CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Yogi Berra was quoted as saying, "Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical." On Tuesday, at Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the White Sox, an equally mental game was being played.
In the Stadium Club at Sox Park, with a view of the field, on a rainy day better suited for indoor activities than baseball, 150 CPS students and a couple dozen CPD officers were playing chess.
“This is the culminating event of what we call the Cops and Kids chess program. It’s after-school chess programs where we have officers coming in and interacting with the kids on a weekly basis," said David Heiser, President of the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation, which has brought chess into the public schools for 50 years.
At one table WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser met officer Phil Rosas, who said “they’re teaching me a lesson.”
A 12-year-old named Kyle, said he was feeling pretty confident after one win. He’s been playing chess for four years.
“It’s a great time to get involved and play with the kids,” he said. “I like to see how the mind kind of, how the hamster turns as you see them, how they’re thinking for every move. I guess I’m not doing the best but I’m having fun.”
The Cops and Kids program allows both to have positive interactions.