Since 1982, the Berkeley Chess School has enriched

the lives of thousands of Bay Area children.

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The Berkeley Chess School is a non-profit 510(c)(3) that in addition to teaching chess classes offers eight regional chess tournaments - including two all-girls' tournaments - summer campsand Friday-night chess classesin Berkeley and Walnut Creek. It teaches children with special needs, children in Title One schools in their classrooms during the school day and has an international chess exchange program.

True to its mission of enriching the lives of children from all backgrounds, BCS has undertaken ambitious new outreach programs in Oakland and Richmond Title 1 elementary schools. Click here to learn about the BCS Oakland Chess Program and how you can help.

Click here for answers to frequently asked questions.

"I'm just writing to thank you for the work you've done to involve kids in chess: the school-year classes, tournaments, and summer camps.

Kudos to a job well done!"
-- a Berkeley parent

How it all began

The things that Elizabeth Shaughnessy loves about playing the game are tactics, problem solving, and of course, winning. But what she loves most about chess itself is its ability to cross boundaries and appeal to all ages. One of her early memories was as a child in Ireland Watching her father play with a Lithuanian WWII refugee whose family hers was sheltering. By the age of five Elizabeth’s father had taught her chess, and she, her father, and brother played for fun.

It wasn’t until she attended University College in Dublin to study architecture that she began to seriously study the game when she joined the chess team there. In 1969 she played in her first chess Olympiad in Lublin, Poland. In 1970 she became the Irish Women’s chess champion. After graduating she went straight to Yugoslavia to be part of the international team that built New Belgrade. She continued to build schools and hospitals in Dublin, London and the United States.

Elizabeth met and married Stephen Shaughnessy, an American attorney, and settled in Berkeley. Raising three children was a full-time job, leaving no time—or energy to play chess! She would not go back to playing chess until 1998 when she qualified for the Irish Women’s team and played at the Chess Olympiad in Elista, Kalmikia. Since then she has played in chess Olympiads in Istanbul, Slovenia, Italy, and Germany. As an Executive Board member of the USCF she represented the U S at the Chess Olympiad in Spain in 2004.

In 1981 Elizabeth was asked to volunteer-teach chess at her son’s school in Berkeley. Soon more schools were asking for chess instruction and even though Elizabeth was volunteering five days a week yet still could not serve every school seeking chess. Noting that chess appealed to children of diverse backgrounds and the incredible demand for it (we serve over 5,000 girls and boys in Kindergarten through 12th grade in over 120 schools),Shaughnessy founded the non-profit Berkeley Chess School. George Koltanowski, her long time friend and mentor, served on the BCS board until his passing in 2000. She also served as a delegate at that time of the national organization, the United States Chess Federation, and was appointed by them as Scholastic Director for Northern California.

After the Berkeley School District declared bankruptcy, Elizabeth was urged by colleagues and friends to run for election to the School Board. She was elected in 1984. Working with the help of many others, Elizabeth and other school board members were able to dispense of the state bankruptcy overseer and get the books back in the black within one year. She was re-elected, continuing to serve until 1992.

In 2002, Elizabeth was elected to the board of CalChess, serving as President from 2003 – 2005. She was elected to serve on the board of the United States Chess Federation in 2004.

For her longstanding dedication to the community, Shaughnessy has won several awards, including a $25,000 Avanti! MAGIC award for community service and a 2004 "Hometown Hero" award by the Berkeley Rotary Club. In 1992 and again in 1993 she received the USCF’s Membership Leader award. In 2007 she received a Certificate of Special Recognition from Congresswoman Barbara Lee for her dedication to Alameda County's children. (In 2009 Shaughnessy was named one of the Bank of America's five Bay Area Local Heroes).

When asked what her proudest achievement is, although she once walked over a hundred miles on the Pilgrim’s Walk in Spain, Elizabeth immediately says her children. She is proud that they’ve grown to be good human beings, to have a sense of perspective on what is important in life. She knows they will contribute to society.
Elizabeth knows BCS is doing enormously good work—if she didn’t believe that, she would have retired long ago to play the piano and study chess. She plans to play in the Chess Olympiad this fall in Khanty-Mansisysk, Siberia for the Irish Women’s team. What she hopes for the Berkeley Chess School is to find a permanent home to enable it to continue the good work.

More on Elizabeth:
Berkeley City Club