Chess Kids is an Australian company (registered business name Chess World Australia Pty Ltd ) that provides a range of

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

-related products and services to

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

s, individuals and chess clubs. Services include coaching and recreational programs, and vacation-seminars they refer to as "incursions".Chess Kids website group services information
/ref> Their affiliated retailer, ''Chess World'' sells chess equipment and accessories to schools.
/ref> Chess Kids organises extensive local and regional

chess tournament A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London 1851 chess tournament, London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard ...

s for students in more than 645 schools across Australia, including the annual ''National Interschool Chess Championships'', with over 9,000 students competing on the regional and national level in 2007. The company was founded in 1998 by chess enthusiast David Cordover, who was only 20 years old at the time. The start-up funds were provided by the cash prize when Cordover won the

Nescafé Nescafé is a brand of coffee made by Nestlé. It comes in many different forms. The name is a portmanteau of the words "Nestlé" and "café". Nestlé first introduced their flagship coffee brand in Switzerland on 1 April 1938. History Nestl� ...

''Big Break Award'' contest for his

business plan A business plan is a formal written document containing the goals of a business, the methods for attaining those goals, and the time-frame for the achievement of the goals. It also describes the nature of the business, background information on ...

vision of bringing chess to every school student in Australia. In an article in ''Teacher: the National Education Magazine'', Cordover described the educational and character-development benefits of chess competition for young children; and wrote that "Research has shown that chess confers many educational benefits, including developing problem-solving ability, abstract analytical skill, spatial ability, memory and concentration."

Tournaments

Chess Kids runs tournaments in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and occasionally the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

. Most of the participants are between 7 and 14 years of age. In the April 2008 issue of ''Teacher'' magazine, Chess Kids' founder and chess enthusiast, David Cordover wrote that during the five years since the founding of the tournaments, participation in the tournaments had grown from 821 children the first year to over 9,000 students competing. The tournaments are set up as regional tournaments, with students from various primary and secondary schools competing on behalf of their schools and organized to that students from the same schools do not compete against each other. Tournaments are run in the Swiss Format with 7 games played by competitors. Each win is worth 1 point, a draw 0.5 points, and a loss 0 points. The events use the free Swiss tournament management software (created by Chess Kids) from www.swisstournament.com. The regional winners compete in the finals at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

in December each year. Chess Kids has presented the ''National Interschool Chess Championship'' for five years in conjunction with Monash University, with the most recent event held in December 2015 at the Queens college in Melbourne. The 48-hour tournament hosted 221 student players, from 48 schools. Many schools such as Mount View Primary, Doncaster Gardens Primary and Valkstone Primary have been named 'the best school in Australia'

Business model

Chess Kids offers coaching for individuals, chess clubs and school programs, runs educational holiday programs for children. The cost of the programs are paid on either an hourly or package basis, depending on the type of program and the organization purchasing the package. Chess equipment and supplies sold through their affiliated retail outlet, ''Chess World'', include

chess board A chessboard is a used to play chess. It consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which the chess pieces are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colours of squares, one light and one dark, in a chequered pattern. During play, the b ...

s and pieces, books, chess clocks, and chess tables. The company started franchising the concept as a method of expanding to other areas. After reaching 5 franchises in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

the business model changed and all franchises were bought back by the company. Chess Kids New Zealand was started in late 2009 to replicate the business model.

References

External links

Chess Kids Official Websites
* {{cite web , url=http://www.chess.com/event/view/national-interschool-chess-championships , title=National Interschool Chess Championships , publisher=Chess.com , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214042624/http://www.chess.com/event/view/national-interschool-chess-championships , archive-date=2012-02-14 , url-status=dead Chess organizations Chess in Australia

Tournaments

Business model

See also

References

External links