Alums of several Ivy League powerhouses might be calling for the head of their coaches soon.
Their chess coaches, that is.
As noted in this Washington Post article, former Ivy League chess powerhouses such as Harvard and Princeton are now routinely waxed by emerging powers such as burgeoning powers as University of Maryland, the University of Texas at Dallas and Miami Dade College. Even more interesting is the way that these new top teams are doing it. They hire Russian and East European coaches and offer full-ride scholarships for recruits, many of whom are from abroad, one of whom was a 40 year old grandmaster. Ringers such as that led to the usual regulatory initiatives, such as prohibiting grandmasters over the age of 25. Now, there is even a six-year eligibility limit and a requirement that players maintain a 2.0 GPA and at least a half-time course schedule. Sounds almost like football . . .
But the market for chess coaches remains robust. Might things have turned out differently for Bobby Fischer had this market been around a generation ago?