WCM Alexandra Botez US Champion!

[Valer Eugen Demian]

More details here:
http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11133/628/
Congratulations Alexandra!

Of course the scholarship of $100K is a huge incentive for kids and juniors to enroll into chess. Why can't it be done here as well? Is it because we stubbornly insist chess in not a sport even when we are in overwhelming minority on a global stage?...

[Christopher Mallon]

Forget scholarships, when I was at Laurier I had trouble getting them to even support having a club!

[Valer Eugen Demian]

Forget scholarships, when I was at Laurier I had trouble getting them to even support having a club!

And this means we should not do anything about it? How can't you (CFC members in general) see this is the foundation of the whole house of cards?

[Kerry Liles]

And this means we should not do anything about it? How can't you (CFC members in general) see this is the foundation of the whole house of cards?

It takes a lot of work to build association with Schools/Universities etc. Look at the progress Susan Polgar has made in Texas! (granted, she has a good "star quality" that no doubt helped her get some recognition).

In Canada, there is no work being done except un-coordinated work at some grass root levels here and there... Even one successful Canadian Open with decent sponsorship (should that ever happen) would not be enough - what is needed is an ongoing commitment with a very wide program...

I think Chris was simply pointing out that it was hard to get a University (Laurier in Waterloo) to even support a chess club (even at the most fundamental level), so looking for $100K scholarships is likely not on the radar... not that it shouldn't be attempted.

What is needed is someone with the recognition factor to push very hard to motivate sponsorship on an ongoing basis like Susan Polgar has done.

[Kerry Liles]

More details here:
http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11133/628/
Congratulations Alexandra!

Of course the scholarship of $100K is a huge incentive for kids and juniors to enroll into chess. Why can't it be done here as well? Is it because we stubbornly insist chess in not a sport even when we are in overwhelming minority on a global stage?...

Congratulations to Alexandra! Brilliant result and well deserved after such hard work and dedication. Standing Ovation.

[Valer Eugen Demian]

...What is needed is someone with the recognition factor to push very hard to motivate sponsorship on an ongoing basis like Susan Polgar has done.

Instead of waiting for that "someone" to fall on our laps, I would gather everyone together toward a common goal. There must be enough factors to influence the government at different levels from the membership at large.

We keep on dealing with small stuff and not go for the root cause. Chess could survive on a healthy youth movement under one umbrella combined with chess recognized as a sport! It should not be so complicated...

[Christopher Mallon]

Yes, I didn't mean we shouldn't try, I was just sharing my own personal post-secondary chess experience.

Actually a great first step would be to get one of the stronger schools (U of W perhaps) to try to get into the USA University Chess Championships. Did the winners of the Canadian University Championship even make the papers this year?

[Andrei Botez]

Thank you all!

[Jonathan Berry]

Congratulations to Alexandra.

We (the CFC) 've been trying with the federal government since 1948. Yeah, OK, some CFC Presidents weren't interested, but the message is clear. There has been more luck with provincial governments, in the realm of recreation, not education, but still, will they offer scholarships to chess players? Nah. Nor will the funding agencies themselves (like say if an Alumni Association offers a sled load of scholarships, will they add one for chess?). Again, I wouldn't bet the house on it. Let's call it a mob psychology, as applied to bureaucracies.

I wonder if there would be better luck approaching rich people, most likely rich former chess players? CFC not needed for such an approach. Maybe that's half the problem. We see so many challenges in the chess world, but we imagine that we have only one tool, the CFC, which is neither jackhammer nor whisk.

Back in the day, I didn't have a scholarship, beyond the standard provincial one. But in those days UBC tuition was $452 a year and if you hunted, you could find a cheap place to live. I mean really cheap.

After the 1999 Canadian Closed I eavesdropped upon a group of young masters discussing their educational futures. I expected it to be a question of who was going to McGill and who was going to U of Tea, but the surprise was that they were talking Harvard, Yale, that sort of place. I had to guess that they were getting scholarships because of fabulous academic performance. The educational difference between Harvard and one of the main Canadian universities did not seem so big when measured against the $$$$$$ difference in tuition fees.

</ramble>

[Valer Eugen Demian]

Congratulations to Alexandra.

We (the CFC) 've been trying with the federal government since 1948. Yeah, OK, some CFC Presidents weren't interested, but the message is clear. There has been more luck with provincial governments, in the realm of recreation, not education, but still, will they offer scholarships to chess players? Nah. Nor will the funding agencies themselves (like say if an Alumni Association offers a sled load of scholarships, will they add one for chess?). Again, I wouldn't bet the house on it. Let's call it a mob psychology, as applied to bureaucracies.

I wonder if there would be better luck approaching rich people, most likely rich former chess players? CFC not needed for such an approach. Maybe that's half the problem. We see so many challenges in the chess world, but we imagine that we have only one tool, the CFC, which is neither jackhammer nor whisk.

Back in the day, I didn't have a scholarship, beyond the standard provincial one. But in those days UBC tuition was $452 a year and if you hunted, you could find a cheap place to live. I mean really cheap.

After the 1999 Canadian Closed I eavesdropped upon a group of young masters discussing their educational futures. I expected it to be a question of who was going to McGill and who was going to U of Tea, but the surprise was that they were talking Harvard, Yale, that sort of place. I had to guess that they were getting scholarships because of fabulous academic performance. The educational difference between Harvard and one of the main Canadian universities did not seem so big when measured against the $$$$$$ difference in tuition fees.

</ramble>

Thank you for all this interesting data!

I would still pursue it. We are in 2011 with a lot more research and data at our disposal. Heck there are countries like Scotland where they have chess related programs in University, mostly combined with computers and artificial inteligence, while we play chess recreational...

First step is to be convinced this is what needs to be done. You cannot have much when your own membership is divided and not convinced. The way I keep on hearing and reading the same explanations and excuses time and time again, it would not matter if Kasparov himself would imigrate here and decide to lead toward such a goal.

Chess adds value to education; this is already proven in several other corners of this World. You need to focus on kids and juniors since they are your foundation and members of tomorrow, willing to bring their own kids into chess like they are involved now. The cycle is pretty simple actually; all we need is desire to do it!...

P.S. Don't think anyone would debate that offering a 4 years scholarship to any Canadian University for a chess Champion could raise the number of junior players dramatically! Then you can argue how much to charge for junior membership and such