ALexington Herald-Leader, Lexington, Kentucky, Monday, April 07, 1958
The Routeen 07 Apr 1958, Mon Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Kentucky) Newspapers.com
The RouTEEN by Sue McCauley
Pictured once as a game played in pine-paneled libraries by gentlemen with expanding waistlines and receding hairlines, chess is fast becoming a sport for the young.
Lexington teen-agers are adopting this game with a fervor that was formerly reserved for new dance steps and “cruelty jokes”.
Junior high school students, for the most part, have become addicts quicker than their elders in high school. Morton Junior students appear to be the most enthusiastic; some of them even play during their free time at lunch.
Small portable sets are popular because they can easily be carried around.
This interest is not limited to Lexington. Several schools in Cincinnati have chess teams and the popularity of chess is even greater in the Eastern states.
In fact, Bobby Fischer, a 15-year-old Brooklyn boy, was recently crowned U.S. chess champion. On his way to the top, Bobby outplayed experts several times his age.
I talked with a number of Lexington teen-age players last week. Such terms as stalemate, king, pawns and offensive games dotted our conversations until I, being completely ignorant, also was completely confused.
A lot more boys have taken up chess than girls. Several girls who do play said they they were taught by their boy friends and that's the only reason they play.
