One of the things I would like to do with the Chess USA blog is to be able to spread the word about great chess news, and new things in chess. While sometimes I like to be prepared, something just sneaks up on you and you want to immediately let the world know.
With that in mind, I wanted to briefly post about the movie Brooklyn Castle, which is premiering in limited release today.
Last night, a story about the movie came up on my fiancé’s news feed and I’m glad she showed me the article. I wanted to try to spread the word as much as I could – especially if there are chess enthusiasts out there who, like me, sometimes miss out on news like this! This great film has already won a whole bunch of awards, and tells the story of a number of chess players from an inner city school in New York City.
With the economy what it has been in recent years, and frequent budget cuts a concern for public (and private) schools everywhere, chess remains a great extracurricular activity for students. Not only does chess help in so many ways – be it patience, pattern recognition, confidence, analytical thinking – it’s also an extremely affordable activity (by my guess, twenty students could be playing chess for under a hundred dollars. It’s such a great return for the investment, it’s not surprising more and more teachers are spending money out of their own pockets to get these programs going.
I watched the trailer, and it looks like it could be the next great chess film – The chess team of I.S. 318, located in Brooklyn, are sometimes described as the “Yankees of Chess”. Despite the omnipresent threat of budget cuts all too common in city schools, the chess team at 318 has not only flourished, but has gone on to win more chess competitions than any other school in the country.
It’s a great story where the chess team are the ‘popular’ kids of the school, and I think it has the potential to not only show how great chess can be as a game, or teaching aid, but also for personal confidence and pride.
The movie is starting in limited release today, and will expand in the upcoming weeks. I wanted to wholeheartedly give our recommendation. You can view the full trailer at their website, http://www.brooklyncastle.com/, as well as information on how you can help keep the dream of chess alive. It’s definitely worth a look!
Quentin Turner
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