How ChessKid Helped Build a Chess Nation in the Cayman Islands

In just three years, Coach Ryan Blackwood transformed a chessless island into a thriving chess community, reaching nearly 1% of the entire Cayman Islands population through the ChessKid platform. From schools to community programs to a Chess Olympiad silver medal, his story shows what's possible when the right platform meets the right passion.

Partner: Coach Ryan Blackwood & Cayman Islands Chess Federation (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands)
Focus: National chess development powered by ChessKid
Impact: 5,000+ students since 2014, 2,000 active ChessKid members, Chess Olympiad Silver Medal

Case Study at a Glance 📌

Partner: Coach Ryan Blackwood & Cayman Islands Chess Federation
Region: Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Partner Type: Nonprofit youth chess development program

The Challenge 🎯 

The ChessKid Approach 🧭

The Impact 📈 

Background ✨

Coach Ryan Blackwood first fell in love with chess growing up in Jamaica and earned the National Master title in 2010. As an adult, something shifted where it wasn't just about playing anymore. The priority became about teaching. He quit his day job, met with the Jamaican government, and launched a chess-in-education program that eventually reached 3,000 students before he relocated to the Cayman Islands during the pandemic.

When he arrived in Grand Cayman, there was virtually no chess culture. The island had only two FIDE-rated players and had never hosted a chess tournament. As Youth Chess Director for the Cayman Islands Chess Federation, Coach Blackwood set out to change that, starting with the schools.

From the beginning, ChessKid was central to his approach. He had first discovered the platform during his time in Jamaica, and was struck by how fun and engaging it was, even for adults. When he looked for a platform that was safe for kids, appropriate for school use, and built for learning, ChessKid was the clear choice.

Key goals:

          Coach Blackwood teaches students at Grace Christian Academy. Photo: Ryan Blackwood

The Solution: Partnering With ChessKid 🧭

Coach Blackwood connected with ChessKid early. In fact, it was so early that his first meeting with the ChessKid team was over Skype, before Zoom existed! From that first conversation, ChessKid provided support to help him get his program off the ground in Jamaica, and the partnership has grown ever since.

In the Cayman Islands, ChessKid became the backbone of his teaching across every school there. With fully digital classrooms, Coach Blackwood projects ChessKid lessons on the board while students follow along on physical boards, combining the best of both worlds. ChessKid's Live Classroom feature also allows him to teach remotely when he's traveling with students for tournaments.

Coach Blackwood on introducing ChessKid:

All the resources you need are right there. You just need the motivating factor and somebody in your corner to keep motivating you."

How ChessKid is used in school:

How ChessKid is used outside of school:

         Coach Blackwood uses ChessKid's game analysis. Photo: Ryan Blackwood.

Results and Impact 📈

Quantitative Impact

Within his first year in the Cayman Islands, Coach Blackwood had nearly 1,000 people playing chess across schools and community programs. Today, with a population of roughly 70,000 across three islands, the Cayman Islands may have one of the highest per-capita ChessKid usage rates of any country in the world!

At the 2024 Women's Chess Olympiad in Budapest, the Cayman Islands sent their youngest-ever team, with an average age of 12 1/2. ChessKid was the team's exclusive digital training platform and was used for workouts, endgames, and all preparation outside of in-person sessions. The team returned home with a silver medal.

We were the only country from the western side of the world to get a medal, and we got the silver medal at the Chess Olympiad. I was proud to say that our training platform was ChessKid."

       Team Cayman at the Olympiad. Photo: Ryan Blackwood.

Qualitative Impact

One of Coach Blackwood's most powerful stories involves a high school student with very low literacy who couldn't understand the written instructions in ChessKid's lessons. Rather than give up, the student made it his mission to learn to read and was motivated entirely by his desire to level up on ChessKid. For this student, chess opened the door to literacy.

Additional impact included:

            High school students from Lighhouse School. Photo: Ryan Blackwood.

What's Next 🚀

Coach Blackwood's goal is to get every school on the island, both government and private, fully on ChessKid. He is also planning a national schools tournament targeting 300–400 students, with government ministers and the Prime Minister in attendance.

Future plans include:

              The inaugural Cayman Chess Classic. Photo: Cayman Islands Chess.

Key Takeaways 🔍

      
 Students 'level up' on ChessKid and show off their certificates. Photo: Cayman Islands Chess.

Considering a Similar Program? 🤔

Coach Blackwood's journey shows that with ChessKid and the right coach, it's possible to build a chess culture from scratch, even on a small island with no prior chess tradition. For organizations exploring a similar approach, ChessKid offers:

 ➡️Interested in bringing ChessKid to your classroom, school, or district? Fill out our Enterprise Account Request Form and our team will follow up to help you get started.