Expanding Access to Chess Education Across Colombia with ChessKid

In Colombia, chess is being used as a scalable tool to support student engagement, social development, and access to enrichment programs. One nonprofit’s experience illustrates how ChessKid plays a central role in that growth.

Partner: Fundación a la rueda rueda (Colombia)
Challenge: Expanding chess access and engagement across schools and regions
Impact: 20,000+ students reached in 3 years

Case Study at a Glance
Background
The Solution: Partnering with ChessKid
Results and Impact
What's Next
Key Takeaways
Considering a Similar Program?

Case Study at a Glance 📌

Partner: Fundación a la rueda rueda
Region: Colombia
Partner Type: Education nonprofit supporting school-based chess programs

The Challenge 🎯

Limited access to enrichment and extracurricular opportunities across schools
Difficulty expanding programs without increasing workload for teachers or administrators
Need for technology-enabled activities aligned with instructional and SEL goals

The ChessKid Approach 🧭

A single, student-safe platform for instruction, practice, and school competition
Easy onboarding for teachers, with tools such as the Lesson Planner and Lesson Levels designed for classroom and afterschool use
Flexible Enterprise implementation that works for individual schools, districts, or regional rollouts

The Impact 📈

29,000+ students engaged in structured chess learning and organized competition, expanding access to enrichment programs across multiple regions.
Students gained ongoing access to guided lessons and safe online play through ChessKid, helping schools extend learning beyond in-person programs.
8,500+ chess kits distributed to support equitable participation.
27 educators trained and supported, enabling schools to sustain chess programs.

Background ✨

Fundación a la rueda rueda is a Colombian nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the mental, emotional, and social skills of children and youth through chess. Over the years, the foundation has implemented chess-based educational projects in multiple cities across Colombia, using chess as a tool for inclusion, engagement, and cognitive development.

Before partnering with ChessKid, most of the foundation’s work was conducted through small, in-person programs, which limited reach. The pandemic further highlighted the need for a solution that could expand access, support teachers, and reach students across multiple regions.

At the same time, Colombia’s evolving education and sports policies emphasized the integration of technology into teaching and learning. This created an opportunity to rethink how chess could be delivered not just as an extracurricular activity, but as a technology-enabled educational tool that could reach more students.

Key goals included:

Expanding access to chess for students nationwide
Supporting teachers with better instructional tools
Aligning chess programs with national technology and education priorities
Creating sustainable, scalable competition and engagement opportunities

In-person chess programs laid the foundation for technology-enabled expansion.

The Solution: Partnering with ChessKid 🧭

Fundación a la rueda rueda was introduced to ChessKid through WIM Ivette García, ChessKid’s Director of Español. After evaluating other platforms used for virtual tournaments, the organization chose ChessKid as a solution that could support instruction, practice, and competition across schools and regions.

The partnership launched with the Torneo de Ajedrez del Caribe, a flagship regional event whose first phase is played virtually. Hosted on ChessKid, the tournament enabled safe, inclusive participation and opened the door for expansion into school-based chess programs across multiple Colombian cities.

Virtual qualifier tournaments hosted on ChessKid.

WIM Ivette García, ChessKid's Director of Español shared:

Through Fundación a la rueda rueda’s work, chess became a tool for supporting students’ social-emotional development and digital literacy. ChessKid helped provide the structure needed for practice, competition, and responsible use of technology.”

Implementation Highlights

Initial rollout through a large regional virtual tournament
Expansion into chess projects in schools across Colombia
Ongoing virtual and in-person guidance from the ChessKid team
On-site visits to Colombia to support major competitions
Integration into classroom instruction, interschool competitions, and chess festivals

ChessKid served multiple roles within the initiative: a platform for organizing large virtual tournaments, a structured educational tool for school projects, and a teaching guide for educators learning chess themselves.

In many participating schools, teachers were not experienced chess players. Using ChessKid’s lessons, videos, and guided tools, educators learned alongside their students, making it possible to introduce structured chess programs without requiring dedicated chess experts.

WIM Ivette Garcia works with a Fundación a la rueda rueda student.

Results and Impact 📈

Quantitative Impact

20,000+ students participated in ChessKid-powered Caribbean Chess Tournaments over three years, expanding competition access across multiple regions
Virtual tournaments hosted on ChessKid removed geographic barriers, allowing students from Medellín, Barranquilla, and Montería to participate in structured national events
Thousands of students gained ongoing access to chess learning through ChessKid accounts and distributed chess kits, helping schools extend learning beyond physical classrooms
453 participants earned official FIDE ratings through tournament play, demonstrating how consistent access to practice and competition supported measurable player development
27 educators received training and ongoing support, enabling schools to sustain programs even when teachers were new to chess instruction

ChessKid virtual tournaments remove geographic barriers to access.

ChessKid also helped schools make more effective use of existing technology resources, including computers, projectors, and classroom screens, by transforming them into tools for structured instruction, guided practice, and masterclass-style lessons. For many schools, this shifted technology from passive use to active, curriculum-aligned learning.

ChessKid is used by trained educators to support structured classroom instruction.

Qualitative Impact

Beyond participation numbers, Fundación a la rueda rueda observed meaningful improvements in student behavior and social development. Using assessment tools administered before and after project implementation, the foundation documented improvements in:

Frustration management
Respect for rules and norms
Teamwork
Social and coexistence skills

Structured chess play supports teamwork and social skill development.

What's Next 🚀

Looking ahead, Fundación a la rueda rueda plans to significantly expand its partnership with ChessKid:

Caribbean Chess Tournament 2026: Target of 8,000+ participants
School-based chess programs in 7 major Colombian cities (Bogotá, Medellín, Barranquilla, Montería, Villavicencio, Pereira, Cali), reaching 7,000 students
Continued expansion in El Salvador, reaching 1,300 students

The foundation views ChessKid as a long-term partner in delivering scalable, technology-enabled chess education aligned with national education goals. ChessKid supports continued growth as programs expand to more schools, cities, and students.

ChessKid supports continued growth as programs expand.

Key Takeaways 🔍

The success of Fundación a la rueda rueda highlights how ChessKid can support chess education across diverse school and community contexts:

Expand chess education across regions and countries
Support both instruction and competition through one platform
Reach more students without adding administrative burden
Align with STEM and digital literacy priorities
Deliver measurable academic and social impact beyond gameplay

Chess event organized by Fundación a la rueda rueda.

Considering a Similar Program? 🤔

Fundación a la rueda rueda’s experience highlights how ChessKid can serve as the foundation for growing chess programs, supporting instruction, practice, and competition with a single, student-safe platform.

For organizations exploring a similar approach, ChessKid offers a practical way to:

Launch quickly with a pilot, host virtual tournaments or small school groups
Expand access to chess across schools and regions without increasing administrative workload
Support educators with ready-to-use lessons and classroom-friendly tools
Engage students through guided learning, competition, and safe digital experiences
Align enrichment programs with broader goals around technology use, SEL, and student engagement

➡️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.