I am starting a new chess club in my town. Apparently, they used to have a good club and program for kids but it has since gone away. The goal is to run it on Saturdays at the local library for kids. Looking for help in what to do, what not to do, etc. Any tips and information would be greatly appreciated. I would love to be able to get these kids playing in tournaments next school year of possible.
Thanks in advance.
You can ask the USCF office in Crossville if they can send you a copy of pamphlet on how to start a chess club. Such a pamphlet should come to you if you register as a club affiliate of the USCF. The pamphlet may exist on the website somewhere. If it is, it is not easy to find.
One of the negatives of the Rulebook of Chess, 6th edition, and in fact all of the official Rulebooks, is that there is no information on how to start and run a chess club. That information was in the Official Chess Handbook, and the older Harkness Bluebook, which are hard to find. Because of space limitations, the Rulebooks do not have the club information you are looking for. You would think that little bit of advice would be in there for those ambitious enough to start a club. But no, all the Rulebook is concerned with is tournaments. It is assumed that you know all about clubs or have the books mentioned above. In addition, you would expect to find in some FAQ on this website, “How do I start a chess club?”, and then point you to a pdf with the information. That should be under the Club section on the website. All you will find is a list of clubs affiliates in the states.
Get the library to agree to do it within a specified time range. Some libraries have conference rooms or a utility area that is used for events that will give you enough space. Hopefully, you can get the use of the facility for free since you are bringing kids from the community into the library. A donation to the library wouldn’t hurt.
Next, get the following: 10 or more standard sized sets and boards, a demo board for instruction, some beginners books and books with hundreds of puzzles. I would suggest books by Jeff Coakley, “Winning Chess for Kids” and “Winning Chess Exercises.” You can also get other beginners books. Pandolfini’s “Weapons of Chess” is good for some general lessons for slightly more advanced kids. Get books as need be and give them to the library to create a chess section so that kids can borrow them. Your wife or significant other will be relieved if you give all of your chess books to the library!
When you feel you are ready to run tournaments, buy the Rulebook. Download pairing sheets and wall charts from the USCF website. Make copies of the pairing card from the Rulebook to use, or make your own. You don’t need software to run small events, plus it helps you and the kids to learn how to run a tournament. Use one of your tournaments to raise money for the library. That will help to keep them happy with all of the kids you are bringing in. To USCF rate the tournaments, you can then purchase club affiliate status from the USCF for $40.
Establish a set of rules of behavior for the kids. Impress on them that their behavior determines whether you can keep your library site. A bunch of noisy kids alarms librarians. You need to keep the librarians happy. Have a mom or three help out. They will keep the kids in line and will be very helpful in running your program.
With luck, you can keep total cost of setup of the club to under $200. As time goes on you might buy a few clocks and books. Don’t forget to give the library a donation once in a while, too. After the start, your expenses will depend on how much you want to spend on chess stuff, copies, promotional materials, stationery, and your own time. Good Luck with your endeavor! It can be a lot of fun.
Thanks for the information. We already have the Library’s approval. We are planning on starting on June 11th. I have the demo board and several boards and sets of pieces. Hopefully this will go good and the kids will love it.
Best of luck!
Also useful is a schedule either of tournaments or lessons and events. The point of a schedule is to have something you can hand out to potential players to give them an idea of what they can expect. A flyer or poster advertising the library club may be useful. Something as basic as XYZ Club meets Saturday from K am to L pm in the Chess room at the local library. You might eventually (but maybe not immediately) see if there is one or more local businesses that maybe would donate something to use as prizes. Even just simple 10% off coupons can be viewed as a desired prize in some cases. A mention in the local newspaper or local cable channel would be nice, but nowadays is not as easy as it use to be. Finally, you may want to eventually consider a small club newsletter. Something as simple as a single page listing winners, achievements, possibly a photo or two, and of course upcoming activities.
A final note is that you can create your own score sheets for use by the players once they learn how to notate a game. You can create a diagram by using Excel; making an 8x8 grid, shading every other square gray, and adding the numbers and letters along the edge. There is in some versions of Excel a font that will print a diagramed piece rather than the K, Q, N, B, R, & P. Otherwise you may need to underline the Black pieces. The diagram should fit on half of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, with the other half [5.5 inch] for an actual 60 move score sheet.
Hope this helps.
Best “Chess” Regards,
Larry S. Cohen
Thanks for the info about Excel. I will look for the font to use and see how that works.