The Shanghai Expat Chess Academy was established in April 2015 in Shanghai. At present, the academy welcomes over 200 students aged 5 to 15 to its new training center located in the Jingting Seoul Plaza shopping center in the heart of Shanghai’s Koreatown (韩国城). We hold weekly chess and math classes, summer and winter camps, as well as scholastic and open chess tournaments which attract some of th
e best players in town. Our students hail from various bilingual international schools, including SUIS, SAS, SCIS, YCIS, Soong Ching Ling and YK Pao among others and speak English and Chinese fluently. Classes are taught entirely in English and coaches have long experience teaching chess and mathematics to young children in China and abroad. We provide two programs, namely personalized chess training classes and math Olympiad preparatory courses and assign students to different age groups and levels based on their skills and knowledge at the time of registration. These programs prepare students to successfully participate in local, national and international chess and math competitions and seek to inspire children’s genuine interest in chess and mathematics by promoting students’ critical thinking and independent learning ability. Our teaching method is based on the principles used by the renowned Soviet Chess School to produce so many world champions in the past century. Students develop their analytical thinking and concentration skills and learn discipline, self-control, and self-reflection among other important life skills, which are crucial for success in chess and in life. Our main goal to promote chess among local communities in Shanghai has been off to a great start and we believe that chess will have more and more fans in China as we grow and expand our reach to new areas where kids will have the chance to learn chess from real chess lovers. Our academy makes use of an array of FIDE approved chess equipment imported from Europe and the United States, especially for the needs of our mission to promote international chess in Shanghai and offer our students the opportunity to experience it as it is played in traditional chess clubs in Europe. FIDE approved standard size wooden chess sets and digital clocks, interactive chess programs and software, and chess literature used by the famous Soviet Chess School are only part of SECA’s educational tools used to instill love for the ancient game. An electronic DGT chess board which connects to a computer and is used by FIDE to hold the World Championship Match was recently introduced in our classroom to further enrich our students’ tournament experience.
