Beginner Booster
Learn, Practise, Play >>> Achieve
Learn
Learn all the main rules and how the pieces move so that you can confidently play a full game of chess.
Practise
Practise those new skills to develop understanding and confidence
Play
Play against other children from across the UK who are of a similar experience level. Win, lose or draw they will be coming back for more !
How it Works
1) Register Online
Register online and we will send you your digital welcome pack with full instructions of how to take part
2) Weekly sessions
The classes run every monday from 5.15 until 6.00 pm on Zoom. Join the meeting and our instructors will talk you through everything you need to know.
3) Interactive Learning
Our classes go through step by step everything a new player needs to know to get playing confidently. We ensure students have the opportunity to ask questions and solve puzzles themselves throughout the session. You will also receive a weekly summary of the lesson with additional extra puzzles to solve (optional).
4) Play and have fun
At the end of the classes we ensure the students get the opportunity to play a game keeping things fun and fresh throughout
About Us
We’re Sarah and Alex Longson and we run the UK Chess Challenge. We are family run business aiming to raise a generation of children with superpowers of critical thinking, confidence, resilience and empathy by helping them learn and play chess.
We live in Cheshire with our daughter Isabelle. We met at a chess tournament (of course) in Gatwick 2011.
Sarah is legal graduate and former British Ladies Champion and member of the English Ladies international team. Many of her students have gone on to win national and European titles and represented the national team. Sarah is our Head Coach and personally oversees our classes.
Alex is a qualified accountant and manages the back office processes and writes our bespoke training material. He is a FIDE Master and former England junior international.
What Our Customers Are Saying
Don’t just take it from us, let our customers do the talking!
” I love that in chess, you can come across so many different positions. I once heard a fact that said that there were more variations in chess than known atoms in the universe. That’s just unbelievable!
I really enjoy helping out in the UK Chess Challenge clubs – I’ve done a live stream commentating on a blitz tournament and played a simul against some of the other students ”
"ForkPower"” I really like the quizzes! I have learned a lot about positional play from the classes and I like the tournaments too.
Chess has taught me to persist even when things get difficult. ”
MerlinQ: What challenges chess has helped you overcome? – Making me sit down!
Q; What you like most about the chess classes? – Quizzes
Q; What is your favourite chess piece? – The Queen
Q: What do you enjoy most about chess? – Winning!
Jamie” My favourite part of the chess lessons are the quizzes.
Chess has helped me with my concentration and I’ve made lots of friends through chess”
IslaThis has been a really good pair of weekends Sarah and Alex, it’s obvious you’ve both put loads of effort into making it interactive. In fact so good that in some ways it’s actually better than a normal academy weekend. I’d be quite happy to keep some of the weekends like this after lockdown returns to normal!
Neil” Well done on everything UKCC has done this summer. It’s been fantastic.
Best wishes
James ”
JamesFrequently Asked Questions
Who runs the classes?
Our beginner’s maestro is Tim Shanker, a higher experienced teacher specialising in helping young beginners. Sarah oversees all the lessons and Alex writes the content.
What software do I need to take part?
Our classes are run in Zoom – the market leader in online video conferencing. The software is secure and full of features that help bring interactive online chess clubs to life.
For beginners we recommend chesskid.com.
Everything is browser based and free – no downloads required or anything complicated. We will send you through full instructions and are happy to talk anything through.
From time to time we may use some other cool chess tools but these will be explained in advance.
What time are the sessions?
Our classes run every monday from 5.15 to 6.00pm
The first session is 6th September and the 12th and final class is 29th November (no class on 25th October due to half term).
How do we take part in the games?
Each child will be setup with a login for the chess platform we are using. Full instructions will be sent for this and our instructor will demonstrate the system during the first few classes.
Do you offer sibling discounts?
Yes we do! We offer a 25% discount for the 2nd child and 50% for the 3rd and subsequent children. We can’t (yet) apply the discount on our online checkout so you will need to complete the purchase at full price and email us notifying us of the sibling purchase and we will immediately refund the difference to your card.
Is my child too young for online chess?
We have students as young as five years old doing chess online! Children pick up new ideas and software really quickly and we always welcome new members offering a full walkthrough of our system.
If you have any doubts or want to ask some questions please get in touch at admin@ukchess.co.uk
What if I'm not sure this is for me?
Our ‘no questions asked’ 14 day money back guarantee should give you peace of mind. If you sign up and try our classes and find they aren’t for you just let us know and we’ll send you your money back!
When you join the UKCC Online Club you are fully protected by our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. If you don’t feel like you’ve received value and you decide you want to cancel any time within the next 14 days, just let us know what the problem is by email. If we genuinely can’t resolve your problem then we’ll send you a prompt refund. No hassles, headaches or hoops to jump through.
We’re confident that you and your child will enjoy the Club and we won’t make you beg or invoke any silly rules or conditions – if you’re not satisfied within your first 14 days then we’ll refund you without any fuss.
Even more features
Learn at your own pace
We send the lesson summary and additional questions to students after the session so students have the chance to recap and practise outside of class.
Follow our Chess Curriculum
Our lessons are structured around a curriculum we have written with bespoke lessons and materials designed specifically for young beginners.
Parent Promise
Peace of mind guaranteed. Our customer support team are here to answer any queries and get you and your child all set up to enjoy our tournaments and classes.
Friendly Community
Students can meet new friends and parents can ask questions and share ideas in our WhatsApp group
Zero Risk
Our ‘no questions asked’ 14 day money back guarantee means you can give us a try and cancel if you find it isn’t for you. We’re confident you won’t want to!
Variety
Our classes have a huge variety of formats keeping things fresh and engaging week on week.
Sign Up to the Beginner Booster Today
If your child is ready to learn the world’s oldest and greatest game then register below and join our fun and educational classes.
Beginner Booster
Make Your Winning Move- Interactive Lessons
- Learn how to play in one term
- Lesson summaries and additional puzzles
Don't Be Shy
If we didn’t answer all of your questions, feel free to drop us a message anytime.