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Montpelier's Winter Chess Series

  • January 8 - March 12, 2026
  • James Madisons Montpelier

    13425 Visitor Center Road
    Orange, Virginia 22960
Ticket Price $0.00-$11.43 Register Now
Description

Warm up your mind this season with Montpelier’s Winter Chess Series—a program that blends history and hands-on play to help you gain a greater appreciation for the timeless game of chess. Across a series of three sessions we will have intriguing lectures, friendly matches, a show-and-tell with genuine Montpelier artifacts, and open play with professional guidance. Whether you’re learning the fundamentals or sharpening advanced tactics, this winter series turns every move into an opportunity to grow. Ideal for students of all ages, classrooms, clubs, and curious minds!

Pricing:

$10 (adults; 18+)

$5 (5-17)

Free: Members & under 5 

 

Speaker Bios:

Mark Johnson 


First things first! Mr. Johnson is no Chess Genius. He knows just enough to appreciate skill, cunning, and artistry when he sees it. Mr. Johnson learned to play as a nine-year-old boy from his gang of what today would be called “geeky” friends. In Luray, Virginia in the 1960s, there were no chess clubs in the schools. He and his friends did not know even one adult in his hometown who could play chess! The cheap plastic chessmen they played with came from the corner five-and-dime store. The clunky hollow pieces often fell over in mid play. Garish black and red checker boards were hard on their eyes. During snow days off school, his 5th grade best friend beat him more than 1,000 times in a row.  

Then, as a young teen, Mr. Johnson got a summer job doing yard work for an elderly widow. After the yard mowing was done, she would invite him in for an icy glass of lemonade and a game of chess. Her board was a marble top table. Her tournament-quality wooden chess pieces had come home in the 1920s from Japan with her missionary parents. What a different, enjoyable experience those matches were! Decades later, the widow gave those chessmen to him in her will.

In his 20s, Mr. Johnson was working for the National Park Service in St Augustine, Florida as a park ranger and historian. Doing research on what games the Spanish settlers of Florida might have played in the 1500s to 1700s opened the door to his life-long fascination with the history of chess and how the names and very shapes of chess pieces have changed over centuries and in different countries. Back in Virginia to visit his parents, he saw Thomas Jefferson’s chess set at Monticello. So many of that generation of Founding Fathers were avid chess aficionados.


The latest chapter of Mr. Johnson’s chess and history adventures fired up during the Pandemic. The Netflix series THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT ignited a worldwide interest in chess —online. He recently started a chess club at the neighborhood elementary school in Charlottesville where his grandchildren attend. Exploring and learning about the evolution of chess has been great fun. Seeing young minds begin to grasp the elegance of this ancient and enduring game is even more fun.

Date & Time

Jan 8 - Mar 12, 2026

Venue Details

James Madisons Montpelier

13425 Visitor Center Road
Orange, Virginia 22960 James Madisons Montpelier
James Madisons Montpelier

Discover the rich history of the plantation and historic house on this guided tour. Property pass included in ticket price.


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