Wood River Valley residents are generally active and fit – and so are their minds, if they’ve discovered chess. A game of strategy and intellect, chess is challenging and fun and, it doesn’t matter if you’re 5 or 105, a marathoner or a couch potato, you can still play.
Norman Friedman has been teaching chess to Hemingway Elementary kids for the past six years. Before he moved to Ketchum, Mr. Friedman worked in the northeast, teaching chess, and conducting a series of studies on the benefits of chess. What the studies found was that students who played chess had improved self-esteem, higher math and verbal scores, and better problem-solving skills.
During the school year, Hemingway Elementary students can enroll in Mr. Friedman’s after school programs to learn chess while Jeff Bagget, another chess expert, teaches junior high students at the Community School. But this summer anyone can join the fun -- Tuesday evenings at 6 at Atkinson’s Park. Come teach a little one a couple of tricks or get schooled by the master himself.
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