Who can join the Kansas City Chess School?

Youth of all levels – Absolute beginners, Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced players may participate.  Our in-person program spans the entire Kansas City metro area with students from Kansas and Missouri. We also offer virtual classes and tournaments as well under Regal Chess School.

What is a typical chess school session?

Classes are 45 minutes long.  Starting with warm up games, we have a lesson, time for skill and tactic practice, and then students will play tournament games.   Students will be given a workbook to practice skills either during chess school or at home. Students may test at each of our 25 skill levels to earn certificates.

I don’t know if my child will like it. Can I try it out first?

Sure. We offer a trial class for $20. Just select the trial when registering. If you like it, you can pay what you owe for the rest of the month or start a new month with full tuition. We work with you.

What days do you offer classes and what are the locations?

We offer classes at The Kansas City Chess Club on Saturday afternoons 1:45-2:30 PM. 

How do you challenge all levels?

We teach students of all levels at chess school. We may have multiple lessons during one session to incorporate all learners. Most students are absolute beginners (no knowledge of chess) or beginners (some chess knowledge) but we do have students that have been in our program for a while and are considered advanced. We strive to meet the needs of all our chess students.

Who will my student play?

During chess school, we will try to match your child with others their same skill level. At times we may pair them with another level for practice or challenge.

Why does my child need extra memberships? How much are they?

To play rated tournament chess, memberships are needed. We use Chess Express Ratings (CXR) and the United States Chess Federation (USCF) rating systems.  After playing a certain number of rated chess games, students will receive a rating. To participate in certain tournaments, a CXR or USCF membership is needed. Expired memberships will need to be made current.

Chess Express Memberships are $9/year for all ages. USCF memberships for ages 18 and under are $20/year.

Can I add private lessons to my tuition?

In the past we offered a premium option to add a monthly private 30-minute lesson to your child’s tuition. Chess lessons will now be a separate option purchased in a set of 4 or 12 and scheduled monthly, bi-monthly, or weekly. Lessons may be done virtually or arranged in-person. Check out the LESSONS tab on the home page for more information. 

Do I need to register every month on REG4CHESS.com?

Our instructors do not accept chess school payments, so online enrollment is required.

We prefer you to pay through the Kansas City Chess School payment link on REG4Chess.com. It may be best to sign up for 4 months to a year at a time when you have settled into a comfortable pattern. If we have not received payment from you by the start of the next month and your child is attending lessons, we will send you a Paypal invoice for that month. If we have not received payment 7 days after the start of the new month, your child may not be able to participate until payment is made.

After you have established a steady tuition history with us, you may feel it is easier to Venmo (KENNETH-FEE-1) or PayPal (kcchess@gmail.com) your tuition directly. Just include a brief note with your payment with STUDENT NAME and # OF MONTHS you are paying for. If you need to renew any memberships, you may also pay this way and we will take care of the details for you.

How can my student advance in the program?

Our Pawn to King Curriculum has 25 levels to challenge and prepare students for lifelong chess study. We start with the Pawn level in the Ruby Tier where students work on ten skills with instructional videos to supplement the lessons learned during chess school. Once students are confident with these skills, they can be tested. Testing can be done online or in-person for a small fee, or a scanned copy of the test can be sent to us for grading. Students that pass the Pawn level will be awarded a certificate and then sent the skills for the next level, Knight. The skills build on one another and the student can move as quickly as they want. We offer 4 tiers (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Diamond) with 6 levels in each tier. For preschool and kindergarten students that attend our programs in person, we have special coloring books introducing them to chess.

How much is it?

$20 for a trial class. $60 per month running from first to the last day of each month. $100 per month for Saturday chess school students that would like to enhance their in-person experience by participating virtually an additional four days with Regal Chess School.

What if my child will miss a class?

If you would like to attend a virtual session to make up any day missed for illness or other reasons, please email kcchessclub.dm@gmail.com. We are very flexible and will work with you.

I’ve registered for the first time. Now what?

Once we have gotten notification that you have paid, we will contact you with further details. If you haven’t heard from us within a reasonable amount of time, please text/call 816-446-3550 or email kcchess@gmail.com.

Be your Best! Play Chess!  Coach Fee