Oregon Chess Project is a ten-year collaborative initiative to increase Oregon’s representation at every level in the scholastic chess community, from those who are learning the rules for the first time to those competing for a world championship.

OCP began with a white paper drafted from March-June 2022 that chronicled how scholastic chess in Oregon changed during the pandemic. The paper then outlined an ambitious but achievable set of targets for the next decade. 

Following approval by the OSCF Board, we formed partnerships with eleven local, state, and national organizations to help us achieve our vision, with more partnerships on the way. Our partners have since launched launched a series of exciting initiatives, including:

• Historic support for gender equity in chess
• Donations to prize funds at scholastic events
• Increased opportunities for rural students to learn and compete
• The OCP Summer Fellows Program, with awards of $1000 to High School and College Students
• Cluster of Excellence Pilot in the Ida B. Wells High School Cluster

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of OCP Partner Organizations, great progress has already been made in reaching our shared objectives. Among our proudest early achievements in Year 1 are that the cost of USCF memberships for Oregon families has been cut in half and the number of active USCF members has more than doubled, with the remarkable growth in female participation. 

OSCF looks forward to deepening our partnerships, as well as welcoming new partners. If you are involved with scholastic chess in any way, or if you are not involved but would like to be, please reach out to oscf@oscf.org and let us know how we can help. You can check up on our progress by looking at the dedicated section on the bottom right of the website. To learn more about our vision, please read our first white paper.