By: Jordan Baker

Parents and advocates are calling on the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) to give chess the same recognition as traditional high school sports like basketball and football, the New York Post has exclusively learned.

The Citywide Council on High Schools (CCHS) overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Wednesday urging the PSAL to include chess as an official sport, citing its many academic and cognitive benefits.

“There’s a tremendous community of students yearning to play chess — and families that are supportive of it and having a team in every school,” said CCHS member Ben Morden, who co-sponsored the resolution, in an exclusive interview with the New York Post.

The game of kings has surged in popularity since the pandemic, yet opportunities for high school students in New York City have dwindled, Morden argued.

While the city once hosted major chess competitions, participation in high school tournaments has plummeted. Recent state competitions only drew 200 high school players, compared to 1,800 elementary school students.

NYC has produced young chess stars, including Nigerian refugee Tani Adewumi, who won a state championship at just 9 years old, and Mariangel Vargas, who achieved an international rating of 1,300 two years after her family fled Colombia.

Despite these achievements, chess is still not formally recognized as a sport by the PSAL, which oversees 25 high school sports ranging from football and basketball to table tennis and double Dutch.

Advocates for the resolution emphasized chess’s positive impact on students’ academic performance and mental development.

“The game has completely changed my daughters’ lives, improving their academic performance and focus,” PS 11 mom Tara Murphy said at the meeting, according to the New York Post.

Murphy shared how her younger daughter, who struggled with attention issues in kindergarten, showed remarkable improvement after taking up chess.

She also noted the game’s inclusivity: “My daughters have competed against children who are blind, some in wheelchairs. My daughter played next to a child the other day who had an endotracheal tube, and this weekend, she competed against kids from Canada who only spoke French—yet they were able to communicate through chess.”

Russell Makofsky, a prominent chess coach who has worked with Adewumi and Vargas, stressed that chess is just as much a team sport as any other.

“If we get high school kids engaged, we’ll give the kids in elementary school something to aspire to, to continue to play and care about the game of chess all while learning incredible life lessons,” Makofsky told the council, according to the New York Post.

Despite the overwhelming support for the resolution—passing with an 8-1 vote—not all CCHS members were convinced that chess belongs in the PSAL.

“I agree that chess is competitive and requires strategy, but I would offer that it is not a sport,” said CCHS member Lisa Stowe. “If we’re going to call chess a sport and have PSAL sponsor chess, then I think they should sponsor e-sports and video games.”

The recommendations will now be reviewed by the city Department of Education and PSAL leadership. Whether chess earns its place among NYC’s recognized high school sports remains to be seen, but its supporters are determined to make their next move.