While in the United States we debate whether chess is a sport or not, the countries of Latin America have no quarrels in this matter - from Mexico to Argentina chess is classified as a sport. Since chess is a sport in those countries, they are directly funded by their national governments or else they would perish. Case in point are the Cori brothers in Peru.The Cori brothers are a brother and sister duo in the under 14 and under 16 categories. Both are international masters (one is a GM-Elect) and they recently won a gold medal each at the World Youth Championship in Turkey. We have all been in awe with the Polgar sisters and their achievements; however, we have not witnessed in recent times anything close to the Cori brothers.
What makes this story so moving is the fact that Peru is a nation with extreme poverty with a large native indian population, so traveling abroad has not been the easiest thing due to financial reasons. Yet through the hardships, the Cori parents have been able to launch their two children to the international chess arena.
This past week, the government of Peru announced that they will be investing $17,000 dollars in the Cori brothers for their achievements in winning two gold medals in the World Youth Championship in Turkey.
In the following link one can see how the Cori brothers were received at the airport upon their return from Turkey, they were welcomed like heroes:
Usually when articles about Latin American governments rewarding their citizens financially for sport achievements are written, most American readers tend to say, "They should be using that money to help their people so they won't have to come to the United States..."
I would answer that Peru helping the Cori brothers is exactly that - helping their people.
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| GOBIERNO PERUANO ENTREGA AYUDA ECONOMICA A CAMPEONES |
El presidente peruano en funciones, Luis Giampietri, entregó hoy un total de 52.000 nuevos soles (unos 17.000 dólares) a los hermanos Daysi y Jorge Cori, campeones mundiales de ajedrez de las categorías sub'16 y sub'14, respectivamente. Giampietri entregó a hermanos Cori, 15.000 nuevos soles (unos 5.000 dólares) y un ordenador portátil a cada uno, así como 22.000 dólares (unos 7.000 dólares) para los viajes que realicen como deportistas en el 2010, informó Palacio de Gobierno. |
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