Sahir Masiha

My Journey as a Chess Teacher: Four Years of Pawns, Passions, and Progress

My name is Reshmi Sahi, and for the past four years I have had the privilege of teaching chess to children and teenagers across India. What started as a small weekend class in a community hall in 2021 has grown into a full-time calling that now reaches over 150 students through online platforms, school clubs, and private coaching. Every day I wake up excited to open a chessboard—real or virtual—and watch young minds light up when a tactic clicks or a blunder turns into a lesson.

**Year 1: Learning to Teach**
I began with zero formal training in pedagogy, only a FIDE rating of 1680 and a deep love for the game. My first batch had eight kids aged 7–12. I still remember Aryan, a hyperactive 9-year-old who couldn’t sit for five minutes. Instead of forcing him to “behave,” I turned every move into a race: “Can your knight jump to safety before my rook catches it?” Within weeks he was sitting glued to the board, calculating three moves ahead. That taught me my first big lesson: chess is 10 % openings and 90 % connection.

**Year 2: Going Online and Reaching Rural India**
The pandemic pushed everyone onto Zoom, and suddenly I wasn’t limited to my city. I started free evening classes for government-school students from small towns in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha. Internet lags, power cuts, and shared phones were daily hurdles, but the hunger to learn was incredible. Priya, a Class 8 girl from a village near Ranchi, practiced on a cardboard board her father drew because she didn’t own a set. Six months later she won the state under-14 girls’ championship. When she called me crying with joy, I cried too—on mute, of course.

**Year 3: Building a Curriculum That Works**
By now I had enough experience to create my own structured course:
- Level 1 (Beginners): Piece names in Hindi + English, checkmate in 1, basic rules
- Level 2 (600–1000): Tactics puzzles, mini-games, endgame mates
- Level 3 (1000–1400): Opening principles, middlegame plans, tournament prep
- Level 4 (1400+): Positional chess, prophylaxis, psychological tips

I use stories to teach concepts—“The rook is like a angry big brother who wants the whole file to himself”—because kids remember stories better than theory. I also introduced “Blunder of the Week,” where students proudly share their worst mistakes. It removed the fear of losing and made the classroom a safe space.

**Year 4 (Present): Tournaments, Trophies, and Life Lessons**
This year my students won 47 medals in district and state events, including two national under-11 titles. But the moments I cherish most aren’t on podiums. They’re when Shalini, a shy 12-year-old who joined to “just try,” told me chess helped her speak up in school debates. Or when Rohan, who lost his father last year, said analyzing games with me was the only hour he didn’t feel sad.

Chess has taught me patience (try explaining en passant to a 6-year-old), humility (I still lose to my own students regularly), and the joy of watching potential unfold one move at a time. Someone asked me recently if teaching chess ever gets repetitive. I laughed. Every student is a new opening, every class a fresh position with infinite possibilities.

Four years, hundreds of checkmates, thousands of laughs, and countless “Aha!” moments later, I’m still just a girl with a chessboard and a dream: to help every child I teach discover that they are capable of thinking many moves ahead—not just in chess, but in life.

If you’re a parent looking for chess classes or a student wanting to start, feel free to DM me @reshmisahi4071. The board is always ready. ♸