Online junior chess clubs are held for one hour a week for six weeks at a time, either late afternoon or early evening.

Active chess club members may also attend the Mission: Fun and Games chess club on Thursdays for free. See the events calendar, and read about it in the St. Albert Gazette!

Follow on Facebook and Instagram for updates, chess tips, and weekly puzzles.

Adult chess classes are also available! See: stalbertchess.ca/group-lessons/

Details

Instructor Michael Ludwig will teach you how to play chess, and play stronger chess!
St. Albert’s number one player, top ten player in the Edmonton area, and a scholastic chess coach since 2016. Meet the instructor here.

• Half of each class is spent learning new concepts and ideas and half is spent playing chess games. Students who are brand new to chess, as well as experienced players, are welcome.
  
• Weekly practice sets will be given through the Lichess ‘Study’ tool, linked to via e-mail. No lichess.org account is required, though you are welcome to create one.
  
• As with every activity, practice makes better! If students can find time to play at home during the week – against Mom or Dad, or a friend, or online – it will be very beneficial for learning and improvement.
  
• Chess club members are invited to play in friendly weekend chess tournaments on lichess.org, exclusive to our St. Albert Scholastic Chess Lichess team.
  
• The e-mail you provide will only be used for chess purposes such as club communications and event information.

If you have any questions, please contact the instructor at stalbertchess@gmail.com.

Upcoming Classes

Clubs are aimed at ages 8 to 14. Please get in touch if your child is outside that range but you would like to participate. Students who are new to chess club but have significant prior chess experience may contact the instructor about starting directly in Intermediate or Advanced; a short assessment is available.

NOVICE

For any first-time participants in our chess clubs. Designed to set students up with solid fundamentals, inspired by Canadian Grandmaster Aman Hambleton’s “Habits”.

Topics include the full rules of chess, an introduction to openings, and basic tactics.
Cost: $75 for six weeks. Sibling rate: $55 for second child, same family.
Second-time Novice participant rate: $55

Fall 2025 Dates:
A) Thursdays — 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., October 16th to November 20th

INTERMEDIATE

For any students who have participated in a ‘Novice’ chess club. Designed to progressively build on your chess understanding, and of course keep having fun!

Topics include thinking ahead, fundamental endgames, and the secret behind piece value.
Cost: $75 for six weeks. Sibling rate: $55 for second child, same family.
Second-time Intermediate participant rate: $55

Fall 2025 Dates:
A) Wednesdays — 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., October 15th to November 19th

ADVANCED

For players who want to keep learning about all aspects of the game. Designed to strengthen understanding of the many elements of chess, piece by piece.

Topics will rotate for Fall/Winter/Spring sessions, and will collectively include endgames, tactics and decision making, and an introduction to positional play.
Cost: $75 for six weeks. Sibling rate: $55 for second child, same family.

Fall 2025 Dates:
A) Tuesdays — 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., October 14th to November 25th (no chess club on Remembrance Day)

*

Bring a Friend!

Bring a friend or another newcomer to chess club and both players will get $10 off their entry.

* Provided at least one of the players is a first-time member. ‘Friends’ must identify each other in their registrations for it to be applied.

Mission: Fun and Games Chess Club

Free entry to the Thursday evening chess club for Fall 2025 is valid from October 9th to November 27th.

Registration

To sign up, please fill out the form below. You will receive an e-mail response within 1-2 days as confirmation of your registration. Following that, payment will be handled separately by e-transfer to stalbertchess@gmail.com. Submissions less than 24 hours before the first class may not be guaranteed access in the first week. Late registrations can be accepted.

These classes run using chessable.com and their ‘Classroom’ tool, which combines audio/video communication with chess teaching software all in one place. You will need to create a free Chessable account to participate.

Classes require at least 4-5 participants to run and have a cap of 15 students each.