Individual Coaching
One-on-one lessons tailored to your goals — the fastest way to improve, whatever your starting point.
- Personalised study plan
- Game analysis
- Opening repertoire
Coaching
Lessons that meet you where you are
Whether you want to play for fun or fight for national colours, there's a format and a plan that fits. Here's how it all works.
Formats
Choose how you learn
Group Lessons
Learn alongside players at your level. Great value and a fun, competitive way to grow.
- Small groups
- Structured curriculum
- Friendly tournaments
Online Coaching
Train from anywhere in the world over video and a shared board. Same quality, zero travel.
- Worldwide
- Flexible scheduling
- Recorded sessions
Over-the-Board
In-person coaching around Pretoria for hands-on learning and real tournament preparation.
- Pretoria & surrounds
- Tournament prep
- Hands-on drills
Schools & Clubs
Chess programmes that build focus, patience and problem-solving in young minds.
- Beginner-friendly
- Team training
- Inter-school prep
Competitive Pathway
Serious about going far? Justin has guided players to South African colours for decades.
- Provincial & national
- Rating goals
- SA colours pathway
Chess Camps
A weekend away built around chess — a tournament to open, training and analysis, and plenty of fun in between.
- Weekend getaway
- Tournament + training
- All ages welcome
My approach
Coaching isn't about the lines. It's about not wasting time thinking in the wrong direction.
Anyone can hand you an opening to memorise. That carries you through the first ten moves and abandons you on the eleventh.
What actually makes you stronger is pattern recognition — seeing that the position in front of you rhymes with one you've met before — and a sharper analytical process: knowing which candidate moves deserve your time, and which you can dismiss in seconds. Get that right and you stop burning your clock, and your years, on the wrong ideas.
What that looks like in practice
Reviewing your games
We go through your own games together — the wins and the painful losses. This is where improvement really happens: spotting the habits that quietly cost you points, and understanding the moment a game turned.
A personal plan for your rating goal
Chasing 1200, 1600, or provincial selection? I map out a realistic, step-by-step plan aimed at that number, so every lesson has a purpose and you can see the progress you are making.
A custom opening repertoire
Not memorised lines from a book. I build a repertoire around your style, your level and the positions you genuinely enjoy playing — and we cover the ideas behind the moves, so you are never lost when an opponent deviates.
Tactics & endgame technique
The fundamentals that win games: sharpening pattern recognition so tactics jump out at you, and drilling the endgames that decide close matches.
How it works
From hello to checkmate
- 1
Say hello
Message me on WhatsApp and tell me a little about yourself or your child — no experience needed.
- 2
Find your level
A quick chat (or first session) helps us pinpoint where you are and where you want to go.
- 3
Get a plan
I build a study plan around your goals, schedule and budget.
- 4
Improve & enjoy
Regular lessons, honest analysis and steady, measurable progress.
The route
From first move to the world stage
Chess in South Africa has a real ladder, and I've walked every rung of it with students — from a child learning the pieces to players earning national selection.
You don't have to climb all of it. Plenty of players stop exactly where they're happy, and that's a perfectly good place to be. But if you want to go further, there's a proper route — and I know it well.
Ask where you'd start- 01
Starting out
Learning how the pieces move, the ideas behind them, and finding the fun in it. Never moved a piece? That’s my favourite place to begin — no pressure and no jargon.
- 02
School leagues
The first taste of real competition: playing for your school, learning clock discipline, handling nerves, and discovering how much you enjoy the fight.
- 03
CHESSA
Stepping into organised South African chess — a national rating, provincial events, Interprovincials and the SA Junior Closed. This is where serious players are made, and where I’ve spent much of my coaching life.
- 04
FIDE
International rating and international competition — the world stage. Not everyone goes this far, but the road there starts with the very first lesson.
Chess camps
A weekend away, built around chess
Camps are one of my favourite things to run — a proper getaway that combines serious chess with genuine fun. We open with a tournament to set the tone, then move through training sessions, game analysis and plenty of social chess, with time to relax in between. Players come home sharper, and usually with a few new friends.
- A tournament to kick things off
- Training sessions and group game analysis
- Social chess — and time to switch off
- All ages and levels welcome
Most recent camp
Sugar Bay Resort
2026
Camps run periodically through the year. The WhatsApp group and my Facebook page are the first to hear when the next one is announced.
Not sure which option is right?
Tell me your goals on WhatsApp and I'll recommend the best path — no pressure.