Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Chess and Children

?Chess and Children?

Excerpt from "Blazing saddles?
Since you are my guest and I am your host, what are your pleasures? What do you like to do? Oh, I don?t know. Play chess?

Excerpt from ?Searching for Bobby Fischer?
Your move, Josh.

NARRATOR
There is a legend that 1500 years ago one of the rulers of India asked his wise men to devise a way to teach the children of the royal family to become better thinkers. The wise men came up with the game of chess.

?Searching for Bobby Fischer?
I?m playing chess with my dad. Chess. It?s a game, like Monopoly.

BEN DELLA ROCCA
It was kind of an accident how I got started. My mother and I were looking through a pamphlet of different summer programs I could do after second grade.

NARRATOR
Ben DellaRocca is 13 years old. He?s been playing chess since he was 7.

BEN DELLA ROCCA
I had no idea what to expect really. I didn?t even know that there were such things as tournaments, and people played it so competitively.

?Searching for Bobby Fischer?
Start your clocks (sounds of clocks)

NARRATOR
Chess is the oldest game of skill in the world, and today is one of the world?s most popular games. In the US alone over 80,000 people are members of the US chess federation, and as we saw in the movie ?Searching for Bobby Fischer? many of them are children.

ETHAN DELLA ROCCA
I did everything my brother did and that got me interested in chess.

NARRATOR
Ethan is Ben?s younger brother. He?s 9.

ETHAN DELLA ROCCA
I was playing chess since preschool. I?ve never napped during naptime. They actually let me do chess.

NARRATOR
Chess tournaments are held all over the country, all throughout the year. Local tournaments might have 100 kids participating, while the bigger state tournaments have 600 or more. Ethan?s last tournament, was the Connecticut state championship. Going into the final round he and his opponent were tied for first place.

ETHAN DELLA ROCCA
I was in a bad position and my opponent was beating me so I offered a draw.

NARRATOR
His opponent accepted. Then, with the help of a tiebreaker

ETHAN DELLA ROCCA
I won first place in the under 500 section.

NARRATOR
It is an intriguing phenomenon that child prodigies have been known in only three fields ? mathematics, music, and chess.

MUSIC - ?Your Move? by Yes

BEN DELLA ROCCA
I think it?s hard when you?re playing someone who?s either better or about the same skill level as you, those games are pretty hard, but those are fun.

NARRATOR
Does playing chess make children smarter? Chess teaches the ability to imagine a sequence of events before they happen. It teaches focus and concentration. It teaches thinking ahead, thinking before acting.

BEN DELLA ROCCA
There was one game that was really fast where I checkmated my opponent in five moves.

ETHAN DELLA ROCCA
It teaches you what would happen if this happens, or this will be a consequence of this.

BEN DELLA ROCCA
I was playing a kid who obviously practiced a lot. He was winning, but I still managed to win in the end because I sacrificed a piece to carry out a plan that I had, and it ended up working.

MUSIC - ?Wizard Chess? by Harry and the Potters

?2001, A Space Odyssey?
Rook to King 1. I?m sorry, Frank. I think you missed it. Queen to bishop 3, bishop takes queen, knight takes bishop, mate. Yeah, it looks like you?re right. I resign. Thank you for a very enjoyable game. Yeah, thank you.

BEN DELLA ROCCA
My chess teacher is a really good teacher. His philosophy is that you should play chess not to win, but to have fun and be the best chess player you can be,

?Searching for Bobby Fischer?
So what?s your best move? Rook to D1. What about taking on E5? What about it? You didn?t consider it. I did. You didn?t. You?re still not considering it. Sit up. But I?m right, though. Rook to D1?s the best move. That?s not the point. You didn?t study the board. You?re moving before I know the answers.

BEN DELLA ROCCA
A lot of the other parents and coaches I?ve seen, they will really put pressure on their kids and they will get mad at them if they don?t win.

SFX of family playing.

BEN DELLA ROCCA
My parents really just want me to have fun, and they really don?t care so much about me winning.

ETHAN DELLA ROCCA
It?s fun when I play my family cause my brother kills me, but sometimes I beat him. My mom, I kill her. My dad, we?re kind of evenly matched, but I usually win.

NARRATOR
In chess there are a billion, billion, billion, billion, billion possible positions.

ETHAN DELLA ROCCA
I think there are some things that do help me from chess at school, like it really helps you to solve problems and think about the problem.

BEN DELLA ROCCA
There actually are studies that show that chess helps you perform better in math, for example. You use the same part of the brain, and I am a pretty strong math student.

ETHAN DELLA ROCCA
I think the hardest thing about playing chess is actually when you?re in a really losing position.

BEN DELLA ROCCA
It?s challenging at times, but that makes it more fun to me.

ETHAN DELLA ROCCA
I do things beside chess like piano, dance, soccer, and I used to do tae kwon do. Chess, I like more than tae kwon do, piano, and soccer, but not dance.

?Searching for Bobby Fischer?
Your move, Josh. Move my horse in front of my king. You mean your knight. Yeah.

BEN DELLA ROCCA
I obviously like to win games, but it?s still fun when I lose sometimes.

?Searching for Bobby Fischer?
Can we go out now? Well, the game?s not over yet, Josh. Yes, it is.

BEN DELLA ROCCA
It?s just fun to play the game.

This is Vicki Hayes in Washington.

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