Durham Chess Club

Spreading the love of chess

Background Information

Will decided to take on this project because he had always had a love for chess and a love for teaching others.  He decided to combine these two into his CLP.  Will’s grandfather taught him chess at a young age and since then, it has had a very positive influence on his life.  Wanting to pass down this influence on to others, he felt that the best way for him to make positive change in his community would be to teach chess to younger children.

Implementation of Project

Will’s project started about a month after he got home from Alzar  School with his first chess lesson.

I was nervous and completely inexperienced. This was probably my biggest challenge; I had no idea how to teach chess. I obviously had researched some ideas but when it came down to being in the classroom, I didn’t really know what to do. – Will

Fortunately, the process quickly became a learning experience, and Will got better as the lessons progressed.  His only other serious challenge was with some of the kids who were part of the club but struggled with not wanting to be there.  Although many students were interested and engaged, there were a couple that had joined without understanding what the program would be like.  To solve this problem, Will decided to have a talk with the club director and ended up suggesting alternative activities for those children.

Results of Project

Will conducted approximately 15 one hour lessons, with time in between spent for planning.  In total, approximately 20 children received tutoring in how to play chess.  The kids enjoyed the lessons and came away from it with a basic knowledge of how to play the game.  Will plans to stay involved in education and continue to tutor kids throughout high school and college.