| Bruce Leverett 2005-04-11, 5:59 pm |
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Spam Scone wrote:
quote:
> Rob wrote:
>
> No, most, if not all, of them are going to be gone in a year or two,
> unless they play in mixed tournaments and clubs with adults. Chess is
> an adult activity; such scholastic tournaments promote chess as a
> child's game, to be set aside when they set aside childish things.
I'm having so much trouble with this paragraph, I hardly know where to
start.
"Most, if not all, of them are going to be gone in a year or two."
Most of whom? My kids play in Pittsburgh-area scholastics. My
personal observation is that the percentage of long-timers in these
tournaments is about the same as the percentage of long-timers in
"adult" events that I attend.
If we're talking about the Nationals, rather than the Pittsburgh-area
scholastics that I mostly see, it's no contest. 99% of the Nationals
participants are long-timers. BTW, the Nationals are VERY strong. A
player at the level of Neil Brennen would be somewhere deep in the
middle of the pack at the K-6 section of the Elementary, and would not
be assured of winning even the K-1 section.
"Chess is an adult activity." Speak for yourself. I learned how to
play chess by joining the school chess club in 6th grade (this was
1962). I then played in scholastic leagues at the junior high and high
school level. I played in many junior/scholastic tournaments, and the
1968 U.S. Junior Open. At the same time, I think I could count on one
hand the number of "adult" tournaments I played in before I went to
college.
And that's not counting college, of course. I played hundreds of rated
games in college, including intercollegiate matches and tournaments.
Does that count as an "adult" activity? Was I an adult at 17? (Am I
an adult now? Mmm, better to have left some questions unasked.)
Is it just me? Well, the truth is, the number of kids playing
organized chess is already far greater than the number of adults. The
numbers are on my side. Last year's National Elementary turnout,
roughly 1900, was very disappointing, but it was larger than the
largest adult Swiss ever (the largest World Open drew about 1800
people; that was about 19 years ago). Jerry Meyers holds at least 4
scholastic Swisses EVERY YEAR that are larger than the largest adult
swiss EVER held in Pittsburgh.
I predict that the disparity is only going to grow. Today's scholastic
tournaments draw mostly from private schools, Catholic schools,
home-school kids. When the public schools catch up, it'll be an
incredible explosion. OK, that's only a prediction.
I'm sorry, but chess, like every other game and every sport, is mainly
for kids. If you feel left out by that, have some kids.
Bruce Leverett
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