Hoosier Chess Academy

Calling all adult chess players in the Bloomington community!

Looking for a new chess hangout? Join us for our biweekly Wednesday night chess gatherings—a relaxed opportunity to play, learn, socialize, and connect with fellow chess enthusiasts.

And yes, that includes tonight.

🕕 6:00 PM

Contact John Valdez with any questions and to receive the specific address. Whether you’re a seasoned tournament player or just getting back into the game, we’d love to see you there. ♟️

Bloomington summers are naturally pretty chill, but not if you’re talkin’ about scholastic chess! Thanks to the 18 chess Apprentices who made that double-exclam (!!) move in their chess learning by practicing with us this afternoon.

See you on Sunday the 21st for our June Circuit competition! 🤓

We worked with a joyful group of chess kids at camp this week! All of them received 1000 extra points on the HCA Leaderboard for their participation, and on Friday they gained valuable tournament experience in the afternoon. And some are returning in two weeks for Week 2! Can’t wait to see what more they’ll learn and practice next.♟️💚

Notice: Our June PIT Meet is located at First United Church, 2420 E 3rd St. This is a location change, only for June! Thanks for understanding, and see you tomorrow at 1:30!

Chess camp, week 1, days 2-4: simultaneous exhibition, blitz, tactical chairs, hand & brain, Chess960, and lots more!

Chess camp, week 1, day 1: tornado, bughouse, chess composition, tactical sharades, collaborative learning, and plenty of blood flow!

There’s still room in our other weeks throughout the summer if you’d like to sign up and join the fun!

Families, students, and schools continue to say wonderful things about our chess programs, and we couldn’t be prouder of the impact Hoosier Chess Academy makes on hundreds of students each school year!

Over the summer, our instructors will be busy preparing for another exciting year of chess learning, confidence-building, and community ahead! ♟️

Interested in bringing an HCA program to your school? Contact your principal or school leadership team and learn more here:

👉 https://www.hcachess.org/start-a-program

♟️ We’re woefully behind on spotlighting our top kids on the HCA Leaderboard…so let’s finally fix that! 😄

Since launching the HCA Leaderboard last October, Hoosier Chess Academy has served 263 different students across tournaments, PIT Meets, Circuits, clubs, camps, and other events. These players have risen to the very top through consistent participation, effort, and dedication to chess improvement!

🏆 Current HCA Leaderboard Top 10:
1️⃣ Chukbok — USCF 591 — University
2️⃣ Ramir — USCF 939 — Tri-North
3️⃣ Pax — USCF 587
4️⃣ Eric — USCF 663 — University
5️⃣ Albert — USCF 669 — Binford
6️⃣ Radi — USCF 570 — University
7️⃣ Luke — USCF 436 — Binford
8️⃣ Coltrane — USCF 909 — Jackson Creek
9️⃣ Aiden — USCF 220 — Childs
🔟 Erinayo — USCF 102 — Seven Oaks

We’re proud of all of these students for showing up again and again to learn, compete, challenge themselves, and support the local chess community. 💚♟️

Now the REAL question… 👀🔥

Can Ramir overtake Chukbok for the top spot?!

📣 Heads up, chess community! Our 2026–2027 Hoosier Chess Academy program overview is now available! ♟️

We’re excited for another year of tournaments, PIT Meets, Circuits, camps, school programs, and more opportunities for students to learn, compete, and grow through chess.

Our next event is our PIT Meet on Sunday, June 7 — we hope to see your child in the center of our board! ♟️