Chess

Chess is not just a game; it can be a great family activity and it’s a journey to excellence.
Chess is all about evaluating your position and making a move.

Everything you do in your life is a move. Once you’ve made your move, there’s no turning back. Join the ranks of those notable chess enthusiasts who’ve harnessed the power of chess to sharpen their minds and conquer life’s challenges, e.g., Albert Einstein, Ray Charles, Bill Gates, Martin Lawrence, Madonna, Chris Rock and well-known basketball players Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, among others. Darrian Robinson is the famous female black chess player who became the US’s highest-rated black female chess player. Several U.S. universities offer full-ride college chess scholarships. University of Maryland at Baltimore offers three types of four-year chess scholarships.

Chess can be beneficial in so many other areas (develops memory and focus, boosts planning skills, increases self-awareness, teambuilding, and helps with ADHD).

Be part of the chess community. Join us on this exciting journey of discovery and growth: Two eight-week cohorts. Each 8-week cohort is 16 sessions.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Only $100 per Cohort

Meet our Chess Coach
Mr. Okhomina (Mr. O) is a licensed DC attorney, educator, and competitive chess enthusiast. Mr. O grew up in Prince George’s County and has over 25 years of experience playing and teaching chess, in the DMV area and internationally. Mr. O also holds a Master’s degree in Education and has extensive experience teaching learners of all ages.

Current Cohort Dates

Check Back For Future Dates

Sponsor A Child For Chess: Click Here!

7 Interesting Chess Facts

Initially, the Queen could only move one square at a time, diagonally. Later, she could move two squares at a time, diagonally. It wasn’t until Reconquista Spain, with its powerful. Queen Isabella, that the Queen became the strongest piece on the board.The number of possibilities of a Knight’s tour is over 122 million.

During World War II, some of the top Chess players were also code breakers. British Chess Masters Harry Golombek, Stuart Milner-Barry, and H.O’D. Alexander were on the team that deciphered the Nazi Enigma code.

The word “Checkmate” in Chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat,” which means “the King is dead.”

The longest chess game theoretically possible is 5,949 moves.

A computer called DeepThought became the first computer to beat an international grandmaster in November 1988, Long Beach, California.The folding chessboard was invented by a priest who was forbidden to play chess. The priest found a way around it by making a folding chessboard. When folded together and put on a bookshelf, it simply looks like two books

chess

Got Questions?
Please contact LaMont Geddis our Program Director at programdirector@thelafi.org.

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