No one knows for sure when the game of chess was invented. An early version of the game was popular at the end of the tenth cent
ury. The modern game was developed in southern Europe a few centuries later. Players in the sixteenth century wanted others to study their games to become better players. The best players were proclaimed “masters” and were highly honored. Books on chess were soon being read all over the world and the game grew in popularity.
After the Russian Revolution, the Russian government deliberately set out to dominate world chess. It set up a program of chess education for children. It offered financial support to the country’s best players. Russian players dominated the game throughout the twentieth century.
What inference can you make about why the Russian government set up chess instruction for young children?
a . Computers were new to most adults, but children knew them.
b. Children were the “masters” of the game.
c. The schools needed to teach more classes in games.
d. Children are easier than adults to train to play games such as chess.
