Win 500 Gold Memberships In ChessKid

ChessKid returns for its Third Annual "Hour of Chess Week"! Once again, we will dedicate one week a year to encouraging chess in schools (in every school) for at least one hour. We're borrowing from the KhanAcademy playbook (a website and organization whose efforts we greatly admire). This year's week will be February 12-16, 2018.

Last year we had more than 100 schools participate and this year we are shooting for 500!

"The 'Hour of Chess' movement as been arguably the biggest cooperation for chess in the U.S. school system ever," ChessKid Vice-President IN Danny Rensch said. "We are super proud and excited to see it continue to grow."

What Is Hour of Chess Week?

The Hour of Chess Week is a week dedicated to playing chess with everyone, anywhere in the world, for at least one hour! But specifically, ChessKid will be working with its major programs, largest and most active school districts, as well as promoting the efforts to as many worldwide schools to "try chess club at your school for one hour this week" and see if your kids love to play chess. We think they will!

When: Pick any hour 8 a.m.-4 p.m. your local time during the week of February 12-16, 2018.

Where: Your school (kids can use any device -- including their own smartphone or tablet if approved by the school for that hour -- to play Fast Chess or Solve Puzzles, (teacher or coach's decision which one) for one hour

How: To get approval from your school's principal and/or district leaders, we recommend you contact them immediately upon resuming regular classroom activities in January. Any schools needing official documentation of the event can contact ChessKid staff at [email protected] with the email title "Hour of Chess Week." Reading this article and telling your school leaders how much you love the idea of chess in your school might be enough!

Who Can Participate?

Everyone! In fact, one of our most active school districts, Madison City Schools in Alabama, has already committed all seven schools in the district. They get more than 2000 students from grades 1st-6th to participate in "Hour of Chess"!

Just look at those stats from Madison City Schools Hour of Chess Week!

Ranae Bartlett, President of Madison City Board of Education and the Executive Director of the Madison City Chess League, had this to say about last year's event:

"Some teachers rotated students through centers, some paired novices up with experts, and some used an entire lab to play all at once! One size does not fit all, but all enjoyed playing a game of chess with their friends and peers.

Madison City also provided an interactive flyer that did quite a few things. It linked teachers to ChessKid.com and also to the ChessKid introductory chess video to show novice students before the Hour of Chess. The flyer also included a few how-to’s so students and teachers knew how to work with the correct technology and the program efficiently.

Next year, we plan on building on our new improvements. We would like to send out a series of introductory lesson videos for teachers to cycle through with their novice students throughout the preceding few weeks. We feel that would better prepare them for their first game of chess and make the experience even better!

Why An Hour Of Chess?

Chess is recognized universally as one of the most effective ways to bring fun into the classroom, yet still do something that encourages critical thinking skills, increases focus and otherwise helps with the cognitive development of students.

Simply put: We believe every school should have and would benefit from having a regular chess club.

Why is ChessKid doing this?

We want to help you grow chess in your area! In fact, we're giving away prizes to prove it! All schools that sign up with their planned time of participation during the week of February 12-16, 2018 will be registered in a drawing to win one year free of ChessKid Gold Membership access for every kid in their school. (Up to 500 Gold Memberships -- a $2200 value). Only one school will win.

In addition, ChessKid will give away three "Share the Chess" gift baskets chosen from among all programs (school or homeschool) who share a photo of their chess class and tag ChessKidcom on Facebook or social sharing sites! We will share and promote the best photos and announce the three winners (subjectively chosen as our three favorite photos) to receive a ChessKid Tournament gift basket with shirts, pens, scoresheets and stickers!

Thank you for helping to grow chess in your school and district! Questions on the process? Email [email protected] with the subject line: Hour of Chess Week!

Sincerely, International Master Danny Rensch (PoppaBear)
Vice President, Chess.com LLC and ChessKid.com