Out & About
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Drinking, pecking on the cheek, nibbling on those delicious warm rolls – there was plenty of that going on Monday night at Cipriani 42nd Street. But more important than these typical fund-raising party shenanigans were the slide of the pawn and the sound of “checkmate.” Indeed, the highlight of this year’s Chess-in-the-Schools gala was playing chess.
The masters of the game were not members of the gala circuit, although many had eyes for the 64 squares. The keenest strategists were the public school students who have learned chess through the Chess-in-the-Schools program: Daniel Alvarez, Jesus Perez, Lisel Reyes, Freddy Saavedra, and many others, who squirmed just a bit in their tights and ties as they played the royal game.
The core program of Chess-in-the-Schools is the in school chess instruction in New York City public schools, from kindergarten through the eighth grade, supplemented by after-school programs and tournaments. High school students participate in a program that focuses on college preparation. The entire program operates on the premise that chess helps to develop discipline, work ethic, ambition, and intellectual capacity.
Fittingly, the king of the night – the honoree, that is – was the program’s fiercest advocate, its founder, philanthropist Lewis Cullman.
