Advanced chess and backgammon coach teaches up to intermediate students of any age, with experience and proven results.

Learn more about Keith

• When did you start practicing? How did this passion find you?

  I received my first chess set at age 7.75 for a holiday present, and within months, taught several of my peers how to play until they could succeed against me. That was when I realized I can teach as well as play.

• Which artists or works affect you the most?

  Every chess game is a teachable story, though I learn most from top players notorious for their respective styles, such as attacking combinations from Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer, and Garry Kasparov, or slower solid/defensive play from José Raúl Capablanca and Tigran Petrosian, or learning from Anatoly Karpov and Siegbert Tarrasch how to tie one's opponent's position in knots. I also use the latest edition of Modern Chess Openings for reference, and have read books in 3 different languages including Jeremy Silman's How to Reassess Your Chess, Winning With Chess Psychology by Pal Benko, and a 100-year old openings book by Eugene Znosko-Brovsky.

• What are the qualities and skills required to succeed in this area?

  Learning chess requires patience, calculation, self-discipline, imagination, and open-mindedness; teaching chess requires the same plus staying in tune with each student's playing level and ability, organizing lessons that include all phases and aspects of the game, and efficient use of concise chess language, jargon, and terminology that sticks.

• What is the most valuable advice you can give to help someone stay focused on creative projects?

  I suggest being willing to learn from successes and even more from lost or drawn games. Also, use a few seconds during thought-provoking phases of each game to take a deep breath, stretch, and even close and/or avert one's eyes from the board to rest the stressed brain so it can function with greater clarity upon return.

• How would you describe your passion; how does it make you feel?

  Chess provides a healthy intellectual escape from the world's chaos, empowering players to control their own destiny within fair parameters. Ascending to higher levels of play and performance validates one's own intellegence, helps gain confidence, and improves decision-making skills. Chess is also a universal game, enabling any player to connect with others despite language or physical barriers. I am grateful for benefiting in these and more ways from chess and for having the opportunity to share them with others.

• What creative achievements are you particularly proud of?

  I tied for 1st Place in Senior Class at the Clark County School District's Chess Tournament in Las Vegas, NV, scoring 4.5/5 points. Though, I always take pride when anyone learns from me in demonstrable ways. While earning my B.A. from the University of Washington's School of Social Work, I interned at local schools serving K-5 students with behavioral challenges, and taught some of them to play board games, until one 3rd grader I've been tutoring chess weekly all school year earned a 1st Place trophy (much taller than mine) at the end-of-year chess tournament!

• Have you ever been surprised by a student; by their ability or quick progression?

  I am always awed and impressed by faster learners than myself, and I never underestimate young children, especially considering many World Chess Champions started playing as preschoolers. Chess is an honest and humbling game for teachers as well as students.

• Being a Superprof is an art! What is your secret?

  I just love teaching!