About grandmaster
Valery Filippov

I was first introduced to chess by my father when I was about five years old. I learned on an old wooden chessboard that we had at home, and it was missing some of the pieces. For the missing pieces, we used plastic bottle caps and wrote the letter of the piece on top of each one. I fell in love with the game almost immediately. And my love for it grew as I learned new combinations. I was especially inspired by piece sacrifices. I still remember the day I delivered a smothered mate against my father after sacrificing my queen. During the first year, I simply enjoyed playing, without thinking about anything except the beauty of the combinations. And of course, I had no idea where this wonderful game would eventually lead me.

When I was six years old, two important things happened to me. First, I received a new handmade chessboard for my birthday, and this time it had all 32 pieces. By the way, I still keep that chessboard in my collection, and I consider it the most valuable one I own.

Second, I was enrolled in a chess club. It was there that I first realized that chess was not just a game I played at home with my parents. There were hundreds of other players, tournaments, ratings... And that was it. There was no turning back. I became literally obsessed with chess and with winning, and everything else stopped existing. Did that cause me problems at school? Yes, it did. Did I play chess all the time, even during the summer when the other boys were outside playing football? I did. Do I regret any of it? Absolutely not.

Chess opened the door for me to professional sport, where I managed to win many tournaments and achieve the highest title - International Grandmaster. But the most pleasant surprise was waiting for me after my playing career was over. I realized that I could use my knowledge to help chess players with different backgrounds and different playing levels become stronger and achieve their own goals.

And you cannot even imagine how surprised and happy I was when I realized that I enjoyed doing that even more than playing chess itself.

I know that many chess players, when choosing a coach, first of all focus on the title and rating of their coach. And indeed, the Grandmaster title implies many years of experience competing in the strongest chess tournaments, as well as a deep understanding of the game, especially strategy and the opening.

But when I first started teaching, I realized that playing experience alone would not be enough. It is very important to know how to explain the material correctly, especially when working with someone who is new to chess. Every student has their own way of thinking, their own pace, and their own strengths and weaknesses. That means I cannot teach every student by default using the training program that helped me achieve success. After all, we are all different, and everyone needs their own approach.

That is why I have spent a huge amount of time developing different training programs designed for different playing levels, with separate programs for children and adults. But, for example, even if three adult students with approximately the same rating and playing experience came to me, I would most likely teach each of them in a different way, because when creating a training plan I take into account the student's goals, the amount of time they are willing to devote to chess, their preferred learning format, their playing experience, and many other factors.

In practice, this means that the training program should match not only the student's current playing level but also their final goal. Preparing for serious tournament competition is very different from teaching someone who plays exclusively online or simply wants to enjoy the game more. That is why I do not use ready-made training templates. Instead, I try to build a training system that will be the most effective for that particular person.