KIMBERLY WILCOX | features editor

When the doors opened on Saturday, senior business and vocal performance double major Andrew Svehaug and his team of nearly 30 employees and volunteers welcomed over 200 people from the Azusa community as they entered a world of chess.

Svehaug founded the American Chess Institute 14 months ago when he realized he could teach more students if he had a business that was allowed to hire instructors.

Then they formulated an idea to set a Guinness World Record for the most children taught to play chess in a day. However, after meeting with Azusa Mayor Joseph Rocha, Svehaug changed his plan from teaching students the basics to instructing students in the ways of chess.

“Early on [Mayor Rocha and I] discovered the best thing for the kids and the parents would be to focus on quality not quantity,” Svehaug said.

He said they switched their focus from trying to break a record to really focusing on changing the children’s lives.

Mayor Rocha attended the event after working with Svehaug closely planning out the day.

Azusa resident Jeanette Robles has three children taking lessons from “Mr. Andrew” on a consistent basis. Her children are ages 6, 8, and 10. They attend the Foothill Christian School in Glendora and love being a part of the Chess Club.

“You see a difference in them from the other kids in school,” Robles said. “There is a level of maturity.”

Robles said her kids still act their ages, but when it comes to time management and getting homework done, she has seen a positive change in them. She says her kids have learned to get their work done because of the amount of concentration needed for timed chess matches. Even her son in kindergarten can beat a second grader in a game of chess.

Robles’ children assisted Svehaug on Saturday by teaching other children their age the basics of chess.

However, the instruction wasn’t just for the kids. Parents were invited to join in and learn the game as well, so when the family went home they could play together.

“It was fun and it was family friendly,” Svehaug said. “But the thing is; chess can help students. Chess is linked with raising SAT scores.”

Svehaug and Robles agreed that chess is beneficial for students. The game increases strategic thinking and focuses on patterns and timing. Robles said her children enjoy playing chess and often are excited just to know they are going to chess class on a particular day.

“Go figure. How come homework can’t be that fun?” Robles said.

Svehaug and his team used a reward system to help reinforce their students learning on Saturday by building a giant indoor castle. When students had been taught all of the basic moves they were invited to join other players in the castle where they could play blitz games with timers or face off with each other in a one on one match.

“There were people there who only spoke Spanish and we were even able to teach them,” Svehaug’s brother, freshman Brian Svehaug said.

Andrew and Brian agreed the day was a success because they effectively taught whole families how to play chess. There were several requests for information on future events for further instruction. Both men are hoping to make another day possible for the community and perhaps bring in even more students.

Robles was happy to help out with the event. She and her family were there all day helping out with anything and everything. She said it was one of those events a person can get so caught up in that they forget to go home.

“I love being a chess mom,” Robles said.

The American Chess Institute is a Southern California based organization at this time, however Svehaug has plans to expand it across the country. He wants to employ people to teach children how to play chess so that they will grow intellectually, but also have fun at the same time.