Chess can be a lifeline for at-risk kids.

A PERSONAL STORY FROM BILL BROCK, PH.D., C.P.A

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The moment my father was committed to a mental institution was the moment my happy childhood crumbled. I was nine. My parents divorced, and mom moved us to Shamokin, Pennsylvania, where she worked third shift as a nurse’s aide to support four kids. We had to live with my grandparents for a while and then in public housing. We bought groceries with food stamps.

But Shamokin had a chess club.

This was 1970, and Bobby Fischer’s championship run was drawing increasing numbers of casual players to the game. I hadn’t been able to figure it out on my own, but at the Shamokin club, the adults were willing to teach kids, and I was in.

They mentored us, played matches with us, and took us to tournaments. Within a couple years, I was the strongest player in town and one of the strongest in the region. They seemed really proud of my friend Dan Polastre and me, and they put us on boards one and two in intercity matches—probably a bit before we deserved it—and that really built our confidence.

Today, lots of at-risk kids have it much worse than I did. In many cases, the local or scholastic chess club can throw them a lifeline—like it did for me—by offering mentoring and a real sense of belonging. Also, chess fosters cognition; it’s a constant toggling between concrete and intuitive thinking, and it helps kids understand the direct path between choices and consequences.

For me, the game of chess was a fun and painless introduction to critical thinking, and a few years later, I was accepted into MIT. It’s hard for me to imagine where I’d be without the chess club in Shamokin. Supporting US Chess helps ensure that young people in need will have similar opportunities today.

Read more personal stories here.