Founding coaches: a full year of Chess Nexus Pro, free
The first 50 coaches on Chess Nexus get the complete coaching workspace free for twelve months — unlimited live classes, up to 70 students, and no card required. Worth $228.
Why we are giving away the first year
Chess Nexus is new. A coach choosing where to run their teaching is trusting us with their students, their schedule and their income, and asking them to pay for that on day one — before anyone they know has heard of us — is asking a lot.
So the first 50 coaches do not pay. They get the full Pro plan for twelve months, and in return we get what a new platform actually needs: real coaches running real classes, telling us what is missing. Founding coaches also appear in our public coach directory, where parents looking for a coach can find them.
What the founding year includes
Everything in the Pro plan, unchanged and unmetered for twelve months.
Up to 70 students
Your roster holds 70 active students at once for the whole year — more than double the 30 the free plan allows. Organise them into as many batches as you like, by level, age or class time.
Unlimited live classes
Run as many live classes a day as you want, with no daily cap. The free plan allows one class a day; founding coaches have no limit for a year.
Unlimited students in the room
No cap on how many students join a single live class. The free plan admits 4 students plus the coach; a founding coach can teach a whole batch at once.
Classes up to 120 minutes
Three times the 40-minute limit on the free plan, long enough for a full lesson plus game review.
The complete live classroom
HD video, screen share, a shared board every student sees, board control handed to any student, drawing and arrows, a waiting room, raise hand, and one-click homework. No Zoom link, no separate account — it runs inside Chess Nexus.
Unlimited courses and lessons
Free coaches get 30 courses with 3 lessons each. On Pro there is no cap on either — build a full syllabus from your own studies, Nexus studies, videos, master games and endgame positions.
All 7 assignment types
Puzzle topics, a whole study, a single chapter, timed Puzzle Rush, arena tournaments, play-vs-Stockfish positions from a visual board editor, and custom tasks. Solve rate and accuracy are recorded per student automatically.
Premium endgames and the repertoire trainer
Premium endgame positions and the opening repertoire trainer, free for you and free for your students inside your courses and assignments.
Unlimited Team Race and Monthly Focus
Run team races for your batches and set a monthly focus topic as often as you like, with no monthly quota.
Everything on the free plan
Attendance, class schedule with automatic timezone conversion, fee and payment tracking, parent progress reports, coach-student chat, private class activities and your public coach page — all included, all unchanged.
Free plan vs the founding Pro year
Every coach on Chess Nexus gets the free plan forever. The founding offer lifts the limits that matter most for a full year.
| Free plan | Founding year (Pro) | |
|---|---|---|
| Students on your roster | 30 | 70 |
| Live classes per day | 1 | Unlimited |
| Students in one live class | 4 (+ coach) | Unlimited |
| Class length | 40 minutes | 120 minutes |
| Courses | 30 | Unlimited |
| Lessons per course | 3 | Unlimited |
| Premium endgames & repertoire trainer | First 90 days | Whole year |
| Team Race & Monthly Focus | Limited | Unlimited |
| Cost | Free forever | Free for 12 months, then $19/mo or stay free |
How to claim it
1. Open the Coach page
The Coach page shows how many founding spots are left, live. If the counter is still open, the offer is still available.
2. Tell us about your coaching
A short onboarding: who you coach, where, and how you teach. It takes a few minutes and needs no payment details.
3. We verify you
Every coach is checked by the Chess Nexus team, usually within 12 hours, before they can add students. This keeps the platform safe for children.
4. Your Pro year starts
Once you are verified and inside the first 50, the Pro plan is applied to your account. Nothing to pay, nothing to cancel.
Questions coaches ask
What exactly is the founding coach offer?
The first 50 coaches to join Chess Nexus get the Pro plan free for one full year. Pro normally costs $19 a month (₹1299 in India), so the year is worth $228 — about ₹15,588. There is nothing to pay and no card required.
Is a card required?
No. You do not enter card or payment details to claim the founding year. If you decide not to continue after the year, nothing is charged and nothing renews without you choosing it.
What happens after the free year ends?
Nothing is charged automatically. Your account moves to the free plan, which is free forever for up to 30 students and keeps your courses, students, attendance history and parent reports. You can upgrade to Pro at $19 a month whenever you want, or carry on free.
How do I know if spots are still available?
The live count of remaining spots is shown on the Coach page. When the offer is claimed in full, the counter closes and the page stops advertising it — you will never see a spot that is not really there.
Do I have to be a titled or full-time coach?
No. Club coaches, academy coaches and independent coaches all qualify. Every coach is verified by the Chess Nexus team before they can add students, usually within 12 hours — that check keeps the platform safe for children, and is not a judgement of your rating.
Can I move students from another platform?
Yes. You can invite students by link or username, and they keep their own Chess Nexus account for puzzles, endgames and games. There is no import fee and no limit on how many you bring across, up to the 70 the Pro plan allows.
Is this a trial?
No. A trial is a countdown that ends with a card prompt. This is the paid Pro plan, granted free for twelve months. When it ends you fall back to the free plan rather than losing access.
What does it cost after the founding year?
Pro is $19 a month (₹1299 in India) for up to 70 students, and Coach is $33 a month (₹2444) for up to 150. Both include the unlimited live classroom. The free plan stays free forever for up to 30 students.
Claim a founding spot
There are 50 in total and they are granted in order. The Coach page shows how many are left right now — when they are gone, the offer closes.
Not ready yet? The free plan is free forever for up to 30 students, with no card and no trial clock.
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 →Chess Coaching Platform
A free toolkit for chess coaches and academies — student roster & batches, assignments, course builder, private class races and parent reports.
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 →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 →