When I was seven, my dad — like so many fathers before him — decided it was time I learned the kingly game of chess.
I remember he had a particular opening he’d play, building a pawn structure with pawns on c3, d4, e4, and f3. I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out a good response to it. And yet beating my dad — a much smarter man than I was at the time — became the great pursuit of my young life.
Years later, after studying psychology, philosophy, and mathematics in college, I began to see the deeper subtleties of the game. In 2014, I became a father myself. When my son turned four and a half, I saw that same brightness in his eyes — a hunger for the art of logic that chess displays. And my teaching adventure began.
I shifted from life and health coaching into teaching chess to kids. When Covid hit and we all had to find healthy ways to use our indoor time, chess surged back into popularity — and in 2020, I founded my first chess club. Since then, I’ve coached hundreds of students and taken some to the highest levels this game can offer.
Over the last six years, I’ve competed at a high level online: 60,000+ games, a 2100 Blitz rating — top 3-5% of all players.
But this journey to the top percentiles of chess players worldwide wasn’t built on memory. It was built on systematic thinking — understanding the fundamental principles and dimensions of the game, and learning to see its problems and solutions through that abstract lens.
So I built a framework to teach exactly that. I call it the 7 Dimensions of Chess — seven ways of seeing every position, from Space and Time to the sacred rule of King Safety. It’s the foundation of my upcoming book, Higher Dimensional Thinking — A Chess Guide to Mastery, and the backbone of every lesson I teach.
I love teaching kids and adults to think critically — to take complex positions and, through elimination and pattern recognition, arrive at ideas that are truly their own. Watching a child learn to checkmate, escape a difficult opening, calculate a tactical combination, or devise a strategy for positional advantage is a genuine honor. Some days it feels like coaching little wizards and mental martial artists.
Because chess is the art and game of logic, coaching the board naturally extends beyond it. Chess mirrors life: every choice produces consequences, every consequence teaches. Above all else, I’m honored to help grow the deep thinkers of tomorrow — young people who can use strategy and forward thinking to build a better world and community for all.
My goal is to bring the chess pieces to life in students, teaching them as much as they’ve taught me. Looking forward to meeting you on the board!
— Coach Nate