Youth chess in Chicago, as it is in many other cities, is a complicated mosaic. We outline below some of the major components.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Chess in Chicago Public Schools is under the auspice of Academic Competitions under the Office of Teaching and Learning, The Chess programs is overseen by Sylvia Nelson Jordan, Director of Academic Competitions, Nichole Mathews, full time Chess Coordinator, and David Heiser, CPS Chess Consultant.

 Chess within CPS is separated into three distinct programs:

• Academic Chess – After-school clubs and competitive chess tournaments
• Cops & Kids– Promoting non-violence and increase positive relationships with youth and police officers through chess center programming
• First Moves – In the classroom program for 2nd and 3rd grade students

Academic Chess provides students from diverse communities across the city with the opportunity to learn, play, and compete in Chess at no cost. The students participate in after school chess clubs and compete in tournaments throughout the year including at the CPS Academic Chess play-offs and Championships, City of Chicago Championship, State and National tournaments.

Academic Chess provides annual stipends to chess coaches who help run school clubs. They also provide assistance with starting clubs and organize city-wide tournaments including for students at both the elementary and high school level.  CPS holds Professional Development training for Coaches and students and organizes summer chess camps.  In 2017, the Chicago Board of Education approved a 3 year expansion plan for chess and has committed additional funding for both the Academic Chess program and Cops & Kids initiative.

The CPS High School Championship is held in January, usually the weekend before the IHSA Sectionals.  The CPS Elementary Play-offs and Championship are held in March. To participate in the K-8 CPS championship, players must have played in four previous matches or two tournaments and then qualify in either a south side or north side qualifying event. There is no equivalent qualifier for the high school event. For more information, see www.cpschess.com.

Over the past 10 years, CPS students have been successfully competing on the State and National level.  At the 2017 K-12 National Championship, 22 out of the 49 players were from Illinois were from CPS schools. The Whitney Young 11th grade team came in 1^st place; the only Illinois school to place in top 3 of their division. Whitney Young’s Matthew Stevens was took 1^st place individual in the 11^th grade division along with fellow team mates Nikhil & Akhil Kalghatgi tying for 2^nd place.

The annual invitational “MVP Tournament,” sponsored by the David R. Macdonald Foundation, is open to top K-12 players from CPS through a nomination process from their coaches, and is held at the Harold Washington Library over spring break.

Some parochial and independent schools in Chicago also have chess clubs, a few of which participate in tournaments. Only three schools with kids in grades K-8 (two parochial and one independent) sent teams to the free tournaments run by YCFC (see below). One of the sixteen Illinois high school conferences, the Chicago Chess Conference, is comprised of 10 Catholic high schools in Chicago (and two in the suburbs). ICA hopes to gather more accurate data on participation levels from these schools.

Tournaments in Chicago. Scholastic players can choose from a variety of local tournaments held in Chicago and its suburbs. Most are sponsored by professional organizers, both for-profit and not-for-profit, and are listed in our Events section. The majority are USCF-rated and have entry fees in the $25-$30 range. A few others sponsored by community-wide programs are less expensive.

CPS city-wide championships for students at both the elementary and high school level are sponsored by the CPS Sports Department, usually in March. To participate in the K-8 CPS championship, players must have played in four previous matches or two tournaments and then qualify in either a south side or north side qualifying event. There is no equivalent qualifier for the high school event. For more information, see www.cpschess.com.

For the past several years, there has also been a Chicago Prep Bowl for teams involved in the Chicago Public League (the CPS conference) and Chicago Chess Conference (parochial schools). The 2009 Prep Bowl was held in December. See http://theicca.blogspot.com/2009/07/chicago-prep-bowl-dec-06-2009.html.

The Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago (YCFC) has been running free tournaments for Chicago kids in grades K-8 for approximately fifteen years. In the past, these tournaments have been held in elementary and middle schools, but attendance increased substantially during the 2009-2010 school year, and future events will be held in Chicago-area high schools. The majority of participants attend CPS schools but the events are also open to students from parochial and independent schools. YCFC’s events are listed on the ICA Events page, and tournament results are listed at www.thechessacademy.org/YCFC.html.

Two annual invitational events are also held for CPS students. The “MVP Tournament,” sponsored by the David R. Macdonald Foundation, is open to top K-8 players nominated by their coaches, and is held at the Harold Washington Library over spring break. The "Diamond in the Rough" tournament, held in late spring at Cellular Field and hosted by the Illinois Sports Facility Authority and CPS’ Office of Academic Enhancement, is open to students attending CPS Magnet Cluster schools participating in the federally-funded Voluntary Public School Choice Program.