With premier facilities serving both South Charlotte and North Charlotte, we offer a convenient camp location for families throughout the entire metropolitan area.

• South Charlotte / Main Center: Our flagship location is situated in South Charlotte near the Pineville area. This center is the primary hub for families in Ballantyne, South Park, Matthews, Waxhaw, and Fort Mill/Tega Cay, SC.

• North Charlotte Center: Our North center is conveniently located in North Charlotte near Concord and serves areas including Cornelius, Davidson, Denver, Concord, Huntersville and Kannapolis.

• Partner School Locations: We also provide exclusive summer camp programming at Charlotte Latin School, Providence Day School, Covenant Day School, and Trinity Episcopal School.

Absolutely! We love introducing new players to the game. While our more advanced camps have rating requirements, our Junior Master Camps are specifically designed for children with no prior experience.

• The Junior Master Experience: This is our primary entry point for beginners. We focus on making chess fun and social, ensuring new players feel confident and excited about the game.

• Year-Round Learning: If you are looking for instruction during the school year, we highly recommend our academy classes. These weekly classes are the best way for absolute beginners to build a strong foundation outside of the summer camp season.

We offer full-day camps (10:00 AM – 4:00 PM) whenever school is out of session. We provide a generous window for drop-off and pickup to accommodate working schedules:

• Drop-off: 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM

• Pickup: 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM
  

Our schedule is specifically curated to align with:

• Public School Districts: We offer camps during most CMS, UCPS, CCS, and FMSD teacher workdays and holidays.

• Seasonal Breaks: We host multi-day camps during Spring Break and Winter Break.

Our week-long, Monday–Friday summer camps are divided into three tiers based on experience and US Chess  ratings:

• Junior Master Camp (Half-Day): Perfect for beginners and casual players (typically ages 5–12). No tournament experience is required. We focus on piece movement, checkmate patterns, and fundamental tactics in a fun, social environment.

• Master Tour Camp (Full-Day): For students with tournament experience and a US Chess rating below 1500. These camps focus on serious strategy, clock management, and competitive analysis.

• Elite Master Camp (Full-Day): Nationally recognized training for serious competitors with a rating over 1800.

The Charlotte Chess Center is home to one of the most highly decorated permanent coaching staffs in the United States.

Expert Permanent Staff: All of our camps, from beginner to advanced, are led by our professional team. Our permanent staff includes three Grandmasters (GM), as well as numerous FIDE Masters (FM) and National Masters (NM). This ensures that even our beginner students are learning the correct fundamentals from the very start. Our staff members are not only strong players but are experts in youth education, ensuring a safe, engaging, and highly productive environment for every student.

World-Class Elite Coaching: Our Elite Master Camps feature additional instruction from high-profile international legends. We fly in world-renowned Grandmasters to provide our advanced students with 30+ hours of top-tier training.

Notable Guest Instructors: Our students have had the opportunity to learn from legends such as GM Judit Polgar, GM Boris Gelfand, GM Peter Leko, GM Veselin Topalov, GM RB Ramesh, GM Jacob Aagaard, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, GM Boris Avrukh, and GM Daniel Naroditsky.

While our age ranges are broad, we utilize internal divisions to ensure a high-quality experience. Within each camp, we divide students into smaller cohorts based on a combination of their age and chess rating (if they have one, such as in the case of the Master Tour Camps).

For example, in a Junior Master Camp this ensures that a 12-year-old beginner is grouped with other older students, while a 5-year-old is grouped with younger peers.

Our camps are designed to be a high-energy, memorable part of your child’s school break. While our weekly classes are great for steady growth, our camps are a celebration of chess that brings the community together.

• A Shared Adventure: There is a unique energy when dozens of kids are in the Center together. Whether they are analyzing a game with a Grandmaster or playing a fun round of "Bughouse" with new friends, students love the social atmosphere that only happens during camp weeks.

• The "Camp Community": Students get to step outside their usual school circles and meet kids from all over the Greater Charlotte area.

• Special Camp Activities: Our camps often feature special activities you won't find in a standard class, such as team-based challenges, puzzle competitions, and camp-wide tournaments.

• The "Level Up" Feeling: Kids love seeing progress quickly. By the end of a camp week, students often feel a huge surge in confidence because they’ve spent several days in a row immersed in the game, making the "big wins" feel even more rewarding.