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Playing Games for Good

Adam Bhaloo is helping people connect over the game of chess.

November 2022
Krystnell Storr-Smith

Adam’s Advice: Don’t give up if you have a bad day. Think of small losses as part of a more significant win. 

Jim McMahon/Mapman®

WHO: Adam Bhaloo, 17


WHERE: Fort Worth, TX


HEROIC ACT: Founding DNA Chess, a free chess club for his community

 

 

Adam considers his next move.

In third grade, Adam Bhaloo was the new kid in class. Luckily, his school had a chess club. Soon, through the game, Adam had many new friends. “When you play chess with someone, it’s easy to start a conversation and get to know each other,” he says.

Unfortunately, Adam’s high school didn’t have a chess club. There was no place for people to play the game together and improve their skills. Adam decided to fix that. 

“I thought, why can’t I create the next big chess club?” he recalls. He decided to call his new club DNA Chess. “A strand of DNA contains many little connections,” he says. “I wanted to provide something similar for the community with chess.” 

Adam tutors a young chess fan at the club.

He started by giving chess lessons to raise funds for the club. He also sold T-shirts and chessboards. A local Panera Bread restaurant offered to host the club one evening a week. Adam spread the word about the new club on social media. 

Today, DNA Chess holds free weekly meetings for the community. The club provides game boards and free lessons to people unfamiliar with the game. It also holds tournaments for players who want to compete locally. 

Adam is thrilled to be uniting people over their love of the game. Recently, a family of Ukrainian refugees came to the club the same day they arrived in town. “I was so happy that the chess club could provide them a place of comfort and opportunity to meet others,” he says. 

In the future, Adam wants to be able expand the DNA Chess Club into cities and towns throughout his state.

“The club has built so many lasting friendships,” Adam says. “Chess is the glue holding us together.”

Social-Emotional Learning
Relationships, Activism

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