Testimonials

Group lessons

About a year ago we asked Robert to give online lectures to our top players. It was an immediate success and the response of the participants was very positive. As a coach he possesses the skill to offer a challenging and interactive lesson evolving around a theme (positional and tactical) that is perfectly suited for the level of the participants involved. Helping them to evolve as players while enjoying an entertaining lesson proved to be a perfect combination.

Niels van Dam (VAS Amsterdam)

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I know Robert Ris for quite some years now. He's a great guy to be with and a very professional chess teacher. As chairman of Muider Schaak Kring (MSK), I wanted to provide the members of our chess club an inspiring alternative for our OTB club nights during COVID lockdown. During several interesting and entertaining online sessions Robert has given our members lots of relevant insights. He knows how to keep the participants engaged and he knows how to make the best use of online tools. I can highly recommend him as a chess teacher, for both individual and team sessions, either online or offline

Lode Broekman (Chairman Muider Schaak Kring)

IM Robert Ris provides online training for our chess association. These trainings are very interactive and engaging. The subjects are exactly in line with the interests of our chess players. Robert does this with great dedication and knows how to fascinate the participants, from young to old.

Michel Hoetmer, (SV Zukertort Amstelveen)

Private Training

With IM Robert Ris Eline Roebers (Year of Birth 2006, FIDE rating 2066, 6th place in both European and World Youth U14 in 2019) is building a professional approach to chess, consisting a.o. of creating an opening repertoire, opponent dependent preparation, feed back and analyses of the games. I think Roberts skills have made and will make Eline much stronger.

FM Jan Roebers (father, The Netherlands)

I am pleased to endorse Rob as a chess instructor. I have been meeting weekly with Rob over Skype for about 2 months. I am an adult and enjoy the game and the challenges of improving. Rob is willing to receive a few of my pgns during the week and is then well prepared to analyze them during our sessions. We often spend a full hour on one game, allowing questions and answers about key decisions, positional issues, strategic concepts, and tactics. The hour goes by very fast—which is a testament to Rob’s skill as an instructor. I consider this an ideal way to study chess.

JF (Chicago, Illinois, USA)

For about 2 years, IM Robert Ris is a regular trainer of Arthur de Winter (twice Dutch Champion U14) in the Netherlands. Arthur and his parents recognize that getting better at chess requires lots of practice and devotion. Robert is an important catalyst of Arthur's inherent drive. The training sessions with Robert can be described as intense and upbeat, yet Robert doesn't hesitate to be critical of Arthur's mistakes and inaccuracies. Oftentimes, after a training session, Arthur feels like playing more chess for the rest of the day. Also, what is important, is that Robert has strong connections and visibility in the chess scene, something which Arthur looks up to and which is inspiring for him. Furthermore, Robert can be characterized as truly caring about playing chess and teaching, without being dogmatic or pushy about how Arthur should train in his own time. In summary, apart from the teaching relevant chess skills, Robert is an important factor in Arthur's personal development.

Joost de Winter (father, The Netherlands)

My son Viaan Gohil 7 years old is learning chess from Robert Ris. Viaan and We are very happy with efforts and content of Robert's coaching. He is very experience talented chess coach, strongly recommended. He has very good communication quality to make kids understandable. His coaching and guidance really motivated my son towards becoming strong chess player. He is also very flexible and co-operative from schedule point of view.

Viaan and Viaan's parents (India)

I have been training under Robert's guidance for a few months now.

I really like the way Robert is able to put himself into my shoes and understand the perspective of an amateur player and helps refine the same with utmost patience.

He also has a vast coverage of material across various themes, to add to it he always has model games to show for most of the positions and ideas around the same.

The best part however is the fun we have during the session along with the learning. Robert really helps in creating a very healthy and positive space that makes the learning experience extremely enjoyable and something to look forward to.

Varun (India)

As someone who has started playing chess consistently after not playing for many years, Robert has shown me a level of beauty in the game that I did not know before. We analyze the games I play on chess.com each week, and sometimes play against each other. His versatility as a teacher is shown through game analysis. We can go deep into opening variations or he will give me on-the-spot puzzles at critical junctures of my games. To me the most valuable part of having Robert as a teacher is understanding how he thinks about the game. This is not something I'm able to get from looking at automated game analysis. Not to mention, he remembers the games I've played better than I do!

Patrick Dalton (Portland, Oregon, USA)

I enjoyed my lessons with Robert very much. He does not give the solution right away but guides you to find it yourself. My games have improved and the lessons have done me a lot of good.

Teck Woon Tan (Singapore)

Robert is an active, passionate player and teacher for the years I've known him.
The focus of our training was working on my opening repertoire. His precise, in-depth analyzes were very up to date and relevant in practice. The analyzes of my own games were a lot of fun (a little less, those of my loss games). Overall, the training with Robert led to a significant improvement in my skill level and more joy in our "royal game"

Andreas Schweitzer (Germany)

I like the way you teach, it may be opening, middlegame or endgame you do everything whole heartedly. You explain everything in great detail, and clear all the doubts. You are very humorous! And see the students as your own kids!

Sreekar JSS (India)

I spent nice hours and was able to improve my chess knowledge with Robert! Great teaching and perfect English made it easy to better my chess, from openings to finals. Never boring and always deep thinking homework too. I recommend a try if you want to really start playing chess (as we say in Italy -> not only moving wood pieces …)

Alessandro (Italy)

I’ve been spending a few hours per week in a zoom call with Robert receiving coaching for the past few months, and the results I have gotten far exceed my expectations. Robert possess the ability to provide an interactive and engaging coaching lesson focused on what the student wants to work on, and is able to provide input on further studying based on the goals of his students. As a coach and now who I feel is also my friend, I can not recommend Robert enough to anyone wanting to take their chess skills to the next level.

Patrick (Virginia, USA)

I have been working with Robert for a couple of months now, and found him to be very knowledgeable and patient. I strongly recommend him as a chess coach.

Paul (Vancouver, Canada)

I started playing chess when I was far in my fifties. No intentions to reach the top. I am just a chess lover who is looking for some entertainment and a little more understanding of the game. In Robert Ris, I have found the right coach. Already for more than five years! He has a very broad base of chess lessons and we also always analyse my own games, and other games that suit my interest and playing style. My rating went up with 200 points, but even better: I can now enjoy and understand games of Capablanca, Karpov and Carlsen and the like, that were always a mystery for me. Thank you Robert.

Hans Koonings (The Netherlands)

As a latecomer to the game - I only started a year ago at the age of 32 - I tried to catch up by devouring all the educational material I get my hands on from this vast amount available on the internet. It is true that these hours of study provided me with decent knowledge but only so little of that I was able to employ in my play. It was only after I had the pleasure of being coached by IM Robert Ris that I have started to seriously understand the game and more importantly, identify my weaknesses and strengths. The sessions with Robert are very versatile addressing all aspects of the game; opening my eyes and my appetite to the beauty of the game which I enjoy playing, analysing, and studying. Even when I lose I enjoy the thrill of revealing my weaknesses and work on them more.

Bassem (Egypt)

Robert Ris has been working with Achyuth for several months now.

He is very interactive and sync's well with Achyuth. Robert has always been responsive to the queries. Needless to say, he is a knowledgeable person adapts and presents lessons in an understandable way to Achyuth. I’m sure Robert will help/make Achyuth a better chess player.

In Achyuth's words, I like Robert because he is very playful and knowledgeable.

During games, if I make mistake we discuss why it is a mistake and what is the good move. This gives me confidence in my games.

Achyuth and his parents (India)