My name is Erik Kislik and I am a 37-year-old International Master from Northern California. I am the only IM in the world who was a relative beginner as an adult (at age 18) and still became an IM. I worked methodically and consistently on my own to improve as rapidly as possible. I started from first principles, asking, "What are all of the components of chess skill that I need to study and develop?" I narrowed it down to concrete knowledge, logic, positional understanding, calculation, and pattern recognition. I developed basic competency in the simpler areas, and worked holistically on the other areas of chess to consistently get stronger in all 5 of the areas of chess skill. As a chess teacher, I will help you do the same thing and answer all of your burning questions.

After becoming an International Master, I began coaching Grandmasters, and was the only IM in the world to coach muItiple elite players in the top 100 in the world. I share my opening knowledge (that apparently interests elite Grandmasters) with my students without holding back any secrets. In 2017, I won the award for Best Analysis from the Chess Journalists of America. In 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 I was ranked the #1 chess teacher in sales on the entire internet. If you are interested in coaching, please do not hesitate to contact me.

You may be interested in buying my book, which is quite a good deal for a chess improvement book full of new ideas over 300 pages: https://www.amazon.com/Applying-Logic-Chess-Erik-Kislik/dp/1911465244/

This book tied for second place for the FIDE Book of the Year award, which is the highest award that exists in chess writing. Following up on the success of the book, I wrote a second book on logical chess thinking tools to use in practice: https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Logic-Practice-Erik-Kislik/dp/1911465309

Here is a video I made about how to use logic to find wins in chess: https://youtu.be/Cl5iwoQZopU

I also made a video about the fundamentals of attacking chess here: https://youtu.be/AmBeQb9Xr7w

I offer lessons through chess.com (while talking on Skype) for $100 per hour. If you are interested in lessons, please email me at imerikkislik@gmail.com and I will reply as soon as possible.

Cancellations for lessons must be made 24 hours before the lesson time or the full lesson cost is owed. The one exception is to reschedule that lesson within a day.

Good luck with your chess. I will try to help you along every step of the way, with unique insights and ideas you won't hear anywhere else.

EKislik