|
By Anne Ward Ernst, the
Fremont
Argus, July 22, 2003
'We
want to bring chess to kids,' Fremont entrepreneur says.
FREMONT -- The
little boy touches his fingertips to his temples and gazes
at the ceiling.
"I'm visualizing my next move," he says.
Standing in the background, Riley Hughes smiles broadly,
eyes twinkling. This is what it's all about for Hughes --
getting kids to think critically, to analyze, to know chess.
"It's in our vision statement," Hughes said. "We want to
bring chess to kids."
Hughes has turned his love of chess into a thriving
business. His Fremont-based company, Know Chess!, has a
staff of 48 teaching the ancient strategic game to
kindergarten through eighth-grade students in 62 schools
through-out the Bay Area.
Running the burgeoning business doesn't allow Hughes time to
teach, as he did when he first started, but he said he makes
regular, unannounced visits to classes. This day, he has
dropped in to a summer camp class at Montessori School of
Fremont.
Kneeling in front of a low table across from two
second-graders, he shakes hands with both of them and begins
a game with each, first moving left and then right so he can
face his opponent and discuss each play.
"This move is called the Sicilian -- Bobby Fischer used to
play it," he tells the boys, explaining the strategy behind
it and the best possible response to it. The next move
offers Hughes another opportunity to teach.
"Who's ahead in development, white or black?" Hughes asks.
"White," says one boy. "Black," says the other. Hughes
explains why 'white' was the correct answer this time and
how the board would look differently if the answer were to
be 'black.' Nodding their heads in understanding, the boys
study their boards, calculating their next move. The games
end, and they all shake hands again.
"We emphasize sportsmanship," Hughes said. "It's really an
important piece of what we teach."
Shortly after retiring from Sun Microsystems and ending a
short stint at a high-tech start-up, Hughes was asked by a
friend to take over a class he was teaching in Menlo Park.
Hughes was hooked.
Hughes started Know Chess! about five years ago with his
wife, Angela, another ex-Sun employee, who handles the
company customer relations and human resources. It has grown
from one class to 2,000 students, and they plan to expand,
opening a franchise in Fresno in September and an office in
Los Angeles in January.
"It's not about the money," Hughes said. "It has never been
about the money."
But Know Chess! pays its employees well -- very well.
Instructors earn between $20 to $55 an hour. Many of the
instructors are college students.
"We feel we are really reaching two age groups," Angela
said. "We are teaching life skills to kids and providing an
opportunity for older kids -- college students -- to earn
some good money and learn a different set of life skills in
helping others."
"On the Job" profiles people with unique occupations in the
Tri-City area. Contact reporter Robert Airoldi at (510)
353-7003 or
rairoldi@angnewspapers.com, or write The Argus, 39737
Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont, 94538. |
