by AcademiCare Institute

1. What makes Chess Club different than other programs?

Our Chess Club offers chess education at the most affordable price with the highest quality level of instruction.

2. Are the instructor's background checked?

Yes, all of our instructors are background checked, and TB-tested with years of professional chess experience.

3. Is your program insured?

Yes, we have liability and afterschool insurance coverage worth over 2 million dollars.

4. What is the age range/skill level for classes?

The range is K-12 for levels beginner to advanced.

Our primary mission is to broaden the chess community here in the Bay Area. We are a proud member of CAL-Chess and an official affiliate of the United States Chess Federation. Our chess school employs the top chess professionals available in all of Silicon Valley, most with years upon years of successful teaching experience and professional competition. All certified in the 1st-Move instructional program and able to transmit our award-winning curriculum to students of all ages and skill levels from absolute beginners, through the advanced tourney player. We've helped to foster the passion for chess in thousands of students throughout the Bay Area since 1999!  Our competitive chess teams have countless local achievements as well as numerous top state standings and championships as well as several national titles!  Our in-school, elementary & middle school programs are continually the highest rated by the state and win several sections year after year at the annual CA Super States Chess Championships!

Both casual & competitive Chess is on the rise! It's mainstreaming in recent years has been in part to the many studies showing the benefits to kids, local youth has been more successful than ever in district tournaments, state rankings, national events, USCF ratings, and even the global chess-world: FIDE. We are seeing more chess on TV, film, print, movies...  And now that chess is back in the Olympic Games we are seeing this 2000+year-old game just about everywhere. More Americans are playing chess than ever before in our Nations' history, and our Chess Club has grown insignificantly.

TWO DECADES!  TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND STUDENTS!

1st Move!

First Move is an award-winning in-classroom curriculum using chess as a learning tool in K-5 grade classrooms.

The program focuses on enhancing the core curriculum while improving the student’s critical thinking and test-taking skills. Kids see chess as a game and do not realize the powerful learning that goes on while they play.

-Americas Foundation for Chess

In-school Chess Clubs, Private, & Tourneys... The AcademiCare way!

We are devoted to promoting the merits of chess amongst children by using stories, analogies, and catchy songs to make the game of chess exciting.  This unique learning experience not only teaches children to play chess but also prepares them for life by enhancing their thought process.  Children participating in the Chess Club develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills have better concentration and mental discipline, gain confidence and have lots of FUN! 

Although we know the best teachers available and have what it takes to teach intermediate, advanced and all the way to master level, we try to make Chess Club as fun as possible and give the kids the tools they will need to study chess on their own.  No organization can make a student chess master in just meeting once a week, we instead emphasize the fun over the competitive elements while still being a "good sport" to get our kids excited about chess and its strategies

Scholastic Chess Clubs & Academic-Care

We coordinate Chess Clubs after school, during, before and at lunch-time.  We teach an Academic style Chess that has proven to raise math and reading scores as well as boast social skills with the assistance of the 1st-Move program!