Project Pawn is a New York City based organization that aims to educate and mentor inner city youth through the game of Chess.
Using chess as a metaphor for life, our goal is to help people strategically plan their future; enabling them to start with the end result in mind and work backwards to their current position. Ultimately, mastering the “game of life” and reaching their personal milestones. Our organization is positioned to harness the influence of mentoring, mainstream media, education, and pop culture along with the fundamentals of chess to reach our target audience.
04/21/2026
Congratulations to all the participants in this past weekend’s tournament ♟️. Players showed extreme focus, perseverance, and brilliance! Thank you to our proud partnering school for hosting us and big s/o to the champions!
The Project Pawn EOY invitational will be June! Details and sign up sheet will be announced soon
03/23/2026
Project Pawn is happy to present the Astoria Game 25/5 at Horace Greeley Middle school on April 18th!
This tournament will be great preparation for nationals in a highly competitive environment.
Top 3 trophies will be given to participants in the following sections:
Championship
U1400
U1000
Unrated
EF is $35, free for all Project Pawn students!
Year ♟️3.
Competitive. Energetic. Majestic.
Thank you to the brilliant scholars of the Bronx for allowing to showcase your competitive genius through the game of chess! Congratulations to this year’s champions!
The Bx Invitational isn’t just a chess tournament. It’s a movement that highlight’s community, education, and competition.
Special s/o to the for providing a memorable space and for your magic with helping us execute!
Who will WIN the 👑 of the Bronx at this year’s invitational?
Stay tuned to find out ♟️
12/16/2025
To our families of the Bronx,
Thank you for allowing us to help this year 🎁🎄. Happy Holidays!
12/08/2025
TOY DRIVE 🎄‼️
Join us December 15th at for our annual toy drive to support local families during this holiday season!
11/21/2025
What do student athletes do with their free time? Play Chess at the to become sharper decision makers‼️ Salute to these HS Kings 👑
10/22/2025
Future Chess champions with an amazing Foundation ♟️‼️ Make sure you stop by to get a complimentary lesson for your scholars!
08/30/2025
Another successful community event at ‼️
Special thank you to Council Member and Chancellor of NYC public schools Melissa Aviles-Ramos for hanging out with us today 👑.
Thank you to all families for coming by and trusting us to provide school supplies for this year 📚🎒♟️
HUGE shout out to our amazing partners on this event
07/11/2025
Such an incredible night to celebrate the winners of the BX invitational chess tournament!
Special thank you to Brian Smith, , and the entire organization for allowing us to curate such an impactful chess tournament in the home of the Bronx!
Must gratitude to the incredible team at for partnering with us to bring this vision to life!
Cheers to many more! ⚾️♟️📚
01/18/2025
Congratulations to all of the participants in our first U1000 USCF rated tournament at the . Players showed great poise, focus, and sportsmanship throughout the entire tournament! Make sure to check our socials for up coming tournaments!
Tournament results:
1st 🥇- Kevin Jenkins
2nd 🥈- Gianni Famegni
3rd 🥉- Liam Sanchez