Any kid aiming to learn how to take down a king or expertly move like a knight is in luck as Richmond Heights has announced the start of a youth chess club which is currently open for signups. Classes run on Wednesdays from Jan. 21 to March 11 and are for kids between the ages of 5 and17. There is a fee of $50. Nicole Christian, special projects coordinator for the city, said that chess was just the start of a new series of youth programing that will offer Hip-Hop Dance classes, a summer Drone Camp, a Cooking Club, Creative Writing, and Multi-Media art, this year. Some of the details for the classes are still being hashed out, but as one thing that has been finalized is that the cost will be capped at $50 for all classes or free of charge. “Richmond Heights didn’t previously have any youth programs so one of my new initiatives was to make sure we had some,” Christian said. “I picked chess because a part of it was supposed to be group initiative with other members of the community and chess and dance were the highest recommended by library staff. “I wanted to make sure the kids had more things to do,” she continued. “Last year, we revamped the mayor’s youth advisory. Part of that was having kids come from the school to tell us what they wanted to do, and one of their biggest complaints was that there wasn’t enough after school activity.” She said that the only events that currently require payment are the chess and dance classes and the summer adventure camp with everything else being free. “Moving forward we are trying to make any program that costs money —  they will all be the same amount and everything else is free,” Christian said. “The goal is to get as many kids to sign up so it can be recurring. We’ve got about 30 kids signed up for the chess class right now… so we are making preparations to (continue) having it next year.” City Council recently approved the purchase of a new passenger van for city events. Christian said, she didn’t know how soon they will be getting it, but once it arrives they will be using it to help transport kids to some of the events like the Summer Adventure Camp which is located at a Cleveland Metropark. “The goal would be to utilize it to make these types of things easier to do.” Christian said. More information can be found online at richmondheightsohio.org or by contacting the Recreation Department at 216-383-6313. ...read more read less