Beyond the Board: Digital Classroom Expands Chess Education

The Saint Louis Chess Club is widely known for elite tournaments and top-level competition, but a significant part of its mission centers on education. Through its Scholastics Department, the club provides structured chess instruction for young players, with a growing emphasis on accessible, online learning through its Digital Classroom.

Designed to reach students regardless of location, the Digital Classroom offers live, small-group online chess instruction led by titled players. The program prioritizes consistency, affordability, and instructional quality, allowing students from across the country—and around the world—to engage with scholastic chess education without the limitations of geography.

For Caleb Denby, programming manager for the Scholastics Department, the Digital Classroom reflects the department’s broader purpose

“The mission of the department is to spread the knowledge and joy of chess to as many students as we can reach,” Denby said. “Especially those who are underserved and might not have access to chess otherwise.”

The Digital Classroom: Expanding Access to Chess Education

In-person scholastic chess programs remain a cornerstone of the Saint Louis Chess Club’s educational efforts. However, access to those programs can vary widely. Many students live far from chess clubs, attend schools without established chess teams, or lack consistent opportunities for instruction and competition.

Boards, Not Barriers

The Digital Classroom helps remove those barriers by delivering live online instruction directly to students. By eliminating the need for travel, the program allows families to participate in structured chess education in a way that fits their schedules and circumstances.

“The Digital Classroom helps support that mission because it expands our reach beyond the Saint Louis region,” Denby said. “Now they can join us online and still get a Grand Master-level instruction, no matter where they are in the world.”

That expanded reach enables the Scholastics Department to support students who might otherwise be excluded from traditional chess programs, while maintaining the instructional standards associated with the club.

Starting at the Right Square

While the rules of chess remain the same, students arrive with different backgrounds, learning styles, and levels of experience. Rather than grouping students strictly by age, the Scholastics Department structures instruction around skill level and readiness, allowing lessons to meet students where they are developmentally.

Hands-on learning plays a central role. Students demonstrate understanding through their moves, giving instructors insight into when they are ready to advance. Consistency across instructors is reinforced through observation and feedback, helping ensure that Digital Classroom lessons align with the club’s broader scholastic curriculum.

Teaching at the Board in the Digital Classroom

Instruction within the Digital Classroom is led by experienced players and educators. International Master and Woman Grandmaster Tatev Abrahamyan emphasizes conceptual understanding over memorization, encouraging students to think independently during play.

“You can’t teach chess itself—it’s too big,” Abrahamyan said. “You try to give students tools so they can figure things out on their own.”

Lessons are designed to balance explanation with interaction, allowing students to engage actively rather than passively absorbing information. Live sessions foster discussion, analysis, and shared problem-solving.

The Digital Classroom operates through intentionally small groups, creating space for individualized attention while also helping bond players.

“Because we have small groups, it’s very easy to give a lot of attention to every student,” Abrahamyan said. “If we have groups, usually it works out that the kids are around the same level. So then it becomes very easy for them to have competitive games, and everyone is kind of on the same level.”

Affordability is also a key component of the program’s design. By keeping class sizes manageable while maintaining reasonable pricing, the Digital Classroom allows families to participate consistently rather than treating instruction as a one-time opportunity.

Game review is another core element of instruction.

“A lot of what we do in class is looking at the students’ games,” Abrahamyan said. “When someone comes from a tournament and they had a good tournament, they can show it to their classmates, and we look at it together. Or if someone is having a bad tournament, we look at the games, and other students give positive feedback.”

Improvement Move by Move

At the scholastic level, progress in chess is often measured using clear benchmarks.

“For over-the-board play, you’d really just be looking at their USCF rating to see how that changes,” Denby said. “That’s the only real metric we would be able to track.”

Within the Digital Classroom, instructors work with students frequently enough to observe how improvement develops alongside those metrics. 

Regular instruction and repeated practice allow progress to emerge gradually, particularly as students gain experience and consistency in their play. From an instructional perspective, growth often appears in practical aspects of the game.

“Time management, confidence, decision-making—those things show real improvement,” Abrahamyan said.

From the Scholastics Department’s standpoint, the Digital Classroom is structured to support that kind of long-term development by pairing consistent instruction with an accessible learning environment.

“We want to meet people where they are and make sure they’re getting the best chess education that they can,” Denby said.