Uniting Children through Chess

Chess after extensive research has developed a sound reputation for advancing intellectual skills. It has a cross-cultural appeal and can bring people together. Chess programs are also inexpensive to start and sustain. This is why Chess Without Borders is launching an Ambassador Program where youth will donate chess textbooks and chess sets to start chess programs in needy schools. Recently the program donated 10 chess books and chess sets to start a chess club in a Syrian refuge camp. Last year 10 textbooks and 10 chess sets were donated to the Elgin Boys and Girls club in Elgin, IL.

This program is possible because the textbook written by GM Shulman and Rishi Sethi has a built in curriculum. “It builds a mathematical understanding of chess and explains to the beginner the logic behind each move.” Says Alex Onishuk 2006 US Chess Champion. The textbook Chess! Lessons from a Grandmaster will be donated to individuals identified by the volunteers who can help launch chess clubs in needy schools or community centers anywhere in the world.

Ever since the inception of the chess program in Barrington the mission has combined chess education with service and philanthropy. Chess textbooks and sets have been donated to impoverished schools in Borneo, Cambodia, Chile, Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico, The Marshall Islands, India, Nigeria and locally in Chicago, Elgin and Washington DC.

The humanitarian projects started by the chess program have given youth volunteer’s tremendous opportunity to create, expand and increase the depth of the existing projects. They have used their ambition, skills and talents to market, create and sustain the success of programs. They have learned about many cultures and needs in this world where they can make a difference. The youth volunteers have won national awards and have raised over $135,000 for humanitarian causes.

The book is written by 2008 US Chess Champion GM Yury Shulman and Rishi Sethi, CEO of Method Mill in New York. The chess program implemented from the textbook has won many awards for its innovative approach to learning. Visit: http://shulmanchess.com/biogra... to learn about its accomplishments.

Here is the link to the textbook: https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Grandmaster-GM-Yury-Shulman/dp/0984573453/

The youth volunteers involved in this project are:

Ethan Gagliano, Pranav and Prashant Ramachandra, Prathik Kandimalla, Jack and Jane Bradley, Vishal and Rohan Ahuja, Eleanore van Marwijk Kooy, Aryan and Ayushi Shah, Toby Schwartz, Siddharth and Abhijeet Gehlaut, Nabeel Rasheed, Sanjaya and Sahitya Maheswaram, Arnav and Adu Batta, Sophia Cai, Pranay Prabhakar, Dominic Oetinger and Duniya Diyadawagamage.

Photographs above are chess clubs created through donations of textbooks and chess sets in India, Mexico, Borneo, Philipines and Germany.

For ideas/suggestions to improve the program please email:

chesswob@gmail.com