Our Founder
My name is Coach Lane and I’ve been playing chess since I was 5 years old. I quickly fell in love with the problem-solving, opportunities to learn, and competitive aspects of chess. I set personal goals to improve after each game and began exploring opportunities to play in my area.
Being self-taught had its hiccups in the beginning — In my first chess tournament, I got a draw (the chess term for a tie) during my first game, as I was never taught how to finish a game with a checkmate and instead just checked my partner’s King over and over. I had a lot of learning to do!
I continued to play in local tournaments and spent time after each game reviewing my moves to determine how I could improve. I studied books and other chess resources to broaden my knowledge and build confidence in my decision-making process during games.
My hard work paid off when I won my first big tournament, the WA State Elementary Chess Championships, when I was 11 years old and was even featured in my local paper afterward!
I was so proud of my accomplishments and was ready to take steps to keep building on my chess successes. I took private lessons from National Master Coach Elliott Neff, continued my independent study, and have been learning and playing chess competitively ever since.
I have accomplished a 1918 USCF chess rating, am a certified Tournament Director (and even got to run the WA State Elementary Chess Championships as an adult), and achieved top 100 in WA State. I have taught chess to kids for the past 13 years as a coach, camp director, and afterschool instructor in the local Seattle area, as well as online.
Now my personal goal is to pass along my chess knowledge, training tips, and encouragement to new and experienced chess players looking for a dedicated coach who can help them become more confident and problem-solve in any situation on the chess board. In my lessons, players are treated with patience and respect, and given lots of encouragement! Whenever players lose a game, I help them focus on how we can learn from our mistakes and not make them again in the future.
You may see me at local events in the Washington area, and please say hello! Even as a chess instructor, I am still an avid player and always furthering my own chess studies along with gathering resources for my students.
