Meet the Instructors

Avery Michalchuk

Instructor of Intermediate class. President of University of Calgary chess club

  Avery excels in translating intricate concepts into easily understandable language, making it accessible for young learners. His primary emphasis is on instructing students in the vital skill of game analysis, a crucial asset for intermediate-level players. Avery fosters an open-minded approach, welcoming all ideas, and actively promotes the practice of learning from failures and self-reflection.

Ali Parsaee

Instructor of both beginner and pre-advanced class. Member of University of Alberta chess club.

With extensive experience in teaching beginners, Ali employs a methodical approach. He commences with the foundational elements of the game, gradually advancing to cover basic strategies. Ali's teaching philosophy places a strong emphasis on responsiveness, ensuring that all student inquiries are addressed promptly and that the study materials are presented in a straightforward and easily digestible manner.

Andrew Chen

Senior high school student, Instructor of pre-Advanced class 

Andrew Started playing chess in 2013 and over the course of 6 years, was instructed under many different chess coaches to reach a peak CFC rating of 2081. He teaches using the unique teaching styles he experienced along with his own experience.

Talha Lodhi

Director of University of Calgary chess club, Instructor of Beginner class 

Talha is a very passionate chess player, he started playing chess when he was a young boy. During these years, he continued improving his skill and also introducing chess knowledge to kids. He is also chess teacher in Rundle college afterschool program.

Tamir Bulga

Instructor of classes of several levels, also instructor of CJCC. Student of University of Calgary.

     Tamir started playing competitively at age 8 and reached his peak CFC rating of 1858 in 2014 by winning the Calgary Youth Championship and placed third in the Alberta Championship. Though Tamir  joined the Calgary Chess School in 2020 recently, his chess class is very welcomed by the students. He used ideas from the books he read and unified them into simple teaching material.  Tamir recently started to play the rated tournaments again after 6 year's break to focus on school.  His online rating spiked from 1800 to 2100+. 

NM Roy Yearwood

Instructor of Advanced class. National Master, Chess school coordinator of Calgary Junior Chess Center, Chess teacher of Webber Academy

Roy has been helping many students find their best opening. He also teaches a lot of advanced ideas that prove to be very useful. In his chess coaching career, he had a lot of students who turned out to be the top players at the provincial and national level.