Go Reviews

Teaching Life Skills Through Chess
by Fernando Moreno
Reviewed by John Goon

A good book for those who teach go is "Teaching Life Skills Through Chess" by Fernando 
Moreno. "Teaching" offers a wonderful example of what can happen when all the right 
ingredients come together. Through chess, Moreno motivated his students to strive for higher goals and he was formally recognized for his accomplishment by the US Chess Federation on the steps of the US Capitol in the late 1990's. Today, his program continues to thrive and has several locations throughout Silver Spring, MD, a suburb of Washington DC. His primary group is the "Chess for Success Club" which averages 30 teenagers each week; when I was there this winter 50 kids showed up. Not bad for a program that only meets during the school year.

Some of the passages in Moreno's book reminded me of the Empty Board essays by Bill Cobb that have appeared in the American Go Journal. I've copied many of Bill's essays to use as handouts for workshops and demos because they cover such a wealth of interesting ideas. Imagine if Bill's essays were compiled and published.

Moreno's focus is properly on the kids; chess is simply a tool to reach them. The kids are 
the source of his passion and dedication and there are some good lessons to be learned from how they sustained him during the early lean years when the program was struggling to prove itself.

(John Goon is the AGA's Community Outreach Coordinator)