RookAI
RookAI is a bridge that uses chess to connect teenage girls all around the world. It helps teach them vital skills and knowledge to help them succeed in life through chess. RookAI is an online platform for learning and playing chess, along with a place to talk about your problems and dreams. Chess can also be used in tandem with other subjects to help develop essential knowledge. Chess+ is a variation on the classical game of chess. Chess+ has the same rules for chess, however, before every move, you have to answer a question based on the monthly topic. There will also be a monthly topic in the forums. The monthly topic can be voted upon by the users in each area. This will allow small groups to talk together from all over the world, helping them share their hopes and dreams.
For young women, isolation and disconnect are devastating barriers to overcome. Without a comfort zone, it can be hard, if not impossible, for them to learn enough to live a good life. “In Samoa, three in every five adolescents reported making a suicide attempt, demonstrating the urgent need for action, the level of suicide attempts in adolescence was higher among girls (17.4 percent) than boys (16.3 percent).” As of 2013, 31 million girls of primary school age out of school. “Of these 17 million are expected never to enter school. There are 4 million fewer boys than girls out of school….” In Nigeria, there are almost five and a half million girls out of school; in Pakistan, over three million, and in Ethiopia, over one million girls not attending school. The lack of education for these girls will affect them for their entire lives. “Almost a quarter of young women aged 15-24 today (116 million) in developing countries have never completed primary school and so lack skills for work. Young women make up 58% of those not completing primary school.” These women will not have a chance to help contribute to the GDP and workforce of their countries.
RookAI, a free-to-join website bringing together young women facing learning challenges on their journey. RookAI is a bridge that uses chess to connect young girls all around the world, helping teach vital skills and knowledge, building community, and a safe place to help them succeed in life-- all through the game of chess. RookAI is a place to talk about your problems and dreams in a safe environment. We at RookAI have developed a new approach, the Chess+ concept + App, integrating chess with relevant subjects, like math and science, giving girls a way to fix their local problems, such as accessing clean water, protecting against infection and disease, growing food, and acquiring the skills and confidence to advocate and stand up for themselves. Chess+ has the same rules as chess, however, before every move, you have to answer a question based on the monthly topic. Our website platform will teach kids about chess. There will also be a monthly topic in the forums to talk about. These topics can be user-submitted, helping bring kids from all over the world together and uniting them over RookAI to talk about their local problems.
RookAI advocates and assists teenage girls from developing countries to find a safe haven, nurturing, and helping them to chase their dreams and giving them the tools to lead a better life. It will impact their lives by giving them a way to learn both chess and other essential subjects along with providing a platform to help them to express and help them actualize their dreams. This will provide a meaningful experience and will make a strong positive impact on their lives. RookAI will help us acquire skills to better their lives. RookAI also will have a forum, where girls from all over the world can talk about a monthly topic. This helps bring girls together through a common feature and in this way world understanding and empathy can become a reality.
- Reduce the barriers that prevent girls and young women—especially those living in conflict and emergency situations—from reaching key learning milestones
By reducing barriers, RookAI checkmates isolation, lack of equal access, and a comfort zone. The problem relates to the Challenge because young girls around the world do not have the proper education. RookAI will counter this inequality by teaching them chess and knowledge (Chess+), giving them a place to find solutions for their local problems, while building their self-confidence to chase their dreams. Our target population is girls that are out of school and need proper education.
- Concept: An idea being explored for its feasibility to build a product, service, or business model based on that idea