Girls4Chess: Mentoring And Empowering Young Players

By BHARTTI KUMAR

SARATOGA, CA – Neha Sharan’s love for chess began at a summer camp at the University of Texas at Dallas, where a casual introduction quickly turned into a lasting passion. Today, Sharan leads Girls4Chess.org, an organization dedicated to educating and empowering young girls through chess instruction and mentorship. While the nonprofit’s focus is on increasing female representation in a traditionally male-dominated field, its programs are open to players of all ages and genders.

During her own experience competing in over 230 tournaments, Sharan noticed the low number of female participants. Motivated by this gap, she not only excelled as a competitor but also began mentoring other young girls to participate in tournaments.

“I’m in 11th grade at Saratoga High School in California,” Sharan told India-West. “I conduct tournaments for Girls4Chess. Our plans are to hold bigger tournaments with 50 or more participants, and eventually events in different states and countries.”

She described the nonprofit’s growth: “I started my nonprofit last May. From last year to this year, we have raised $1,000 in donations and hosted multiple tournaments with over 20 people. Around 100 players have signed up for our events. We try to hold one every month, in person, for about four hours, with 15 to 25 players.”

Sharan highlighted a recent tournament where nearly 30 players participated. “I ran the event with one assistant tournament director, managing pairings, results, and setting up boards, clocks, and all the equipment,” she said.

Beyond competition, Sharan is collaborating with researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on a project exploring how chess performance relates to stress and cognitive load. “We study eye movement patterns, fixation duration, saccade frequency, and pupil dilation to understand how the brain manages decision-making pressure and emotional responses,” she explained.

What began as a mission to encourage young girls is now expanding to include boys, reflecting the growing interest and professional approach Sharan has brought to the chess community.