Emma P

How We Met

On the first day at my new job, I was the guest speaker at a Girl’s Tournament in Manhattan. Emma was playing and I didn’t know her name, but she used to hangout around my analysis board in between rounds.

(She won the entire tournament by the way. When she got her trophy I was like “Omg it’s the girl with the cool hair!”)

The Journey To Private Coaching

Five months later, Emma was recommended to me as a private student by my supervisor. I agreed as she had a lot of potential. Before we started lessons together, I spent a lot of time trying to identify her weak areas.

A blurred screenshot of all the work I put in to making Emma’s lesson plan. I made 190 files customized to her learning needs and I made each one by hand. Nowadays I do a more efficient version of this for all my students. This took 7 hours.

After working together for months, Emma and I started to create a strong bond.

Apparently, I gave too much homework

On the weekends, Emma was always playing at chess tournaments in the city. Whenever there was a break from school, she was at chess camp training to become a better player. At home, she was doing her homework and her puzzles. She fluctuated around 1470 for a bit (the wave), so her parents and I worked together to find the best way for her to improve. We all knew she had it in her.

Emma kept her head strong. We made lots of tweaks and changes over 7 months, until we found something that worked.

In April 2023, a year after we initially met, she tied for 2nd at All Girl’s Nationals in her section, which was her highest performance ever at that event. She also broke 1600 USCF at National Elementary Championships in Maryland a few weeks later.

In 2023, seeing Emma break through her plateaus was my happiest moment all year.

Traveling to Pan-American Youth Festival in Chicago

In August 2023, Emma, her family and I travelled west to Chicago to have her play at Pan-American Youth Festival Under 10 Girls. If she had won her last round, she would have gotten an international title, which is extremely good for her first try.

Even though it was not the result she hoped for, I strongly believe Emma will be a Master one day.

We were analyzing this position once and I asked Emma what she would play. She told me g4! which is a hard move to see and it’s what the computer recommends.

Congrats Emma! I’m always proud of you!