Website: https://ncc.clubexpress.com/
The Nashville Chess Center (NCC) is a nonprofit chess organization based in Nashville, Tennessee. According to its website, the NCC “is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation whose primary purpose is to educate the public about the game, art, science, sport and discipline of chess, with a particular focus on the education of secondary and elementary age students.” The organization is headquartered in Nashville’s historic Belmont-Hillsboro neighborhood and describes itself as “Est. 1995.”
Services
To carry out its mission, the NCC “sponsors instructional programs in local schools, conducts chess lessons, chess classes, chess coaching seminars, chess tournaments and chess camps, among other activities.” The website outlines programs for both youth and adult players, including after-school chess clubs, scholastic chess programs, and tournaments. The site notes, “The Nashville Chess Center is organizing school programs for 2025-26 now,” and invites schools and families to inquire about bringing chess into classrooms. These programs are described as funded “primarily through donations from foundations, corporations and private individuals.” Site sections include Calendar, About NCC, Member Signup, NCC Teachers, NCC Kids, Scholastic Chess Clubs, Join/Donate, Donors, City Champions, and a merchandise shop.
About
Founded in 1995, the Nashville Chess Center is described as “a supporting organization of the Tennessee Chess Association (TCA) and an affiliate of the United States Chess Federation (USCF), the governing body of chess in the United States.” The organization is headquartered “in a beautiful three-story house” in the Belmont-Hillsboro neighborhood. Listed achievements include hosting the US Cadet Championship in 1998, 1999, and 2000; hosting the annual Nashville Open Chess Championship; founding and hosting the Nashville Scholastic Chess Championships each January since 2003; and co-sponsoring the 2003 National Elementary Chess Championship, which the site credits with earning Nashville the title “Chess City of the Year” in 2003. The website identifies Dr. Martin Katahn as the founder of the Nashville Chess Center.
Location & Contact
The Nashville Chess Center is located at 2911 Belmont Blvd, Nashville, Tennessee 37212-5907. Contact numbers listed on the site are an office line, (615) 649-8524, and a cell line, (629) 254-4737. Email contacts include [email protected] for general matters and [email protected] for office and financial matters.
Additional Information
The NCC is described as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and the website states that “all contributions are 100% tax deductible.” It notes that the organization “relies on our members, generous Sponsors and Individual Donors, fundraisers, grants, and volunteers” to fund its programs. The site identifies the center as “a proud partner of the Tennessee Chess Association” and directs visitors to the association’s website at tnchess.us.
According to the site’s history, founder Dr. Martin Katahn was inspired during trips to New York by the historic Marshall Chess Club and its role as a gathering point for the local chess community, prompting him to envision a comparable center in Nashville. In the spring and summer of 1995, a group of chess enthusiasts led by Dr. Katahn worked to create “a well-furbished, centralized location for children and adults to learn and play chess.” Newly qualified as a charitable organization, the center began as a supporting organization of the Tennessee Chess Association, with TCA volunteers serving on its original Board of Directors. The website also recounts that the center brought Ukrainian Grandmaster Semion Palatnik to Tennessee as a “Grandmaster in Residence.” The organization emphasizes the educational benefits of chess, stating its goal “to give every Nashville child the opportunity to gain the educational benefits of learning chess in their school,” and invites prospective volunteers and school partners to contact the director.
Profile compiled from the organization’s official website (ncc.clubexpress.com).