Arman’s new chess coach

So at Arman’s most recent chess tournament in Toronto, we met with a few other Malaysians on the circuit – James from Kedah and Gary from Johor (their kids were Kylie and Eugene, both from Grade 3). It was a delight meeting them. Although Arman is in Grade 4, they’re all in the same age category (Under-10, at the moment), and have very similar CMA ratings. All our kids competed in Section 1 of the Kids Grand Christmas Chess Tournament, and finished in the top 10.

Living in Toronto (or even in Ottawa), you have access to a lot of resources when it comes to chess. There are many chess clubs near and around Toronto. And there are also several chess masters in the area willing to give out chess lessons – not so much in Kingston. I know Arman is anxious to move to Ottawa or Toronto to get access to chess masters and chess camps.

Anyway, I thought I’d try to get Arman a real (titled) chess master as a coach, and I thought I’d give the internet a chance. I came across onlinechesslessons.com and thought I’d reach out to them. I was immediately contacted by IM Kizov. We set up a first coaching session, and Arman seemed to take a liking to it.

IM Kizov is a FIDE International Master from Macedonia. I believe he still lives there. He runs his chess lessons via Skype and the ICC. One of the interesting things about this process, is that we’re getting acquainted with the tools of the trade. Arman now plays on the ICC, and we also downloaded ChessBase Light for analyzing chess games.

Anyway, Arman has only had 2 lessons so far. But hopefully, it’ll improve his game. I’m starting to see some improvement in his game, but it’s still too early to tell. The Kingston Chess Club starts up again tomorrow, so we’ll see how well he improves.

Good luck, Arman!