The Record Hackensack, New Jersey Sunday, February 27, 1972 - Page 59
New Move for Chess
Editor, The Record: I read with greatest interest Miss Nina Wood's article in the Feb. 7 The Record about the growth of interest in chess in Bergen County, undoubtedly largely due to the spectacular career of Bobby Fischer. I was particularly pleased to learn of instruction in the schools of Englewood and other Bergen municipalities, in addition to the formation of chess clubs for players over 18.
I was taught the moves by an uncle who also taught my older brother, and we both played on our high school team in Brooklyn. We played a lot with each other, and subsequently joined the Brooklyn Chess Club, one of two or three leading clubs in the country at the time. We made many friends through chess. We never had to worry about how to amuse ourselves in summer. We bought chess magazines and books with our joint allowances and learned that chess is a really cheap pastime, because three or four chess books (one of the openings, one on the end game, and one or two collections of tournaments or matches) would keep an ardent chess player busy perhaps a year. There are excellent chess magazines everywhere. An excellent way to study German or another foreign language is to study a manual or collection of games in that language. There are excellent weekly chess columns in American papers. Public libraries have books on chess. Games can be played by correspondence. It is a universal game and almost every country has chess players. It is a fine army or other service game. I hope Bergen County schools and others will take up the game in a big way.
Franklin F. Russell, 100 East Palisade Ave, Englewood, Feb. 9, 1972.
