In 2012, Sophomore Jonathan Gutierrez along with other students played chess in the library. After realizing that his friend Felix Fiallos did not know how to play, Johnny decided to create an organization to welcome any students who are interested to play. A year later, two lost freshmen wandered into one of their meetings. We were the lost freshmen. Starting out with a few members and flimsy chess boards, the Riverdale High School Chess Club has immensely grown through bake sales, posters, and exciting activities, and made its way to become a part of the nationally recognized United States Chess Federation. Founders Jonathan Gutierrez and Felix Fiallos established the first Chess Club at Riverdale High School in 2012 and gathered money to promote it and build chess club to be one, big family. Upon their graduation in 2014, they passed on their positions to co-presidents Razan Badr and Schumann Chang. The Riverdale Chess Club continues to grow with the efforts of the Sponsor Jesse Isidore and the dedicated chess members, the Black Knights. Recruiting members and participating in the community will continue to make chess club prosper, bringing all the members closer to work together a united family and fulfill the dreams of its founders.
https://new.uschess.org/home/