Frank Johnson

Frank Johnson is a USCF Expert, USCF-certified chess coach, and Chess.com-partnered Twitch streamer. He reached a peak USCF rating of 2122 in 2014. In 2021, Johnson signed a deal with Premier Esports. He operates the website chess-coach.net.

• Chess Coaching
• Chess Streaming

Chess Coaching

Johnson began coaching chess in 2005. Having earned a strong reputation in Atlanta, Johnson was asked by three-time Georgia state champion IM Carlos Perdomo to help at Perdomo’s chess schools while he was traveling. Johnson says he “felt honored and obligated” to accept Perdomo’s request and thus gained his first six months of coaching experience.

As a coach, Johnson always tries to get to know his students’ style of play and the areas where he can help them rather than simply dealing in generalizations that might lead to a one-size-fits-all type of curriculum. He makes an interesting distinction between “genuine weaknesses” and “occasional” ones such as time-trouble mouse slips, which helps in designing a system for each student.

Chess Streaming

Johnson was one of Chess.com’s first partnered streamers, beginning in 2017. His 13,000 followers put him among the 100 most popular chess streamers in the world (as of February 2022). With the ability not only to play entertaining chess but to offer valuable insights like the one below, Johnson’s popularity is well-deserved. His success as a chess creator also made Twitch select him as one of their 2021 Twitch Ambassadors.

In 2021, Johnson signed with the Premier GG esports organization. He appreciates that Premier is “a local organization with a global reach,” and it is clear he very much cares about his home city of Atlanta. “I have chess students all around the city,” he says, and he looks forward to Premier’s “outreach for these students and offer [of] esports access.” Johnson's deal with Premier includes merchandise, available by clicking this link.