Chess club

Hi, I want to have an afterschool chess club at my school. I was thinking of using the computer lab and having the kids play their games against each other here on Chess.com. Are other people doing this?

Also if I do, can I make one email account for our chess club, and have all the students use that to register, or does each one need a unique email?

Thanks for any assistance

Is there a reason you don't want over-the-board (actual pieces) chess?  If any of them would ever consider playing real OTB tournaments, using actual pieces and a physical clock might actually help prepare them for it.

I actually would not mind sets, but our school budget has been horrible this year. We have about 20 people so to buy at least 10 boards and clocks, I may get a lot of resistance, so I was trying to keep it cost effecient.  

That makes sense.

  Hopefully a chess.com admin will let you know about the email/account options. Given that there is a free account option, shouldn't be too hard to pull off a one-account-per-student thing, no?

Geez, how different things are in  different parts of the world.

I could easily buy a cheap board and set with the money I spend on my internet data at chess.com in a week.....

Before you go further, give USCF a chance and look at their website for discounted chess-sets (roll up board + pieces at < 5 dollars a throw) if bought in bulk.  As the previous posters indicated, nothing beats OTB play and new players are less likely to rush with actual pieces than with a mouse-click :)

Excellent thread, with lots of relavent comments. I can add only by suggesting that there is a marked social advantage in OTB games - especially for youngsters. The human interaction in face to face play can be much more beneficial than responding by chat, and at any rate, kids probably spend too much time in front of a screen.