Back to School Time!

Howdy! It’s the Chess Friends!

How did it get to be September?! This summer has gone by fast because we had so much fun…

-writing the blog posts! (this one is our 21st)

-working on the book! (look out for the release announcement later THIS month), and

-playing chess! (read about some of our chess adventures here)

Now that September is here, kids around the country are returning to school, and we are also switching to our fall schedules in homeschooling.

Let’s start September with a bang, with more cool and entertaining blog posts!

One of the fun things the chess players are looking forward to is chess clubs in schools! We don’t know when or where the first school chess club was introduced, but whoever did that was genius! Chess club at school is how The Man Benji started his chess career!

If you want to have more examples about the impact of chess clubs not only on kids’ chess, but also their lives, check out the two resources we review below.

Chess Club: The Winning Move by Rebecca Donnelly, illustrated by Isabelle Duffy (2025)

Chess Club, The Winning Move, is a middle grade fictional book about kids coming together to form a chess club. The story is told from the perspectives of four different characters! Halima is an experienced chess player, who knows the ins and outs of the game, and decides to start the chess club! Her best friend Jem wants to support her buddy, so she joins! Then there’s Parker, a boy with a competitive soul, who dreams about being a chess champion. Last but not least, there’s analytical Daniel, who is interested to learn more about chess, and how to make friends. These four could not be more different, and each might have different motivations to be there, but together, they make a great team, and not only when playing chess. Faced with tricky situations, how each will respond to support their teammates?

Movie Brooklyn Castle, directed by Katie Dellamaggiore (2012)

This is a lovely documentary film about the power of a school chess club. It was released in 2012 and based on I.S. 318, a public middle school in Brooklyn, New York. It follows the lives of several teammates, including Rochelle Ballantyne, Justus Williams, and James Black Jr., on their personal and chess journeys. The movie showcases the power of teamwork and having inspiring coaches who will fight for you and your families, like I.S. 318 coach Elizabeth. Despite having little to no funding or support to start, the team grew and performed brilliantly, winning many national titles! The movie is super inspiring showing the ups and downs of competing at national levels to reach personal and team goals!

Chess is great, but what can make it even better? Playing on a team! Team dynamics totally change your mindset. It’s less about you and more about the team. We encourage you to find opportunities to play in club/team chess events too!

This school year, we, The Chess Friends, are looking forward to an esports chess league for K-8 players called Rookly (https://rookly.com)! Three of our other friends will join us on the WIISER team to compete together against teams from all over the country! We’ll play in rapid arenas every Monday starting in October. If your school wants to join the league, check out the Rookly website, there is still time to sign up!

Meanwhile, The Chess Friends blog is getting HYPE! Our favorite chess magazine, Northwest Chess, published our most-viewed (so far) post, Our Darkest Chess Hours, in their September issue!  Also, one of our writer friends, Jenny Andrus, whose picture book Elsa’s Chessboard we reviewed earlier, put together a list of chess resources on her website, recommending our blog and soon-to-be published book! Check out her resources here.

That’s all for now, friends. This school year, play chess and learn a lot!

Before you go, here is a healthy portion of chess jokes, school edition!

Why did the chess club meet at the gym?

To do some rook lifts!

***

No, seriously, why did they meet at the gym?

Because the library was all booked!

***

So, why didn’t they meet at the cafeteria then?

Because in the cafeteria, the chess clocks keep going back four seconds!

***

What do chess players do in English class?

Push the pawn to c4 on move one.

***

Why are chefs good at running school chess clubs?

Because they cook all the time!

***

Why are chefs also good as chess TDs?

Because they’re good at saying Quiet Peas!

Three Cheers, Fellow Future Master Chess Friends!

The Man Benji, The Myth Sarang, The Legend Vivi