr. Parker who is giving so freely of his cause.
It may interest you to learn that in time and effort and knowledge in this many of the best schools in the nation—particularly those in Texas, California, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New Jersey—chess is being encouraged or taught. In some places it is classed as a sport, in which the boys and girls of impaired or slight physique may compete on even terms with brawny fullbacks, centers, and catchers. In others it is regarded as an art, with instruction usually on an extra-curricular basis. I received a letter this morning from a Michigan teacher, saying, in part, “Teach the youth chess, and juvenile delinquency is licked.”
It will undoubtedly interest your younger readers to know that the current U.S. Chess Champion, Bobby Fischer, is a sophomore at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn. He is now 16, but won the title when 14, and defended it successfully when 15 years of age. The current New England Amateur Champion is Jim O'Keefe, an 18-year-old from Charlestown, Mass. The state champions of Utah, Texas and Florida are 16-year-olds.
Fred M. Wren, Perry.
