Give Your Child a Chess Summer They'll Never Forget
Weekly live tournaments, a new GM champion every session, CohenCoins to earn and spend, capybara companions to collect — all from home, all summer long.
Enroll Your Child for Summer →
Every session ends with a trophy ceremony — first place wins the GM title for the following week.
Why Chess Is the Perfect Summer Activity
Summer is the single best time for kids to build a serious chess habit. Without the pressure of homework and school schedules, students can attend multiple sessions per week, review puzzles between classes, and make months of progress in just a few weeks.
Chess thrives in summer for another reason: the better you get, the more you enjoy it. Unlike a sport that requires a field or a team, chess is available any time, scales with the player's ability, and rewards the patient work of a slow Tuesday afternoon just as much as it rewards a Saturday tournament. That internal motivation — chasing a stronger opponent, solving a harder tactic — keeps kids engaged through the whole summer.
And unlike a traditional day camp that runs one intense week, an online chess club runs all summer long. Families can join any combination of the nine weekly sessions around vacations, travel, and other summer plans. There's no commitment, no start date you have to hit, and no week you can't skip.
What Sets This Online Chess Camp Apart
- No commute, no drop-off. Sessions are live video classes on Outschool. All your child needs is a device and an internet connection. The tournament is already set up when they log in.
- Real tournament chess every session. Every class is a live arena tournament with a 7-minute per side time control. Students play as many games as they can fit into the session — after each game, back in for another opponent or pause to get feedback. Not a computer drill. Not a lesson. Real competitive games.
- Nine weekly time slots to choose from. Monday through Sunday, morning through evening. Pick one session or pick several. There's no commitment to a fixed schedule.
- Custom puzzles generated from each student's own games. After every tournament, Mr. Cohen's analysis engine reviews every game and turns the best tactical moments into puzzles. Students practice real positions from their own games — not generic textbook drills.
- A teacher with 17 years of classroom experience and a USCF rating of 1850. This is not an automated app or a college student's side project. Mr. Cohen has run school chess clubs since the early 2000s and has personally taught over 2,500 students on Outschool.
- The honorary GM title. Every week's tournament winner earns the Grandmaster designation next to their name on the site for the following week. It's a small reward that students take seriously and gives everyone a concrete goal to chase.
What a Summer of Chess Looks Like
Students who attend 8–12 sessions over a summer consistently see clear, measurable improvement. Here is what that arc typically looks like:
- First few sessions: Students learn the tournament format, get a feel for the 7-minute clock, and begin identifying patterns in their games. Some feel the pace is fast at first. Most are excited after their first win.
- Mid-summer: The arena format has found its rhythm. Students know when to pause and ask for feedback, when to play through, and how to use the Zoom chat effectively. Analysis puzzles begin clicking into place. Early opening habits start to form.
- End of summer: Students notice their thinking is faster and their moves are more purposeful. They recognize more tactical patterns under time pressure, manage the clock without panicking, and recover more gracefully from blunders. Some will have earned the honorary GM title. All of them will have a measurably sharper game.
Summer Schedule — 9 Sessions Per Week
All times are Eastern (EST/EDT). Each session is approximately 55 minutes of live tournament play and instruction.
Traveling over a weekend? No problem. Each tournament is completely standalone. Miss a week and jump back in the next — your spot is never lost.
Skills Your Child Builds Over the Summer
Chess is one of the most cognitively rich activities available to school-age children. Consistent summer play and analysis builds skills that carry directly into the classroom:
- Critical thinking — evaluating positions, calculating consequences before acting, and choosing the best path forward from multiple options.
- Pattern recognition — tactical themes like forks, pins, and discovered attacks appear across thousands of positions. Learning them builds fast visual thinking.
- Focus and patience — every tournament game requires sustained, undivided attention for several minutes. Students who play regularly develop the ability to concentrate deeply on a single task.
- Competitive resilience — learning to analyze a loss, identify the mistake, and return stronger is one of the most lasting lessons competitive chess teaches.
- Time management — playing with a chess clock is a direct, immediate lesson in working under pressure without rushing.
Studies on scholastic chess programs consistently show improvement in spatial reasoning, reading comprehension, and problem-solving among students who play regularly. A focused summer is one of the fastest ways to develop those advantages.
Your Child's Chess Camp Coach
Michael Cohen began playing chess competitively at age 10 as a scholastic player in Florida. He was named Florida Elementary Chess Champion twice and holds a USCF rating of 1850. After earning a degree in History from the University of Central Florida, he spent 17 years as a middle school teacher — running after-school chess clubs and watching students fall in love with the game the same way he had as a kid.
He joined Outschool in 2020 and has since taught more than 2,500 students across nine weekly sessions. He holds a Florida Teaching Certificate in Social Studies and a 4.9-star rating on Outschool across 586 reviews. His platform, CohenChessClub.com, was built specifically to give his students a more secure and more engaging experience than any off-the-shelf chess site.
Six games in play at once — the CohenChessClub.com lobby during a live summer session.
CohenCoins: Earn Rewards All Summer Long
Your child doesn’t just earn trophies here — they earn CohenCoins, the club’s in-game currency that rewards real chess progress throughout the summer.
CohenCoins are awarded automatically as your child plays and trains:
- Puzzle milestones — solve 20, 50, or 100 puzzles in a week and earn bonus CohenCoins. The more sessions your child attends, the more time they have to hit those milestones.
- Tournament games — every game played in a tournament counts toward coin awards. Active players stack up coins fast.
- Brilliant moves — the analysis engine watches for exceptional tactics and awards bonus coins when students find them in their games.
Coins can be spent in the Monster Shop — an in-game store inside CohenChessClub.com where students unlock capybara companions, mushroom caps, and exclusive accessories to customize their club mascot. Summer is the best time to build a collection.
What Parents Say
"Great chess club — interactive and challenging for kids. The teacher provides thoughtful, constructive feedback. My son also really enjoyed the teacher's chess platform. We will definitely be back."
"My son loves the class. He's excited to come back for another round later in the year."
4.9 stars across 586 Outschool reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a one-week camp or does it run all summer?
It runs all summer. Each session is a standalone weekly tournament. Most summer families attend consistently from June through August, but there is no fixed camp schedule to commit to. You can attend as often or as rarely as your summer allows.
What does my child need to participate?
A computer, tablet, or laptop with a working camera and microphone; a reliable internet connection; and enrollment on Outschool. No additional downloads or accounts are required. Mr. Cohen creates the CohenChessClub.com account and sends login credentials through Outschool's messaging system before the first session.
What skill level is required?
Players of all competitive skill levels are welcome — from casual online players to experienced tournament competitors. Your child should know how all the chess pieces move and have played competitive games before. The club is not designed for students who have only just learned the rules.
Can my child attend multiple sessions per week?
Yes, and many summer students do. Each session is a separate tournament, so attending two or three times per week means more games, more puzzles, and significantly faster improvement. Several families treat it as a multi-day summer activity.
How much does it cost?
Sessions are $18 per class on Outschool with no long-term commitment. Outschool also accepts ESA funds, micro-grants, and some scholarship programs for eligible families.