Philadelphia after-school program introduces girls to chess for free. Meet some of the players.
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Summer will be here before you know it, and kids' summer camps are starting to fill up.
The after-school organization ASAP is hosting a free week-long program teaching girls to play chess. It's just like the after-school chess program it runs at schools across the city.
ASAP's motto is to help kids make the right move on and off the chessboard.
One of the girls in the program is 14-year-old Lucy, who spends the majority of her spare time practicing the game of chess.
What has she learned being part of Marc Levinson's chess club?
"I think being focused," she said.
Levinson's chess club is one of many in the School District of Philadelphia and charter schools that meets after school every Monday and Wednesday.
Chess manager Bradley Crable hopes more girls give chess a try.
"Our percentage right now is about 25-30% of girls that are involved. We would ideally like to have 50%," Bradley said.
For some of these young ladies, once they made their first move on the chessboard, they were hooked like Andrea.
"The aspect I love most is winning because it feels so good," Andrea said.
Nina, 10, said chess is a family game.
"Both of my grandfathers have chess boards, so I saw him playing with my brother and I wanted to learn and he taught me," Nina said.
They also taught her how to stare her opponent in the eye. She calls it her blank face.
After weeks of hard work, the annual Philly Girls Play Chess All-Girls tournament took place at the Independence Seaport Museum. Among the sea of yellow shirts, we found Andrea and Lucy. Lucy takes to heart the lessons she learned in Levinson's Club.
"There's the clock there's all these people around you. You have to really stay focused on your board," Lucy said.
ASAP's chess camp runs from July 15-19. You can find out more on PhillyASAP.org.
