Students at Redwood Middle School are check-mating each other virtually these days since the after-school chess program has been moved to Zoom.

Once COVID-19 hit and schools closed, classroom instruction morphed into Zoom chess. The program is one of the few after-school activities to make the transition to online and is growing in popularity.

“The chess club was my favorite last year,” says Yashom Kapoor, who graduated from Redwood last year. “Not only did I get to play chess, which I’ve enjoyed since I was 7, I learned more, met new people, introduced some friends into chess and got to play many, many tense games.”

He gives credit to the organizers. “The Redwood Chess Club would not be where it is without the organizers, Dory and Colin Albert, as well as all the players who came to play chess. Colin gives everyone precious feedback, making me, and all my peers, much stronger chess players.”

A full-time Santa Clara University student and nationally ranked chess expert, Colin Albert has been coaching the young players since 2018, when Redwood created the after-school enrichment program through the vision of PTA executive board member Sumangala Prasad, whose son Dhilon Prasad had taken private chess lessons from Albert.

A graduate of Redwood Middle and Saratoga High schools, Albert is a self-taught player who holds the rank of chess expert from the U.S. Chess Federation. He’s ranked in the 98th percentile among 62,000 U.S. players and is working toward a grandmaster title from the International Chess Federation.

Dory Albert is Colin’s mom and has been the chess club coordinator and PTA parent liaison to the club.

“My hope for the chess club with Colin as chess coach…and just 10 years older than most of his students, was to provide a positive role model and to teach students positive game play in a nurturing environment,” she says. “As a parent, I am proud that Colin has had a positive effect on his students.”

Yashom can attest to the positive effects of the chess club. This fall he’s serving as an officer for Saratoga High School’s chess club while still helping out the middle school club.

“Dory and Colin look out for everyone’s needs,” says the student. “They make sure everyone has a chance to participate. We have some longtime players, and others are brand-new to the game. Eventually, everyone can put up a fight and create some extremely close and exciting games.”

Coach Albert is hoping to get students from the Redwood club into a scholastic tournament so they can put their chess skills to the test against other middle school students.

“My goal is to show my students how fun, interesting and competitive chess can be,” he says.

Older folks are also interested in learning to play chess to help keep their brains active and possibly fend off dementia. Coach Albert has been contacted by the Saratoga Public Library to teach chess lessons to seniors as part of a community learning program once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

Meanwhile, Zoom chess is open to all Redwood students at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. For more information, email chess@redwoodmiddlepta.org or chess95070@gmail.com.