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Chess Lessons

Individual lessons cover a structured curriculum that takes a student from Beginning to Intermediate and Advanced levels of play. Lessons are offered both in-person and online. Current affiliated instructors listed on the About page.

Current Lesson Availability with NM Jordan Groff (as of 8/12/24):

Please note that from June 24-July 26 (during the five weeks of the Summer day-time Chess Program, new lesson students may not be able to meet in time slots between the hours of 9am-3pm. (Coach Jordan will be teaching in that program). The lesson time availability listed below is effective as of 8/12/24:

Times marked "Open" that are unshaded are available; "Lesson" and shaded indicates an existing student and are unavailable

Availability: Individual lessons are available throughout the year, purchased month-to-month. Please email info@PlayMoreChess.com to confirm availability and reserve an available time slot.

Description: Students have one lesson a week, either 45 minutes or 60 minutes in length. Each week chess topics are reviewed and new topics are learned and assigned for the week ahead. Students usually move forward with one or two new topics each week, though the topics and pace are customized based on the goals of the student.

Curriculum Choices: Play More Chess Academy lessons students, with guidance from their instructor, choose a book to guide their studies based on their interest and goals for chess improvement. PMCA has over 100 books available to choose from but students in the past have frequently chosen from one of the following:

• Everyone's First Chess Workbook by Peter Giannatos. 352pgs.
  Learn Chess Tactics by John Nunn. Written by a renowned grandmaster noted for his devasting tactical ability. 160pgs.
  1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners by Franco Masetti & Roberto Messa. 144pgs.
  1001 Chess Exercises for Club Players by Frank Erwich. 187pgs.
  Evaluate Like a Grandmaster by GM Eugene Perelshteyn & FM Nate Solon.
  How to Reassess Your Chess by IM Jeremy Silman. It takes intermediate and advanced students beyond tactics to include more positional understandings and is organized primarily around types of imbalances found in chess games 658pgs.
  Winning Chess Openings by Yasser Seirawan. An introduction to the moves, strategies, and philosophy of chess openings from one of the world's top chess players. 257pgs.
  Chess4Life Workbook(s) - These books are mostly used in Scholastic classes but can also be selected for use in individual lessons. Sample topics listed on the Classes page.

Additional Information:
Lessons are purchased in advance, four lessons at a time, on a month-to-month basis. A lesson time-slot is guaranteed as long as monthly payments are current. If student has a schedule conflict, a set of four lessons can be extended to include a fifth week lesson as long as instructor is told in advance (no extensions for no-show lesson).