Silver Knights Chess Academy
Frying Pan Park, 2739 West Ox Rd, Herndon, VA 20171
About
Silver Knights Chess Academy offers chess through online chess classes, in-person chess programs, school-based chess clubs, week-long chess camps, and tournaments. Kids take part in structured chess instruction and play in settings that include school clubs, camps, and online sessions.
• Schedule: Week-long chess camps; 150 week-long chess camps are offered
• Price: $5 trial chess class
Silver Knights Chess Academy runs school-based chess clubs in 350 elementary schools throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC, and also offers in-person chess programs for kids in the Baltimore-Washington Metro Area. The program also runs an Online Chess Academy for kids all over the world and an Online Academy program that serves children of all skill levels who want to improve at chess. Its Elite Academy program is for students rated over 1400 and features three Grandmaster coaches.
Adam founded Silver Knights Chess in 2006, shortly after earning his National Master title, and the leadership team includes founder Adam Weissbarth and his brother Daniel, who was his first student. From 2021–2024 the organization was part of Magnus Carlsen’s Play Magnus Group of Companies and later part of chess.com, and the name became Magnus Chess Academy during that partnership before changing back to Silver Knights in March of 2025. The program states as its mission, “More than a game - chess builds skills kids carry for life.”
Over the years, Silver Knights Chess Academy has taught chess to more than 100,000 children in classes and camps, and more than 50 of its students have become state or national champions. Two of its students won national championships in 2008, and it reports producing 11 scholastic state champions around the country in 2025. The program offers a need-based scholarship program that gives out more than $50,000 of free and discounted classes each year, and it describes itself as the United States’ leading chess academy program for tournament players, serving students in all 50 states. Families are invited to “Join the 120,000+ kids that have learned to play chess with Silver Knights.”
Parent testimonials describe children learning chess as newcomers, receiving weekly status updates, and getting lists of which students achieved checkmate in class. Parents report using both after-school programs and the online academy, and one parent notes that her child’s online rating went from 1400 to almost 2000 after 3–4 years in the academy. Several parents describe their children’s experiences in chess camps, including daily updates from coaches, and say their children were excited to return to classes and camps.
Last updated July 18, 2026.
• Schedule: Week-long chess camps; 150 week-long chess camps are offered
• Price: $5 trial chess class
Silver Knights Chess Academy runs school-based chess clubs in 350 elementary schools throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC, and also offers in-person chess programs for kids in the Baltimore-Washington Metro Area. The program also runs an Online Chess Academy for kids all over the world and an Online Academy program that serves children of all skill levels who want to improve at chess. Its Elite Academy program is for students rated over 1400 and features three Grandmaster coaches.
Adam founded Silver Knights Chess in 2006, shortly after earning his National Master title, and the leadership team includes founder Adam Weissbarth and his brother Daniel, who was his first student. From 2021–2024 the organization was part of Magnus Carlsen’s Play Magnus Group of Companies and later part of chess.com, and the name became Magnus Chess Academy during that partnership before changing back to Silver Knights in March of 2025. The program states as its mission, “More than a game - chess builds skills kids carry for life.”
Over the years, Silver Knights Chess Academy has taught chess to more than 100,000 children in classes and camps, and more than 50 of its students have become state or national champions. Two of its students won national championships in 2008, and it reports producing 11 scholastic state champions around the country in 2025. The program offers a need-based scholarship program that gives out more than $50,000 of free and discounted classes each year, and it describes itself as the United States’ leading chess academy program for tournament players, serving students in all 50 states. Families are invited to “Join the 120,000+ kids that have learned to play chess with Silver Knights.”
Parent testimonials describe children learning chess as newcomers, receiving weekly status updates, and getting lists of which students achieved checkmate in class. Parents report using both after-school programs and the online academy, and one parent notes that her child’s online rating went from 1400 to almost 2000 after 3–4 years in the academy. Several parents describe their children’s experiences in chess camps, including daily updates from coaches, and say their children were excited to return to classes and camps.
Last updated July 18, 2026.
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