Donation Campaigns

The Sunrise Center for Excellence in Chess pilots many of the teaching initiatives developed by the National Scholastic Chess Foundation, our parent organization. NSCF curriculum development programs are helping to expand the use of chess to improve outcomes in American education.

While the majority of Sunrise Chess and NSCF revenue is earned through programs that deliver instruction directly to children, a core mission of our organization is to develop dynamic chess instructional materials and teacher training programs so that Sunil’s successes can be replicated by a new generation of educators all across America. This effort only continues with your help. In recent years, your tax deductible donations, and some generous grants, have already helped us develop:

"Great Moves: Learning Chess Through History," an interdisciplinary middle-school-and-up text that teaches chess, literacy and social studies;

"Demystifying Chess: A Thinking Skills Workshop for Teachers," a 2-part workshop that trains teachers to present chess and is mapped to social-emotion learning competencies. Over 650 professionals working with children, mostly teachers, in Florida, Michigan and California, have already completed at least one full-day workshop;

"Best Lessons of a Chess Coach: Extended Edition," a newly-rewritten and expanded edition of Sunil's book for aspiring players that will be published within the next 90 days.

Your continued support will help us keep working on these programs, even as many of our direct-to-student efforts are suspended due to the coronavirus. It is full-steam ahead, shoulder-to-shoulder effort, even if our shoulders need to be at least one meter apart :). Thank you for your support of the Sunrise Center and NSCF chess.

According to Florida Policy Institute, “on average, 70 to 80 percent of incarcerated youth are rearrested within three years, often committing worse crimes." If we want to make a difference in the lives of these young people, and lower crime rates overall, funding interventions that equip young people to make better decisions is certainly a positive investment.

Since the very beginning of the NSCF's community chess effort in Broward County, we have worked to serve young people in the juvenile justice system. We teach in a school serving young people on probation, and in the Detention Center. These programs are funded by grants and run year-round. (Our students don't get vacations.)

One program we are particularly proud of teaches chess to young offenders from all over Florida at two treatment centers. In addition to teaching at both centers every Friday morning, periodically we get to host a tournament where top players from each facility (shown below) get to test their skills with the top team bringing the "challenge trophy" back to their center!

One grant we had for two prior years, we did not receive for the current fiscal year. This has left us $6,100.00 short for just the treatment centers. We have had great successes at these facilities for over 3.5 years. One site's assistant director shared how much "quieter" the facility had become since we started teaching chess and gave them extra sets for the common areas. "It is quite common to see boys sitting at the back of the room playing for hours in their free time," she said. "I wish you would come to our other centers."

We'd love to come to their other centers across the country, but for now our goal is to keep the current programs operating and viable. Your financial support will help us teach critical-thinking and problem-solving skills that can help these young men make better decisions in life... We are looking for larger grants, but in the meantime, maybe smaller contributions will help fill the gap. Please join us in this very valuable work.

After 3 years of diligent work, our book "Great Moves: Learning Chess Through History" is finally available!

Here's the back cover copy and some great endorsements from two of our early readers:

“The development of a chess player runs parallel with chess itself; a study of the history of playing methods therefore has great practical value.” – Former World Chess Champion, Grandmaster Dr. Max Euwe

What’s the best way to learn chess? Great Moves: Learning Chess Through History blends the intricacies of chess play with the game’s compelling and colorful history, putting real people at the 64 squares. Tracing the development of chess from its origins in ancient India, the authors take the student on a far-ranging journey through the palaces of medieval and Renaissance Europe to the cafés of the Enlightenment and the dawn of the Industrial Age, with a focus on the leading personalities of the royal game and on their contributions to understanding of it. Rogues and champions, tragic as well as inspirational human stories all serve as the backdrop for illustrative games and exercises of increasing complexity highlighting their discoveries, and invite the student to grasp the potential of chess to fascinate. Much more than a primer for beginning chess players and their teachers, Great Moves shines a light on the lives of famous players of bygone eras, helping experienced players to fi ll in the gaps in their chess culture.

“Sunil Weeramantry & Co. have delivered a long needed scholastic workbook that places chess within the history of ideas and brings students into practical contact with the evolution of chess thought.” – Dr. Jeff Bulington, Nationally Recognized Chess Educator

“An exciting new idea which makes the game’s rich history come alive, I can see Great Moves becoming as popular with adults as it will surely be for students.” – Judit Polgar, Grandmaster and Chess Educator

Find more reviews and bonus materials at www.GreatMovesChess.org. 

Order directly: donate $35 (or more) to NSCF/The Sunrise Center for Excellence in Chess and we'll send you a copy (includes postage).

This unique text teaches chess and social studies as a blended learning project.