International Master John Donaldson L and Grandmaster Nick de Firmian
Chess for American kids is on a huge roll, with US Chess just hosting the largest tournament in history at the SuperNationals. At the top, we have 90 Grandmasters, and the gold medal Olympic team. Earlier this year, I caught up with Grandmaster Nick de Firmian and International Master John Donaldson of the Mechanics Institute in San Francisco to get a sense of why chess is so hot in the US right now.
Mechanics Institute is the oldest continuously operating chess club in America. Nick played in numerous chess Olympiads and picked up plenty of tournament victories along the way. John Donaldson is many time Captain of medal earning Olympic and World Team squads, leading to a career highlight in captaining the 2016 Gold Medal Olympic team.
FULL STORY
