♟️ Why take lessons?

► Are you a busy adult with limited time and don't know what or how to work on to progress in chess?
► Are you the parent of an ambitious child and do not know how to guide him in his progress?
► Are you a beginner player wishing to discover the game with a titled player, in a good mood?

Then this announcement is for you and taking private lessons will save you a lot of time! Indeed, with my experience and my mastery of the game, I am able to:

► To establish a coherent and effective work plan adapted to your level, whatever it is.
► To identify your shortcomings very quickly and to find a remedy.
► Provide or direct you to resources that meet your needs.
► To flesh out the discovery sessions of the game with personal anecdotes or concerning its fascinating history.

Overall, I am able to accelerate your progress in a fun and effective way.

♟️ Course of the first lesson:

Ideally, the student sends me some parts of him as well as a brief description of his personal objectives before making contact. Then, during the first lesson, we get to know each other around an educational part.

♟️ General course schedule:

From the second lesson, we begin the analysis of your games.

I ask you to provide me with games that you have played from which I select the most didactic. I teach primarily based on my students' parts because lessons learned from personal experience stay longer and more easily remembered. However, I sometimes show famous and/or illustrative parts when it seems relevant to me to do so to support a point.

After a few sessions, I have a very precise idea of the state of your knowledge and I am able to personalize the course according to your needs. From then on, I provide you with exercises and recommend resources that correspond perfectly to the aspect of the game that you must work on to progress as efficiently as possible.

♟️ Topics covered during the courses:

My goal is to make you a complete player!
I have accompanied several players from a beginner level to an advanced level (2000+), and I know the different steps to take to become a good player, as well as the methods that work to achieve this.

Among the topics that we cover in the course and that I help you master are (more or less in order):

► Basic masts
► The importance of the material
► Simple mating patterns
► Simple tactical diagrams
► The 4 basic principles for a successful opening
► Elementary endings to effectively end a game
► Basic strategy: strong / weak side, development of a coherent plan at the exit of the opening, improvement of the pieces
► Candidate moves

Then, for more experienced players:

► Advanced tactical diagrams
► A complete and effective opening repertoire, adapted to your style and your level
► Advanced endgames: Activity of the king, passed pawn, activity of the pieces, majority on a wing, etc...
► Advanced strategy: pawn structures, open file, the 7th row, attacking the king, weaknesses, strong squares, prophylaxis, reading the opponent's plan, evaluating a position, exchanging the right pieces, etc...
► Calculation
► Chess creativity

♟️ Classes with children:

I adapt my course in order to capture their attention constantly, I ask them funny and relevant questions so that they retain the lessons easily. I make sure that they are participants in the lesson and not spectators.

I generally end the lesson with a game against them where I expressly leave a few errors lying around, so as to create spontaneous didactic moments (sometimes with a hint!). A brief summary of the mistakes made during the game follows, which serves as a hook for the next lesson.

Two of my students (with whom I have been working for 2 years) finished 1st and 5th in their respective age categories at the last Belgian youth championships.

♟️ Courses on the internet:

For online lessons, I use Discord or Skype to chat and share my camera, as well as the lichess platform to analyze and show games or exercises.

The latter has a tool allowing the teacher and the student to interact on the same chessboard in real time, and to show ideas using arrows and colored boxes. The student can find all the previous lessons at any time by consulting the work sessions archived on the platform.

♟️ Opening hours:

Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
I am available in case you have questions outside of class, I am happy to answer them. I am flexible if ever a course had to be moved due to an unforeseen event.

♟️ Languages:

Classes can be given in French, English and Dutch.

♟️ In summary:

I am professional, pedagogue and available. You lose nothing by contacting me!

Don't be afraid if you are a beginner, most of my students are.