The SMTX Chess Club is a 100% volunteer based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading the joy of playing chess to EVERYONE in Hays County FREE OF CHARGE no matter age, socio-economic status, or any other typical barrier to entry for fun and educational community activities. We plan to do community outreach activities as well such as donating chess equipment and learning resources to various existing scholastic chess clubs, senior centers, and other groups in the community, holding community charity chess events, offering free chess lessons, and many other things. We are also working to facilitate a true “chess-in-the-schools” program for SMCISD and to trying to start a chess program in the Hays County Jail and/or Juvenile Detention Center in an effort to use chess as a catalyst for change.

The SMTX Chess Club encourages the study and knowledge of the game of chess as a science, an art, a path to self improvement, a catalyst for societal change, and for just plain old fun. Chess informs and educates for both the young and the old and fosters the development of personal character, mental and emotional stability, self-confidence, and mutual respect. Chess is a true egalitarian game and serves as a way for people to come together from diverse social backgrounds and has the power to unite people of different ages, ethnicities, genders, and economic and cultural frameworks.

With this in mind, the SMTX Chess Club host a weekly meeting for socializing through chess, playing in tournaments, and learning and improving at chess. We have built a club environment that is warm, welcoming, and inclusive and pledge to always maintain that ideal. We aim to be a significant element of culture in Hays County and the entire central Texas region. In addition we will hold quarterly USCF rated tournaments with the intention of drawing players from all round the state and even beyond.