Chess makes a Difference

At ChessKid, we’ve always recognized that the royal game is a framework for life skills: critical thinking, risk calculation, accountability, and much more. And for more than a decade, ChessKid has taught millions of kids around the world how to play the game and refine these skills. Some of these kids have gone on to become world class-strategic and tactical wizards.

But chess can be more than that. Chess has the power to change lives in ways that transcend the chessboard. For the past few years, ChessKid has made it a priority to use the game as a powerful force for positive change in the world.

As an organization, we struggled to find a phrase that best encompasses these changes. Chess as a force for good. The chess effect. Beyond the game. The chess impact. It really is all of these things.

In the end, we all agreed that the simplest way to describe it is simply: Chess Makes a Difference. Below we’ll highlight some of the ways we've helped chess make a difference for others.

School Grants

With the start of the pandemic, ChessKid realized the massive disruption that school systems were facing. To help combat this we started a grant program last year where schools could apply for free gold membership for every elementary student in a school system/district. In total we're proud to say we have given out more than 100,000 ChessKid gold memberships to school districts through our grant program to kids around the world.

We added international schools this year and we look forward to continuing this program for years to come.

 

The Gift of Chess

The gift of chess is a program we are very proud to partner with.

Here is what founder Russ Makofsky had to say about The Gift of Chess:

"The Gift of Chess was started to allow all of our kids who had been learning chess virtually during Covid the opportunity to explore the game in person through the access to their very own chess set. Allowing them to share the game they love with their friends and family. Looking forward the Gift of Chess is about expanding that opportunity to as many kids as possible. We believe all kids can greatly benefit from learning and playing chess. We also believe that through access and hard work all kids can be great at chess!"

Their goal is to give away 10,000 chess sets and 10,000 ChessKid gold memberships to 10,000 New York City public school students. To date they have given away 6,300 chess sets!

Russ has asked ChessKid to help him identify schools where the chess sets are appreciated. If you would like to help fund donating chess sets to kids, check out thegiftofchess.org. What a great initiative!

Chess in Slums

Chess in Slums is a program that teaches chess to children without access to education, as a means of giving them mentorship, community, and an academic advantage. 

"The Chess in Slums initiative carries a powerful vision to promote chess education across the African continent. It is said that talent is universal but opportunity isn't. 

This is not just about chess and its amazing benefits--this is also about rekindling the hopes and dreams of the African child." - Tunde Onakoya, CIS founder  

After the story of one of his students went viral, a sponsor reached out to support her through school. Thus, the Chess in Slums movement was birthed. We knew we had to help!

ChessKid will be partnering with Chess in Slums to bring greater resources and awareness to the initiative. Our goal is to bring more mentors, scholarships, and infrastructure for learning chess online to the children and community of CIS. Said Tunde:

 "With this incredible partnership with ChessKid, we can expand our horizons and give the children living in remote communities access to the best training resource to help them become chess champions. This also affords them the opportunity to engage the use of technology and the internet to connect to the world beyond the confines of their community." 

We are so excited to embark on this journey, and we hope you follow along with us. Stay tuned for more updates and be sure to follow Chess in Slums here: 

www.instagram.com/chessinslums

Queens United

ChessKid firmly believes in supporting girls playing chess. We've partnered with Queens United to help bring awareness to an initiative that is championing this cause. Founders Lizzy Brahin and Maggie Tsyganova had this to say:

"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."

 

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

Be sure to keep an eye on the calendar as the BlazingBishop, Lizzy, and Maggie have a show planned for the future!

Chess Personalities

One of my favorite things about chess is that prodigies do exist. But they are also borne through hours of dedication and hard work.

We at ChessKid have partnered with some of the the brightest upcoming minds in the game. We believe that by helping spread awareness of their game through streams, articles, and social media posts all of the world can benefit by meeting the next Magnus Carlsen at a young age. Some of the up and coming players ChessKid has featured include Brewington Hardaway, Alice Lee, Tani Adewumi, and Shreyas Royal.

A young Brewington and Coach Chris Johnson analyzing in between rounds.

This is just a sampling of some of the good ChessKid has been able to do through the game of chess. As a company we will continue to change the world for the better through chess, because we believe Chess Makes a Difference.