Chess with Austin E.

I started teaching chess in 2011 and now teach chess full time. I have an active clientele of 16-18 students per week. I have over 70 previous students ranging from 200-1700 USCF with over 3000 hours coached. My coaching experience began as an unofficial coach for the Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School chess team. In the few years I coached there I helped them achieve 3 top 25 finishes in Illinois as well as a 13-0 conference record in the SWSC. I began taking chess seriously in 2007 when I was 16. In high school in 2008, I was the only player to beat FM Albert Chow in a 30+ board simul at Aurora Central Catholic High School. In 2009, I won the division 2 state individual championship in Illinois. I also led my team to a top 25 finish as 1st board. I recently started playing tournament chess again in 2018 after a 6 year break. Through 5-6 tournaments and a performance rating of over 2000 I raised my USCF rating to 1870, FIDE rating to 1830, and USCF blitz to 1971. Covid has put my tournament play on hiatus for 2 years but I hope to get back into it soon. My teaching philosophy begins with thoroughly learning the rules of the game including all of the intricacies of pawn promotions, castling, and en passant. Then some very basic chess strategy is necessary. Things like controlling the center of the board, developing your pieces to form an effective attack, keeping your king safe, and being aware of your opponent's threats will immensely improve a beginner's chess ability. After this, studying chess tactics becomes crucial for the player looking to improve quickly. A mastery of chess tactics supplemented with a firm grasp of the endgame is the most effective road to chess success. Once students have a strong grasp of tactics and the endgame, we can then look into developing an opening repertoire that would be suitable for tournaments. This is the general roadmap for my teaching. In reality, most students require a more individualized plan which I have over 10 years of experience helping students with.