How to Run a School Chess Club? – Step by Step Guide

Every great chess player who runs a Chess School will tell you that putting your child in a Chess Academy, preferably theirs will do wonders for their self-esteem, ability to concentrate, focus, and personal hygiene. In this article, we will see how to run a school chess club.

It will also give them a head start in developing spatial awareness and imagination, which are usually what separates brilliant long-term achievers from short-term idiots. But bright and shiny Children don’t just learn to play chess at Chess Academies where the teachers have long names with lots of consonants and the students are well-behaved and well-off.

Many people learn how to play chess at home from their parents or an older brother who likes to be cruel by “forgetting” to tell them about the castling rule and pawn promotion until it’s too late. Some people learn how to run a school chess club from different chess clubs.

Every school has a chess club that is run by a chess-playing teacher or, in my case, a parent who loves the game. Why? Because chess clubs are popular in schools.

Chess is known for being smart and high-brow, and schools like to be linked to things like that. Getting an education and trying to be smart go hand in hand.

The idea is that if you have brains, you can get more brains because parents like a school that helps kids use their brains. I can tell you right away that it’s easy to start a chess club because I’ve done it.

How to Run a School Chess Club?

Chess is a game that actually does attract bright children because it challenges their mental capacity in ways that are both enjoyable and fulfilling. However, not every bright child is also a model citizen. To get an idea of how many of your pupils will be receptive to quiet conversation and admonition and will not require being constantly yelled at to quit singing and put their iPods away, estimate the percentage of students that fall into this category.

1- Planning to start a club

The idea that a chess master is necessary to launch a chess club at a school is one of the most pervasive lies and significant roadblocks associated with this endeavor. It doesn’t do that. The person must have excellent organizational skills and only a very basic understanding of the game of chess.

Someone in this role might be a teacher, a teaching assistant, a parent, a grandparent, or even a club volunteer from the neighborhood. Strong chess players who do not have expertise in teaching have a significant disadvantage compared to teaching personnel.

A skilled chess player may have difficulty instructing a group of youngsters, while an excellent educator can impart nearly any knowledge to students of any age.

2- Find a Place to Start

If the individual taking Step 1 is a teacher, then they can use their own room, which makes this step much simpler for them to complete. In the event that this is not possible, it is absolutely necessary to locate a teacher who is willing to allow the chess club to utilize their classroom.

In the course of my thirty years of instructing chess and operating clubs in schools, I have never been unable to identify somebody, somewhere in the school, who is content with the arrangement.

It is only normal that the chamber must be left precisely as it was discovered, but it is also reasonable that stray chess pieces will be found tucked away in the room’s obscurest crevices for several weeks after the room is vacated.

3- Start a Chess Club

The necessary chess equipment is not overly expensive. It is simple to establish a club with six sets and boards, which is sufficient to accommodate a total of twelve players. If the club grows, additional sets can always be purchased.

It is in your best interest to steer clear of the extremely fundamental sets that are sold on the High Street. A chess set and board of high quality that will last for a very long time can be purchased for just approx. 69 to 199 USD and chess vendors will typically provide price reductions for bulk purchases of their products.

A demonstration board is yet another piece of equipment that is extraordinarily helpful. These can be purchased for approx. close to 90-200 USD each. The necessary chess equipment can be obtained from several different retailers.

New chess clubs do not require any additional equipment or supplies. The children will have enough to think about without needing to be concerned about the additional dimension of time, therefore there is little purpose in purchasing chess clocks at this level because of this.

Keep These Important Tips in Mind

At the start of a journey, everyone gets nervous, to become a new member. Be as friendly and easy-going as you can, and try to be flexible with your plans. Your plans should change based on what the student who show up want.

Keep in mind that the game of chess, at its core, is about the complete and utter destruction of one’s psyche, and that’s the kind of thing that simply fascinates children. Children can build up their own fragile psyches while they are crushed over and over again by remorseless and sadistic opponents when they participate in chess clubs at their schools because these clubs offer a safe and secure environment in which the children can practice their skills of ego-obliteration.

They will naturally experience even more challenging circumstances as they mature and enter the real world. They will learn how to deal with winning and losing in a gracious manner, how to trust no one, and why it is never a good idea to accept take-backs when playing against a superior player if they learn these skills through the game of chess.

Information rules: Make a sign-up sheet. Make it clear that the email address and phone number will only be used to send information about chess.

Find students’ interests: Find out what kinds of chess activities students in your school are most interested in.

Play smoothly: Play chess in a friendly way at the first meeting.

Learn about the student: Learn about the student who is there and why they are there at this first meeting.

Create a website – Creating a website will help you in promoting the chess club as well as you can use that site to provide material to your students.

Be mindful, however, that a significant number of your chess students will likely never develop an interest in the game. They are only there because their pals are also there, or because chess or hip-hop dancing classes were offered. On the other hand, one or two could.

They could grow to enjoy the game, continue playing it, and eventually become skilled at it if they give it enough time and effort. And then you will have gained the satisfaction of having helped to foster a Young Chess Talent, who will most likely become distracted by other interesting things during their teenage years and grow up to become an Average Club Player just like yourself.

Conclusion

As a chess player, there is no better feeling than watching as the “penny drops” and a young child suddenly understands the checkmate or the strength of a knight fork. Teaching chess is a great pleasure, and as a chess player, there is no finer feeling than watching.

However, you will have gained the satisfaction of having helped to foster a Young Chess Talent because you will have gained the satisfaction of having helped to foster a Young. So now you can start your own club as you know how to run a school chess club.