Chess-in-the-Schools President Profiled

Chess-in-the-Schools president Marley Kaplan is profiled in the Giving section of today's New York Times (see "Marley Kaplan Left the Banking World to Teach Chess to Schoolchildren" by Geraldine Fabrikant -- and be sure to check out the excellent "Chess for Change" photo gallery by Tom White). The article tells the story of how Kaplan left a lucrative banking career and turned the American Chess Foundation into Chess-in-the-Schools, "which now teaches 20,000 new children a year, with an annual budget of $3 million. Since 1986, it calculates, it has taught chess to 425,000 children on the theory that the game helps them develop basic analytical skills that lead to academic success." Hat tip: Jim West.