New On ChessKid: Chess in Slums, Classroom Planners, and JSCC

Hi ChessKids and parents! We hope back-to-school season is treating you well. Whether it's online or virtual, ChessKid is busy helping grow chess with kids all over the world. Here are your September updates!

ChessKid Partners With Chess in Slums

A few months ago, Chess in Slums caught our attention after making quite a stir online with this viral story about life in Lagos, Nigeria: 

Happy birthday to the little girl whose smile changed my entire world.
It all started about two years ago when i walked into the slums of majidun ikorodu lagos with a chess board and a pocket full of dreams.

A Thread... pic.twitter.com/FAHmfxYoNL

— Tunde Onakoya (@Tunde_OD) May 26, 2020

Now, we're partnering with them! 

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 

ChessKid will be working 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. 

We are so excited to embark on this journey, and we hope you follow along with us.

Teach Your Kindergarten Class to Play Chess With ChessKid

Are you a teacher who doesn't know how to play chess? Do you want to teach your class how to play chess? 

While we often advocate for first or second grade as a good starting age, that didn't stop one intrepid educator. Kindergarten teacher Maria Adams didn't know how to play chess when the 2019-20 school year started. She utilized the ChessKid Classroom Planner, which offers a step-by-step lesson plan with videos, workouts, and suggested activities to help kids first learn how the pieces move and then advance to basic principles and checkmating strategies. 

Mrs. Adams learned how to play chess with her students. Now, there's 20 more young chess players in Alabama, simply from her inititiave.

The ChessKid Classroom Planner works for any grade, and can be used in-person or virtually. If you have questions about how to incorporate the ChessKid Classroom Planner into your class, contact education@chesskid.com

Are you Following the Junior Speed Chess Championship?

ChessKid is sponsoring the Junior Speed Chess Championship, a 16-player knockout tournament amongst the top junior players in the world. This is the second edition--and there's a total prize fund of $25,000 on the line!

So far, we are part way through the first round. The first three winners to advance to the semifinals are GM Nihal Sarin, GM Arjun Erigaisi, and GM Sam Sevian. The fourth is GM Haik Martirosyan, who won against GM Vincent Keymer in yesterday's most recent face-off. 

Haik Martirosyan Beats Vincent Keymer In Junior Speed Chess Championship

Haik Martirosyan comfortably reached the quarterfinals of the Junior #SpeedChess Championship sponsored by @ChessKidcom. The Armenian player beat Germany's Vincent Keymer: 20.5-7.5.https://t.co/5t7yDYWLti

— ChesscomNews (@ChesscomNews) September 15, 2020

The next match will be GM Parham Maghsoodloo vs. GM Praggnanandhaa R. on September 19, at 9 a.m. Pacific on Chess.com/TV.