Chess Coaching Platform — Run Your Academy in One Place
Chess Nexus gives chess coaches and academies a complete free toolkit: a student roster organised into batches, assignments you can build in seconds, a course builder, private class-only races, direct student chat, and progress reports parents actually understand.

Everything you need to run a coaching practice
From your first student to a full academy — one dashboard covers rosters, lessons, live activities and parent communication.
- Built-in live classroomTeach inside Chess Nexus — HD video, screen share and one board every student sees. Hand a student control to play their move, load studies, endgames, puzzles or master games straight onto the board, and run a waiting room with raise-hand, mic and camera controls. Attendance marks itself as students join. No Zoom, no extra apps.
- Student roster & batchesSee ratings, activity and attendance for every student. Group them into batches by level, age or class, and see who's online right now.
- Class schedule & attendanceSet a weekly schedule per batch — shown to every student in their own timezone — and mark attendance with catch-ups and CSV export.
- Assign tactics in secondsPush Find-the-Blunder puzzles from real games or Play-vs-Stockfish positions — built on a visual board editor, no FEN typing. Solve rate & accuracy tracked per student.
- Course Builder syllabusBuild a structured syllabus from your own studies — lessons, videos, master games and endgame positions — that students follow per batch in a "My Syllabus" tab.
- Private races & tournamentsRun Arena Races and Tournaments that only your own students can join — no outsiders.
- Coach ↔ student chat & parent reportsChat with students in a dedicated space, and send parents shareable progress reports covering puzzle accuracy, games played, blunder trends and monthly focus.
Your class stays your class
Every private race, tournament and assignment a coach creates is strictly limited to that coach's own accepted students — never open to the public, never visible on the general Arena page. Students only see your activities in their dedicated "My Coach" area.
Free forever — no catch
Coach on Chess Nexus for free, permanently, for up to 30 students — no card required and no trial countdown. Running a bigger academy or want premium tools like the endgame trainer and repertoire builder included free for your students? A paid coach plan unlocks unlimited students and extra perks like more saved templates and admin blunder libraries.
Running an academy with several coaches?
Everything above is for one coach and their own students. If you have a team of coaches, an academy plan covers 5, 10 or unlimited coaches on a single bill from $89/month — 100 students and an unlimited live classroom for every one of them — with one dashboard over every coach, student and class. You still coach your own students as head of the academy. See how academies work or compare academy pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chess Nexus free for chess coaches?
Yes — coaching on Chess Nexus is free forever for up to 30 students, no card required and no time limit. Beyond 30 students, or for premium tools like the endgame trainer and repertoire builder, a paid plan unlocks unlimited students and extra perks.
What can a chess coach do on Chess Nexus?
Manage a student roster grouped into batches, set a weekly class schedule, assign tactics (Find-the-Blunder or Play-vs-Stockfish) to individuals or whole groups, build a course syllabus from your own studies, run private class-only arena races and tournaments, chat directly with students, and send parents shareable progress reports — all from one dashboard.
Can I run private puzzle races just for my students?
Yes. Coach-created arena races and tournaments are private by default — only your own accepted students can join. They never appear on the public Arena page, so there's no risk of outside players joining your class session.
How do I create a chess assignment without typing a FEN?
The Play-vs-Stockfish assignment builder includes a visual board editor — drag pieces onto the board, set side to move, castling rights and en passant, and it builds the FEN for you. No manual FEN notation needed.
Can I track my students' progress over time?
Yes. Every assignment records solve rate and accuracy per student, and the dashboard tracks activity, ratings and streaks across your whole roster — plus shareable reports parents can see directly.
Explore more of Chess Nexus
Every feature is free with no ads. Pick where you want to grow next.
Chess Puzzles
Daily puzzles from super-grandmaster games, the Monthly Focus challenge, TTT and Bingo. A free, fun way to train tactics.
Learn more →Puzzle Race
Solve as many tactics as you can against the clock. Timed puzzle races by theme, with live leaderboards.
Learn more →Play Chess Online
Play live games against other members or challenge the Stockfish engine — all free, no ads.
Learn more →Play With Friends
Create a private room, share a link and play 2-player chess with a friend in real time — free, no ads.
Learn more →Masters Games
Play through famous grandmaster and World Champion games move by move, and guess the master's move — free.
Learn more →Analyse My Game
Get a move-by-move review with a CAPS accuracy score, blunder detection, piece heatmaps and session badges.
Learn more →Improve at Chess
Your Nexus Guide studies your own games, finds your weaknesses, replays your mistakes and drills the tactics you keep missing — free.
Learn more →Practice Streak & Weekly Report
Practise five days running and unlock a report on every game you played — accuracy by phase, how you defend, the endgames you reached, and a study plan from your own mistakes.
Learn more →Free Coach Plan
Free forever for up to 30 students — no trial, no card. Exactly what is included, and exactly where the limits are.
Learn more →Founding Coaches
The first 50 coaches get the Pro plan free for a full year — unlimited live classes, 70 students, no card. Worth $228.
Learn more →Chess Academy Software
Run a multi-coach academy from one place — invite your coaches, pay for everyone centrally, and oversee every coach, student and class while still coaching your own.
Learn more →Live Chess Classroom
Teach chess live without Zoom — HD video, screen share and one shared board every student sees, with attendance marked automatically.
Learn more →Endgame Training
Endgames pulled from real master games, grouped by type — then play them out against Stockfish until you can actually convert them.
Learn more →Opening Repertoire
Build your repertoire on the board, drill it with spaced repetition, and find the exact move where you left your prep in real games.
Learn more →Chess Course Builder
Build an ordered syllabus from your studies, built-in studies, videos, master games and endgames — enrolled to a whole batch.
Learn more →Progress Reports
One shareable link per student — rating, puzzles, assignments, attendance and recent games. Parents need no account.
Learn more →Complete Coach Guide
How everything works, step by step — onboarding, students, batches, assignments, courses, schedule, attendance, parent reports and the built-in live classroom.
Learn more →Coach Referral Program
Refer another coach and earn 25% of their first subscription as wallet credit toward your own plan — in your own currency, with no limit on referrals.
Learn more →Coaching Questions Answered
Straight answers for coaches — managing students, running online classes, organizing batches, homework, tracking progress and starting an academy.
Learn more →3D Chess Arena
Enter an immersive 3D world as an avatar — play real-time tournaments at the table and solve tactics in a 5-stage Puzzle Hall with live leaderboards and chat.
Learn more →Chess Study
Structured lessons and tests — basic tactics, openings, endgames and positional play — chapter by chapter.
Learn more →Chess Community
Follow friends, join clubs, see live activity feeds and weekly leaderboards in the Chess Nexus social hub.
Learn more →