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Welcome To
Chess Wizards Online!

We offer the most fun and effective live, online chess classes for kids!

online-lessons
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Fun And Interactive Group Lessons

Group lessons are filled with puzzles, variation games, blitz games, and tournaments, all under the instructors coaching and supervision. Every online class is designed to help kids thrive in the game, and use their skills both in and out of the digital world.

Looking for more advanced instruction?

Private lessons are a great way to jumpstart your child’s learning, with an individualized structure that allows them to learn at their own pace. You simply let us know what your family is looking to achieve, and will connect you with an instructor that we know will be a great match.

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We make learning chess fun for children of all skill levels!

Proud Pawns

$16 /class

Brand New To Chess

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Learn how pieces move and capture

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Board set-up

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Chess language

Nifty Knights

$16 /class

Beginning Wizard

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Understanding piece movement and capturing

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Learning check, checkmate, and piece value

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Learn basic tactics and openings

Brilliant Bishop

$16 /class

Intermediate Wizard

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Solve Mate in 1 puzzles with ease

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Improve tactics

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Focus on endgames and how to win

Rad Rooks

$16 /class

Intermediate Wizard

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Learn how to set up combinations and escape them

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Focus on seeing 2+ moves ahead

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Focus on developing your own game plan

How do we sign up?

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Select a class

Choose the skill level and class time that works best for your family.

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Sign up and create an account

When you register for a class, you'll receive your login credentials, instructions, and other important information.

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Sign in and enjoy your class!

Please have your child arrive to their digital classroom 15 minutes before the scheduled start time and be ready to play!

What do parents say about Chess Wizards?

The in-person classes were amazing last year, but even the on-line versions are fun and engaging for my son. The instructors (and we've had many over our time with Chess Wizards), have all been awesome!

Sarah Kohler

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My son LOVES Wednesdays because he gets to go to his Chess Wizards chess class! He has introduced chess and the concepts he has learned in class to our family and now we have multiple chess sets and all of our kids are enthusiastic about learning the game! The teachers help make chess so much fun!

Kristin Overson

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We love chess wizards as an after-school activity at my children's school. Such a great way to learn and have fun! The staff are entertaining and knowledgeable. Every time I ask my kids how was Chess Wizards today, they always say, "fun and we really like it mom!"

Christine Esguerra

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Frequently Asked Questions

We love Chess Wizards… what is Chess Wizards Online!?
Chess Wizards is a national PK – 8 chess education program. Our mission is to make learning chess fun and exciting for kids – and our classes are now available online! We’ve adapted some of our most popular activities in the physical classroom to fit the digital one. These include puzzles, tournaments, blitz games – even chess variation games! Chess Wizards Online is designed to be an enjoyable and valuable experience for our students, even after they can finally go back to their regular classes.
How does this whole ‘Chess Wizards Online!’ thing work?
When you register, you’ll pick a day, time slot, and experience level that works best for your family. Our administrative staff will send you information on how to get your technology set up to participate in the class. One of our amazing Chess Wizards instructors will lead each class of up to six students. Kids will learn at least one chess theme each class, with puzzles and exercises to reinforce each concept, then play each other under the instructor’s coaching and supervision. To register, click here. For determining your child’s skill level, click here (IMPORTANT!). For help on getting your technology set up, click here. For more information on our Chess Wizards, click here. For our safety and privacy measures, click here.
How do I register?
First, you’ll need to sign up (click here!). You’ll pick a day, time slot, and your child’s experience level. Our administrative staff will send you information on how to get your technology set up to participate in the class. To register, click here. For determining your child’s skill level, click here (IMPORTANT!). For help on getting your technology set up, click here. For more information on our Chess Wizards, click here. For our safety and privacy measures, click here.
Which class experience level is the best fit for my child?
Whether your child is brand new to chess, or a seasoned Chess Wizard, we have classes that will be fun and challenging. It’s important that you pick an experience level that best fits your child – too easy, and your child will be bored, too hard, and they will be frustrated. We’ve put together a quiz to help you find the right class for you, and you can check out our table.
What software do you use for your Chess Wizards Online! classes?
Currently we use ChessKid.com, along with Zoom Meetings. We know there has been some negative press about Zoom lately, and these stories typically relate to users not utilizing all of the safety measures built into the platform. For more information on how we secure our classes, click here.
Do we have to register separately for ChessKid.com?
No! We will sign you up for ChessKid.com. Once you register with us, we will send you a username and password that you can use to access your ChessKid.com account.
How do we join our class?
Prior to the beginning of the class, you will receive an email with Zoom Meeting link for your upcoming class session. For safety, you must download, set up, and sign into the app – you cannot log into our classes from your web browser. If you’re having trouble, please check out our tutorial here.
Can I use a tablet or mobile device?
Our experience has been created for the laptop or desktop computer experience. For best results, we recommend not using a tablet or mobile device.
How can we be assured the Zoom Meeting rooms are secure?

Our top priority is to ensure your children’s safety during each of our sessions. We have taken the following steps:

• All Zoom settings have been specifically adjusted to safe guard our online classes

• Only invited parents can participate. No one can get the link unless a parent who has registered forwards their invitation to someone else, which is against our policy. See below for our safeguards on preventing this from happening.

• No one is able to join the meeting prior to our host joining.

• Once the class begins, the meeting is locked and no one else that can join the meeting.

• Parents are required to register for the meeting in the app; this tracks your IP address.

• All children are put into a waiting room prior to the class, then our wizards individually check participants' video and audio settings prior to letting each child into the class one by one to ensure only registered students are allowed in.

• All meetings are recorded and a copy is saved, for safety and internal training purposes only.

• Our maximum instructor:student ratio is 1:6, which allows us to monitor each child's activity.

• All classes are led by our best Chess Wizards instructors from around the country, with years of experience making chess fun. Each instructor is trained on quickly troubleshooting all of the most common setup and technical issues.

I know we’re at home, but kids are… kids. What if we’re late to our scheduled class?
If you are more than 15 minutes late for a scheduled class, then you would need to get in touch with our Customer Service department so they can reschedule you for a different session. You paid for an hour – we want you to get your money’s worth! If you are less than 15 minutes late, you can still get in touch with a customer service representative and they will attempt to connect you. Please understand that it might take a few minutes for someone to connect you… if you’re running late, there are always other classes you can join.
I have more than one child – can they both attend?
Our policy is one child, per device. We’d like each student to have the best experience possible, which isn’t possible with two students jostling for attention and control on the same computer. It’s totally cool for another student to watch – they just cannot interact with the rest of the class.
Can a parent attend the class?
You can say hello to the when you sign in and you’re helping your child get set up and logged in. During the actual class, we ask that you not be on screen and not participate, as this would distract the other students. Of course, you can watch off screen and talk to your child off screen, but we ask that you not engage with any of the other children, and not distract your child from the class. Thank you!
How many times can I reschedule a class?
If you are experiencing technical difficulties, or a need to reschedule for another reason, you will only be able to reschedule your class once. If you will not be able to attend a class, we do ask that you try to notify us in advance so we can make the necessary adjustments and open your spot to another student.
What topics will you teach?
When you register, you must select your child’s skill level. The instructor will start the class with some chess puzzles at their skill level, and determine which topic will be most beneficial for the day. We typically focus on one or two main concepts per class – these can cover the whole range of chess knowledge, like tactics, strategy, openings, endgames, checkmate patterns, and thinking ahead.
Will we have the same instructor each class?
Only our best, most experienced Chess Wizards instructors are eligible to teach online classes, and each of them is qualified to teach a great class at each of our chess levels. It is possible depending on the type of registration that you opt to sign up for, but is not always guaranteed. Please reach out to our customer service team to find out more information!
What if I want to change my child’s skill level?
If you find that your child is too inexperienced, or too advanced, for the skill level you registered them for, please notify us and we will make the changes on our end. In changing the skill level, the scheduled time may also change. You’re not locked into any one skill level when you register – you can always register for a different skill level each class, or level up your student when they’re ready.
Do you offer classes in other time zones besides Eastern Standard Time?
Currently we are scheduling all of our classes in Eastern Standard Time to avoid any confusion in our administrative process. We’re a national program, and it’s easy to get things confused! Here is a helpful tool to help you with conversions from your local time: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/
What is the cost per class?
The cost of a class is $16.00 and they are 1 hour long. You can see our range of classes here.
Do you offer private lessons?
We do offer private lessons, but to craft an experience that fits your goals, we’ll need more information from you first. Please fill our Private Classes Questionnaire, and someone from our admin team will reach out to you to take the process further. Feel free to reach out to us – we respond to each query in the order it comes to us. Siblings are welcome to our private lessons. Cost will vary depending on the expertise needed to fit the experience you’re looking for.
Where can we find your full weekly class schedule?
Just scroll down to end of our homepage and you will be able to see the full schedule. Please note that all classes are listed in Eastern Standard Time!
Can we get a refund if we no longer want to participate?
You will only be charged after you have confirmed the day, time, and skill level of your class, but once you do, payments are final and will not be refunded. We are happy to give you a credit for a future class.
Can we get a refund if we did not have a good experience?

Absolutely. It’s important to us that you and your child have a great experience with our class and we want you to be happy you registered. If you did not have a good experience with the content of the class, we’ll ask you to fill out our feedback survey and first try to reschedule you for a class or an instructor that better fits your needs. In the unlikely event an instructor or student violates our Chess Wizards Online! Instructor or Student Code of Conducts, we will ask for your feedback and be happy to refund you if you are uncomfortable rescheduling. If a class is canceled due to a technical issue on our end, we will offer you credit towards a future class.

Please check out our Student and Instructor Code of Conduct here.

Please check out our technical setup tips here. 

Please send us your feedback - good, bad, or amazing - using this survey.

Do you have materials for my child to practice, outside of class? They LOVE homework. Love it, love it, love it.
Yes! After each class, a homework packet relating to the lesson taught will be sent to your email address so that your child can practice what they learned and be even better prepared to crush you in your next game together.
How often should I play chess with my child?
As often as you can! Practice makes perfect, and chess is one of the few ‘sophisticated’ skill games where a 6 year old can crush an otherwise highly functioning adult on an even playing field. It’s also a great way to spend some time when you’re stuck at home because of a global pandemic – in case you were running out of ideas.
My child is a better player than me. Ahem. I mean, I know someone who’s child mops them up on a regular basis. How about I just say that one of us is better than the other. How can we play so that we both have fun?

There are all kinds of ways for players of unequal skill levels to have fun. Here are some ideas:

• Play with a handicap – the stronger player starts down a Queen. Play until the less experienced player wins. Then start without the Kingside Rook. Then the Queenside Rook. Then do the same with Bishop > Knight > Pawn (the f file pawn is a particularly tough one to start without).

• Play Continuous Chess – the first player gets one move, the second player gets two, then 3, then 4, and so on. You can capture the King in this game to win.

• Play Super Hero Chess – Same as above, but the stronger player gets one move per turn, while the weaker player gets two. If this makes the game lopsided in the other direction, you can adjust this by using tokens, like the Jokers from a deck of cards – give the weaker player a certain number of tokens which they can use to take a two-move turn.

• Using 2-move tokens with experienced, similar-level players can be very exciting, also – it adds a whole new element to the game!

I registered for a class today that's scheduled later on, how come I haven't gotten a meeting invite?
We encourage parents to register at least 24 hours before the start of the class. This will give our administrative staff enough time to ensure that all the necessary set up has been completed for your child's upcoming class.

Join The Fun At Chess Wizards Online

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