BayAreaChess Inc.

I’m really grateful to Bay Area Chess for offering chess tournaments almost every week. It gives kids lots of chances to meet others who love chess and grow in the game.

My son also also enjoyed the camps run by Bay Area Chess.

They really try to keep tournament fees at a reasonable level. Please remember—the Bay Area is super expensive, and they have to deal with high hotel rental costs. So yes, sometimes the tournaments get very crowded. But I’ve seen the same thing at tournaments in Vegas. It’s probably to be expected, since kids’ tournaments usually bring not just the player, but also parents or guardians for supervision 🤷‍♀️

Over the years, through my experience with BAC, I’ve seen how kind and caring the people who work there are.
They also have a WhatsApp group where they respond to questions almost 24/7, even on weekends!

There is a shortage of space for tournaments so parents pretty much have to wait in their car in the parking lot. The people running the activity seem to be sticklers for rules, which might explain some of the bad reviews.

My son has participated in simultaneous games, drop in lessons, rated and unrated tournaments, summer camps organized by Bay area chess over the years in San Jose, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Milpitas locations. We have experienced no issues. As for the chess lessons, the instructors lead discussions for the most part or play group games, so it will be less useful for a child who is shy or sitting passively or not showing initiative.