About Chess4Life

Chess4Life was founded in 2005 by National Master Elliott Neff. With over 20 years of experience teaching chess, Elliott understands that the study of chess provides a great vehicle for learning life lessons. Perseverance through adversity, the payoff of consistent effort, and the priceless feeling of earned achievement are experiences well known to dedicated chess players.

Chess teaches us sportsmanship, good decision-making, patience, planning, and how to learn from mistakes. These traits are enhanced by positive encouragement and personalized instruction.

Today Elliott’s goal is to develop every Chess4Life student so that they build both chess and life skills, regardless of whether or not they move on to the championship level.

Program Overview

Mission

The mission of Chess4Life is to positively impact as many children’s lives as possible through the game of chess, imparting life skills, character qualities, and the importance of a set of core values.

Values

Grow: Continually improving and enriching our students, our company, and ourselves.

Serve: Serving others as we would want to be served in every situation.

Empower: Giving and receiving authority and responsibility.

Teaching Approach

Chess4Life has a proven, proprietary training system that has produced multiple national champion students and some of the highest ranked students in the United States.

Our instruction system focuses on understanding chess and how to think effectively during play so students can figure out the best move in any position, not just memorize patterns of movement. This methodology helps students to avoid developing bad habits that may be difficult to correct.

Our classes generally consist of the following elements:

• Lesson or lecture on chess strategies and tactics
• Chess exercises, including puzzles
• Practice time for chess play
• Reviewing material learned

Our coaches employ a number of teaching tools including DVD’s and Workbooks that have been created and designed by National Master Elliott Neff and a highly skilled team of chess coaches. Elliott and his team have spent hundreds of hours developing this curriculum and building an instructional system that helps students establish a strong foundation that avoids bad habits and prepares them for continual achievement, ongoing progression, and overall success. This training program is present in all of our programs, but it is delivered most comprehensively in chess classes at Chess4Life centers.

We at Chess4Life very much look forward to working with you and your children to positively impact their lives through chess.