GM Kraai has been playing and teaching chess since before you were born. Playing in seven US championships helped him elevate his game to GM in 2007. He won the Denker tournament of High School Champions in 1989 and 1990 and the Irwin tournament of Senior Champions in 2023. He is currently using the Dojo Training Program with the dream of winning the US Senior Closed in 2024.
Kostya comes from a Ukrainian chess family and has been playing and teaching the game since he was a pup. Since attaining the IM title in 2016, he has struggled to find the time for his own study while also coaching. He is a FIDE trainer and has coached at the World Youth and Pan-American Youth Championships, earning several gold medals for the US national team. Like many of us he needs a structure and a plan! Kostya is committed to following the Dojo Training Program to the GM title, and we are rooting for him!
David is a chess maximalist, never shying away from what he believes is the most principled path forward. With this madman approach, he attained the rank of International Master in 2003 and then in 2006 he won the prestigious Samford Chess Fellowship. He has all three Grandmaster norms and just needs to cross 2500 to reach the title. David helped design the ChessDojo Training Program with the dream that he could cross that difficult 2500 barrier using its guidance and structure.
The Dojo has single-handedly been the best thing to happen for my chess. I was stuck in the mid 700s on chess.com and showing little improvement. However, in a short time, I managed to break the 1k club. None of this would have been possible without the Dojo's program.
This program is really helping me treat chess with respect. Meaning that I approach each task with more reverence and more focus, which I am sure is leading to better results and a more consistent mindset.
After 1 year, I'm very happy about the program. I think it's very well designed with the emphasis on long games and analysis for long-term progress. The positive environment has motivated me to work regularly on my chess this year, and I could feel my progress.
The program details have helped me filter out so much of what is available to learn from and to drill down on what is needed. Focusing on the fundamentals at my level has been very helpful.
Climbed from 1600 to 1750 Chess.com. I truly feel like the hard work is paying off. I've won several games during the climb that I think I would have otherwise lost had I not studied.
The endgame sparring is put together with great care. There's a good selection of training positions, and this was very educational to see which rook endgames one knew by heart and where one struggled.
I joined the Dojo about a year ago and gained a little over 500 rating points on chess.com. ChessDojo is a great program that points you in the right direction. If you do what they recommend and put in the time, you will improve!
I was struggling to get above 1300 when I found the Dojo, and now I am just laughing at 1400s and their timid superficial plans and little tricks.
Huge fan of the program! Working on my classical chess has been so much more rewarding than improving at blitz. I've also had time to play a decent amount of OTB games this year for the first time in my life and have gained more than 200 points since joining the Dojo.
The biggest benefit of the training program for me is the Dojo community. I've met other Dojo members at my home club, and it's fun to prep with and root for them during tournaments. Thanks to Jesse, Kostya and David for creating this thing, and to everyone in the Dojo for showing up day in-day out.
I love the program and feel like it's sharpening my chess every day that I put in the time against the program. Thank you to the senseis for building this! It's making chess less frustrating and more systematic for me for sure.
The first month in this program has given me a great roadmap to transition away from being a purely online rapid player and toward playing longer and thinking deeper in a way that is already more rewarding. I look forward to continuing on!
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Limited training plans, 0-2500
Limited Dojo games database
Opening courses
Private Discord server
All training plans, 0-2500
Full Dojo games database
All opening courses
Private Discord server
All features from monthly membership
Saves $80 / year compared to monthly membership