About our Online Classes
Classes are 7 days a week and tournaments are 3 days per week.
Everything is online.
Classes are taught by National Master Jeffrey Ashton, owner of Panda Chess Academy. Full time chess teacher in Houston since 2003.
Classes have been 100% online since March 19. We plan to reopen Panda Chess Academy as soon as it is safe (our 9900 Westpark Location has been here since 2005).
Classes are 1 hour and involve lecture and play.
Tournaments
Online tournaments are played on www.lichess.org and are played mostly by Houston area scholastic players.
Events are organized by National Master Jeffrey Ashton.
Tournaments are Fridays at 6:30pm, Saturdays at 4:30pm, and Sundays at 6:00pm. We also have a few extra events.
If you are curious about ratings, please know that there aren't any normal USCF tournaments online.
Flexibility
We have once per week, three times a week, and unlimited options. We are flexible with scheduling and makeup.
Level Questions
We have classes for beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.
Beginners are expected to know the rules of chess. Intermediate and Advanced classes are best for tournament players.
Recommendation for new students: use www.chessmagnetschool.com and use class code: only68
Experience with Zoom and lichess.org is highly recommended.
A note about Ratings
Our online tournaments use LiChess Ratings, which are not USCF Regular Ratings. Please note that USCF Online Ratings are a new and trendy thing, but also non-standard. USCF Online Ratings are non-standard. We recommend the USCF "Regular Rating" system as this is the standard in the U.S.
Hosted over 700 online Tournaments! Click here to see!
Hosted nearly 800 in-person USCF Rated Tournaments at the Panda Chess Academy: Click here to see!
