Queens United Chess Partners with ChessKid!

Editor's note: This article was written by Lizzy Brahin and Maggie Tsyganova

Only one in seven competitive chess players in the United States is female. A major barrier to female representation in chess is the lack of sustained community, and Queens United Chess aims to address this through programs to raise awareness and support girls at all age levels. Queens United Chess is partnering with ChessKid to help foster growth and retention of girls in chess, in addition to creating a pipeline of future leaders through chess.

Queens United Chess was founded in December, 2019 by Lizzy Brahin, an incoming freshman at Harvard College, and Maggie Tsyganova, a rising junior at Walter Payton College Prep High School. The student-run organization bridges the gender divide in chess and empowers female high school chess leaders through their free co-ed introductory chess lessons, weekly Girl Power Chess Clubs, and high school leadership councils, which are all female high school student-led.

Lizzy and Maggie both entered the realm of competitive chess playing in elementary school, attending weekend-long tournaments to find only one or two other girls. They realized the lack of female representation in chess and how it affected their own chess playing and confidence.

With few female role models to look up to, many of their female friends also discontinued their involvement in chess after middle school. This left them to represent two of the handful of female competitive chess players in their entire school district, which happens to have more than 100,000 high school students across Chicago Public Schools. By partnering with ChessKid, they hope to make chess accessible to all by reaching not only younger boys in chess, but girls too, and encourage them to retain their interests in chess through high school and beyond.

Lizzy Brahin (right) and Maggie Tsyganova (left), Co-Founders of Queens United Chess

ChessKid and Queens United Chess are collaborating to create a sustained community of youth chess players and female chess leaders, starting as a local effort in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Queens United Chess joined forces with the CPS Academic Chess program to develop the Chess Queens program in which Queens United Ambassadors reached more 120 students at five public schools during the first half of 2021.

Pursuing this mission of increasing chess accessibility in their local communities, Queens United Chess has used ChessKid as their primary platform and curriculum for their introductory chess lessons. Queens United will continue to use ChessKid in their weekly Girl Power Club and upcoming school year, in which ChessKid will provide gold memberships for this cause.

Screenshot from an introductory chess lesson. The ChessKid analysis board is also very useful for online lessons.

ChessKid and Queens United Chess will work together on creating and promoting fun/engaging chess content, activities, and local events for beginners in chess to build community. They will also develop a Mentorship Program where high school girls can continue being involved in chess, where there is currently a really high attrition rate.

Once a girl at the introductory chess level reaches Queen Level 9 of the ChessKid Curriculum, they are eligible for mentorship by a Queens United Ambassador. Under the Mentorship Program, Queens United High School Ambassadors will serve as role models for younger girls in chess and beyond.

Students participating in the end-of-program tournament held via ChessKid.

Queens United Chess is continuously looking for more female high school Ambassadors to join their team and youth to join the Queens United Chess community through school lessons, tournaments, and/or weekly Girl Power Club. More information about upcoming summer and fall opportunities can be found at queensunitedchess.org or on the Queens United Instagram page @queens_united_chess. By partnering with ChessKid, Queens United Chess is excited to further propel its mission of advancing girls’ involvement in chess and empowering youth to serve as leaders in their communities.

With over 2 million users, ChessKid is the leader in scholastic chess. Part of the ChessKid mission is to use the game as a force for positive impact in the world. If you have a chess idea or story that captures this, we would love to hear about it!