FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Georgi Orlov

Chess Mates

Phone: 206.789.9614, E-mail: chessmates@earthlink.net

Amy Low

GMMB

Phone: 206.352.8598, E-mail: amy.low@gmmb.com

5.7.02

Chess Mates Foundation Receives $10,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

SEATTLE – The Chess Mates Foundation today announced a $10,000 gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The funds will be used to support and sustain the Chess Mates Foundation’s new and existing scholastic chess programs in nearly 50 greater Seattle area elementary and middle schools.

"We are very excited our efforts are being supported by the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation,” said Georgi Orlov, executive director of the Chess Mates Foundation. The Chess Mates Foundation has been leading the way for chess education in public schools throughout the Seattle area for more than a decade.

Chess Mates Foundation programs focus on the concept that the game of chess makes critical thinking and creative problem-solving fun for children. Chess Mates provides all teaching materials, chess equipment and a trained instructor for each program.

The Chess Mates Foundation has developed scholastic chess clubs and provided after-school chess instruction in Puget Sound-area primary and secondary public schools since 1989.

On the Internet:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, www.gatesfoundation.org

Chess Mates, www.chessmates.org

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The Chess Mates Foundation was created in 1989 by Seattle businessman Henry Eisenhardt. The work of Chess Mates Foundation has been repeatedly recognized by the educational community. Chess Mates received The Golden Apple Award in 1995 and the Katharine M. Bullitt A+ Partnership Award from the Alliance for Education in 1999. Chess Mates programs are accessible to all public school children regardless of race, gender, physical ability or economic situation. Programs run annually, from October to May, at participating Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Shoreline and Highline elementary and middle schools.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to improving people’s lives by sharing advances in health and learning with the global community. Led by Bill Gates’ father, William H. Gates, Sr., and Patty Stonesifer, the Seattle-based foundation has an asset base of $24.2 billion. For complete information, visit www.gatesfoundation.org.