December 2024 –
CCL was founded a little over 17  years ago in August 2007, when its founder, National Master Alan Casden, retired from computer science and clinical psychology careers.  The program was based on a concept different from almost every other chess program in the United States.  The traditional model in the US is that a student will have a single coach who guides them through their chess development.  In CCL, a student will usually have multiple coaches who work as a team to provide the best possible service to the student.  The program’s motto, “The kids come first,” serves as a guidepost for all the decisions made in the program.  All decisions aim to put the student’s needs clearly beyond those of their coaches or parents.  We view the students as the owners of this process, and they are responsible for the outcome, with the coaches and the program as tools that the students are empowered to use to reach their goals.  Thus, the center of control for the student’s progression is with the student.   They will succeed with this power through hard work and their choices.  There is not an almighty coach dispensing his wisdom on the student; the student is leveraging the knowledge of their capable coaches, along with other experiences, to be the best player they can be.  Although this may sound like semantics, it is at the core of the philosophy of CCL.  The student is empowered, and his ability to use this power will determine his success.
CCL does everything possible to empower this student to achieve his goals.  We provide a wealth of training materials, integrate best practices from programs worldwide, and, most of all, provide a sub-culture of chess players where the players all support each other.  In the US, most chess players are not exposed to many other players in a social environment, and chess is not always placed in high esteem.  To counteract this, many chess activities are designed to build group cohesiveness.  Within the world of CCL, we try to have our students feel that they are part of a larger group, a family of chess players and friends who know that each other is involved in an activity of great worth.
These ideals have made us one of the country’s best chess programs over the years. We have many national and state champions in our ranks. Our program accelerates yearly as the students become more integrated into the CCL culture. We have defined a new approach to chess in Ohio and are now expanding.