On June 7, New York City Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba will welcome the Mayor's Cup Youth Chess Championships to Manhattan's Frederick Douglass Academy. The tournament is open to all students in grades K-12 who are currently enrolled in public, independent and parochial schools located in New York City. Matches will commence at 10:00am and the awards ceremony will immediately follow the final round at approximately 3:30pm.

This year's event will feature many highly decorated teams as they face off in four rounds of competition. Teams expected to compete include two squads that recently won national championships at the Elementary Nationals-Brooklyn's IS 318K (K-6 Open) and Manhattan's PS 2M (K-6 Unrated). Also competing are Mayor's Cup defending champions PS 124M (elementary division) and PS 70X (primary division).

"The Mayor's Cup Youth Chess Championships is the biggest and most competitive tournament on the Chess-in-the-Schools calendar with over 500 students expecting to participate," said Commissioner Podziba. "Chess-in-the-Schools should be commended for creating a fabulous program that has inspired thousands of our city's youth to learn how to play chess, develop outstanding problem-solving skills as well as learn about hard work, dedication and the importance of respecting your fellow students."

"Chess-in-the-Schools is proud of its tournament program and the thousands of students who test their skills at our events," says Marley Kaplan, President and CEO of Chess-in-the-Schools. "The Mayor's Cup is a wonderful opportunity for friendly and fair competition that will encourage students to work hard at chess and even harder in school."

The Mayor's Cup Youth Chess Championships was created through a partnership between Chess-in-the-Schools, the Department of Education, and the New York City Sports Commission. Students will compete for the Mayor's Cup in one of four divisions -- Junior High and High School Division, Elementary Division, Elementary Novice, and Primary Division.

Frederick Douglass Academy is located at 2581 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. (at W. 149th St.) in Manhattan.

For more information about the 2008 Mayor's Cup Youth Chess Championships, please visit www.chessintheschools.org.

Chess-in-the-Schools is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to improving academic performance and building self-esteem among inner-city public school children. The Chess-in-the-Schools program began teaching chess in low-performing New York City schools in 1986. During the 21+ years of our School Program, we have taught more than 400,000 students the complex game of chess and the skills that go with it.

The New York City Sports Commission is the mayoral agency charged with attracting, facilitating and promoting professional, amateur and scholastic sports events in New York City. The Sports Commission has played an integral role in creating or developing many new sporting events, including the NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series™ Champions Week, the BMC Software NYC Cycling Championship, the AVP Brooklyn Open, the NAUTICA NYC Triathlon, the NYC Half-Marathon, the Union Square Street Sessions presented by Jeep®, the Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race, and the Men's Health Urbanathlon.