While there is universal agreement that there is very little luck in the game of chess, there is a small town on the Eastern Shore that might disagree with that point of view. Because luck, good luck in this case, is the only reason that Kegotank Elementary School in Mappsville, just outside Chincoteague, has an after-school chess club with over 40 students enrolled.
The word luck actually might be a bit inadequate in describing how this remarkable program came to pass. One needs to start with philanthropist David Landsberger’s decision years ago to move part of his manufacturing business from New Jersey to Pocomoke City for the simple reason that he had fallen in love with the Shore. Add to this the fact that David’s great-great uncle, William Steinitz, was the first undisputed world chess champion (1886-1894), and that his late father started a private foundation to support chess programs in underserved communities, and now David was president of Landsberger Foundation.
Now add the appearance of Orest Pelech, a retired Slavic Studies professor at Duke, who found himself unexpectedly living on the Delmarva after marrying the local community college dean. And after four decades in academia, Orest wanted to take a new direction for his retirement years, namely returning to one of the great loves of his teen years – playing and teaching chess.
Toss in the unique presence of the YMCA of the Chesapeake, and its lower shore’s director Missy Denault. While most of the Shore thinks of the YMCA’s big involvement in Talbot County and other Mid-Shore locations, the Y has the responsibility for a good bit of the Lower Shore as well, even helping small towns like Chincoteague and Mappsville with after-school programs.
Through serendipity, these three connected through the randomness of a dinner party and David’s role on the YMCA board. They reached out to Cindy Stevens at Kegotank Elementary, one of the many underserved public schools in the region, to start a pilot program to teach chess to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders with a grant from the Landsberger Foundation, with Orest as its leader.
Within its first year, 42 students have signed up.
In their Spy interview, David and Orest talk about the chess, the game’s life lessons, and the enjoyment of seeing young people turn off their electronic games and embrace the 1,500-year-old tradition of playing a nice game of chess.
This video is approximately three minutes in length
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