Louisville's home for rated over-the-board chess. Register online and battle for prizes — bughouse, blitz, and cash-prize opens for every age and rating.
Chess is a sport. Baseball is a sport. Football is a sport. Soccer is a sport.
The International Olympic Committee recognizes chess as a sport. Chess is internationally recognized as a sport.
In all those sports, including chess, there are professional leagues, teams, and athletes. Professional means MONEY. There is a cash flow. Money is spent, earned, and invested.
At the Kentucky Chess Ambassadors, our vision includes promoting chess as a sport and building it as a professional sport.
Coach Corbin
kychessambassadors.org
Chess teaches patience, planning, and owning every move. Coach Corbin takes the game to the people who are too often left out: incarcerated men working toward a second chance, and seniors who deserve to stay sharp and connected.
Coach Corbin teaches chess inside Roederer Correctional Complex in Oldham County. Next up is a rated challenge match: the Kentucky Chess Ambassadors against a team of incarcerated men.
How you can help: play on the team (men over 20, background check required), or sponsor the teams, training, and prizes.
✉ Join or Sponsor →Chess keeps the mind active and brings people together. Coach Corbin is bringing the game to Louisville’s senior community, from first-time players to old rivals ready for a rematch.
Run a senior center or living community? Invite Coach Corbin to bring chess to your residents.
✉ Bring Chess to Your Center →
Coach Corbin was honored with a Community Award at the Sickle Cell Association of Kentuckiana’s Royal Affair Gala on Saturday, October 10, 2026. Thank you to everyone who supports chess and our young people across Louisville.
“For your exceptional service, unwavering dedication, and commitment to making a positive difference in our community.” — Sickle Cell Association of Kentuckiana
Two tournaments in eight days, and Louisville’s bughouse teams showed up for both. Congratulations to every winning team!
Two-person bughouse teams battled it out at the Trager Family Jewish Community Center. Congratulations to our winners!
Roots 101 African American Museum, Louisville. Congratulations to all four winning teams!
Four tournaments in the District 4 Chess League series, plus special events — mark your calendar.
The District 4 Chess League and every free Saturday session exist because these three men keep showing up for Louisville’s young people. Thank you, Butch Mosby, Lamont Collins and Ken Herndon.
More tournaments announced regularly — online entry-fee payment is supported for upcoming cash-prize events.
One more Saturday morning this fall at the AMPED Tech & Learning Center on West Market: October 31. Free, breakfast included, and open to every age and every skill level — including anyone who has never moved a piece.
Questions? Contact Coach Corbin — urbanlouisvillechess@yahoo.com
A fun, interactive 4-week program that makes investing and financial literacy easy to understand — Play. Learn. Earn. Own. Youth and adults are welcome, and no experience is needed.
Registration is open and space is limited. Register through the Melannaire Achievement Center.
Run by the JCPS Opportunity & Access Division for middle and high school students. Six Wednesday sessions this fall and six more in the spring — free, and open to every level, including students who have never moved a piece.
Questions? Contact Abdul Sharif — abdul.sharif2@jefferson.kyschools.us
Work directly with Coach Corbin — one-on-one, or in a small group of two to four players. All ages, all levels, from someone who has never moved a piece to rated tournament players.
New to chess or want to keep score of your games? Coach Corbin walks you through algebraic notation, the way every tournament game is recorded. Watch both videos below.
Find the best move and tell Coach Corbin why. The first five people to send their answer earn seven Chess Dollars. Email your answers to urbanlouisvillechess@yahoo.com.
What is Black’s best move? Why?
White: Ra1, Kb2, pawns b4, c2, d3 · Black: Bf8, Kh7, pawns f7, g5, h6What is the best move for Black? Why?
White: Ke2, Qb7 · Black: Kg8, Qg6, Nd7, Ba3, pawns e6, f7, g7, h6
1. What is Black’s best move?
2. Can White STILL checkmate Black, no matter what good move Black makes first?
3. Can Black checkmate in two or three moves?
In class, set this position up and talk it through with Coach. Let’s analyze it for Chess Dollars. Email your answers to urbanlouisvillechess@yahoo.com.
Coach Corbin is running free bughouse lessons and practice sessions ahead of the Dr. John Marshall Chess Classic on Saturday, February 20, 2027 — rapid, then bughouse. Never played? That is exactly who this is for.
Bughouse is two-on-two team chess played on two boards side by side. You and your partner play opposite colors against the other team. Here is the twist: every piece you capture gets handed to your partner, and they can drop it onto their own board as a move. It is fast, loud, and a completely different game from regular chess — which is why practice matters.
Two events in one afternoon: Rapid (G/15) first, then Bughouse for two-person teams (single elimination, limited to 16 teams). Open to all ages. Pre-register below to hold your spot and we will email you a confirmation right away. No payment online — entry fees are paid on site.
“Uplifting the city, one move at a time!” We are seeking Louisville men and women to join us as chess coaches and mentors for young people ages 8 to 14.
For details or to schedule a fifteen-minute interview, reach out to Coach Corbin — urbanlouisvillechess@yahoo.com
Discipline, Strategy, Legacy — a true story of rebuilding through chess, patience and the long game, by Sheldron Young.
Sheldron was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and learned chess from his late Uncle Troy. The lessons from the board — patience, discipline, and strategy over emotion — carried him through the hardest years of his life, and later into trading, content creation and web design through SheldronFrost Media.
He now helps Coach Corbin with the Kentucky Chess Ambassadors, including the Stock Market 101 class, because he believes the same habits that win at chess can help young people win at life. If you are rebuilding from anything, this book is for you.
Sold by the author on Payhip. Not an official Kentucky Chess Ambassadors publication.
From your phone to the board in four steps.
Sign up online in under a minute — the Okolona Chess Classic is free to enter.
We email your spot to the Ambassadors so you're on the list.
Arrive by 10:30 AM to check in — first round starts at 11.
Compete in bughouse & blitz for gift cards and Chess Dollars.
The Kentucky Chess Ambassadors bring competitive, rated over-the-board chess to Louisville and beyond — from lightning blitz and wild bughouse to serious cash-prize opens. Whether you're chasing your first trophy or your next title, there's a seat at the board for you.
All ages. All ratings. One community that takes the game seriously and makes it fun.
Get tournaments, results, and one-tap registration on your home screen — like an app, no download needed.
Coach Corbin with Dr. Frank Simon. Thank you, Dr. Simon for your years of support for chess in West Louisville, and your unwavering Christian fellowship.
Running a chess event, tournament, or class? List it here for $3. Your listing stays up for 45 days.
No community events listed right now — be the first.
Submit the details below. Coach Corbin posts it once your $3 is received.
Get a board for home, read Coach Sheldron’s book, pick up a chess or life book for $8.95 with shipping included, or send a chess book to a reader who needs one. Every purchase supports chess in Louisville and across Kentucky.
The same folding magnetic set we use in our classes: full set of pieces, travels and stores easily.
Discipline, Strategy, Legacy: a true story of rebuilding through chess, patience and the long game, by Sheldron Young.
Coach Eugene Brown and his son Marco Price-Bey turned hard years into a mission: teaching young people to think before they move, through chess. Sold by the author on Amazon.
Send a chess book to an incarcerated reader in Kentucky. Pick an amount, and we turn it into books.
Shirts, hats, tote bags and more chess books are on the way. Tell us what you want and we will let you know when it is ready.
Every book we post is $8.95, and the price includes postage and handling. Every order needs a ZIP code. Every book sale helps the Kentucky Chess Ambassadors fund books for prison libraries, equipment for senior facilities, and money into our endowment.
Order magnetic boards, or tell us which merch or books you would like. You will get an email with how to pay by Venmo or PayPal.
Chess changes lives. Help us bring the game — and its lessons of patience, focus, and dignity — to people across the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
We're collecting chess books to donate to incarcerated individuals across the Commonwealth of Kentucky — giving them a constructive path to grow their minds, build discipline, and find purpose behind the board. Donate a book or contribute funds to send more.
Your financial gift helps place a dedicated chess coach and instructor at a retirement home or care facility — bringing connection, mental sharpness, and joy to our elders through the timeless game of chess.
All donations go through PayPal @Kentuckychess. Every book and every dollar makes a difference — thank you for supporting chess in Kentucky. 🙏
Players of every age filled the Roots 101 African American Museum for a day of bughouse team chess. Congratulations to The Forking Knights and to every team that sat down and played.
Coach Corbin's chess program is growing at Hudson Middle School. Thank you to the Hudson players for showing up and putting in the work.
Want chess for your school? Email Coach Corbin.
Kids, teens and grown-ups filled the tables at Locals Food Hub & Pizza Pub for a day of timed games. Congratulations to our winner in the Louisville cap, and to every player who sat down and played.
Recap video. Want chess for your school, church or community group? Email Coach Corbin.
Real moments from our latest tournament — thanks to our volunteers for capturing the action.
Lock in your spot for any of our upcoming tournaments — pick your event below.
Fall Cash Classic
You'll be taken to PayPal to pay your entry fee. Put your player name in the PayPal note so we can match it to your registration.
Maybe later
Kentucky Chess Ambassadors
