Chess Club for Kids!

Chess Club for Kids! is back at the Parkway Central Library on Monday, October 19, and it's one of those things that's a lot easier to explain than it sounds: children 12 and under get together to play and learn chess. If your kid has never seen a board before, that's fine. If they've been playing since they could walk, that's fine too. The whole point is just to get them playing, so there's no experience necessary to join in.

One of the best parts is that you don't have to bring a thing. All the supplies are provided, which means you can just show up without worrying about hunting down a board or a set of pieces. It's a low-stakes way to introduce a kid to the game—they can pick up the basics, play a few matches, and see if it sticks, all in one session.

This isn't a one-off, either. It's part of a series that runs on Mondays from 4:00 to 4:45 PM, so if you miss this one, there are more coming up on October 26 and November 30. The session on October 19 is just one of four listed for the fall, with the first having run back on September 28. It's a short window—forty-five minutes—which is about the right length for a group of kids to get a few games in without it dragging on.

Finding it is easy. The club meets in the Story Hour Room, which is part of the Central Children's Department on the ground floor—Room 22—at the Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine Street, between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway in Philadelphia. It's free to attend, and since all the supplies are provided, there's nothing to pay. It runs from 4:00 to 4:45 PM on Monday, October 19.