Our Story
Adam founded Silver Knights Chess in 2006, shortly after earning his National Master title.
In the 2006-2007 school year, Adam taught chess in 16 schools and community centers. In 2008, he was joined by his brother Daniel, also a lifelong chess player -- and Adam's first student. You can see one of their first lessons below! Later in 2008, two of their students won national championships.
Founder Adam Weissbarth playing chess with his brother, Daniel.
We started getting more requests for chess programs than we could handle, and our focus quickly shifted to building the best possible team of staff and coaches to work with all the schools and families that wanted their children to play chess. Over the next few years, our chess program grew to serve more than 10,000 students every year at more than 300 elementary schools.
In 2020 we added online chess classes.
Kids and parents loved them, so much so that even after in person programs reopened in 2021, the online classes kept growing. It started with just kids from Virginia, Maryland, and DC, but since has grown and grown, and we’ve now worked with students from all 50 states and 40+ countries on 6 continents!
Now, the online Academy program serves as a home for children of all skill levels that love chess and want to improve. There's an easy $5 trial chess class too!
In 2023, we created an Elite Academy program for students rated over 1400. This program now features three Grandmaster coaches and has produced many scholastic state champions in states around the country
Magnus Carlsen & Chess.com
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 Daniel, and in March of 2025, the company name changed back to Silver Knights.
We have taught 100,000+ students
Over the years we’ve taught chess to more than 100,000 children in classes and camps! More than 50 of our students have become state or national scholastic chess champions, but our typical student is a regular kid looking to learn a new skill and have fun.
Amelia
Virginia State K-3 Champion
Gustav
Rhode Island State Middle School Champion
Sachit
Illinois State Elementary Champion
Scholarships
We believe that children gain lifelong benefits from playing chess. They learn patience, respect, and the confidence that comes from doing something hard. We aim to give children experience winning and losing in a low-stakes environment when they’re young so that as they get older, they can better handle life’s inevitable successes and failures.
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.
What we offer
We offer In-person chess programs for kids in the Baltimore-Washington Metro Area, and an Online Chess Academy for kids throughout the United States.
Online Classes
The United States’ leading Chess Academy program for tournament players, serving students in all 50 states and producing 11 scholastic state champions around the country in 2025!
join the academy
In Person Club
School-based chess clubs in 350 elementary schools throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.
join local club