Since the advent of chess lessons, coaches have looked for ways to motivate students.

Champaign-Urbana area coach Rachel Schecter has devised an innovative -- and patent-pending -- approach: translating points earned through chess accomplishments into donations to local non-profits. This idea has been a huge hit with her Montessori school chess club.

She calls it "Treasure Chess" -- and it was the subject of a recent write up by the News Gazette.

(Editor's Caveat: when you click on the link, you may have to view a short ad delivered by the newspaper's site -- it appears to be harmless!)

Schecter explains, "Students earn points for implementing good chess skills; points convert to dollars; parents sponsor earnings; earnings are donated to charity."

While the downstate coach says Treasure Chess is proving to be a successful classroom to community chess connection, she says "it's only the opening".

Schecter invites chessophiles from "the four corners of the board" to test and contribute.  She is hoping to be contacted by anyone who might be interested in collaborating on this project and in particular is seeking people with experience in "Game Application Configuration", "Product Development for Educational and Consumer Markets", website creation, media and marketing.

She hopes to see Treasure Chess used for charity events in hopes of establishing a permanent community chess center in the Champaign-Urbana area.

She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

If your coach or club is using innovative methods to teach chess -- or to motivate students -- we'd love to hear from you!

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