Chess Club

♔JOIN EDISON CHESS!♕

Registration for 2026-2027 is not open yet.

All levels of chess players are welcome, from brand-new beginners to seasoned tournament players. Students in grades 1-8 will hone their chess skills under the guidance of our professional coaches and build friendships with teammates of all ages.

Tuesdays from 3PM-4PM

September - May

Open to grades 1-8

Fee: TBD

Edison's state and city championship-winning chess program is a pillar in our school's vision of developing global citizens through learner-driven experiences. Each year, almost 1/3 of our student body enrolls in Chess Club! As members of this all-ages team, students nurture relationships with friends across grade levels. No prior chess knowledge required!

Chess Club members will be admitted in order of registration date and time. The club quickly fills to capacity and additional students will be added to a waitlist. We will do our best to accommodate as many students as we can!

If you need to register more than one student, please submit the registration form for each student separately.

♖What's Next?♗

Chess Club meets every Tuesday after school at Edison, with pickup at 4PM. Our first class is on Tuesday, September TBD and the last is on May TBD.

To complete your registration, you will be emailed a three-page CPS Academic Chess form that requires your original (non-electronic) signature. Please email your signed form to [email protected] before your student's first day at Chess Club.

Parents can volunteer anytime after obtaining CPS volunteer clearance. Email [email protected] to let us know you'd like to drop in on any Tuesday (level I or level II clearance). Level I clearance is needed for chaperoning official tournaments. If you have questions about the volunteer process, email our school clerk, Veronica Santos, at [email protected].

CPS ACADEMIC CHESS:

https://cpschess.org/

Chicago Academic Chess Events

https://cpschess.org/calendar/

* dates and location may change, see events calendar link above for latest event details

COACHING:

Edison's Chess Club is coached by several phenomenal instructors, led by Head Coach Lamar Lockett since 2022. Lamar has been playing chess for over 30 years and teaching chess for more than half of that time, coaching Edison teams and individuals to many state and city-wide championships. He is the executive director of Twist and Shout School of the Performing Arts, on the board of the Chicago Chess Center, and teaches a variety of chess camps including at Whitney Young High School.

Lamar Lockett is available for private lessons either in person or virtual.

PRACTICING AT HOME:

Parents can easily monitor their students progress if students choose to utilize online practice options. Players should be practicing chess puzzles at home regularly and can work on topics discussed in class.

LICHESS

We will be utilizing Lichess as a key tool in our Chess Club curriculum.

Please create a Lichess account for your student if they do not already have one at https://lichess.org/login
Follow directions here to enable kid mode
Join the team! Email [email protected] for the link to join Edison's online tournaments for our students

CHESSKID

All students will also have access to ChessKid, the Chess.com site for kids. ChessKid will be most useful to our beginner players.

If your student does not yet have a login, we will be creating one and sending you the login details.

If do you already have a login, let us know if you are having difficulty logging in.

CHESSPUZZLE.NET

https://chesspuzzle.net/ is a great practice tool for puzzles, and several of the Edison team players are already using it and love it. The premium version, "puzzle academy", is highly recommended by Coach Lamar, as it provides a comprehensive curriculum, from fundamentals to advanced tactics and endgames. Subscriptions are $25 annually.