The Republic of Armenia last month made chess a mandatory school subject for children over 6, and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov continues to lobby American lawmakers through the Kasparov Chess Foundation. The game inspires positive behavioral changes, says Temple's director of community relations L. Harrison Jay, who leads a chess club for students at Meade Elementary School in North Philadelphia: "Chess makes you pay attention to the consequences of your actions and the value of the different decisions you make."