Kosteniuk meets Carvalho at Miami-Dade Title I Adminitstration District Chess Championship

Record 844 kids playing chess in Miami and 76 schools - so cool!

Hello everybody!

Yesterday I was at the Title I District Chess Championship for Miami-Dade Title I Chess Program. That's a chess program, run in an excellent way by Elizabeth Tejada (see photo below), in which all of Miami's kids in the whole public school system have an opportunity to learn and play chess at school. Lots of coaches take part in the program, and there are several chess championships along the way. The biggest one is the Title I District Chess Championship, to which I was invited yesterday.

I was very impressed by the very good organization, but most of all by the presence, from the very beginning to the very end, of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. I was told Alberto has not missed one of these chess events in years, and that he supports chess in schools 100%. So it was a blessing for me to meet him and to be able to talk about how to support chess more with kids.

We talked about future events and he was very open to my ideas, I hope we will have a chance to share some big news with you later on, which may go a long way to promote chess in Florida even more.

Title I Chess Coordinator Elizabeth Tejada,

Superintendent of schools Alberto Carvalho,

and me, Alexandra Kosteniuk

Alberto was infatigable and gladly accepted to pose in all photos, he seems even more used to that than I am! He also asked each kid their name, how they were doing in the tournament, and in school, and wished them the best for their tournament! That's very impressive considering this was a day off (Saturday), and Alberto is in charge of the 4th largest school district of the whole USA!

Also, I met with Dr. Marta Perez and Dr. Wilbert Holloway, School Board Members, from M-DCPS and expressed to me their support to all chess players!!

Scott Lake Elementary Chess Teams are cool!

It's not every day you get to be in a photo with the women's

world chess champion and the superintendent for schools

Yes you recognized him on the right in the blue shirt:

Miami chess star and coach IM Blas Lugo

And of course lots of autographs!

I love to be present at prize-giving ceremonies

and hand out prizes to kids!

Every chess coach who came to the tournament received a free copy

of my book "How I became Grandmaster at Age 14"

The Coordinator of the Title I Chess Program

Elizabeth Tejada gives me a certificate of appreciation

for supporting this event

The official photo album of this event is HERE. If you're on the photos and you'd like a copy, just email me and I will send you one!

A nice post about the McMillan Chess Team is here.

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk

Women's World Chess Champion

www.chessblog.com