The Manitoba Scholastic Chess Association

The Manitoba Scholastic Chess Association is the provincial branch of the Chess'n Math Association, Canada's national scholastic chess organization (http://chess-math.org). We are a non-profit organization consiting entirely of volunteers who dedicate some of their time to ensure that students in Manitoba have an opportunity to play chess. We have been operating here in Manitoba for the past 38 years. The Manitoba Scholastic Chess Association is run and organized by Jeremie Piche.

Our mandate

The mandate of the Manitoba Scholastic Chess Association is to improve student's academic and life skills by getting as many students as we can to play chess. We believe strongly in the value of chess as a learning aid for children. Chess has been proven to enhance concentration, patience, problem solving, critical thinking, memory, creativity, and visualization skills. It is an excellent tool that will allow children to develop many skills that will naturally carry over into other areas of life and will be of use for students no matter what vocation they should choose.

The Canadian Chess Challenge

Every year, the Manitoba Scholastic Chess Association is responsable for sending a team of students to the National Canadian Chess Challenge. In March 2025, we will be organizing the qualifying Provincial tournament played by grade (grade 1's play against grade 1's, grade 12's play against grade 12's etc). The winners in each grade will represent Manitoba at the national tournament during the May long weekend of 2025. If you would like more information, or are interested in registering for the Provincial tournament, contact Jeremie by e-mail: jeremie.piche@scholasticchess.mb.ca.

Starting a chess club

You don’t need to be an experienced chess player to start and run a chess club. Kids often want nothing more than a place to play and other kids to play against. Chess sets and a room with tables are really all that you need to start your chess club.

Complete chess sets for schools containing sturdy plastic pieces and a durable roll-up vinyl board all packaged in a tube for convenient easy transportation and storage can be purchased directly from the Manitoba Scholastic Chess Association for $25.00 (tax included). Contact Jeremie by e-mail: jeremie.piche@scholasticchess.mb.ca for more information. Click for picture.

A free Chess Training Manual is available at no cost from the Chess Federation of Canada (CFC) web site that contains a lot of very useful information to help get your chess club underway.