USC Chess Outreach

Share your passion!
is the moral of the story

TIRP volunteer Luca Johnson asked about starting a chess class for 5th and 6th grade students…

And the rest is his_story:

A small chess family organically developed creating a team of students committed to learning the game of chess.

Beginning in Fall 2022, the semester was dedicated to learning the basics and creating a foundation.  In spring, we built on that foundation and added blitz games at the end of each lesson enabling students to play one another – and sometimes play me as well. We reviewed games to analyze moves and strategy.

In the first year, five students demonstrated a true commitment, and I am very proud of their work.  Having witnessed their dedication and advancement with chess, they were presented with travel chess sets that are used at chess tournaments—great to take on the road and to help acclimate for play in local chess competitions.

The Teaching International Relations Program (TIRP) has a history of volunteers who are passionate about community involvement!  CALIS is thrilled to support TIRPers who want to start new ventures.

In Fall 2023, Luca recruited sophomore Arthur Markaryan to lead an intermediate class while he started another class for beginners.  Luca and Arthur are a great team!  In Year 2, an even bigger cohort of students earned recognition awards!

Kudos to Luca and Arthur for their dedication to these budding chess enthusiasts!