Silver Knights Chess Academy is one of the largest chess-teaching organizations in the United States.
We teach chess in-person in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC, as well as teaching online to students in all 50 states and more than 40 countries around the world.
We were founded in 2006 by Adam Weissbarth, a National Chess Master and former schoolteacher. Over the years we’ve taught chess to more than 120,000 children in classes and camps! Although many of our students have had competitive success, our typical student is a regular kid looking to learn a new skill and have fun.
In addition to our school-based program in nearly 350 schools in the Baltimore-Washington area, we also offer an Online Chess Academy program for competitive players. Our program has produced 11 scholastic state champions so far in 2025 from states including Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC, Georgia, Iowa, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
It’s important to us to keep chess accessible to students and we’re proud to have a need-based scholarship program that gives out more than $50,000 of free and discounted classes each year!
Prior to 2021 we were Silver Knights Enrichment. From 2021-2024 we were part of Magnus Carlsen’s Play Magnus Group of Companies and, later, part of chess.com. The name became Magnus Chess Academy due to that partnership. In October of 2024, ownership and operations transitioned back to Adam and his brother Daniel, and in March of 2025, the company name changed back to Silver Knights Chess Academy.
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Industry
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Education
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Company size
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201-500 employees
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Headquarters
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Fairfax, Virginia
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Type
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Privately Held
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Founded
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2021
