The Check On Your Mate Chess Challenge

June 23rd, 2025 – Cleveland, Ohio

The Guardians face off against CMSD’s top chess players at historic League Park in Cleveland

We were absolutely thrilled with the turnout for the first Check On Your Mate Chess Challenge hosted in partnership with For Art’s Sake, Steven Kwan, and the Baseball Heritage Museum! Progress With Chess was given full reign to do what we do best – promote the world’s greatest game in the heart of the world’s greatest city.

The event was made up of three parts: a free scholastic chess tournament open to players of all skill levels, a simultaneous exhibition with long-time friend of the organization International Master Calvin Blocker, and an invite-only team tournament, where a number of the top players in our Cleveland Metropolitan School District Chess League had the opportunity to compete against a team of Cleveland professional athletes, including all-star outfielder and known chess aficionado Steven Kwan!

Stephen Kwan questions Austin Hedges on his game against rising star Marcus Bemak of the CMSD team.

The scholastic tournament attracted 107 players to the Historic League Park & Baseball Heritage Museum! We handled online registration, marketed the event to the chess community, and created the tournament formats for all the events. We provided and set up all our boards before players arrived, along with clocks for the top two sections.

There’s something exciting about the first time you walk into the playing area and see all the boards set up – an experience we’re happy to provide to new players at every one of our tournaments. We have a number of experienced tournament directors among our staff, many of whom have been contracted to facilitate national events.

All competitors in this tournament received a year-long membership with the USCF, a custom Progress With Chess medal, and top players were awarded trophies!

The U400 section winners

Meanwhile, chess enthusiasts of all ages were able to partake in a simultaneous exhibition against IM Calvin Blocker, in which Blocker gave up one draw and had no losses while defeating over 20 challengers.

As for the team tournament, our CMSD student competitors had the opportunity to face off head-to-head against a number of exceptionally talented Cleveland athletes, in an event they will not soon forget! Not to mention prizes: Marcus Bemak Of Max Hayes High School was awarded a $1000 scholarship for the best score from the CMSD team, while the other seven CMSD competitors each received a $250 scholarship.

International Master Calvin Blocker casually eats lunch while playing over several players at once and not losing a single game

Historic League Park sits in the background of the scholastic chess tournament.

Funding for this event was provided by the Transformative Arts Fund Grant, which was received and allocated to our organization by our friends at For Art’s Sake. We were contracted because they resonated with our mission: to provide inclusive opportunities to learn and play chess throughout Northeast Ohio, and with our professionalism: as the longest running chess teaching organization in Ohio, we have a plethora of experience running events for students and adults at scale. We are grateful for their support, and for the value they see in our work!

Are you feeling inspired? Would you like to join us in our mission to provide free chess classes, tournaments, and more to students in the city of Cleveland? Click here to learn how you can get involved!