Attendees enjoy a game of chess at the Alaska Chess fundraiser on July 29 at Fireweed Meadows Golf Course in Anchor Point. (Photo courtesy of Colleen Evanco)

Attendees enjoy a game of chess at the Alaska Chess fundraiser on July 29 at Fireweed Meadows Golf Course in Anchor Point. (Photo courtesy of Colleen Evanco)

Local nonprofit expanding chess program to central peninsula

A local nonprofit that’s teaching children to play chess is expanding its reach to the central peninsula.

The nonprofit, Alaska Chess, began as a chess club in the Homer Library after co-founder Colleen Evanco’s son learned to play. Her son, Sebastian, was homeschooled and she wanted to give him the opportunity to play with kids his own age. Two summers ago, she reached out on Facebook and was able to organize a group of kids and parents who wanted to play. Then a formal club at the library was formed.

“We’re hoping to replicate the success here that we had in Homer,” Andy Haas, a defense attorney in Homer and co-founder of Alaska Chess, said.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Haas got involved when he heard about the club at the library, where he is a member of the Friends of the Homer Library organization. Last year, the two brought boards to West Homer Elementary, gave some instruction and now the school has its own club. Haas now has plans to expand into Homer Middle School.

“Teaching (chess) in schools in Homer, I found, is a great way for students to feel smart and happy and allow others to hang out with kids of similar interests,” Haas said. “As a criminal lawyer, I’ve seen a lot of issues in the community with drugs and I see (learning to play chess when you’re young) as a way to prevent that.”

Evanco, who now lives in Soldotna, is planning on spreading the skill of chess to central peninsula schools.

“It seems like there is a demand and we’re excited to provide it,” Evanco said.

The nonprofit formed in April and was founded by Haas, Evanco and Jonathan Singler, a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University and chess expert whose graduate project is to create programs in chess education.

As part of his graduate project, Singler is hoping to make chess accessible and beneficial for children and adults alike.

“One of the most beautiful aspects of chess is that it’s not age dependent,” Singler said. “The nonprofit is focused on kids. It’s important to not simply create an endpoint. Because once most youth graduate 12th grade they put down chess. My goal is to provide a continuation for chess. I want the Alaska community to benefit from this.”

Evanco said that there’s something in chess for everyone.

“I think everybody is a chess player at heart,” Evanco said. “Majority of people I’ve talked to about chess have something spark in them when we talk about it. Majority of us were introduced to it at some point in our lives. … It really takes very little start. It’s not that hard to learn.”

Earlier this summer Alaska Chess hosted a fundraiser at Fireweed Meadows Golf Course in Anchor Point, where they raised money for chess boards to give to schools for students to use.

“My goal is to get so much saturation in school programs, so that we can host (chess) tournaments, even in the villages,” Haas said.

Now, Evanco, Haas and Singler are working on setting up chess events at local coffee shops, and in local schools on the central peninsula.

“There are no head concussions in chess,” Haas said.

“No knee pads either,” Evanco added.

To learn more about the project visit www.Alaskachess.org.

More in News

Kachemak Bay is seen from the Homer Spit in March 2019. (Homer News file photo)
Toxin associated with amnesic shellfish poisoning not detected in Kachemak Bay mussels

The test result does not indicate whether the toxin is present in other species in the food web.

Superintendent Clayton Holland speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, July 7, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Federal education funding to be released after monthlong delay

The missing funds could have led to further cuts to programming and staff on top of deep cuts made by the KPBSD Board of Education this year.

An angler holds up a dolly varden for a photograph on Wednesday, July 16. (Photo courtesy of Koby Etzwiler)
Anchor River opens up to Dollies, non-King salmon fishing

Steelhead and rainbow trout are still off limits and should not be removed from the water.

A photo provided by NTSB shows a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, that crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska, Sept. 12, 2023. The plane was weighed down by too much moose meat and faced drag from a set of antlers mounted on its right wing strut, federal investigators said on Tuesday.
Crash that killed husband of former congresswoman was overloaded with moose meat and antlers, NTSB says

The plane, a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska on Sept. 12, 2023.

Armor rock from Sand Point is offloaded from a barge in the Kenai River in Kenai, Alaska, part of ongoing construction efforts for the Kenai River Bluff Stabilization Project on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Work continues on Kenai Bluff stabilization project

The wall has already taken shape over a broad swath of the affected area.

An aerial photo over Grewingk Glacier and Glacier Spit from May 2021 shows a mesodinium rubrum bloom to the left as contrasted with the normal ocean water of Kachemak Bay near Homer. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Greer/Beryl Air)
KBNERR warns of potential harmful algal bloom in Kachemak Bay

Pseudo-nitzchia has been detected at bloom levels in Kachemak Bay since July 4.

Fresh-picked lettuces are for sale at the final Homer Farmers Market of the year on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
USDA ends regional food program, pulls $6M from Alaska businesses

On July 15, the Alaska Food Policy Council was notified that the USDA had terminated the Regional Food Business Center Program “effective immediately.”

Exit Glacier is photographed on June 22, 2018. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
2 rescued by park service near Exit Glacier

The hikers were stranded in the “Exit Creek Prohibited Visitor Use Zone.”

Two new cars purchased by the Soldotna Senior Center to support its Meals on Wheels program are parked outside of the center in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
State restores grant funding to Soldotna Senior Center

In recent years, the center has been drawing down its organizational reserves to provide some essential services.

Most Read

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in