Since 2015, the Orlando Chess Academy (OCA) has brought scholastic chess players together to help them develop, improve, and practice their chess playing skills.

Our mission is to empower kids to develop and strengthen transferable life skills through the great game of chess. As Benjamin Franklin said: “Life is a kind of chess, with struggle, competition, good and ill events.”

Our weekly after-school chess programs combine engaging classroom lessons and discussions with time to play chess with peers, and each year, we bring teams of players to local USCF-rated chess competitions. 

Playing chess, especially competitively, encourages and supports the development of several transferable life skills in kids that are valuable both on and off the chessboard, including:

• Pattern recognition

• Creativity

• Dynamic problem solving

• Time management

• And more!