IM André Sousa

Hello! My name is André Sousa and I am 24 years old, from Portugal. I have a Masters in Electrical Engineering, but I am currently a chess professional as I am focused on teaching and playing, as well as other things related to chess. It is my passion to play and understand chess better, and to pass that knowledge to the people around me. My goal is to make people play chess better and my friends are constantly bombarded with exercises or interesting positions (:

Outside chess I am passionate about music, books, and jigsaw puzzles. I am also an occasional pc gamer. I should also mention that I possess a huge (100+) chess set collection!

I started learning chess when I was around 4 years old, but my first official tournament was the youth district championship under 8, which I won at age 7. I have played many tournaments, both in Portugal and internationally, and my biggest wins and achievements could be:

- youngest Portuguese International Master ever
- youngest Portuguese Classical National champion ever
- 5 times Portuguese Classical Champion
- youngest Portuguese Blitz national champion ever
- 2 times Portuguese Blitz national champion
- 1 time Portuguese Rapid national champion
- 2 times Galician Champion with the team "Ourense Chess Club"

I also have a lot of experience gained by playing a World Cup, 3 Olympiads, 4 European Individual Championships and many Youth European Championships. My best classical win was obtained against GM Gadir Guseinov (rated 2661 at the time) and the best draw against Ivanchuk (who does not need any introduction). I am also the player who drew Carlsen in his infamous banter blitz where he exclaimed " This is the dumbest move I've ever seen!" :)

I have been coaching for the past 9 years. I have worked with players from the Portuguese Olympic girls team, which became WFMs, some players that have improved but not at the national stage, and I am currently coaching a group of promising young portuguese talents, among others.

Some of my best students who have been showing big improvements are:

ratings.fide.com/profile/1971344
ratings.fide.com/profile/1945130
ratings.fide.com/profile/1969420
ratings.fide.com/profile/1966677
ratings.fide.com/profile/1966260
ratings.fide.com/profile/1954342

I organized, during the pandemic, an online anonymous tournament where the players would play each other under the names of World Champions and the big reveal would be done only at the end, with me commentating all games during a stream. It was a fun experiment and I think it was appreciated in the portuguese chess community. Check my twitch for the final (in portuguese only www.twitch.tv/helloitsdmitri/)

I think it is important that I have worked with many coaches and I learned from them also how to teach chess (and what not to do, in some cases!). The trainers that have contributed the most for my development are GM Jorge Ferreira, GM Lubomir Ftacnik, and recently, through Killer Chess Training, GM Jacob Aagaard and GM Julen Arizmendi, among others. I have also participated in Academy organized camps/classes with GM Michael Adams, GM Ivan Sokolov, GM Sam Shankland and GM Boris Gelfand.

I think I am a well-rounded player. I am perhaps the strongest in calculation, and practical decision-making. I have a fairly good amount of opening knowledge, but I would not say I am a specialist.

The people I have worked with say that I am good at explaining concepts and understanding the student's struggles to try to solve them, and that I am extremely patient with them. I am good at explaining complicated concepts in simple and easy to understand ways, a skill that I owe heavily to my friend and past coach GM Jorge Ferreira.

My lessons are mainly going through your games and discussing the various chess questions that come by. If there are no games, I discuss with you instructive positions / games, targeted at your own weaknesses.

I can also help with opening preparation, but in my opinion I suggest that this should not be the focus of our cooperation. I think that openings are rather easier to study alone, and it is much more important to use your time (and money!) to discuss chess with me, rather than going through opening lines. I can help with choosing openings though, as that is not very trivial.

I give weekly homework as well for you to work on your own