At John Burroughs Elementary School this past Thursday, we held a Pawn Game tournament for the second and third grade students. Behavior was excellent and the skills both classes had learned were evident. The teachers were impressed by their students’ abilities to visualize, execute plans, and win and lose with grace and dignity.
January 25 marked the fourth match of the Metro Area Chess League season. Leaders Montgomery Blair High School – the only team with a perfect score through the first three rounds – faced Richard Montgomery and were held to their first drawn match, as each team won two games from their four boards. Woodrow Wilson High School and BASIS DC both won their Round 4 matches to join them on 3.5 match points, although Montgomery Blair still holds the board points tiebreaker.
Montgomery Blair High School 2 – 2 Richard Montgomery High School
Wilson High School 2.5 – 1.5 Gonzaga College High School
EL Haynes Public Charter School 1 – 3 BASIS DC
Washington International School 1 – 3 St. Anselms Abbey School
McLean High School 2 – 2 Rochambeau French Intl. School
Georgetown Preparatory School 1 – 3 Thomas J. Wootton High School
James Hubert Blake High School 1 – 3 Rockville High School
Justice High School 1.5 – 2.5 Col. Zadok Magruder High School
West Springfield High School 2 – 2 South Lakes High School
Don Bosco Cristo Rey 0 – 4 Northwest High School
The SEED Public Charter School 0 – 4 St. Albans School
| Place | School | Total Match Points | Total Board Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Montgomery Blair High School | 3.5 | 14 |
| 2nd | Woodrow Wilson High School | 3.5 | 11 |
| 3rd | BASIS DC | 3.5 | 10 |
| 4th (Tie) | Richard Montgomery High School | 3 | 11 |
| 4th (Tie) | St. Anselm's Abbey School | 3 | 11 |
| 6th | McLean High School | 2.5 | 10 |
| 7th | Gonzaga College High School | 2.5 | 9.5 |
| 8th (Tie) | South Lakes High School | 2.5 | 9 |
| 8th (Tie) | Thomas S. Wootton High School | 2.5 | 9 |
| 10th | Georgetown Preparatory School | 2.5 | 7.5 |
| 11th | Northwest High School | 2 | 9 |
| 12th | West Springfield High School | 2 | 8 |
| 13th (Tie) | Col. Zadok Magruder High School | 2 | 7 |
| 13th (Tie) | Rockville High School | 2 | 7 |
| 15th | Rochambeau, the French International School | 2 | 6.5 |
| 16th | St. Albans School | 1.5 | 6 |
| 17th | Justice High School | 1 | 6.5 |
| 18th (Tie) | James Hubert Blake High School | 1 | 5 |
| 18th (Tie) | E.L. Haynes Public Charter School | 1 | 5 |
| 20th | Washington International School | 0.5 | 4.5 |
| 21st | Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School | 0 | 2 |
| 22nd | The SEED Public Charter School | 0 | 1.5 |
This is the game from board 1 of the Richard Montgomery – Montgomery Blair match, after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h6 5. g4 Be4 6. f3 Bh7 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 e6 9. h5 c5 10. c3 Nc6 11. Ne2 Qb6 12. f4 Rc8 13. Nd2 cxd4 14. cxd4 Nb4 15. Qb1 Nc2+ 16. Kf2 Ne7 17. Nf3 Nxa1 18. Qxa1 Nc6 19. a3 Na5 20. Qb1 Bxa3 21. g5 Be7 22. f5 exf5 23. Qxf5 Qe6 24. Qd3 Nc4 25. Nf4 Qd7. Up to the previous move, Black had defended well against White’s attacks, but with the last move, White has the chance to gain an advantage.
26. e6 opens up Black’s king, since now …fxe6 27. Qg6+ wins Black’s queen or mates. Instead the game continued 26….Qd6 27. exf7+ Kd8 28. Ng6 Rf8 29. Nxf8 Bxf8 30. Re1 Be7 31. Qf5 Qd7 32. f8=Q+ Bxf8 33. Qxf8+ Kc7 34. Bf4+ Kb6 35. Qb4+ Qb5 36. Re6+ Rc6 37. Qxb5+ Kxb5 38. Rxc6 Kxc6 39. gxh6 gxh6 40. Bxh6 Kd6 41. b3 Na5 42. Bf8+ Ke6 43. Ng5+ Kf5 44. h6 Nxb3 45. h7 Kxg5 46. h8=Q a5 47. Qg8+ Kf6 48. Qxd5 a4 49. Qxb7 and Black resigned. 1-0.
Board 1 in the McLean-Rochambeau match began: 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 Be7 7. Bxc4 h6 8. Bh4 cxd4 9. Qxd4 Nc6 10. Qxd8+ Bxd8 11. O-O O-O 12. Rfd1 a6 13. Rac1 b5 14. Bb3 Bb7 15. e5 Ng4 16. Bg3 b4 17. Na4 h5 18. Nc5 Bc8 giving rise to the position on the right. Can you spot an idea for White to gain an advantage?
19. Nxe6 Bxe6 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. Rxc6 and White will be two pawns ahead.
The game concluded 21…Re8 22. Rdd6 Ba5 23. h3 Nh6 24. Rxa6 Rxa6 25. Rxa6 Bc7 26. Nd4 Kf7 27. Nb5 Re7 28. Bh4 Rd7 29. Ra7 Nf5 30. Bg3 h4 31. Bf4 g5 32. Bxg5 Kg6 33. Nxc7 Rd1+ 34. Kh2 Kxg5 35. Nxe6+ Kg6 36. Nf4+ Kg5 37. Ne2 Re1 38. f4+ Kg6 39. Ng1 Rf1 40. Nf3 Ra1 41. a3 bxa3 42. bxa3 Rc1 43. a4 Rc4 44. a5 Rxf4 45. a6 Ra4 46. Ra8 Kf7 47. a7 Ke7 48. Rh8 1-0.
Round 5 will be held on February 8, 2022 at 7:15pm ET (7:30 games start) with matches played on https://lichess.org.
BASIS DC – Montgomery Blair High School
Richard Montgomery High School – Woodrow Wilson High School
St. Anselm’s Abbey School – McLean High School
Gonzaga College High School – South Lakes High School
Thomas J. Wootton High School – Rochambeau French Intl. School
Col. Zadok Magruder High School – West Springfield High School
Northwest High School – Rockville High School
St. Albans School – Georgetown Preparatory School
James Hubert Blake High School – E.L. Haynes Public Charter School
Washington International School – Justice High School
Don Bosco Cristo Rey – The SEED Public Charter School
Yesterday, January 22, was the fifth matchday of this season’s Elementary Team League. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church again played host. With two straight 4-0 victories, Colvin Run Elementary (Vienna, VA) extended their lead at the top of the season standings.
Following our winter break, the Metro Area Chess League resumed on lichess yesterday evening. Montgomery Blair High School (Silver Spring, MD) is now in the solo lead after its third consecutive clean sweep of all four boards.
Rockville High School 0-4 Montgomery Blair High School
South Lakes High School 1-3 McLean High School
BASIS DC 2.5-1.5 Georgetown Preparatory School
Thomas S. Wootton High School 1-3 Gonzaga College High School
Rochambeau, the French International School 2.5-1.5 Washington International School
Col. Zadok Magruder High School 0.5-3.5 Woodrow Wilson High School
James Hubert Blake High School 0-4 St. Anselm’s Abbey School
St. Albans School 0-4 West Springfield High School
E.L. Haynes Public Charter School 3-1 Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School
Northwest High School 4-0 The SEED Public Charter School
Richard Montgomery High School 4-0 Justice High School
| Place | School | Total Match Points | Total Board Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Montgomery Blair High School | 3 | 12 |
| 2nd | Richard Montgomery High School | 2.5 | 9 |
| 3rd | Woodrow Wilson High School | 2.5 | 8.5 |
| 4th | BASIS DC | 2.5 | 7 |
| 5th (Tie) | McLean High School | 2 | 8 |
| 5th (Tie) | St. Anselm's Abbey School | 2 | 8 |
| 7th | South Lakes High School | 2 | 7 |
| 8th | Georgetown Preparatory School | 1.5 | 7.5 |
| 9th (Tie) | West Springfield High School | 1.5 | 6 |
| 9th (Tie) | Thomas S. Wootton High School | 1.5 | 6 |
| 11th | Gonzaga College High School | 1.5 | 5 |
| 12th | Rochambeau, the French International School | 1.5 | 4.5 |
| 13th | Justice High School | 1 | 6 |
| 14th | Northwest High School | 1 | 5 |
| 15th | Col. Zadok Magruder High School | 1 | 4.5 |
| 16th (Tie) | James Hubert Blake High School | 1 | 4 |
| 16th (Tie) | Rockville High School | 1 | 4 |
| 16th (Tie) | E.L. Haynes Public Charter School | 1 | 4 |
| 19th (Tie) | Washington International School | 0.5 | 3.5 |
| 19th (Tie) | St. Albans School | 0.5 | 2 |
| 21st | Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School | 0 | 2 |
| 22nd | The SEED Public Charter School | 0 | 1.5 |
Round 4 will be held on January 25, 2022 at 7:15pm ET (7:30 games start) with matches played on https://lichess.org.
Montgomery Blair High School – Richard Montgomery High School
Wilson High School – Gonzaga College High School
EL Haynes Public Charter School – BASIS DC
Washington International School – St. Anselms Abbey School
McLean High School – Rochambeau French Intl. School
Georgetown Preparatory School – Thomas J. Wootton High School
James Hubert Blake High School – Rockville High School
Justice High School – Col. Zadok Magruder High School
West Springfield High School – South Lakes High School
Don Bosco Cristo Rey – Northwest High School
The SEED Public Charter School – St. Albans School
Ten school teams braved the frigid winter weather yesterday to come out for the fourth match day of this season’s Elementary Team League at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. With the season half finished, we have a new leader in the overall standings, as Colvin Run Elementary (Vienna, VA) won both of their matches to overtake Kent Gardens.
Rogers’ observations are in line with what we at the Chess Center have seen throughout our history of organizing events for young people. Few other pursuits can match the universal accessibility of chess to players of all ages, genders, backgrounds, and physical capabilities. And unlike with an electronic game franchise that has new editions or sequels coming out every year, parents who take up the hobby of chess alongside their children don’t have to worry about the game being replaced. Chess is an activity that has stood the test of time. The rules have not changed in half a millennium, but the strategic complexity of the game keeps us all interested.
All of our instructors who were fortunate enough to learn chess in our childhoods now look back on those years with great fondness; we remember the first time we sat across from an adult at a chess board, playing or discussing a game, and were treated as equals.
We hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season and getting to spend time with loved ones. Remember, whether you’re visiting in person or catching up through a video screen, a game of chess is a great way to connect.
Since chess players plan ahead, we’re posting some of the major competition dates for 2022 right here for folks who wish to mark their calendars.
The Virginia Scholastic Chess Championship is scheduled for the weekend of March 26-27 in Fredericksburg, VA. State championship tournaments are exciting for children no matter their playing strength, and we hope many of our Virginia-based students will decide to attend this year’s event. The Virginia Chess Federation has more information and online registration here.
Further ahead are the national championships. The National High School Championship for 2022, open to all students in grades K-12, is happening in Memphis the weekend of April 8-10 at the Renasant Convention Center. Online registration is available here.
Three weeks later, from April 29-May 1, is the National Middle School Championship for grades K-8. The venue is the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth area). An entry form and additional details can be found here.
Two weeks after that, from May 13-15, is the National Elementary School Championship for grades K-6, slated for Columbus at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Online registration for the elementary school Nationals is not available yet, but we believe it will be soon. You can visit the USCF’s calendar of national events for more information, and the Chess Center will also be updating our tournament calendar as more details become open.
Regardless of how many games they win, participating in these state and national championship competitions tends to be an experience that children never forget. If you’re interested in forming a school group to travel to a tournament and you’d like to connect with other families who want the same, we encourage you to speak with your chess club instructor.
We wish you all a safe, healthy and happy New Year, and we look forward to seeing you in 2022!
Nearly 40 students from ten schools showed up for this past Saturday’s Elementary Team League competition. Last Saturday was the third matchday of the eight scheduled for the season. Once again, we thank St. Luke’s Episcopal Church for providing the venue and tables.
We enter the holiday break with Kent Gardens Elementary still leading the overall standings. The remaining matchdays are January 8, January 22, February 5, February 19 and March 5.
Round 1:
Tuesday evening was Round 2 of the Metro Area Chess League. Students from 22 high school teams from the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia and Maryland showed up on lichess to compete.
In a closely matched field, Montgomery Blair High School (Silver Spring, MD) and South Lakes High School (Reston, VA) are the only schools to win both of their matches so far and sit atop the standings with 2 match points each. Last night Montgomery Blair swept all four boards for the second round in a row and so holds the board points tiebreaker with 8 points out of a possible 8, with South Lakes in second with 6. Just behind them, Georgetown Preparatory School (North Bethesda, MD) leads a group of six schools tied with 1.5 match points.
Round 2 Results & League Standings
| Place | School | Round 2 Board Points | Round 2 Match Points | Total Board Points | Total Match Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Montgomery Blair High School | 4 | 1 | 8 | 2 |
| 2nd | South Lakes High School | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 3rd | Georgetown Preparatory School | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1.5 |
| 4th (Tie) | Gonzaga College High School | 2 | .5 | 5 | 1.5 |
| 4th (Tie) | Thomas S. Wootton High School | 2 | .5 | 5 | 1.5 |
| 4th (Tie) | Richard Montgomery High School | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1.5 |
| 4th (Tie) | Woodrow Wilson High School | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1.5 |
| 8th | BASIS DC | 2.5 | 1 | 4.5 | 1.5 |
| 9th (Tie) | Justice High School | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 9th (Tie) | McLean High School | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| 11th (Tie) | James Hubert Blake High School | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 11th (Tie) | Rockville High School | 2 | .5 | 4 | 1 |
| 11th (Tie) | St. Anselm's Abbey School | 2 | .5 | 4 | 1 |
| 11th (Tie) | Col. Zadok Magruder High School | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 15th (Tie) | Rochambeau, the French International School | 0 | 0 | 2 | .5 |
| 15th (Tie) | West Springfield High School | 0 | 0 | 2 | .5 |
| 15th (Tie) | St. Albans School | 2 | .5 | 2 | .5 |
| 15th (Tie) | Washington International School | 2 | .5 | 2 | .5 |
| 19th | The SEED Public Charter School | 1.5 | 0 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 20th (Tie) | Northwest High School | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20th (Tie) | Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20th (Tie) | E.L. Haynes Public Charter School | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Teams are ranked by Match Points, then by Board Points.
Round 2 Highlights
Round 3 Pairings
Round 3 will be held on January 11, 2022 at 7:15pm ET (7:30 games start)
with matches played on https://lichess.org.
Rockville High School vs. Montgomery Blair High School
South Lakes High School vs. McLean High School
BASIS DC vs. Georgetown Preparatory School
Richard Montgomery High School vs. Justice High School
Thomas S. Wootton High School vs. Gonzaga College High School
Rochambeau, the French International School vs. Washington International School
Col. Zadok Magruder High School vs. Woodrow Wilson High School
James Hubert Blake High School vs. St. Anselm’s Abbey School
St. Albans School vs. West Springfield High School
E.L. Haynes Public Charter School vs. Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School
Northwest High School vs. The SEED Public Charter School
A curious reader of our website sent in the following question:
“In the Big Nate comic strips, there is a recurring theme: Nate is put into check, and Nate responds by making one move to checkmate his opponent. This led me to wonder about actual plausible board configurations that could result in this outcome. Has anyone come up with such configurations?”
It doesn’t happen often, but here is a silly example:
This specific position would not likely arise in a game, but the concept of answering a check with a winning discovered attack is known in chess. Thanks for your question!
Congratulations to Sal Rosario and David Sherman, two of the Center’s former teachers, for splitting the championship honors as 2021 District of Columbia Champion and Senior Champions.
Eighteen players competed over the weekend in this year’s DC Championship, where Dennis Norman went 4-0 to capture first place overall and Bijan Tahmassebi took clear second with 3½. The top two finishers are from Maryland, so were ineligible for the DC titles. Rosario and Sherman each went 3-1.
Special congratulations to the students who played. Two of our young champions, Ben Nemelka and Amanda Lossef both did well against the adult competition, and we are very pleased to see Anna Miller and newcomer Samson Neuberger playing.
All photos provided courtesy of Mr. Bill Simmons, used with permission.
One of the co-founders of the U.S. Chess Center in 1991, International Chess Master Eugene Meyer was instrumental in the success of the Center in establishing chess classes in hundreds of local schools.
IM Meyer was among the twenty highest-rated players in the country for a couple of decades and was an active participant in local and national tournaments and leagues, winning many championships. For many years, until he emigrated to Virginia, he was the District of Columbia’s highest-rated player.
In honor of his 29 years of service and generosity to the U.S. Chess Center, Executive Director Christopher McCleary presented IM Meyer with an award last week. Thank you, IM Meyer!
The District of Columbia Championship for 2021 is December 11-12 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Washington. The 2020 champion, IM David Recuero, is out of town for the next couple of months so the field is wide open.
The highest-scoring DC player earns the title of District of Columbia Chess Champion, but any player with an up-to-date USCF membership is eligible to participate, not just DC residents. For more information and registration, go to https://www.kingregistration.c
On December 4, ten school teams showed up at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church to compete in the second Saturday of matches for this season’s Elementary Team League. Early leaders Kent Gardens continued their strong run by winning their first match of the day, before Greenbriar West edged them in the second match giving the rest of the field the chance to catch up a little.
Before the chess pieces are passed out to start play, here is Mr. Constantine reviewing every teacher’s favorite rule: players must always remain silent during the games.
As always, we hope our students will be able to apply the critical thinking and problem solving skills they learn from chess to help them in the classroom. Of our previous programs at John Burroughs, teacher Vicki Bullock has said, “Chess has made a positive impact on these students’ ability to be THOUGHTFUL and THOROUGH in their work!”
Interested in bringing the U.S. Chess Center to your school? Contact us!
Tomorrow, Dec. 2, there will be a free blitz tournament open to all members of the public. Come play and engage with other members of the local chess community!
Space will be limited to the first 16 players to sign up, and an official U.S. Chess Center tournament set will be awarded to the winner. Time control will be game/5, no delay or increment. Registration is open here:
In compliance with local COVID safety and health protocols, participants are required to wear masks at all times during our in-person events.
Sunday Chess is a weekly class on Sunday from 1:30pm – 5:00pm ET. The class meets in-person in the basement of 1340 Old Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, VA 22101 (Map) or students may participate online via Zoom.
The U.S. Chess Center is pleased to bring back the Metro Area Chess League (MACL), the high school chess league we ran from 1985 through 2012. A previous incarnation of the league ran from 1950 through 1975.
The 2021-2022 season began last night with Round 1 and will continue over the next few months, concluding with play-offs at the end of March 2022. We have 20 teams competing.
Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD and Justice High School in Falls Church, VA won their matches and led the round with four board victories each—a clean sweep—tying them for first place.
James Hubert Blake High School (Silver Spring, MD), Gonzaga College High School (Washington, DC), and Thomas S. Wootton High School (Rockville, MD) also won their matches last night, but scored three board wins each and are tied for third place.
11/24 update: South Lakes High School (Reston, VA) won 3-0 in their postponed match against SEED Public Charter School (Washington, DC), joining the third place tie.
Good luck to all the teams! Full results and Round 2 pairings below…
| Place | School | Match Points | Board Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st (Tie) | Justice High School | 1 | 4 |
| 1st (Tie) | Montgomery Blair High School | 1 | 4 |
| 3rd (Tie) | Gonzaga College High School | 1 | 3 |
| 3rd (Tie) | James Hubert Blake High School | 1 | 3 |
| 3rd (Tie) | South Lakes High School | 1 | 3 |
| 3rd (Tie) | Thomas S. Wootton High School | 1 | 3 |
| 7th (Tie) | BASIS DC | .5 | 2 |
| 7th (Tie) | Georgetown Preparatory School | .5 | 2 |
| 7th (Tie) | Richard Montgomery High School | .5 | 2 |
| 7th (Tie) | Rochambeau, the French International School | .5 | 2 |
| 7th (Tie) | Rockville High School | .5 | 2 |
| 7th (Tie) | St. Anselm's Abbey School | .5 | 2 |
| 7th (Tie) | West Springfield High School | .5 | 2 |
| 7th (Tie) | Woodrow Wilson High School | .5 | 2 |
| 16th (Tie) | Col. Zadok Magruder High School | 0 | 1 |
| 16th (Tie) | McLean High School | 0 | 1 |
| 16th (Tie) | Northwest High School | 0 | 1 |
| 18th (Tie) | Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School | 0 | 0 |
| 18th (Tie) | E.L. Haynes Public Charter School | 0 | 0 |
| 18th (Tie) | The SEED Public Charter School | 0 | 0 |
| N/A | St. Albans School | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | Washington International School | N/A | N/A |
Round 2 will be held on December 14, 2021 at 7:15pm ET (7:30 games start) with matches played on https://lichess.org.
Rockville High School vs. Thomas S. Wootton High School
Washington International School vs. St. Albans School
Woodrow Wilson High School vs. E.L. Haynes Public Charter School
James Hubert Blake High School vs. Richard Montgomery High School
Georgetown Preparatory School vs. Rochambeau, the French International School
Justice High School vs. South Lakes High School
West Springfield High School vs. Montgomery Blair High School
Gonzaga College High School vs. St. Anselm’s Abbey School
The SEED Public Charter School vs. BASIS DC
Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School vs. Col. Zadok Magruder High School
McLean High School vs. Northwest High School
Round 2: December 14th
Round 3: January 11th
Round 4: January 25th
Round 5: February 8th
Round 6: TBD (February 22nd or March 1st)
Round 7: March 8th
Round 8: March 22nd
Playoffs: Saturday, March 26th with top 4 teams in-person
Our Saturday Chess Kids program resumed again this past Saturday, October 23, 2021 at the DC Housing Finance Agency auditorium in the Shaw / U Street neighborhood of Washington, DC.
Chess Kids, which has been operating since the U.S. Chess Center’s founding, is an individualized, highly structured program for students in Grades K – 6 that meets on Saturdays from 10:00 am – 11:30 am. Chess Kids students are placed in groups based on their ability and everyone plays games each week and receives lessons. Through Chess Kids, we make learning chess fun!
To register your student for Chess Kids, click here. Chess Kids operates in four-week sessions, and students are welcome to register for multiple sessions. Session 2 begins November 20th.
Thank you to DC HFA for providing a great venue and support for this program.
Thank you to Money Muscle BBQ and everyone who came out on Thursday, October 14, 2021, to spend the evening with us playing chess, eating barbecue, making new friends, and enjoying beautiful fall weather under Piggy Smalls’ tent.
Want to play more chess? Our offices are finally re-opening for limited hours and open play starting this Saturday, October 16th from 1:00-5:00pm.
WHERE
U.S. Chess Center
8560 Second Avenue, Suite 118
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
WHEN (New Hours)
Saturdays 1:00pm – 5:00pm
For the rest of October, play chess for free. Starting in November table fees are $5/day, but Chess Center Members always play for free, so Become a Chess Center Member!
Our fall program at Washington Highlands is off to a bright start. This past Monday, taking advantage of the nice weather, Coach Alex and his students played the Pawn Game on the lawn in front of the Southern Hills community room.
We have set a goal of preparing our students to play in nationally rated tournaments so that when the national championships arrive in the Washington area in less than 15 months our students will be ready to compete and win.
Since 1992, the U.S. Chess Center has taught many thousands of DC elementary schoolchildren the rules, strategy, etiquette, and discipline of tournament chess. Through hard work and persistence, the students learn the importance of planning ahead, avoiding distractions, and delaying gratification in pursuit of long-term goals. Please feel free to reach out to us if you are interested in having us create a program at your school.
Please join the U.S. Chess Center team and our friends at Money Muscle BBQ for an evening of “Bishops & BBQ.” Come play chess and enjoy delicious barbecue at this family-friendly event while helping support the U.S. Chess Center.
WHAT: Bishops & BBQ
WHEN: Thursday, October 14, 2021 from 5:30 – 7:30pm ET
WHERE: Money Muscle BBQ Tent: 8620 Fenton Street, Silver Spring, MD 20910
(If raining, find us at All Set Restaurant)
Door prizes for lucky guests and Money Muscle BBQ will donate a percentage of event sales to the U.S. Chess Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Chess play and conversation is free!
To make a donation in support of our mission to promote self-confidence, social skills, and academic success for all, click here.
Open to students in grades 7-12. All ability levels are welcome.
Sunday Chess is revving up for this year. This year we have a hybrid, with many students joining us via Zoom, like last year, but even more coming in person to our McLean location (view on map).
We expect to have our normal range of activities on Sundays for the teens, including visits from distinguished strong players and Internet matches with young players from other countries. Lessons are designed to help the students have fun and improve, and it’s not too late to sign up. Learn more here.
FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 2-6. Since 1993, the U.S. Chess Center has been running after-school chess clubs in elementary schools in partnership with PTOs/PTAs throughout the national capital region. We are pleased to resume in-person clubs at many of our locations this autumn. Registration for the following school clubs is now open:
Colvin Run ES Chess Club (Vienna, VA)
Greenbriar West ES Chess Club (Fairfax, VA)
Poplar Tree ES Chess Club (Chantilly, VA)
Ravensworth ES Chess Club (Springfield, VA)
Spring Hill ES Chess Club (McLean, VA)
Stratford Landing ES Chess Club (Alexandria, VA)
Westbriar ES Chess Club (Vienna, VA)
White Oaks ES Chess Club (Burke, VA)
Willow Springs ES Chess Club (Fairfax, VA)
Our in-person clubs welcome students of all ability levels, from complete beginners to accomplished tournament players. We teach the rules of chess to students who do not know them and the strategy of the game to everyone. For both lessons and gameplay, students are grouped by playing strength to ensure that each child is appropriately challenged. The fall session of our clubs commences the final week of September, and runs all the way to the end of the first half of the school year, in late January or early February. The spring sessions begin shortly after.
Some of our clubs have decided to be virtual-only this school year. For these clubs, classes will be online with students also grouped by skill; however, our online clubs are designed for students that already know the rules, basic vocabulary, and basic strategy of chess. If your student is completely new to chess then they are not eligible to participate in an online club but we are creating classes for them.
Churchill Road ES Chess Club (McLean, VA) – ONLINE ONLY
McNair ES Chess Club (Herndon, VA) – ONLINE ONLY
In addition to one after-school meeting each week at the school with instruction and supervised play, membership in our clubs (in-person or online) includes the opportunity to participate in the Elementary Team League, a fun competition that takes place from 1:30-3:00 PM on various Saturdays throughout the school year. This local team event has been a tradition for over 20 years, bringing together students from all over the greater Washington area to represent their chess clubs in friendly matches against other elementary schools. Students of all levels of tournament experience are welcome.
FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 2-6 who know the rules of chess but are unable to participate in one of our in-person after-school programs, the U.S. Chess Center offers classes online.
Our online classes are live and interactive with a nationally certified chess coach; we do not use videos. We stratify the lesson groups by ability so that everyone is challenged but nobody is overwhelmed. Lessons are designed to help students develop confidence without boring them, and students are encouraged to share their ideas and questions with the class. Our teachers listen to each student to ensure that nobody is left behind, and we observe the games the students play with one another to determine points to emphasize in future lessons.
Online classes are 60 minutes, once each week from 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm ET (UTC -5). Each class has 20-30 minutes of instruction and 30-40 minutes of supervised play. Space is limited.
The fall semester of online chess classes starts next week and runs through January 2022. The spring semester of online classes runs from February 2022 through early June 2022.
If you wish to register your child but have questions about which class level to enroll in, you can read the descriptions of each level on the registration page.
Every year we recognize one or two kids who were particularly good students in our Sunday Chess program. Our second award, for Outstanding Performance, was presented to James.
He earned the trophy both for being the most improved player during the year and for his leadership in the group. Despite his relative youth (being in middle school) other students respected his opinions and enjoyed their games with him.
When asked what he likes about chess, James said, “Whether you are a master or a beginner, chess is an incredible way to unleash your creativity and experience the joy of learning and competing.”
He and others are returning to Sunday Chess this coming week. Sunday Chess will be a hybrid this year with many students coming to McLean in-person while others will be joining us online.
Students in grades 7 – 12 are welcome to register for Sunday Chess classes (either in-person or online) at https://chessctr.org/classes/sunday-chess/
Every year we recognize one or two kids who were particularly good students in our Sunday Chess program. Our first award, for Outstanding Performance, was presented today to Ryan.
“Chess is cool,” Ryan said accepting the trophy recognizing his hard work and dedication during Sunday Chess this past year. Ryan got excited about chess this year as he developed an appreciation for learning the strategy of the game and he looks forward to competing in person this year, including the tournament coming up next month for high school students at Eastern High School.
July 20th is International Chess Day, the day the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded, in 1924. First proposed by UNESCO in 1966, International Chess Day has been celebrated annually ever since, and on December 12, 2019, the UN General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution also recognizing the day.
How are you celebrating International Chess Day? Send us a picture of you and/or your student(s) playing chess; or share an anecdote about learning or playing chess; or how it has made an impact in your life; and we’ll feature your pictures/stories right here on our blog, Notate. Email your photo or story to: admin@chessctr.org.
Support the U.S. Chess Center: In honor of International Chess Day, please donate to help us teach students to play chess in order to promote self-confidence, social skills, and academic success.
The U.S. Chess Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and charitable donations, which are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law, enable us to:
► Keep our fees exceptionally low;
► Provide scholarships/discounts to financially challenged families;
► Offer free or low-cost chess instruction to Title I public schools.
Thank you!
Some Fun Facts About Chess
► Mathematically there are more possible games of chess than there are atoms in the Observable Universe.
► 605 million adults play chess regularly.
► Chess comes from the 6th century Sanskrit game chaturaṅga, which translates to “four arms.” The arms refer to the elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers of the Indian army, which evolved into the modern bishops, knights, rooks, and pawns.
► Although the rule allowing pawns to move two squares on their first move was first proposed in the late 13th century, it was not generally accepted until 1492 when a large group of chess players in Paris also adopted the en passant rule.
Kendrick Smith: I didn’t come to the game of chess until 2012, when I was thirty-six years old. I picked up a book by John Nunn entitled, Learn Chess. My first attempts to play were against friends, whom had been playing since their childhood. It is inevitable to say that they annihilated me causing me to take an early hiatus. Fast forward to April 2020, the pandemic. To implement social distancing in our office, they broke our team up into a day and a night shift. To keep people engaged and morale up, someone had a bright idea to bring in a chess board, where the night shift would play a move against the day shift. I thought to myself, it would take forever to finish the game. So I brought in a board of my own, and set it up at my desk. When work was slow, my coworkers would stop by to play. I got beat often, but I began to learn. I had read that five was a good age to introduce a child to chess, which was the exact age that my son was. Each day that I came home from work, I showed him a piece and how it moved. I next showed him pawn promotion, En passant, and castling. Then the following week I showed him how to set up the board. We immediately began playing games. The beautiful thing was that on the days I was teaching Manny about chess, my wife would be at the island in the kitchen, listening and watching. She quickly picked up the game just from our sessions. We would each then take turns playing one another. it was it at this point that I began to enjoy the game of chess. I began watching several movies about chess, i.e., Fresh, The Queen’s Gambit, Critical Thinking, Brooklyn Castle, The Knight’s of the South Bronx, End Game, and Searching for Bobby Fischer. We now play every chance we get. Win, lose, or draw, we love the royal game. As matter of fact, when we’re eating at restaurant’s outdoors, we’ll play games, while waiting on our food. Attached is a picture of my son Manny and I playing at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Cher Cher. We plan on having Manny join the chess center this fall.
Ashwin, a Chess Center student, playing chess:
Bam! Bam bam!
As a teenager, the sound of palms slapping analog clocks would reverberate throughout our house for hours at a time. In the living room, a row of chess trophies sat on a shelf, witnessing my two younger brothers battling over a well-worn chessboard for hours at a time. Yet, despite the number of hours devoted to chess in my household, I was relatively removed from this activity — chess was something that girls didn’t really do.
Many years later, my interaction with chess was reignited by a challenge I faced as a teacher at McNair Elementary school in Herndon, Virginia: coming up with creative challenging ways to engage my students. At the time, McNair was a Title I school with many students receiving free and reduced lunches, so I was especially interested in a low-cost mentally engaging activity that might not otherwise have been available to them. Although I had not played for many years, I knew chess was definitely the avenue to pursue.
Luckily, thanks to my brothers’ ongoing interest in chess (both were holding outside jobs as chess coaches), I was able to consult them on how I might get started. With the support of my principal and the PTA I purchased some chess sets, a few books, and a teaching board. McNair’s first chess club was on its way! Much to my surprise and delight, initial interest greatly exceeded my expectations.
Fast forward ten years and the chess club remained hugely popular. With the club being consistently offered throughout the years, many McNair students had become skilled players, and several of them could now play beyond my abilities. Meanwhile, McNair had also changed and was now an Advanced Academics school.
Perhaps inspired by memories of the chess trophies sitting on the living room shelf, I thought it might be time to push the chess club in a more competitive direction. The parents supported this idea, and in 2011 we ventured off to the Virginia Scholastic Chess Championships where we placed ninth and fourteenth in the K-3 and K-5 divisions. The kids, their parents, and the rest of the school were thrilled!
At the urging of some of the parents as well as the PTA, I began organizing monthly USCF (US Chess Federation) rated tournaments at McNair. The only catch for me was that, to become a local Tournament Director, I had to start competing myself — a true eye-opener! My first tournament convinced me that I still had much to learn about the game.
Last year I retired from Fairfax County. During my 20 years at McNair I had the pleasure of working with hundreds of students and organizing more than 80 tournaments. I am happy and proud of all my students accomplished as well as how many of them were introduced to an experience they might never have encountered. My hope is that all of my students will continue to play and enjoy all that chess has to offer. As for myself, I am still learning and competing!
After observing me tutor students in mathematics at a library, a librarian asked me to start a chess club. Initially, I believed that it would be easy for me to meet this obligation. My first step was to read the official rules of chess. I was surprised to learn that even though I had played chess irregularly since elementary school, I had not been playing by the rules.
During the first chess club meeting I noticed that the chess club members’ enthusiasm for the game was markedly different from the typical student’s enthusiasm for mathematics. After the first few chess club meetings, I was surprised to discover that teaching chess is more challenging than teaching mathematics. Fortuitously, renowned chess educator Fernando Moreno, author of the book Teaching Life Skills Through Chess: A Guide for Educators and Counselors, facilitated a chess club at a community center that was next door to the library. When he heard about the new library chess club, he kindly introduced himself to me and donated sorely needed resources, including a demonstration board. After visiting Mr. Moreno’s chess club and losing game after game to his students, I realized that I had much to learn.
Step by step I became engrossed in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area chess scene by visiting different chess clubs including the U.S. Chess Center. I played casually for approximately 9 years before entering my first chess tournament. I should have followed the advice of others who told me “You love the game, go ahead and play in a rated tournament”, however I believed that I was not ready to deal with the chess clock and the process of recording the moves. After playing in my first tournament, I understood that 10 additional years would not have made any difference because playing tournament chess is like swimming, one must simply dive in.
