IM Alex Astaneh

I'm Alex. Born in Spain, but grew up in Ireland.

3-time Irish champion and 4-time member of the Irish team at Olympiad.

My academic background is in law, but have been a full-time chess professional since 2016.

I enjoy coaching all levels of players, with the majority of my experience being focused on adult improvers anywhere in the online rating range of 1500-2400.

Besides coaching, I have also created several online courses. Most recently over at Chessable. You can find links for these on my main profile, in case you'd like to check them out.

I have played against some of the best players in the world, including: Veselin Topalov (former World champion), Peter Svidler (winner of the Chess World Cup in 2011 and seven-time Russian champion) and Judit Polgar (former top 10 player and world's strongest female)

Best results include a draw against Veselin Topalov (2768) [Match vs Irish team, 2011], a draw against Ivan Cheparinov (2677) [Kilkenny Masters, 2011] and a win over Maxim Rodshtein (2698) [Chess Olympiad, 2012]

I've played many strong international events over the years, and am happy to offer advice on how to approach tournament competition.

Schools coach since 2002.

Extensively worked with Irish juniors since 2005.

Official coach of the Irish junior team in the World Youth Championships 2010.

Full-time chess professional since 2016.

Besides regular coaching, I also have chess channels on Youtube & Twitch. My channels aims to be friendly, instructive and entertaining.

You can check out some of my videos on Youtube, either at my personal channel (www.youtube.com/astanehchess) or the Chessfactor channel (www.youtube.com/@Chessfactor).

Friendly and adaptable approach suitable for different levels and playing styles.

As a coach, I work with students to correct their mistakes. Not only the ones that they're aware of but, importantly, the ones that they do not suspect they are making! This is a key benefit to hiring a chess coach that, in my experience, many students are not aware of before our work begins.

Classes are interactive and engaging. I will ask you questions throughout. This helps you stay focused and ensure that the concepts studied will stick with you.

Different students have different characters. I think it's important to respect this and work in such a way as to study chess in a way that will be fun and effective not just for the 'typical student' but, much more importantly, for the individual student.

I offer two approaches:

(1) A structured path, with the focus being on the middlegame and endgame in order to develop your understanding in a systematic manner.

(2) A personalised approach, focusing on analysing your games in order to identify specific strengths and weaknesses in your play.

To evaluate your starting level, I recommend to spend the first couple of classes examining your recent games. After this, if you would like to continue the lessons you can decide which of the above approaches works best for you.

Classes are done via Lichess (study feature) and a VOIP client (Skype or Google Hangouts).