Match Maker

BY THE TIME SETHI ARRIVED IN HANOVER IN THE fall of 2007 he had already written a book with a chess grandmaster, founded a nonprofit called Chess Without Borders and touched the lives of countless youngsters across Illinois.

“A lot of professional chess players start playing really early. I started when I was 8 or 9—that’s pretty late,” says Sethi, who learned the game from his grandfather. “I think the average person doesn’t understand that chess is very fun. It’s a diverse game. There are players of all religions, races and socioeconomic backgrounds.”

Sethi grew up in Barrington, Illinois, and in fourth grade started a chess club at his elementary school. It took off—fast. By fifth grade he’d attracted 75 students to the club and inspired three other schools to open after-school chess programs. He was also ranked in the top 50 chess players in the state. In high school Sethi grew Chess With- out Borders—which combines the game with community service—to 127 students and 10 schools. He also convinced Grandmaster Yury Shulman to come to Chicago and take over the nonprofit. Sethi won the Governors Award. Twice. He won the Presidential Freedom Scholarship Award. And he wrote the go-to beginner’s guide, Chess! Lessons from a Grandmaster, with Shulman.

Next, he went to Dartmouth, where he majored in lin- guistics and joined the chess club. Now Sethi plays the game in New York City, where he lives and works in tech when he’s not helping with the nonprofit. Chess Without Borders, active in 35 school systems across Illinois, has donated more than $109,000—most raised through tour- naments and camp fees and sales of his chess book—to nonprofits around the world and established chess pro- grams in orphanages and schools in India, Mexico, Chile, Nigeria and Sudan. “The real thing we want to do is spread the concept that chess is a great game for everyone. It’s a language everyone can speak—everyone can connect through chess,” says Sethi. “It’s an art. It’s a game. It’s a science. It’s a sport.”