Your chess coaching workspace in 60 seconds
Prepare a lesson, explore instructive positions and organise a simul from one workspace. Bring your students together through invitation links, with video, chat and chessboards in the same place. Free tools cover preparation; choose Solo for live classes and simuls.
Choose one position and one learning objective
Choose an idea students can demonstrate: finding a loose piece, creating a passed pawn or recognising a mating pattern. Prepare one starting position, one tempting mistake and one follow-up position. Ask what students would play before revealing your answer.
For example, teach the back-rank mate by asking which squares the king can use. The goal is to notice escape squares and defenders, not to memorise a long line.
Prepare the board and the route into class
- Open the lesson or study and check whose turn it is.
- Send the correct class link privately. Tell families when to join and which device to use.
- Test microphone permissions and decide whether video will help this lesson.
- Keep a fallback explanation ready if a student loses audio: a short message and a clearly marked position.
A practical 45-minute outline
This is a suggested lesson structure, not a limit imposed by the software. Shorten the explanation when teaching younger beginners.
| Time | Activity | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 minutes | Arrival and a familiar position | Everyone can see and move pieces |
| 5–15 minutes | Introduce one new idea | Students explain a candidate move |
| 15–30 minutes | Guided or paired practice | Students try the idea independently |
| 30–40 minutes | Review one instructive moment | A student explains what changed |
| 40–45 minutes | Recap and a small task | Each student knows what to practise |
Move from watching to playing
Give students a decision to make before moving the pieces yourself. Ask for a candidate move and a reason. Once they understand the task, let them play a short position against you or a partner.
In CoachMate Solo, pair students from the teaching position. A live class supports up to six students. Check the starting side and time control before starting, then use the review to connect what happened to the lesson objective.
Review one moment, then leave a useful task
Choose a position where a decision mattered. Let the student explain their thinking before showing an alternative. Finish with a small exercise that repeats the same idea, rather than adding several unrelated puzzles.
Keep your notes with the lesson so the next meeting can start from what the student actually understood. Share only the material the family needs; avoid making personal invitation links part of public notes.
Choose tools around your class
A shared study and a familiar call can be enough for analysing games together. CoachMate is useful when you also want private student links, paired practice, tournaments and simuls in the same workspace. Try the full arrival-to-review workflow with one student before running a group.