Parents & Guardians
Why Newark Chess Club?
The Newark Chess Club takes its duty to take care of your child very seriously.
We have over a decade of experience
To date, Newark Chess Club has taught and mentored over 4,000 students and awarded $70,000 in scholarships to program participants. Our program is featured in nearly every one of Newark’s Public Schools.
Safety is our top priority
Your child’s safety is our number one concern. That is why we perform background checks on everyone that works or volunteers with us. We use Verified Volunteers to provide background checks on our instructors and mentors before they are allowed to participate in our chess program. Verified Volunteers is the only background check platform tailored to the specific needs of the service sector and the first online community mobilizing repeat, vetted volunteers.
Our program is simple
We created a character development curriculum for children that cultivates life skills such as goal setting, patience, planning, strategy, overcoming peer pressure, focus, creating advantages, using your instincts, persistence, determination, understanding the consequences of actions, overcoming challenges, keeping commitments, trust, respect, and choices.
Our After School Curriculum
The Newark Chess Club's weekly After School Program is anchored in a proprietary curriculum that instructs students in 15 life skills and 15 chess skills. The program is run for two hours each week and is taught by a professional chess instructor who has been background checked and fully trained to implement our curriculum.
Week |
Life Skill |
Chess Skill |
| 1 | Goal Setting | Piece Description & Check |
| 2 | Patience | Piece Values & Checkmate |
| 3 | Planning | Castling |
| 4 | Strategy | En Passant |
| 5 | Peer Pressure | Review |
| 6 | Focus | Pawn Strategy |
| 7 | Advantage | Rook Strategy |
| 8 | Instinct | Bishop Strategy |
| 9 | Persistence & Determination | Knight Strategy |
| 10 | Consequences of Actions | King Strategy |
| 11 | Challenges | Queen Strategy |
| 12 | Commitment | Controlling the Middle |
| 13 | Trust | Openings |
| 14 | Respect | Forks, Pins, Skewers |
| 15 | Choice | Middle |
Testimonials
My son Amath has always had an interest in playing chess but there was nowhere that I could bring him to play with children in his age group and to get personalized instruction. Amath loved the program so much that we’ve been involved for two years and now his little sister loves chess just as much as he does.
Our son Robert was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. His doctor suggested that we start to play chess with him. Neither of us knew how to play so we found the chess program and enrolled him. He immediately took to the game and began playing chess every day when he got home from school. Now, his ADD is gone and he is a pretty good chess player.
We’re had the chess program in my classroom all year. The students love it! In fact, when the class is getting a little distracted, I get them right back on track by letting them play chess. Its an amazing game that they all love to play. I love it because it teaches them patience and focus.