Chess Moves
Making Moves that Count
ABOUT US
MAKING MOVES THAT COUNT
SINCE 2017
Chess Moves is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation organized for charitable and educational purposes. Chess Moves' mission is to deliver and help others deliver volunteer services and education through chess. Chess Moves is making moves in the community to bring the game of chess to those looking for a new opportunity to engage their mind, connect with someone on a competitive level, or wanting to learn something new.
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LEADERSHIP
Chase Frutos -- President and Co-Founder of Chess Moves. Chase is a National Youth Chess Co-Champion, three-time Texas State Chess Champion, and a Texas State Regional Chess Champion. As a Bronze Medalist at the Continental Youth Chess Championships in Oaxtepec, Morelos, Mexico, Chase was awarded the prestigious international title of Candidate Master (CM) by the World Chess Federation. Chase was greatly influenced by GM Babakuli Annakov of Russia and FM Keaton Kiewra. Understanding the benefits of chess, Chase strove to do something to give back to the Dallas Chess Club which had given so much to him and others for so many years. He, through Chess Moves, started by sprucing up and decorating the club and creating a newsletter to benefit club members and others in the Dallas chess community and organizing fundraising tournaments to raise funds for local charitable causes.
Chase graduated from Cistercian Preparatory School in Irving, Texas, where he was the assistant chess instructor for the Cistercian middle school chess club. Chase won the annual Scott Watson Memorial Chess Scholarship in 2018.
Chase is currently attending Duke University where he is a pre-med student majoring in chemistry. Chase is a licensed EMT in North Carolina working at First Choice Medical Transport in Durham. Chase took his love of playing chess with him to college and continues to make moves that count through his various volunteering activities. This includes teaching chess at local schools such as Bethesda Elementary School in Durham, North Carolina. Chase is currently the Captain of Duke's Competitive Chess Team B and also president of the Duke University Chess Club. Chase is also Chess.com’s Ambassador for Duke University.
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Cole Frutos -- President and Co-Founder of Chess Moves. Cole is a National Youth Chess Co-Champion, two-time National Blitz Co-Champion, four-time Texas State Chess Champion and four-time Texas State Regional Chess Champion. As a Silver Medalist at the Continental Youth Chess Championships in Pocos de Caldas, MG, Brazil, Cole was awarded the prestigious international title of Candidate Master (CM) by the World Chess Federation. Cole is a two-time Qualifier to the US Youth Chess Team, representing the US in the World Youth Chess Championships in Maribor, Slovenia and again two years later in Durban, South Africa.
Because of Cole's Cuban heritage, he, like his brother Chase, took an early liking to one of the greatest chess players, Jose Raul Capablanca, World Chess Champion from 1921-1927. Cole was greatly influenced by GM Babakuli Annakov of Russia, FM Keaton Kiewra, and IM Armen Ambartsoumian of Armenia, all of whom have coached Cole at varies points in his life.​ Appreciating the benefits of chess, Cole quickly learned the power of giving back and teaching chess to others. Cole began assisting Mr. Herminio Baez with teaching chess to elementary students at St. Monica Catholic School in Dallas beginning in 2016. Mr. Baez was a jovial and fun-loving person, heavily involved in the Dallas chess community, spending his time enkindling the joy of chess in Dallas area youth for decades. Mr. Baez passed away unexpectedly in 2018, but his wonderful legacy of teaching chess lives on. It is from these experiences that Cole figured out other ways to give back to the community and use chess as a vehicle for doing more and Chess Moves was the move Cole made.
Cole graduated from Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, where he was President of the Jesuit Dallas Chess Club, helping to grow membership from 4 to 85 members and started the first ever competitive chess team at Jesuit in 2022 and won the Texas Region III chess championships and tied for third place at the Texas State Chess Championships.
Cole is currently at Wake Forest University studying business. Cole competes for the Wake Forest chess team serving as a team captain and is Treasurer of the Wake Forest Rook and Bishop Chess Club.
Cole capitalizes on the skills that he developed throughout his chess journey and through Chess Moves to share the benefits of chess and help raise funds for local communities.
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BENEFITS OF CHESS
We play chess for many reasons but mainly because it is fun. Chess has allowed us to travel the world and experience new interesting cultures, meet wonderful people from around the world. We recently researched the benefits of chess for our newsletter and the following lists some of my favorites:
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Chess improves memory (memory is required to visualize positions during a game)
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Chess improves creative and analytical thinking (you can come up with strategic plans)
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Chess improves logical thinking (thinking about what your opponent will play and how to counter it)
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Click here to read our article about the benefits of chess. With so many advantages to chess why doesn’t everyone play? Chess is for everyone!
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