About Chess4Girls

Chess4Girls is a San Diego 501(c)(3) nonprofit with one goal: more girls at the board, and more girls staying there. We run workshops and meetups, build a chess curriculum that works for first-time players, and fund coaching for students who would not otherwise have it.

How it started

Our founder, Iniya Mathivanan, has played competitive chess for more than seven years. After moving from Arizona to San Diego, she noticed the same thing at nearly every tournament: boys far outnumbered girls, and many girls who started chess stopped before their skill had a chance to catch up with their interest. Chess4Girls grew out of a simple belief that confidence can disappear before skill has room to grow, and that a supportive community changes that.

What we do

We teach. Iniya developed a beginner curriculum covering piece movement, capture, notation and basic strategy, and leads lessons and workshops herself. We gather. Our meetups and tournaments give girls a place to play, lose, win and keep going together. We fund. Where a chess set or a coach is the barrier, we pay for it.

Where we work

Chess4Girls is based in San Diego, where we run free beginner workshops with San Diego Chess Academy and meetups for girls across the county. California is home, and we are now expanding to Arizona, where Iniya first learned the game, so more girls across the Southwest can find their way to the board.

We also run a partner program in Tamil Nadu, India. In 2025 Chess4Girls partnered with CEDAR, an NGO that serves children from marginalized communities. Iniya taught chess in Tamil to children in Lingavadi, then ran sessions and a small tournament at CEDAR's Madurai center for students from Lingavadi and Kovalpatti. At least 65 children learned chess through that program. The students who wanted to go further moved on to weekly coaching with Darshini Chess Academy in Madurai, and in October 2026 seven of them competed at the Tamil Nadu state children's tournament. First lesson, then a coach, then a tournament: that is the path we build for every student we meet.

About the founder

Iniya is a high school student in San Diego and a nationally ranked player. In May 2026 she reached No. 23 on the US Chess Top 100 list for girls age 14, and in January 2026 she was part of Canyon Crest Academy's first-place team at the San Diego Regional High School Team Chess Championship. She serves as Founder and Director of Chess4Girls, develops its curriculum, and speaks publicly about opportunity for girls in chess.

Mission and vision

We believe every girl can become a confident, strategic thinker who can shape her future and make a positive impact. Our aim is to make chess more inclusive, one board at a time.

The strength of a kingdom comes from its King, The strength of a King comes from his Queen.

— Cody Edward Lee Miller