Chess is a beautiful game, and it is a game that I deeply love. My father taught me how to play when I was very young, but growing up I only ever played casually. The summer after my junior year of college I began playing and learning online. I have been doing so consistently for the last 7 years. In that time I have played more than 20,000 games, and spent countless hours studying, taking online courses, and solving puzzles. In terms of my current chess ability, I am by no means a master, though I aspire to one day reach that level. I am however, fairly decent. Since I began my chess journey my chess rating (the metric used to approximate chess skill) has improved by almost 1000 points from a rating of around 850 to a current average rating of around 1800. On chess.com, the most popular online chess site, my rating ranked me as high as the 99.7th percentile.

For me Chess is a passion, an escape, a source of constant challenge, a tool to sharpen the mind, and an opportunity to merge creative expression with concrete analysis. I have learned much about myself, and the pursuit of excellence through my chess journey. I have been humbled, enlivened, and driven to countless moments of good humored despair. But most of all, for me chess is just so much fun. No matter how many times I do it, each time I sit down at a board, or computer screen I am hit with the unique sense of exhilaration familiar to those who love this game.

I feel very fortunate to have been able to apply principles from my work as a Neuromovement practitioner to my own study of chess. I feel the style of learning employed in my work is one of the reasons I have been able to improve so much as an adult learner. I now seek to apply those principles in the vocation of teaching chess. We will focus on the foundational principles of chess, while keeping in mind the foundational principles of learning. We will learn about controlling the center, coordinating pieces, king safety, and much, much more. We will do this in a manner that is slow, subtle, enthusiastic and without setting limitations on how skilled we might all one day become. I will strive to meet each of my chess students where they are, so that I might help them find their own way down the board.

Chess lessons are available to the general public, people of all ages and abilities are welcome!

Click the link below to check out my chess.com account, see my ratings, and watch my recent games.

https://www.chess.com/member/itispaul

Chess Lesson Pricing:

Zoom lessons or house calls are available - house calls are subject to additional fees depending upon location (minimum additional fee of $6o).

1 hour: $100

1.5 hours: $140

2 hours: $165

Group Classes are the standard hourly rate plus $40 per additional student