Tactrics

Hello everyone! I'm a 26 year-old International Master with over twelve years of coaching experience. I'm now based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, working within the renewable energy industry as a solar and battery storage project engineer. Some of my favorite hobbies include table tennis, spikeball, and volleyball. I'm also an accomplished painter and an Eagle Scout in the former Boy Scouts of America. Being introduced to chess relatively late at the age of 10, I quickly caught on, and within only a few years was ranked as the top junior player in the state of Oregon. Since then, I've played on two top-level collegiate chess teams (Webster University and the University of Texas at Dallas), while pursuing my studies in mathematics, computer science, and mechanical engineering.

Since 2012, I had the opportunity to share my knowledge with members of my local chess club every week via both private and group sessions. In 2016, I started branching out and offering private instruction to students of all ages and skill levels from all over the world. I offer both a 30-minute introductory session, as well as a full 1-hour private session. Details on these options are given below. I'm also available to play training games complete with analysis at various time controls, rates may vary. If interested, please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions either here on Chess.com or at "[email protected]".

My lesson plans are typically structured around game analysis where both tactical and positional motifs can be broken down within the context of a coherent, real-life example.

Note - I am not currently taking on new students. Thank you for your understanding.

30-Minute Introductory Lesson ($45)

I will get to know your chess background and experience, strengths, weaknesses, and future aspirations. We'll play a short game followed by an analysis and summary of what I think your biggest areas for improvement are. Think of this as a laidback interview, where I get a feel for what you need most as a player, and you get a glimpse of what working with me would look like going forward!

60-Minute Private Lesson ($90)

Typically we'll start off with some tactical training before going in depth with the analysis of a high-level game, where I break down all of the key ideas and plans into easy-to-understand terms, tying everything together so you get a clear understanding of what a unified game plan looks like from the mind of a master-level competitor. If you have some games of your own that you'd prefer to look at, that's fine too. I'm always flexible, just let me know! At the end, I like to try and wrap up with a practical endgame example if there's time. And if not, we'll just carry it over to the next session.

Note* All lessons are of course tailored to individual needs in terms of both content and level of analysis. Please treat the above descriptions as a good general outline of what you can expect from me as a coach.