Why I Believe I'm a Good Chess Coach and Why it's worth Paying me with Minimum Wage to Coach You... if you can afford it...

Hi... So as well as doing financial coaching I now do some chess coaching... If you're like a GOOD chess player... I am not good enough to coach you, let's state that right away don't want to waste your time... However if you are just starting and haven't played many/any competitive games yet... I think I'm worth it... here's why... 

So when I was 7 my parents took me out of the state eduction system and put me into QEGS, that stands for Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. I already knew how to play chess then, my dad taught me when I was 4. We would play in a caravan in the south of France... I didn't play much before QEGS but I knew how the pieces moved. I think the fees at QEGS junior school now are around £11,000 per year in the junior school... Anyway so when I was 7 I would play at the school chess club a LOT. I didn't have any real proper training but I played a lot. I got in the school teams sometimes, but I wasn't really given a chance. They did have good players like David Jackson and Gareth Mitchell so it was quite hard to get in the team. Anyway I didn't go to QEGS senior school, I went to Batley Grammar School, back when it was private. I think my parents paid about £4,500 a year back then... this would have been in 1995 so inflation etc.

I know it has gone back into the state sector now, and I don't recommend this school, but back then it had a good chess team. They had gotten into the Semi finals of the national schools championship I think. They had players like Andrew Tennant and Andrew Wager. So of course I PAID, lol, to join the chess club right away. I was there like most break times. It was only really the under 18 teams they had so I didn't have a chance to play in that team in the first year but I was a reserve. It was the second year before I actually broke into the team, and I played every competitive match since then. I did things like turn up in my Yorkshire chess jumper at St Bede's to play junior tournaments solo. So when I was 13 I was told I should join a chess club so I joined Netherton chess club. I was OK when I was 13... I was very passionate into chess... Often for the next few years it would be play local league Wednesday, for the school on Friday, then Yorkshire league on the Saturday. I never thought about making money then at all, just playing chess and reading really. There were certainly many weaknesses in my game up until the age of 16. Remember the grading list only game out once a year back then etc etc. I still hadn't had much proper coaching by 16. Left BGS at 16 to join Greenhead College... which is a MUCH better educational place. I was playing a LOT now. Like my dad shoved me off to play a junior tournament solo in Hull at 15. Forget getting like an after school job, I was doing my studies and playing chess. Sure I'd already been all over the country playing chess as I broke into the Yorkshire setup at 13 but now I would just try and play everywhere. I read loads of chess books. I played LOADS of league chess. So I went to Leeds Uni for a year... and they didn't really have a proper chessclub although Peter Shaw was there, studying for his maths PHd. He trained me a LITTLE bit but I wish I had got more training from him. Even by then or soon after I was playing a lot online. I think by this stage back then I would have been about 1900 elo strength, something like that. I had TURNED DOWN my parents offer to get coached by IM Angus Dunnington... maybe should have taken it even though it was expensive, David Jackson did and he played for England for his age. I have beaten David Jackson by the way ;) I bought and read a LOT of chess books.

When I was at Leeds Uni I started writing my 'chess novel' 'Playing to Win'. I knew at this stage I wasn't good enough to be a chess pro, but I still wanted to be a writer. I had read lots of John Updike books for example. So I spent 18 months of my life for 5p an hour writing a chess novel... That kinda gets you in a chess and writing mode... Relatively my chess strength peak might have been at the age of about 21... I got up to about a 129 grade before they were inflated... I've beaten players like Greg Eagleton, Richard Allis, James Lawson... So... I have spent a LOT of time and money playing and studying chess... I think I am a good teacher as I've been a student ambassador at uni and done a lot of sales and customer service jobs. My last COMPETITIVE OTB was in December 2008 as I was working for British Gas then... making decent money. For sure a min wage job pays more than chess... but chess is great mental training. If I HAD gotten better or more coaching I would have been much better and it would have saved me a LOT of time... Anyway feel free to contact me if you would like me to coach you for minimum wage at chess! Thanks for reading :)