GM Illingworth

Chess.com's First 'Coach of the Month' 

Are you as passionate about chess as I am?

I am Grandmaster and FIDE Trainer Max Illingworth - 2017 Australian Open Champion, 2018-19 Australian Champion, now committed to helping others make their chess dreams a reality through coaching and writing. 

Why are my students successful? They love chess, work hard at it under my guidance, and I solve my student's biggest challenges in chess, by listening to them and sharing useful thinking techniques that, with continued practice, improve their results. It's the best feeling for me when my students do really well in a tournament and experience the rewards of their continued effort and our work together. 

Under my training, you get a clear direction of how to most effectively improve your chess outside of our lessons - with a training plan and plenty of supplementary chess material (including annotated games) to organise your work each week. If you're not sure about a position, thinking or training method, you can ask a question anytime and get a reply to most questions within 24 hours. 

You have an opportunity to hone your chess skills much faster than you are right now, through my regular feedback, including the various puzzles and questions I'll pose you in our lessons together. However, I'm getting close to full capacity for my private coaching, so this window of opportunity is limited! 

If you're a passionate chess player with the qualities I'm looking for, I really don't want you to miss out on getting the feedback and support you need to achieve your goals. If you're serious about improving your chess and are ready to invest in the next stages of your chess journey, either message me here on or send me an email at illingworthchess@gmail.com, sharing your chess story and why you'll be a great student! 

So you don't have any doubts about my ability to teach and explain useful chess concepts in a way helpful to your skill level, here are a few games I've annotated as part of my 'training files':

(Instructive Grunfeld Endgame)

Message me on Chess.com about chess coaching, or email me at illingworthchess@gmail.com.