Hello Readers,
As we step into 2023, I wanted to share the Chess 2022 report @ Chess Gaja and look at how we have grown from strength to strength in terms of student performances, rating gains, program offerings, and what’s in store for us in 2023!
Performances
I want to highlight some fantastic performances of our students in 2022.
- We minted two National Experts (Getting a rating above 2000 USCF), Adithya and Priyansh. The titles came from strong tournament performances by in the U2100 category of the Annual Liberty Bell Open in January 2022.
In the case of Priyansh, who started the year with a rating of 1797, a huge rating gain and title was possible due to performances in Memorial Day Classic, Gambito, and a few other events.
Adithya, Priyansh
- Chess Gaja also had the happy moment of minting a National Master (Getting a rating above 2200) as Aaryan had a great year, becoming a National Master. Having started the year at 2145 and with strong play, he has achieved this coveted title!
Aaryan
- In National and Open events, Vaseegaran had a string of impressive performances. He won the Kansas K-8 State Championship in March and then went on to tie for first in the National K-8 Championship Open and Blitz section in April. He also tied for first in the Chicago Open in the U2300 category.
Vaseegaran
- Anish had an excellent performance winning the Houston Chess Studio in August 2022 by scoring 4.5/5 and gaining 104 rating points in the process.
Anish
- Our young champ Yugan had a perfect result in the PSL Royal Court Classic, winning the tournament and gaining 227 rating points.
- At the end of the year, we had the most amazing result as 3 Chess Gaja students finished in the top 6 rankings in the National K-12 Championship in Maryland.
Vaseegaran, Vijay, Neil
This is just a glimpse of our champs; for detailed reports on their performances, look at our blogs.
Rating Gain
We all love numbers, and stats, so we decided to do some number crunching on our active students (Students currently taking classes at Chess Gaja).
We analyzed the rating gain since they joined the academy, and for some, it was from Jan 1, 2022, as they have been with us for more than a year, and for some students, it could be only a few months.
- The rating gained by students was a staggering 5364 rating points!!
- We had 15 students who gained more than 150 rating points this year.
- In our Top-10 program, as I write this, we had completed 30 out of the 50 scheduled classes, and the starting rating average of the 10 kids was 1769.20, and now the rating average is 1798.4, a solid 292 rating point gain for the whole group.
New Program Offerings
We started the year primarily by offering only 1-1 class programs, and now we are onto offering customized group programs like the ambitious Top-10 program, where we work with the most ambitious students of the game over 3 months with 4 Trainers (2GM, 2IM) teaching the classes.
We also started offering a bunch of 2-month duration programs and have had tremendous reception for these programs.
As the interest in the group classes grows, we are working to provide more programs that cater to students of all rating levels in 2023.
We also ventured into Corporate Chess Program for the first time in 2022, when Chess Gaja managed and executed a Corporate Chess Event for the reputed “Tech Mahindra” in the run-up to the 2022 Chess Olympiad.
What’s in store for Chess Gaja in 2023
We are working on offering more customized chess improvement programs for players of all levels, using coaches of different rating strengths.
We are also strengthening our partnerships with corporate organizations across India to offer executive chess programs that will help boost employee productivity, strategy, and team bonding activities. So if you are part of a corporate organization and your company wants to organize any chess activity, do reach out to us!
The most exciting product we have been working on for months is “Player Management Vertical”, A vertical focused on helping professional chess players focus on their games as we manage their social media branding, tournament invites, sponsorship deals, and more!
These are just a few of the ideas we are confident of executing in 2023, and a few more are currently in the ideating stage and might be executed by Mid 2023!
Thank You
I want to thank all the stakeholders in Chess Gaja, be it the amazing parents supporting their kids’ chess dreams.
Students, primarily kids, and a few of our adult learners put in countless hours to get better at the game with our coach’s guidance.
We are very thankful to our happy customers, who have referred their friends and family to take classes at Chess Gaja. The referrals have helped us grow at an accelerated pace this year. I request our academy student parents to share their public feedback on our classes on Google, as it would help us build a stronger Chess community in Chess Gaja.
Our coaches did a fantastic job this year, mentoring our students in a very professional manner and helping the students to achieve their chess goals. As you might have known, we have a rigorous hiring system for a coach at Chess Gaja, which includes them being personally interviewed and vetted by me before they join the Chess team to ensure our highest standards of teaching are maintained.
The Chess Gaja operations team pulled up fantastic work this year, which kept our social media profiles buzzing. All of our activities were possible due to our full-time team, who put together the amazing camp flyers and coordinated with parents and coaches. We are a small team, but we have a lot of heart and passion for our work! Shoutout to the interns who brought in so much enthusiasm and new ideas.
I want to invite any chess enthusiast to reach out to us if they want to get associated with Chess Gaja, one of the fastest-growing chess organizations in the world. You can be a chess coach or looking for a chess-based operational position, or just a chess enthusiast wanting to be in this ecosystem! Reach out to us at careers@chessgaja.com
Thank You! Chess Gaja wouldn’t be what it is today without all of you – The coaches, parents, and students. We will continue to work in 2023 to deliver more knowledgeable learning moments in every lesson at Chess Gaja.
Regards
GM Priyadharshan Kannappan
