Carmel Valley Chess Club

Carmel Valley Chess Club Chess classes for kids, summer camp & adult Friday nights in Carmel Valley, CA. Led by Coach JB. Ages 5–17 · $5 Fridays · cvchess.com

06/02/2026

"What chess teaches kids" is something people ask me all the time. I always give them the same answer.

It doesn't teach them to win.

It teaches them to LOSE.

Other sports — your kid can blame the ref. The team. The weather. Their own bad day. But chess? It's just them and the board. There's no luck. There's no team to blame. There's no bad bounce. Their moves were their moves.

So when they lose a chess game, they LOST it. There's no soft landing. And then they have to walk over to the kid who beat them and shake their hand.

That's the part nobody talks about. That handshake. That's where chess does its real work.

I've watched kids who couldn't handle losing at anything walk into our club, get checkmated three times in a row, and shake the other kid's hand at the end of every game. The first time they do it without crying, you can see something shift. The first time they do it while smiling — that's coaching gold.

Once a kid learns to lose at chess, they can lose anywhere. School. Sports. Auditions. Job interviews twenty years later.

If your kid struggles with losing, or you want them to learn the lesson before life teaches it the hard way — come find us.

cvchess.com

— Coach JB
Carmel Valley Chess Club

05/31/2026

June 15 through June 20 — six days, two events, all chess.

� SUMMER CHESS CAMP · June 15-19
Ages 5-17. Chess in the morning, pool in the afternoon, meals every day, movie day. Every kid leaves with an official USCF rating. $500 all-inclusive. Only a few spots left.

� CARMEL VALLEY SUSHI SLAM · Saturday, June 20
Our second USCF rated tournament. Three rounds of chess in the morning, a catered sushi lunch delivered to the club, and a live digital lecture from Woman Candidate Master Clara Peña broadcasting from Venezuela. $50 early bird through June 7, $65 after. All ages and ratings welcome.

The schedule is intentional. Five days of camp gets a kid sharp. Saturday's tournament is exactly the next step. Camp kids walk in already knowing the room, the clock, the routine. Some will play their first rated tournament the day after camp ends. That's the design.

If your kid has been wanting more chess — this is the week.
If you've been wanting to play in a real tournament — this is the one.

Link in bio → cvchess.com

— Coach JB
Carmel Valley Chess Club

Your kid wants to learn chess. You don't know how to play. Or you do (barely) and you don't have time to teach properly....
05/25/2026

Your kid wants to learn chess. You don't know how to play. Or you do (barely) and you don't have time to teach properly.

I made a 5-day video series for parents in exactly that spot. Five short videos. About 5 minutes each. By Friday your kid is moving pieces correctly, recognizing checkmate, and asking when they can play again.

It's free. I don't sell anything in the videos. The only ask is your email so I can send the next one. That's it.

→ Day 1 — Mindset, story & equipment. What to do BEFORE the first move.
→ Day 2 — Rook, bishop, queen. The three pieces I teach first and a mini-game that locks them in.
→ Day 3 — King, knight, pawn. The three pieces where parents get stuck explaining.
→ Day 4 — Check & checkmate. The only goal that matters in chess.
→ Day 5 — Board setup & castling. How to set up the board correctly + the strangest move in the game.

Sign up at the link in bio → cvchess.com/join

Once your kid is hooked, here's where to take it:
🏕️ Summer Chess Camp — June 15-19. Only a few spots left. Chess in the morning, pool in the afternoon, meals every day, and every kid leaves with an official USCF rating. cvchess.com/summer-camp.html
♟️ After-school chess — Mon/Tue/Thu afternoons. Eight kids max per class. Ages 5-17. Real coaching, not babysitting with chess boards.

The whole point of this club is more kids playing chess. Start anywhere

— Coach JB

05/21/2026

Stop teaching your kid chess openings.

It's the fastest way to make them quit.

Openings are a script. The moment the opponent doesn't follow it, which happens by move 4, your kid is lost. And worse, they think they're bad at chess.

They're not. They were just taught wrong.

Teach understanding instead. What each piece wants to do. Why the center matters. What "developing" actually means. Why some pieces are powerful and the same piece three squares over is useless.

A kid who understands chess can play any opening.
A kid who memorized openings can't play chess.

Parents — what's the first chess thing you remember being taught? Or if you don't play, what's the first thing someone TRIED to teach you? Curious if it stuck.

If you want to teach your kid the right way, I made a free 5-video series for parents who don't play chess themselves: cvchess.com/join

05/15/2026

If you haven't played chess since you were a kid, you're not alone.

Most people learn it at 8 or 9, from a parent, a grandparent, a school club, and then life happens. The board ends up in a closet somewhere.

But the rules don't go away. The patterns come back fast. And there are four doors back in at our club right now:

🔹 Start casual. Friday Chess Night, every Friday 5–9pm. $5 drop-in, all levels welcome. No registration, no pressure, just show up at 9 Del Fino Place.

🔹 Step up. USCF Rated Tournament, Saturday May 23, 10am start. Returning players welcome. Earn (or revive) your official rating.

🔹 Pass it on. Summer Chess Camp, June 15–19, ages 5+. All-inclusive week. Every kid leaves as an officially rated USCF tournament player. Early bird $450 through Saturday → cvchess.com/summer-camp.html

🔹 Teach it yourself. Free 5-day video series "Teach Your Kid Chess in 5 Days (Even If You Don't Play)." Five videos. Five minutes a day. No re-learning required → cvchess.com/join
Whatever brought you back, there's a seat for you at the club.

Carmel Valley Chess Club · 9 Del Fino Place

05/14/2026

$500 for a week of summer camp? Hear me out.

Summer camps in Monterey County run $400–$700. Most are babysitting with a theme. Here's what $500 actually buys at CV Chess Camp:

♟️ 20+ hours of chess instruction from a tournament director
🏊 Pool days
🛝 Park days
🍽️ Meals and snacks every day
🎬 Movie day with the crew
🏆 In-camp USCF tournament + trophy ceremony
🆔 Lifetime USCF rating + membership ($40+ value, locked in for life)

Most chess camps charge $500 for the instruction alone. We include the rest.
If your kid is going to spend a week somewhere this summer, this is a week that builds something.

June 15–19 · Carmel Valley · Ages 5+
Early bird $450 through Saturday → cvchess.com/summer-camp.html

Two days left. ♟️Summer Camp early bird discount ends May 16th.$50 off. That is $450 instead of $500.June 15-19. Ages 5+...
05/14/2026

Two days left. ♟️

Summer Camp early bird discount ends May 16th.
$50 off. That is $450 instead of $500.

June 15-19. Ages 5+. Chess, pool days, meals, movie day, giant chess set, and every camper leaves as a rated USCF tournament player.

https://cvchess.com/summer-camp.html

Two updates from the club ♟️1. New Thursday recreational class — by request. Several families asked us for a chess class...
05/09/2026

Two updates from the club ♟️

1. New Thursday recreational class — by request. Several families asked us for a chess class later in the week, so we're opening a third after-school slot on Thursdays at 3:15 PM. Same age range (5–17), same curriculum as our Monday and Tuesday classes, same 8-student cap. Enroll: cvchess.com/after-school.html

2. May 23rd: our first USCF rated tournament. Five rounds. Two sections so you face opponents of similar strength. Beginners welcome. Every player gets a full year of USCF membership included in the entry fee — and existing Life Members play free.

Monterey County has had USCF tournaments before. What it hasn't had is a chess club — a permanent home where players actually know each other. That's what's different about this one. Read the full guide: cvchess.com/blog-first-tournament.html

📍 9 Del Fino Place, Suite 201 (above Mika Sushi), Carmel Valley
📞 (831) 392-7456

Last month, a kid in my after-school program lost a game and shook the other kid's hand without being asked.His mom told...
05/07/2026

Last month, a kid in my after-school program lost a game and shook the other kid's hand without being asked.

His mom told me later it was the first time he'd ever done that.

That's what chess actually teaches kids. And it's not what most parents expect.

Most parents think their kid will learn focus, or strategy, or how to be smarter. Those things happen too. But the real lesson — the one that changes a child — is how to lose. How to sit with the frustration of a blunder, shake the other kid's hand, and come back to the board ready to play again.

There is almost nothing else in a kid's life that teaches this. Not sports — there's always a teammate or a ref to blame. Not school — losing isn't really part of the structure. Not games on a screen — you can just restart.

Chess is one of the only activities I know of that forces a child to fail, repeatedly, in front of someone, with no excuses. And then teaches them how to do it with grace.

I wrote a short free guide for parents who are curious about what chess actually does for kids — including the answer to "is my kid too young," "do I need to know chess to support them," and the most important lesson chess teaches that has nothing to do with chess.

It's free. Five minutes to read. No catch.

Grab it here → cvchess.com/join.html

— Coach JB
Carmel Valley Chess Club

05/02/2026

What do I hope my chess club brings to Carmel Valley? Chess culture. For kids and families across Monterey County. ♟️

Carmel Valley Chess Club is running Summer Chess Camp 2026, June 15–19, for kids ages 5+. Chess lessons, pool days, meals, and every camper leaves as an officially USCF-rated tournament player.

🏆 Register: cvchess.com/summer-camp.html
📍 Carmel Valley, CA
📞 (831) 392-7456

Early bird pricing — $50 off — ends May 16th.

Address

Carmel Valley, CA
93924

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