Chess at Colleges and Universities

Students and faculty members have many chess opportunities at colleges and universities. Besides playing in over-the-board chess championships, undergraduate and graduate students may participate in the Collegiate Chess League. Chess.com provides leadership opportunities through its College Ambassador Program.

Some universities offer scholarships for chess. Faculty members teach chess-themed courses. Money for chess-themed research is available to students and faculty members. This article outlines some of these college chess opportunities. At the end is a link about college-themed back to school bots.

Over-the-board championships

The Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship (the “Pan-Am”) has been held each year since 1946. The Pan-Am attracts four-player teams, plus up to two optional alternates per team, from post-secondary schools in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Each school may field multiple teams. Although the Pan-Am used to be held between Christmas and New Year’s Day, nowadays it happens at the beginning of January.

The President’s Cup began in 2001. It is a round robin for the top four U.S. schools in the immediately previous Pan-Am. No international schools allowed! And just one team per qualifying U.S. school, unlike in the Pan-Am. Typically, the President’s Cup is held the same weekend in late March or early April as the Final Four of College Basketball. My forthcoming book is about the President’s Cup. Please contact Alexey Root to share your games or memories about the President’s Cup.

An even newer championship is the HBCU Chess Classic, thus far held in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, students from Florida A&M, Hampton, Howard, Morehouse, North Carolina A&T, and Spelman participated.

Scholarships

Several U.S. universities offer full-ride college scholarships. Such scholarships usually include four years of tuition, fees, room, and board, plus travel to chess competitions. Most often, these scholarships go to players who hold titles from FIDE, the International Chess Federation. Titles include Grandmaster (GM), International Master (IM), FIDE Master (FM), Woman Grandmaster (WGM), and Woman International Master (WIM). Titled players help universities win the aforementioned championships. 

Collegiate Chess League

Since 2020, players from universities worldwide have participated in the Collegiate Chess League (CCL). Hundreds of players of every level participate every season, with regular appearances by GMs Benjamin Bok, Awonder Liang, Nicolas Checa, Grigoriy Oparin, and more.

For all the details, click here.

College Ambassador Program

The College Ambassador Program allows students to grow the game of chess on their campuses. Motivated students engage chess club members and newcomers to chess in online and on campus chess activities. College Ambassadors improve their leadership skills and are eligible for rewards for themselves and their chess clubs. For more information, click here.

Faculty Members

Faculty members are an integral part of chess on college campuses. Often, a college chess club is required to have a faculty member as its sponsor. Faculty members also may develop and teach chess-themed courses. Since 2001, I have taught chess-themed online courses at The University of Texas at Dallas. Webster University has an 18-credit Chess in Education Minor, also available internationally online. Dr. Jonathon Singler spearheaded the creation of this minor in 2022. IM Jack Peters advises the University of Southern California (USC) chess club and teaches chess courses at USC too.

Chessable Research Awards

Faculty members seeking tenure often hear “publish or perish.” That is, having one’s research published in a peer-reviewed journal helps one advance in rank from assistant to associate to full professor.

The Chessable Research Awards incentivize chess-themed research and encourage faculty members, along with their students, to publish that research in peer-reviewed journals. For more information, click here.

Back to School Bots

Whether or not you are at college, you can play against the back to school bots on Chess.com. There’s a professor, a janitor, an athlete, a frat king, and an eighth-year senior. The bots are here until the end of August. For more information, click here.