History
Chess4Life was founded by National Master Elliott Neff. Elliott was a devoted chess coach who would travel across the Pacific Northwest teaching kids chess. He would regularly commute from Lynden, Washington to the greater Seattle area several times a week in order to reach the kids he was coaching. Elliott's coaching reach would even occasionally reach as far south as Portland within the same day. It was when Elliott's coaching load exceeded the hours he had available in a day that he decided to expand his reach. As a coach, Elliott was frequently receiving feedback from parents about the effect his lessons had on their child's life. Along with improving their chess abilities, the kids Elliott coached were also gaining valuable life skills from his chess lessons. This realization of his influence became an important revelation for him. The result was Elliott deciding to devote his life to positively impacting as many children's lives as he could through chess by founding Chess4Life
Specialties
Our specialty is in our Premium Center Classes. These classes have been proven to be fun and effective ways for children to develop life skills through chess lessons. Premium Center Classes can be accessed at any of our six current location across the Puget Sound. Classes follow the Chess4Life curriculum developed by National Master Elliott Neff, working from beginner to advanced topics through the six levels of Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, Queen, and finally King level. Our classes consist of the following elements: - Lesson or lecture on chess strategy and tactics - Chess exercises, including puzzles - Practice time for chess play - Reviewing material learned At Chess4Life we also offer a number of other programs, including camps, weekly tournaments, and an after school immersion program all designed to build character and thinking skills. Weekly tournaments include our fun and exciting Friday Night Quads. Our quads are official rated tournaments held every Friday evening at any of our Chess4Life locations. Quads are a group of four chess players at similar ability levels, who play individual games of chess against each of the other three players. Every player will compete in a total of three games; the player with the most individual wins, wins the Quad and a trophy! First time players of quads will also win a special prize!