College Chess Community Engagement - Yale College

The Yale College Chess Club reaches out to the New Haven community primarily through its America On Board program. AOB is an undergraduate volunteer effort that seeks to bring chess to inner-city youth in local public schools. Currently we serve three elementary schools, but we seek to expand as we get more Yale volunteers.

We place a strong emphasis on the side benefits of playing chess, which include the development of sportsmanship, literacy, and abstract thinking. To this end, we teach the children how to treat their opponents (usually their classmates) respectfully, how to write down their moves, and how to move slowly and carefully. Of course we also try hard to ensure that the students have fun. Principals and teachers recognize the benefits of our program and have been eager to welcome us into their after school programs.

For the past two years we have also worked with the New Haven Police Athletic League to organize biannual scholastic chess tournaments for students from all of our AOB schools as well as other K-12 students in the area. These tournaments, not sanctioned by the USCF because they are free, provide a goal for our students to work toward and a means to gauge their progress. The kids also get to make new friends while facing challengers who are not their classmates.

Beside the clear benefit to the schools and students we serve, AOB has also helped the chess club attract a more diverse set of members. For at least the younger kids, the volunteers' teaching and communication skills are far more important than chess-playing ability. Too often people feel that they are not "good enough" at chess to come to the club or that chess is not worth their time, but the idea of community service gets people excited and makes them reconsider the value of chess.

~ written by Neeraj Singh, America On Board Director for the Yal College Chess Club