CHICAGO — When Kimberly Anderson brought her three daughters, Kayla, 13, KaLaya, 9, and Kyra, 7, here to the Kasparov Chess Foundation’s 8th annual All Girls Championships, her reason went beyond whatever trophies the girls might bring home.
She was actually thinking several years ahead — or, as chess enthusiasts might say, several moves ahead — to when the girls will be old enough to go to college.
And with good reason.
By winning the tournament, 15-year-old Alexandra Botez, a sophomore at Clackamas High School in Clackmas, Ore., took home a scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas that is valued at $105,000.
This is the fourth year that UTD has offered the scholarship to the winner of the Under 18 section of the All Girls Championships and represents what tournament organizers say is a growing trend.
“It wasn’t so long ago that there weren’t chess scholarships,” says Glenn Panner, a national tournament director who served as chief tournament director for the event.
“Now, we have amazing schools like UTD that are so generous with giving these opportunities.”
