Chess with Danial A.

At age 11 I achieved the title of Master, and since then have become an International Master (with 1 Grandmaster norm), 5-time National Champion and am currently the #1 18-year-old on the west coast of the United States. Without chess instruction from the most patient, inspiring, and hardworking chess coaches none of this would have been possible. I began to play chess at 7 years old and after my coach ended our first class by saying, "Every champion was once a beginner" my youthful imagination ran wild and I was hooked. My early development in chess proved to be nontraditional where my structured classes provided by my school were supplemented by the aggressive, unconventional playing styles I learned from spending my weekends sneaking games in with hustlers at my local chess park. Yet learning these vastly different approaches to the game allowed me to become a more complete player, and after 6 weeks of practice, I could beat every kid in my class and almost defeated my coach. Fast forward to my first competition I lost every game and finished in last place, but I loved every second of it and quickly learned from those mistakes. Now, I have defeated numerous world-renowned Grandmasters and played some of the best in the world including world champion Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. My peak United States Chess Federation and International Chess Federation ratings are 2425 and 2340 respectively, awarding me the titles of International Master and FIDE Master (top 0.43% in the world). I founded a School of Chess and have taught for 4 years in chess camps across the state with 100's of students ranging from 5-85 years old. One of my biggest teaching accomplishments is assisting one of my students to go from #117 in the country to #13 in the country (gained 500 rating points) for their age group in a matter of 5 months! In addition, two of my students went from 1500-2000+ achieving the master title in less than a year! After receiving many hours of coaching myself (even from Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand) and improving to where I am today, I can guarantee I can help you get to the next level. My personalized approach, creating lessons tailored to each individual, dramatically improves players' weaknesses at an accelerated pace. I specialize in thinking through problems along with my students, and fostering understanding rather than memorization. If you are ready to improve your Chess don’t hesitate to shoot me a message! * Currently I am teaching a free chess camp for 160 kids from across the country as well as a group of refugees who recently immigrated to Northern California with the goal of motivating communities to come together through education and to inspire hope during the COVID time period. *