Local chess wizards are shown at various stages in their matches staged by YS Chess Club lead Tony Mumford: In the foreground, optimism at the outset of a game; in the midground, focus is sharper following the first move; in the background, concentration is full-blown head-in-hands serious as the mid-game dawns. (Submitted photo)
Yellow Springs Chess Club checks in
- Published: June 25, 2026
Local chess instructor Tony Mumford has been working on a grandmaster plan for quite a few years now. And like any good strategist, he always has an eye on the next move.
Since 2021, Mumford has been building a youth chess program in Yellow Springs — one designed to teach village kids not just the fundamentals of the age-old game, but also to foster confidence and critical thinking that can be taken well beyond the checkered board.
Local youth looking to capture those and other skills are invited to attend a slate of upcoming chess camps that Mumford and other expert instructors with the YS Chess Club have planned this summer.
The first two camps are Saturdays, June 27 and July 11, 11 a.m.–2 p.m., at John Bryan Community Center. The other two are Saturdays, July 18, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. and July 25, 10 a.m.–1 p.m., at YS Community Library.
Courtesy of support from YS Community Foundation, camps are free and open to all kids ages 6–17. To register, email yellowspringschess@gmail.com with the name and grade of the child as well as the chosen dates of attendance.
“These camps are about sharpening your game and your mind. They’re about learning new tactics and strategy, and maybe making a new friend,” Mumford told the News earlier this month.
He added: “And they’re open to all skill levels, beginners who’ve never moved a piece to seasoned players. We have masters on hand who can still teach you a thing or two.”
Though he’s looking forward to these upcoming camps, they’re far from Mumford’s end-game.
He said he aims to put the whole of Greene County on the map in the competitive chess world, and in recent years, Yellow Springs players have become his knights in shining armor.
“There’s so much potential here, so many kids who could be masters before they even get to high school,” Mumford said, and pointed to 13-year-old villager Zander Breza who, in January, finished first in a tournament in Cincinnati.
“That’s what consistency and mentorship can do!” Mumford exclaimed.
Breza was among the original crop of Yellow Springs youngsters who started working with Mumford when he held free after-school programs at the library four years ago, when he began expanding the Fairborn Chess Club’s reach eastward into the village.
As previously reported in the News, Mumford was lured to town after he met former villager Omar Durrani — affectionately known as “Mister Omar” by his Yellow Springs Chess Academy students. Durrani moved to Florida about nine years ago after nearly a decade teaching chess in the village, resulting in a chess-club-sized gap that Mumford has filled.
Since setting up shop in town, Mumford has established in- and after-school programs at Mills Lawn, occasional open play events at the Emporium, Senior Center and Community Foundation building; as well as reliable summer camps like the ones coming up. All the while, Mumford has hosted weekly tournaments and instruction at the Fairborn Methodist Church.
“There’s no off-season for chess. It’s year-round,” he said with a laugh.
To prove his point, Mumford said he’s expanding his scholastic program in Yellow Springs Schools when classes start again this fall.
Chess instruction has previously only been offered at Mills Lawn, but will now include YS Middle and High School students.
“We have no shortage of talent and teachers to make this happen,” Mumford said. “It’s my dream to make chess an official part of the curriculum — and not just here, but everywhere.”
The academic benefits, he believes, are manifold.
“After playing chess, interesting things start happening,” Mumford said. “Teachers say their vocabulary is different. Kids start talking about diagonals, algebraic notations.”
He recounted one little girl who was falling behind in her elementary math class, back when Mumford was volunteering in his neighboring Fairborn school district — she was about to leave her friends for a remedial program.
“I learned that if I talked about the pieces in terms of dollar amounts instead of numeric values, she got it,” Mumford said.
In short order, the little girl not only caught onto the game of chess, but all of arithmetic suddenly clicked. When she reunited with her friends, she found herself ahead of the pack.
“That’s what it’s about, and why I do what I do. What a feeling it is to see a child believe in themselves, sometimes when no one else will,” Mumford said.
He continued: “You see? Chess is the great equalizer. It doesn’t care how old you are, how much money you have or what color you are. You can’t let a win get to your head or let a loss into your heart — there’s always another game.”
To support the Yellow Springs Chess Club and Mumford’s efforts to bring more chess instruction to and beyond local classrooms, he said the nonprofit welcomes donations through a GoFundMe crowd-based fundraising page, which can be easily accessed by Googling “Yellow Springs Chess Club GoFundMe.”
To learn more about or to sign up for the upcoming chess camps at the Bryan Center and library, email yellowspringschess@gmail.com
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