Girls Chess Festival

Backed by a US Chess Women and Girls Programming Grant, HCCS Chess helped bring an evening of lessons, puzzles and casual chess play and socialization to NYC girls ages 7 to 12.  It was an evening built for young girl chess players with the support of high school girl chess players.

The festival ran from 5:30 to 8:00 PM and was free to every family. Registration was first come, first served, and spots filled quickly. Girls arrived from numerous schools across the city, at every level from first-time players to seasoned rated tournament competitors.

The program kept the girls moving between activities including but not limited to lessons grouped by skill level (and taught by high school volunteers), a chess puzzle contest (broken into three groups based on ratings), casual games, pizza dinner, prizes and a raffle.

The festival was hosted by Rooks and Roots, a student-led nonprofit founded in 2024 by WGM Iris M and Lisa S to expand access to chess for girls. Its first festival, held at the Dalton School in May 2026, drew 60 girls and was covered on Chess Life Online.

For the second edition, HCCS Chess stepped in as a sponsor and host school. The team used its US Chess Women and Girls Programming Grant to help fund the evening. ChessKid and US Chess Women also sponsored the event.

Girls often drift away from chess around the ages this festival targets. Seeing high school girls lead lessons and command the room gives younger players role models just a few years ahead of them. The evening of girls chess was a huge success with parents asking for more events like this one before the evening had come to a close.