Professional coach who runs several school chess clubs. I also founded Coventry Juniors Chess Club in 2022 which has students age 7-14 and is very successful. See Notes tab for my reviews.

You can see from my rapid ratings page that from the year 2020-2023 I quickly improved my rapid rating from 1255>1933 (and now over 2050 on my private account) as an adult improver (age 33) in just a few years and I believe this puts me in a unique position to help other students do the same. Most strong chess players achieved this strength as children simply through playing 10,000 games over many years and don’t really remember exactly how they improved.

I was careful to document what I was working on throughout my journey and have created a roadmap for my students to follow and do the same (and many have!). I’ve then spent 5+ years teaching school chess clubs refining my techniques to help beginners below 1200 to get there as quickly as possible. I also focus on an often overlooked part of this process which is making it enjoyable for all my students! This roadmap is not ‘one size fits all’ so I have students try a range of training methods with me to find what they enjoy the most for home practice because there is more than one road to improvement and chess study should be a joy not a chore.

My Training

Certified FIDE Developmental Instructor. I've been trained in how to coach chess effectively by some of the worlds top GM coaches.

I've also completed training in coaching chess by 'Chess in Schools and Communities' including 20 hours shadowing and working with other coaches at schools around England.

I instruct students using a range of material from curriculums like the 'Chess Steps Method' and some of the Russian methodologies for beginners which I have used with great success with my students.

Prices

$50/£40 for an hour
$70/£55 for a 1.5 hour session
£380 for 10 sessions

Group Lessons:

Group Adult Lessons Online - 1.5 hour £25-35 each depending on group size (2-5 people)

Group Junior Online Lessons 1 hr £25-£30 each depending on group size (2-5 people)

(Group Lessons are subject to me finding other students of similar ability to cohort you together with, but I am usually able to do this into group of 2-5)

Current Groups:

1100-1500 Chesscom Rating - Adults having lessons approx every 3 weeks (usually Wednesdays) and you only pay for lessons you book onto. Mostly working through Chess Steps Step 3 together and reviewing their daily/classical games they play with each other.

Contact

Email me; rhys.g.edwards@hotmail.com or message me on chess.com

References:

I'm happy to provide my DBS (UK Government certificate to prove I'm safe to work with children) on request. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

What my students say about my coaching:

How much improvement could I achieve in 1 year with your coaching?

RWestw improvement graph (see his review above)

That depends how much time you have to dedicate to chess. My student Richard started coaching with me in May 2024 (green on graph) and only had 12 lessons with me in 7 months aswel as practicing the skills covered in our lessons and he saw an improvement of >700 points playing 10 hours a week. I should add Richard is in his 40's with 3 children and only started playing at christmas 2023!! The red mark in his graph is when I recommended switching some openings to better suit his playstyle and further speed up his improvment curve and as predicted it caused a temporary dip - followed by massive growth!

Doesn't my Coach need to be a master?

Being amazing at chess doesn't necessarily make you great at teaching others. Many masters were rated above 1500 by age 14 - this makes it difficult for them to remember exactly what they did to achieve that, especially if they simply achieved it through playing 30-50 hours a week as a child which not everyone has time for. If you're on the road to 1700 I think professional chess coaches like myself can do just as well if not better in helping you to get there.

What can I expect from a Lesson?

My lessons are tailored carefully to the student, their preferences and key areas of improvement for their chess. This means I also keep variety from one session to the next especially with children. For example:

Lesson for a child learning the basics:

5-15 minute demonstration with lots of Q&A to cement understanding
10-20 minutes solving puzzles/problems from a curriculum on the lessons topic
15-20 minutes interactive game (vs me/online opponent) with discussion (occasionally a chess variant)
5 min recap and analysis of the games key moments

Adult Lesson:

Demo of new tactical or strategic concept (following curriculum)
Review of study plan until the next lesson
Review of a recent game & discussion of homework (if requested)

or

Review 1-3 games from a recent tournament
Recommend some further material to address weaknesses identified in the games.

It looks like you're inactive and only rarely play bullet ?

Playing my best repertoire on this account was costing me in local games where opponents could easily find my profile so I've now moved my main chess activity to a private account. I occasionally play a bullet game (certainly not my strong suit) to keep the profile active and am forced to play openings I don’t know, I'm happy to show any students my other account rated over 2000 rapid).

Why do you play terrible moves against much lower rated players?

I play unrated training games with students and often give them an advantage to see how they convert the win, or I may be deliberately hanging pieces or offering tactical opportunities to see if they can apply what we've just learnt in the lesson.

CoachRhys