In officially opening the 2003
US Chess Championships in Seattle, Erik Anderson, the president of America's
Foundation for Chess, highlighted the theme of this year's event forwarding
the Foundation's mission to strengthen the minds and character of young people
by advancing chess in our schools and culture. "By hosting this tournament
of elites," said Mr. Anderson, "we establish chess as a valued component
of American culture."
"Young children learning chess across the country have something to strive
towards holders of the US Chess Championship title, like our defending
champions Larry Christiansen and Jennifer Shahade. You, the competitors for
this year's title, offer these children role models to emulate and a reason
to continue playing."
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels was to have joined Erik Anderson on officially opening
the tournament and making the opening move for defending champion Larry Christiansen.
Unfortunately a few days ago, the Mayor had to cancel due to an urgent City
board meeting. In sending his sincere apologies, he strongly recommended to
the AF4C that, rather than sending along a City official to deputize for him
as would usually happen under such circumstances, he would prefer to nominate
as his 'official deputy' for the day, after reading about the aims and objectives
of the AF4C, a child from one of the eight Washington State schools that has
benefited directly from one of our scholastic programs.
This is a superb gesture from Mayor Nickels as it publicly acknowledges from
his office the continued support for the aims of the AF4C. Therefore making
the opening move for Larry Christiansen was the Mayor's Deputy 9-year-old
Cesar Lomeli, a 3rd grader from Bailey Gatzert Elementary School here in Seattle.
Not only did Cesar get to become the Mayor's Deputy for the day, he also had
the honor of performing the chess equivalent of being asked to throw the opening
pitch at the World Series by making the ceremonial first move of the 2003 Championships.
And maybe even one day in the future, as the AF4C expands across America, we
will see children, such as Cesar Lomeli, coming through our scholastic program
to win the title of US Chess Champion.
About
America's Foundation for Chess
Founded in 2000, America's Foundation for Chess (formerly the Seattle Chess
Foundation) is committed to bringing chess into every U.S. classroom. By first
making chess a larger part of America's cultural fabric accessible in schools
and in popular culture AF4C hopes to elevate the profile of chess in America.
To this end, AF4C is providing chess instruction materials and training to teachers,
who have little or no chess background. In addition, by sponsoring high-level
competitions such as the U.S. Chess Championships, AF4C is cultivating chess
role models and a venue for chess excellence in America. By forging partnerships
with schools and corporations, AF4C plans to make chess a part of every classroom
experience.
