Chess continues to grow in 2025

Written by Julian Spearman, Student Activities Department

The Dallas ISD chess program is one of the most popular in Dallas ISD, with about 6,000 students participating in all grade levels across 200 campuses. 

On tournament days, gyms are filled with hundreds of tables, chairs, and chessboards at multiple campuses simultaneously. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded to qualifying individuals. In addition, the schools each receive team trophies based on their cumulative scores. 

At secondary level tournaments, students play five rounds of chess to determine the winners at each grade level. Each progressive round pairs students based on their wins and losses.

Chess promotes problem-solving and critical thinking for students. Playing chess can also correlate with high academic performance, especially in math. Student Activities enables campuses to take advantage of these benefits by providing each participating campus with chessboards and pieces to support their chess programs.