Hip-Hop Chess Summer Camp

This is the second year of HHCF keeping it real in Norfolk, Virginia by providing free chess camp to any and all kids in the city and surrounding areas.

We have 160 kids signed up but with only enough sets to play 20 kids at a time we are rotating through. Today was Day 1 of a summer-long twice-weekly camp. Abrams Publishing in NYC donated a copy of the brand new book Chess Masterpieces: One Thousand Years of Extraordinary Chess Sets by Dr. George Dean. Dr. Dean himself signed a bookplate and this will be the prize at our tournament at the end of the summer.

The book was also the inpiration for how to solve our set shortage. I looked up DIY chess sets and found a Steampunk inspired version. We are hoping for an assist from Home Depot to supply nuts and bolts. So we made a test set from hardware and brought it to show the children today. Dr. Dean’s book shows some pop-art chess sets made from household items and the kids were onto the idea before I could even suggest it. HHCF kids are too fast for the room.

For moredetails on HHCF on the East Coast contact Lisa Suhay Lsuhays2@cox.net

3 Comments

  1. Finally, I’m able to post on your site, Daaim. It is good to see Hip Hop Chess active on the East Coast. Great story!

  2. Yes sir. Took me all day on the phone with tech support of my new hosting company. Man… you will never imagine. The last error with the links was merely a reset matter. Details, details.

    Yes… great story and concept. I love the idea of using creativity in producing chess art. As you know, Adisa’s vision is not about chess skills rather than teaching “life skills” through chess, martial arts and hip hop. He has a good concept for using chess; however, I’m not sure what the direction of the HHCF is.

    I have been advising him to come to the World Open for years to network for the HHCF. Orrin Hudson finally did it for BeSomeone with good results. Both have a similar idea. Maybe the World Open should be more of a festival with booths and organizations for networking.

  3. Good marketing concept Daaim for the World Open. This might work, allowing vendors to market at the World Open.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button