The New York Yankees, Project Pawn and Community School District 9 held their second annual “BX Invitational” chess tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 11., bringing together nearly 200 Bronx students for a day of strategy, skill, and competition at Yankee Stadium.
Students from elementary, middle, and high schools across the Bronx faced off in three age-based divisions, competing in fast-paced, high-stakes chess matches. The top three players in each division earned trophies, while all participants received a commemorative medal and t-shirt. To round out the experience, students and their guardians were treated to meals courtesy of Legends Hospitality.
“This is amazing for our kids from across the Bronx,” New York City Community School District 9 Superintendent Harry Sherman said.
“We’ve got kids from third grade all the way up to high school. Just coming together to celebrate their brilliance and their excellence. It means so much they get to do it here in Yankee Stadium, in the home of their heroes. What we’re celebrating is their academic excellence, their strategic thinking, their critical thinking, their knowledge of themselves and their opponent and their ability to think ahead. Most of all, just to get to play chess and have fun.”
“These kids are just so smart, so incredible,” Yankees Ambassador of Community Affairs Haley Steinbrenner Swindal said. “It’s such a game of strategy, of smarts. Project Pawn has done an incredible job with District 9 to get these kids ready. It’s amazing to watch [the kids] strategize and think. It’s really exciting.”
Project Pawn was founded by former District 9 chess teammates Abdul Sulaiman Jr. and Christopher Johnson to empower students with strategic thinking skills, using chess as a metaphor for life. Rooted in the belief that careful planning and intentional decision-making pave the way for success, the program teaches young people how to navigate challenges, set goals, and think ahead—both on and off the chessboard.
Through a partnership with Superintendent Harry Sherman and Community School District 9, Project Pawn has expanded its reach, helping to instill focus, purpose, and strategic problem-solving in students across the Bronx.
“We were just two kids who thought ‘How do we pay it forward?’ How do we give back to the next generation of kids? Chess helped us strategically think, so we started Project Pawn,” Sulaiman said. “The Bronx is home. What better place to do this then at Yankee Stadium? You dream about coming to a place like this. To have the kids come, to sit in a suite and to look and see all the history in here. To feel that, but also say ‘I did something cool in this building,’ it couldn’t mean anything more to us.”
Located on the western edge of the South Bronx, Community School District 9 encompasses the neighborhoods of Claremont, Concourse, Highbridge, Morrisania, Morris Heights and University Heights.
“Chess is amazing. It’s about knowing yourself. It’s about understanding,” Sherman said. “Are you on the attack or on defense? It’s about thinking ahead and thinking about the consequences of moves and actions. There are so many life lessons that you can make with chess, where you think about the different roles and how to set up the board and understand what’s coming and understand the implications of the moves that you make. But really, on a deeper level, it’s a meditative activity to get to just immerse yourself in the game. And most of all, chess is fun.”
“Chess is not an easy thing, where you can just pick it up and be the best player. It takes time and a lot of critical thinking. Being here right now from my school and winning, is all my mindset is for,” Highbridge Green School Eighth Grade student Sebastian De LaCruz said. “Chess can take you anywhere in the world. It can take you a lot of places. It can be your own career. They bring life skills, like leadership, critical thinking and a lot more.”
