Chess4all EB
Chess4all was founded in the Spring of 2022. At a school chess tournament at East Brunswick High School, Co-founder Aaron Wong noticed the lack of participation in this tournament. Out of the total student body of 1800+, only 16 people participated. Aaron decided he needed to change this. To generate a higher interest in chess, Aaron recognized the need to spread the game of chess to kids when they are young, after all, Aaron was taught Chess at a young age. Thus, he founded Chess4all alongside Andy and Sachan to spread the joy of Chess to the younger generations.
"When my childhood and longtime friend, Aaron Wong, approached me in the summer of 2022, I thought his idea was abstract and at the most, intriguing. Described to me was a simple idea, one that never truly crossed my mind yet I was completely capable of bringing it to fruition. Nearly 9 months later, Chess4All, an organization that started as that simple idea, had now become a project that educated all kids in the afterschool programs of East Brunswick schools to a near proficient level in the fundamentals of chess. A program that not only taught so much to the kids but as well as the instructors. What began as a simple idea to return the passion that we had once shared as kids was now being passed on to the next generation. As all should be, I was initially skeptical about the idea of teaching chess to kids. Especially to kids as young as 5 or 6, I saw it as a game far too complex. A standard chessboard has 64 squares, an 8 by 8 alternating checkerboard with one exception of that of a checkboard; the pieces. Presented to each of the kids by myself and my team, the 6 unique pieces of chess and their combinations would amount of more games than atoms in the observable universe. Every game would be so unique, one that no human had ever played before, despite chess being a game that has a longevity far greater than most modern-day countries. Understanding the enigmatic nature of the game, it would be most logical that the kids be pragmatically taught. And so during the summer of 2022, the team drafted up lesson plans until the final one was finished. Of course, even that one was far from finalized. It was discovered during teaching, that lesson plans needed to be adjusted, improvised, and corrected to better inform the curiosity of the young mind. Much of our original lesson plans were changed so dramatically that new plans had to be made. With the team traveling to each school and teaching for about 4-6 weeks at every elementary school, every child in the afterschool program was offered a chance to learn the game. My personal role within the group was to teach the kids the majority of the game. On the first day, all the kids were gathered and a quick 15-minute lesson was given by myself; briefly reviewing all the pieces and their mechanics. This of course meant not all was absorbed but through play and correction, the kids began to pick up the game mechanics quickly. Kids as young as 5 or 6 would understand nearly all the game mechanics by the end of our 4-6 week session at each elementary school. With each school having an average of 10-15 students, it is still astonishing to me that we had taught over 100 kids the game of chess over a school year's time. This meant 100 new young minds to the game of chess, 100 new chess players, 100 new thinkers of the next generation. Some of these thinkers had just begun their chess journey like us many years ago, it is my personal dream to see some of these thinkers go on and continue our work. Our goal was to teach chess but the entire team, including myself, learned how to work with young minds. Within our team, each person had a role to fulfill. Sometimes this meant being a leader, other times this meant being a teacher, but having the opportunity to work on a project I could call my own brought an immense amount of pride. Without a doubt, the program which had once begun as a mere idea, will now continue. Chess4All as an organization not only plans to expand but create more leaders within our own team. The 4 hours every week which I had thought was merely a nice addition to my transcript turned out to be much more than I had bargained for. Knowing that not only had we done work but great work; nothing matches the fulfillment in my heart."- Andy He, lead instructor
