ChessKid.com is the scholastic extension of Chess.com - the #1 online chess site. ChessKid is dedicated to being a safe place for kids to learn and play chess. ChessKid introduces kids at an early age to the game of chess, teaching them how to play while having fun. It is an educational tool that teachers can use in their classrooms to help students develop critical thinking skills.

At ChessKid we realize that school systems across the country have experienced one of the most challenging school years due to the global outbreak of Covid-19. For the second year, ChessKid wants to assist school systems during this challenging time by providing free Gold ChessKid accounts through a grant program for every student at your elementary school. Our goal is to award at least five grants to a school system in the United States and five grants to a school system outside the United States for the 2021-2022 school year.

The APPLICATION DEADLINE is midnight April 30, 2021. Decisions will be made by May 28, 2021. Your school will be contacted if you are selected, and ChessKid will work with your school staff over the summer to set up your gold accounts for your students. We will also provide training to your designated staff who will help administer the online chess program. If you are a recipient of the grant, you will need to designate staff at each school to receive ChessKid training and have your students log on and use this program to learn to play chess or improve chess skills monthly. There are two times in the school year when ChessKid hosts an event called Hour of Chess: once in November and once in February. We ask all grant recipients to have every student log on once during those Hour of Chess weeks to play chess, solve puzzles, watch a chess video, or many other activities that are offered in a gold subscription to ChessKid.com.

WHO SHOULD COMPLETE THIS APPLICATION: A school system administrator (usually a central office administrator) who can answer questions on the application about the number of students at each elementary school and personnel who would administer the program.

Many schools and chess clubs that already have ChessKid subscriptions have been able to continue their chess activities during school closures caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. For some schools, it is the only extra-curricular activity that has been able to continue. If you believe your students could benefit from ChessKid, complete the application below.

If you have any questions about the grant application process, you can email Ranae Bartlett, Education Director at ChessKid.com at ranae@chesskid.com.

*Note: School Systems that currently have Enterprise Accounts with ChessKid.com or who were previous grant recipients are not eligible to apply.