Shawn Sorsby sat stunned in the basement of the Illini Union. The fluorescent lights illuminated tiny hands as they returned the white and black chess pieces to their starting positions. Penny, the 10-year-old who had just crushed Sorsby in a game at the Illinois Chess Club, was explaining how he had failed to make the book move multiple times throughout their game. As this young girl schooled him on the proper strategy, all he could think was, “there’s a book for this?”

Long before Sorsby sat down to that game in the Illini Union he was a kid growing up in Englewood in the ’80s. His South Side Chicago neighborhood was known for a lot of things, but chess wasn’t one of them. From a young age, though, Sorsby forged his own path. In an area where it seemed you could only be smart or cool, he set out on a mission to figure out how to do both.

Sorsby came from a house of strong black women and a dedicated and attentive stepfather who never let outside forces dictate their actions. Sorsby learned valuable lessons from their strength and belief in themselves. He carried their influence with him when the family moved from Englewood to a nearby neighborhood, Beverly.

In his Englewood school, he was surrounded by fellow kids from his block; they all looked like him and had a similar lived experience. In Beverly, Sorsby was in classes with many kids who didn’t look or talk like him. He remembered thinking there was no way he could compete in the classroom with his well-off classmates. However, as he excelled and was placed in honors classes, he learned at a pivotal and early age that where you are from doesn’t matter; anyone can succeed with the right resources.

Strong mentorship and strong ties to his city drove his educational journey. As a student at Chicago’s Morgan Park High School, a mentor encouraged Sorsby to pursue a path that led to the University of Illinois. When he arrived on campus in the early 2000s, he saw a future for himself, making good money and having the ability to give back to where he was from.

Sorsby was first introduced to chess by his Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brothers on campus, and his love for the game grew. He enjoyed playing socially, but as he continued, he became more and more intrigued by strategy and what it took to win.

Marc McConney (LAW ’96, EDU ’03, ’13) was the best chess player in his Alpha fraternity chapter. So, when McConney invited him to the Illini Union to join a chess club, Sorsby was in. Penny may have beaten him that first day, but he continued going back to learn.

The meaning of playing “chess, not checkers,” became clear as Sorsby realized the strategy behind the moves, finally getting a copy of the rule book. Spending time in the chess club sparked his curiosity about puzzles, strategy, and proper coaching. As he studied, learned, and was mentored, those who used to beat him were now on the losing side of his winning strategy.

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New game plan

Upon graduation from Illinois, Sorsby began a career in wealth management, setting out to make enough money to give back. He excelled in the role; in his first year, Sorsby was awarded the rookie of the year for his region. Just as he was achieving his greatest financial success, the 2008 financial crisis rocked the country. Like so many others, Sorsby was looking to expand his income as the economy suffered.

While scouring Craigslist, he came upon a job post for a chess teacher. He knew chess and rationalized that he could figure out the teaching part as he went along. Simultaneously, he began coaching wrestling at his high school alma mater. He picked up these two seemingly unrelated side hustles and ended up loving them both.

Sorsby could see the impact he was making and had a life-altering realization that he was great with kids. Seeing his positive effect on the kids he worked with revealed how unfulfilled he was in his wealth management career. Sorsby took a leap that not many are willing to take. He left a high-paying, secure job to step into the unknown. His peers and mentors looked at him as though he had quit or failed.

His girlfriend at the time though, Chandia, poured her belief into him. With her support, Sorsby knew he could block out those questioning this new path. He felt called to be in education and wanted to wake up daily with a tangible mission.

This career pivot and his now-wife’s medical training led him to teach in schools in Chicago, Harlem, and then the city of Freeport on Grand Bahama Island, where his wife grew up. Sorsby started a chess club at each stop to connect with the students on a deeper level and grow his skills as an educator. When he landed a full-time role at his wife’s alma mater, Sorsby’s calling in youth development solidified.

What started as a few after-school attendees at the Bishop Michael Eldon School in Freeport grew to 40 and then 50 young minds entranced by the game of chess. As Sorsby saw the group grow, he realized he needed a strong partner to support his club and help it compete in tournaments. At the time, only activities classified as sports could obtain funding from the school.

As he battled for funding and the right to be classified as a sport, Sorsby learned of one of his students’ family ties to the Sister Cities organization, a group that connected children worldwide. The organization was beginning a global chess project, and through one of its ambassadors, Sharon Glover, this gave Sorsby the opportunity he needed — an introduction to the chess coach at one of the preeminent chess tournaments in the States.

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Opening moves

Sorsby’s Bahamian students would fly across the Atlantic to watch the North Carolina High School State Chess Tournament and to compete in an exhibition against the third-ranked chess team, Atkins Academic and Tech High School. While it took countless bake sales, car washes, and movie nights to raise the money, Sorsby was set to take eight kids off a tropical island to North Carolina in the middle of February.

As the plane took off, the nervous, bubbly energy from the students was palpable. Many of them had never left Freeport, most only traveling as far as Florida. Halfway through the plane ride, one of Sorsby’s students got up from her seat and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Do you think there will be snow?” she asked. Sorsby shrugged and responded that there might be. As his student walked back to her seat, Sorsby paused and then called out, “Have you ever seen snow?” As his student shyly shook her head and responded “no,” it hit him.

This was bigger than chess.

After watching their peers compete at the state tournament, Sorsby and his team were eager to play. While they had been playing chess only for four months, the students held their own in matches against the storied Atkins team. In fact, eighth-grader Aasha Gibson went undefeated in her division and earned the title of top female player. In the time it took the team to make their first moves, the 700-mile distance from Freeport to Winston-Salem was whittled down to the width of a chess board.

Chess is usually a quiet game, but during this exhibition the players shared their cultures, advice, and came away with new perspectives. Sorsby wanted to ensure that the students experienced enriching activities beyond the chess tournament. The group visited Winston-Salem State University (a historically black college or university, or HBCU), went to a local museum, and did, in fact, see snow.

As Sorsby and his group returned home, trading the snow-covered south for the salted breezes of the Bahamas, he was certain this was what he should be doing. Coaching chess had transcended being a fun after-school activity; it became his calling. He broached the subject with his wife of leaving his job to coach full time.

Now a pediatrician, Chandia had just given birth to their first child. Without blinking an eye, she encouraged him to do it, telling him that she had his back. A Step Ahead Chess was born, and his players, whom he called Stormers, were ready for even more.

The following year the team headed to New York for their first official tournament. Back in his old stomping grounds, Sorsby took the trip to a new level. His Stormers stood with Van Gogh at The Met, passed under the stone arches of the Brooklyn Bridge, and held their own with the OG chess legends in Central Park. Not only did the students experience New York City, but the group came away with three individual trophies, two team trophies, and the first-place champion in the advanced section.

His program was humming along. Sorsby’s plan was to continue this international exchange of culture, ideas, and chess. He moved back to Chicago with his wife, and they continued to grow their family. Sorsby established a new chapter of the A Step Ahead Chess nonprofit in the Windy City. He even flew his Bahamian Stormers to Chicago for another international trip and tournament. He had it all figured out.

That’s when COVID-19 hit.

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Beyond the board

Having planted roots again in Chicago and with travel out of the question, Sorsby couldn’t abandon his group in the Bahamas. He knew he wasn’t going to give up. His life experiences had taught him how to adapt. With so much of the world moving online, he figured, why couldn’t chess?

When Sorsby pivoted to coaching chess online, A Step Ahead Chess exploded. He was now connecting chess players, novice and experienced, across the United States and the Bahamas through coaching and online chess games. The beauty of what Sorsby built during that transition is what makes his nonprofit so successful.

Sorsby remembers sitting in classes where he couldn’t see himself in his teachers. He couldn’t relate to them. As he transitioned online, this was at the forefront of his mind— the group was growing, and Sorsby knew the Stormers needed to see themselves in the coaches he was bringing on board to meet the demand. Sorsby got the idea of hiring his chess players as coaches. They would get real-world experience, and the A Step Ahead Chess players would get to be coached by their peers.

It was a match made in chess heaven. The confidence built on both sides of the experience has done far more than teach the kids to master the Queen’s Gambit open or the Sicilian Defense. Beyond the game, Sorsby and his nonprofit are impacting the trajectory of all involved. Take Wilton Cartwright, who was on Sorsby’s first trip to North Carolina and became one of A Step Ahead Chess’ first Stormers.

He went on his first college visit during that trip as a seventh-grader. He recently graduated from an HBCU on a full scholarship and coached for A Step Ahead Chess. Cartwright found a purpose beyond teaching the moves of chess; just like Sorsby, he’s making a global impact by leaving his mark on the lives he’s mentored. Every coach and Stormer in the A Step Ahead Chess organization, whether from Wrigleyville, Englewood, or an island in the Atlantic Ocean, has found a place they know they belong.

Shawn Sorsby is not a grandmaster in the chess world. He’s never even chosen to become a rated player. That is by design. He fell in love with how chess levels the playing field in life; if you know the strategy, you can compete. A Step Ahead is more than a chess company, it is a youth development organization that is working to empower the next generation of problem solvers, critical thinkers, and future leaders. Sorsby’s mission is to show the world that 32 chess pieces and a black-and-white board can break down the misconceptions that separate us.