CM James Coleman

Hi! I'm James Coleman from England, 47 years old, and have been playing chess since I was 7.

For the last 27 years I've been a chess professional - primarily as a coach but I've also worked at some of the major tournaments, such as the London Chess Classic, and the 2000 and 2004 world Championship matches. I’ve coached players of all ages and all levels (ok, most levels, I’m still waiting for the phone call from Magnus).

I've competed in many international tournaments around the world and experienced all the highs and lows that go with it. I have now been retired from competitive chess for quite some time in order to focus on coaching.

As a coach I've worked with people from all ages and backgrounds, online as well as face to face, and I believe the key to improvement is enjoying the game and setting realistic goals. I'm completely self-taught in chess so I know what sort of study methods don't work well, and can help you avoid these pitfalls. So, whether you're simply in a bit of a rut or you want to make serious progress I'm available to help you reach your goals. Feel free to get in touch. Both online, as well as in-person coaching is available. I usually try to respond to messages very quickly, and will usually get back to you within a couple of hours.


If you live in London or Surrey I can also coach in person. Drop me a message for more details.

In the meantime, good luck with your chess :-)

Just started livestreaming to the chess community, you can follow my twitch channel here:

www.twitch.tv/jamescolemanchess

Update: I never really have time to do any streaming but I might look into this in the future.

All my lessons are personally tailored to the needs of the student, I don't believe in a 'one size fits all' approach, as everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. I believe I have a good communication style and enjoy explaining chess concepts in an easy to understand way.

Lessons are normally given using online analysis board + Zoom. I will suggest extra work for independent study to cement the work done during lessons, and I am always available to answer questions outside of the scheduled lesson time. I really care about all my students and want them to progress, not only that, I want them to experience the increased enjoyment and pleasure from the game that fresh insights will provide.

To this end, I only want to work serious students, that can commit a reasonable amount of time to seriously playing/analaysing/studying, outisde of our lessons. (If your only chess 'study' consists of watching YouTube videos or streamers, then improvement will be very slow)