The Compton Chess Club is in check. A check for a thousand bucks, to be precise. The Los Angeles chapter of the Awesome Foundation has awarded Compton Chess Club its August grant. Founded by the Inner-City Mining Company, a mentoring organization that focusses on African-American inner-city males, the Compton Chess Club brings the ancient game to a whole new audience of young minds. But the club does more than just teach kids the rules. As the founders put it, “The game is an excellent tool to help formulate a strategic mindset. It forces you to be aware of your actions and those of your opponent. You learn about sacrifice and what needs to be valued.” You can read more about the organization’s mentoring efforts at innercitymining.com. Congratulations to ICMC and the awesome Compton Chess Club for being our August grant recipients! We here at LA Awesome are just happy to help, even if we don’t know a bishop’s pawn from a Sicilian Defense.