Checkmate Violence Initiative

promoting unity, strategy and non-violence

Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation has been providing high quality programs that equip Chicago children with the skills they need to excel academically, intellectually and socially, while keeping them safe and active during out of school hours.

The need for our program is great. An estimated 50,000 kids citywide spend between 20-25 hours a week alone after school – with the most dangerous hours between 3 pm and 6 pm. These unsupervised young people are much more likely to be the victims of crime or become involved in risky behaviors. Recent youth violence in Chicago provides strong impetus for improving the lives of the city’s youth.  

The Checkmate Violence Initiative acknowledges the potential of our children rather than treating them as "problems" to be solved.  Through chess center programs we have witnessed over and over again remarkable transformations of children from positions of hopelessness, anger and self-destruction to positions of leadership, hope and empowerment. 

The Checkmate Violence Initiative is a strategic program designed to address the need to bridge the educational divide, stop youth violence and keep kids in school, while teaching them fundamental skills that will help them make the right choices throughout their childhood, adolescence and on into young adulthood.

The Checkmate Violence Initiative is divided into 6 key categories:  Chicago Youth Chess Challenge (School and Community Chess Programs), Chicago Youth Chess League (Tournaments), Special Events, High School Apprenticeships, Chess and Education Centers, and National/International Chess Competitions.

Chicago Youth Chess Challenge

We establish after-school chess clubs at schools, libraries, park districts, and community centers. These clubs bring the academic benefit of chess to the children while providing them with positive social groups, goals and aspirations, and allows disadvantaged children to expand their minds in a way that will alleviate social pressures in a safe environment. 

Chicago Youth Chess Tournaments

We organize free chess competition for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) chess teams and individuals who schools don't have a ches team.  Over the past 6 years we have been partnered with CPS Sports Administration and have organized and run the CPS K-8 Regional Playoffs and Championship and the High School Championship.  Participation by CPS students has dramatically increased over the years.  Several tournaments this past year had over 400 student students participating from across the city.

Tournaments give participants an opportunity to test and showcase their skills in front of teachers, peers, and parents and serve as the motivation that encourages students to expect nothing less than mastery of the subject for them. In doing so, students develop their focus and concentration, deal with winning and losing in a safe environment, and experience the dynamics of teamwork.  Perhaps the most striking outcome, however, is how the challenge of chess competition swells the students' confidence and pride.  Chess tournaments have the added benefit of bring together kids from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, neighborhoods, races and ethnic groups to form a chess community of like-minded youth. 

Special Events

We organize special events using chess to promote unity, strategy and non-violence.   Several of of signature  special events has been held at The Taste of Chicago, the African Festival of the Arts, Mayor Daley’s Holiday Sports Festival, Chicago Toy and Game Fair and Teen Test Day as well as at other community events. 

RKCF was founded in 2005 after it was discovered Chicago lacked a non-profit organization dedicated to bring the benefits of chess to at-risk and disadvantage children.  Over the past 5 years RKCF has served over 7,000 students through our programs.  We are working hard to expand our programs to a comparable level with Philadelphia and New York City programs that each served over 4000 students a year – and we need your help!  Your support is crucial to make this a success.