Hello everyone! I am a 31 year old full time chess instructor residing in New Orleans, LA. I have taught chess full time now for over 10 years, and I have been teaching in chess clubs since I was a high school student, giving me 17 years of chess teaching experience already, more than half my life!

It is my belief that chess is best enjoyed as a true student of the game, when we allow our natural curiosity to guide us to new and hopefully stronger ideas. As I teach chess to others across my region, I continue to be active in my own chess study. I have studied with the likes of GM Eltaj Safarli, GM Gregory Kaidanov and IM John Bartholomew and hope to teach my students many of the principles they have helped to instill in me. With their help and my own persistence in study, I have gone from a USCF rating of 1500 to over 2300 in a span of only 5 years.

Thanks to this process and how recent it has been, I know very well what my students need to study in order to improve. Many of my students have climbed the rating ladder significantly, often gaining 100+ points rapidly and some even more. In addition to this, it is my hope that I can teach you to be a better student of the game, and to improve your study habits both at the board and in your free time. I believe I am best suited to teach kids, as my youthfulness often comes out when engaged with a young, energetic chess player. Here are some of my accomplishments, and what my students have to say so far:

Elected Louisiana Scholastic Coordinator

Coach of multiple time LA State Champion Lusher Charter School

Coach for The Chess Academy New Orleans - http://www.tcaknights.com/index.html

Coach of Hayyan Khan, 2nd place finisher in 2nd Grade National Championship.

Coach of MS Scholastic State Champions and Denker/Barber representatives Christian and Zachary Couvillion.

"NM Nick Matta is truly in a class of his own as a chess coach. Working with him offered instruction that went way beyond the basic principles of chess as he identified subtle yet impactful weaknesses in my play that I would have never found on my own. He improved all areas of my chess understanding: openings, calculation, endgames, and more. The results speak for themselves; I have gained hundreds of rating points since our first lesson."

- Zachary Couvillion, Mississippi Denker Representative.

Starting Rating: 1306

Current Rating: 1936

"We first met Nick Matta when he was assistant coach of the Lusher Chess Team, where our daughter Liza was a Team member. We hired him as her Chess tutor, and over the past few years he has become her team and personal coach.
Nick’s combination of chess and teaching ability is rare and valuable. In the three years he has worked with Liza she has consistently finished as one of the top players in her age group in the state of Louisiana. In this time Nick also reached the Master level, and he competes alongside Liza at many of the same tournaments. Nick has forgotten more about chess than my wife and I know put together. Liza’s success is all him. More important than Liza’s trophy rack, she loves the game, and sees chess as part of her identity. Nick takes great joy in his work, and it is a pleasure to have him in our home weekly. It is my pleasure to recommend him, and encourage those considering hiring him to contact me. "
Sincerely,
Eli Feinstein (Eli_feinstein@yahoo.com)

Starting Rating: 380

Current Rating: 968

"Nick Matta has been a wonderful chess coach and mentor to our 10 year old daughter. Nick has an uncanny ability to connect, as well as, inspire students to reach higher levels both in chess and maturity.

Nick always goes the extra mile during a lesson to make sure concepts are well conveyed before a lesson is finished. Nick is able to adapt to a students needs, and he really cares to make sure that the student loves the game of chess as much as he does. Nick is a coach’s coach." - Edward and Anne-Marie Karp.

Starting Rating: unr.

Current Rating: 719

If you are interested in either individual or group private lessons, feel free to contact me for more information at nickmatta13@gmail.com