One to one
A full hour built around your own games, openings and weak spots, online or at the coach's table.
An hour$55
Chess lessons that start from the games you play
One to one and small group lessons for children and adults, online or across a real board. Every lesson begins with a game you played, and nobody is promised a rating, a title or a trophy.
45 or 60minute lessons
Age 6+youngest pupils
Onlineor across a real board
Inside a sixty minute lesson
The shape stays the same whether the board is on a screen or on the table.
A game you played
Pupils bring or send a recent game. Losses teach the most, and nobody is judged for them.
The turning point
Coach and pupil find the moment the game changed and the question that was never asked.
One idea to learn
A pattern, a plan or an endgame technique that mends that moment, shown on a clean board.
Play it out
The pupil plays the position against the coach until the idea starts to feel natural.
Puzzles to take home
Five to ten short exercises on the same idea, checked at the start of the next lesson.
Four ways to take lessons
Online and in person lessons cost the same. Every format can begin with the 45 minute first lesson.
Pair lesson
Two players of a similar level share the hour, play each other and pick the game apart together.
Each$32
Junior group
Four to six children aged 6 to 11 on Saturday mornings, with puzzles, short games, a coach and an assistant.
A session$18
Event preparation
Six one to one lessons before a competition: opening choices, practice games on the clock and calm between rounds.
Six lessons$300
Where pupils usually start
Nobody needs to know their rating. The first lesson finds the right level by playing a game and talking it through.
| Starting point | Can already | Lessons work on |
|---|---|---|
| First moves | Name the pieces, or not yet | How each piece moves, check, checkmate and the first simple plans |
| Casual player | Finish a game without help | Not leaving pieces undefended, opening principles and basic endgames |
| Club player | Play at a club or online each week | Calculation, middlegame plans and rook endings |
| Competition player | Play rated games at events | Opening choices, preparing for opponents and using the clock well |
Ratings rise and fall with every game played. The coach follows the habits that win and lose games, not the number.
What a term of lessons covers
Topics come from each pupil's own games, so no two terms look alike. These are the ones that come up most.
- Checkmate patterns
- Pieces left undefended
- Opening principles
- Pawn structures
- Rook endings
- Calculating three moves deep
- Using the clock calmly
- Writing moves down
- Bouncing back after a loss
Openings are taught as ideas rather than long memorised lines, because most games below club level are settled by tactics well before move twenty.
Online, in person, and how children are kept safe
Online lessons use a shared board and a video call, so pupils need a laptop or tablet and a quiet table. In person lessons take place in a study room at the community library, and the junior group meets in its activity room, never in a pupil's home.
The coach holds the background check required where lessons take place, and its name differs between countries. Parents may join any lesson as observers, online or in person, and a parent or carer stays in the house during online lessons for children under 12. The coach never messages a child directly; every arrangement goes through a parent.
- A background checked coach
- Parents welcome at every lesson
- A parent at home for online lessons under 12
- Messages only through parents
Lesson fees and blocks of six
Pay as you go, or take six lessons together for a lower price. Junior group places are booked by the term.
First lesson
45 minutes$30
- A game, a talk and a level check
- A plan for the next six lessons
- No obligation to continue
Single lesson
60 minutes$55
- Any level, any age
- Homework puzzles included
- 24 hours' notice to move it
Block of six
6 lessons$300
- $50 a lesson
- The same weekly slot held for you
- Used for event preparation
Junior group term
10 Saturdays$180
- A coach and an assistant
- Parents welcome to watch
- Boards and clocks provided
Fees are paid to the coach directly. Moving a lesson inside 24 hours means it is charged, illness excepted.
Questions from players and parents
Will lessons raise a rating by a set amount?
No coach can honestly promise that. Ratings depend on how often a player competes, who they meet and how much they practise between lessons. Lessons fix the habits that lose games, and better results often follow, but they are never guaranteed.
Is six too young?
Not for the junior group, which uses games and puzzles rather than long explanations. A six year old who can sit for half an hour and enjoys puzzles usually does well; if not, try again in a few months.
Online or in person: which works better?
Both work. Online suits busy families and pupils who live far away, while in person suits young children and anyone who concentrates better across a real board. Many pupils mix the two.
Does the coach help with competitions?
Yes, through the block of six: opening choices, practice games on the clock and staying calm between rounds. The coach does not enter pupils in events or promise results there; families choose events themselves.
What does a pupil need at home?
A board and pieces for practice, a notebook for moves and, for online lessons, a laptop or tablet whose camera works. A chess clock helps from club level upwards.
Can parents sit in?
Always. Many parents of younger children watch the first few lessons, and some end up learning alongside them.
Boards, clocks and Saturday mornings
Wooden boards in the library, a laptop at the kitchen table and plenty of puzzles in between.
Notes from across the board (example reviews)
Our daughter is seven and loses interest fast. The Saturday group mixes puzzles and short games so well that she now sets up the board at home on her own.
Came back to chess at sixty after forty years away. Going through personal losses felt awkward at first, but nothing else has stopped the same mistakes repeating.
Before an event, the block of six focused on two openings and the clock. No promises about results, just calmer games and far fewer time scrambles.
Request a first lesson at the board
Say who will play, roughly how much chess they know and whether a screen or a real board suits. The coach answers within two working days with a time, or asks what the player has learned so far.
- Nothing is booked until the coach confirms
- The first lesson is paid to the coach directly
- Parents book for anyone under 18
Where lessons happen
Email works best, since the coach is often mid lesson; calls are returned between lessons.
The coach
Online, or in person at the community library near the market square
Lesson hours
| Monday to Friday | 15:30 to 21:00 |
| Saturday | 09:00 to 13:00 |
| Sunday | No lessons |
In person lessons
One to one lessons take place in a quiet study room at the community library, and the junior group meets in its activity room on Saturday mornings. Parents can wait in the reading room next door.
Book a first lesson