How to Get an Outdoor Chess Set for a School

Outdoor chess sets add visual interest beyond your everyday chess set.

The addition of an outdoor chess set can be a highlight for any chess club or chess class that motivates students to be more interested in the game of chess. The outdoor chess set provides a stimulating outdoor activity that is exciting to the people playing the game as well as spectators by adding physical action to a mainly cerebral activity. You can acquire an outdoor chess set for school.

Instructions

1. Determine how much your school can afford to pay for the chess set because they come in a wide range of price levels. As of 2010, prices range from $40 to more than $1000.

2. Decide how many sets you would like to purchase. While one set may seem to be enough, particularly if it is a novelty, if you have more than 20 students you may need to consider buying multiple sets to give everyone an opportunity to participate.

3. Research online which set is best suited for your organization's needs. Chess specialty web stores such as http://www.wholesalechess.com, http://www.giantoutdoorchess.com, or http://www.chesshouse.com all sell giant chess sets. Additionally, larger sites such as Amazon carry outdoor chess sets.

4. Find financing for your organization's chess sets. This can be done by collecting money from your local parents' organization, community chess club, or school administration. You might try to receive grants from either state or national chess associations, such as the United States Chess Federation (www.uschess.org).

5. Find a location suitable for placing the set. You will need a large storage area because the sets often take up a lot of space.

Tips & Warnings

• If it is not possible to buy an entire outdoor chess set, playing live chess is another option for playing chess outdoors. Have the participants play the roles of each piece (i.e., have one student be a pawn and another student be a king, etc.).

• If dealing with young children, the smaller, less-expensive sets can actually be better than the larger sets because the weight of larger sets can make it difficult for young children to move from one place to another.

• If it is not possible to buy multiple sets, you can buy one set and have the participants play cooperative chess where each color plays as a team and each team member takes turns moving the pieces.

References

• USCF
• Chess House
• Giant Outdoor Chess