1st lesson free
Zane
- Rate $125
- Response 1h
$125/hr
Contact
1st lesson free
- Chess
Chess for Gifted Children taught by a Developmental Psychologist. Taking a behavioral, cognitive and developmental perspective on chess to help your child realize their fullest potential.
- Chess
Lesson location
About Zane
I am a developmental psychologist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist with a lifelong passion for chess. Over years of clinical practice, I became increasingly interested in how structured games like chess reveal and support children’s emotional worlds, thinking patterns, and developmental needs.
Professional Background
• UK Trained in developmental psychology
• UK Psychoanalytic psychotherapy practice
• Research in early relational processes and affect regulation
• Experience working with children, parents, and families
• Deep personal experience with chess, strategy, and symbolic play
• Over 5 years of private 1:1 chess coaching and organizational chess coaching.
My Approach
I integrate:
• psychodynamic understanding (emotional patterns, symbolic communication)
• developmental psychology (executive function, cognitive growth)
• chess-based strategy (decision-making, thinking under pressure)
This creates a gentle but powerful method for helping children grow through a medium that feels safe, structured, and enjoyable.
My Belief
Children learn best when thinking and feeling come together. Chess creates a unique relational space where both can develop in harmony.
My professional training and accreditations:
- BSc Psychology (Hons First Class - University College London)
- MSc Developmental Psychology and Clinical Practice (Distinction - University College London)
- Doctor in Psychodynamic Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (Training - Exeter University)
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About the lesson
- All Levels
- English
All languages in which the lesson is available :
English
A unique, psychology-informed approach that helps children strengthen emotional regulation, frustration tolerance, confidence, and cognitive development — using the rich symbolic and strategic sandbox of chess. Helping develop Focus, executive function, emotional resilience, and developmental maturity through chess.
What I offer?
Chess-Based Developmental Coaching blends my background in developmental psychology and psychoanalytic psychotherapy with the structure and exploration of chess. Through guided play, reflection, and relational engagement, children learn to think before acting, manage emotions, and develop strong executive functioning skills.
This approach helps children who struggle with:
• Impulsivity or difficulties focusing
• Perfectionism or trouble tolerating losing
• Anxiety, frustration, or emotional overwhelm
• Low confidence or fear of mistakes
• Difficulty planning or organizing
• Social challenges in competitive or shared play
• Understanding and being mindful to the perspective of others
• Gifted high-potential children who struggle with mainstream education
Why Chess?
Chess is more than a game—it is a symbolic, relational learning space where children naturally encounter:
• challenges
• decisions
• uncertainty
• frustration
• creativity
• triumph and loss
• thinking under pressure
• Difficult to understand emotions and feelings
With skilled guidance, these become opportunities for growth. Chess becomes a safe space and structured arena where psychological development and deeper personal growth can be facilitated through the game of chess.
Section: Benefits For Children
Cognitive Skills
Improved focus and attention
Strategic thinking & planning ahead
Working memory
Flexibility of thought
Impulse control
Decision making maturity
Quickly identifying patterns and themes
Building a powerful generalizable intuition with the self as its instrument
Emotional Skills
Tolerating frustration
Managing big feelings
Building healthy self-confidence
Reducing perfectionism
Understanding and managing loss and disappointment
Deeper understanding of self
Social & Relational Skills
Sportsmanship
Turn-taking & patience
Understanding others’ perspectives
Healthy competition
Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses in play
Section: How Sessions Work
Each child works with me one-to-one or in small groups through:
• guided chess games
• collaborative reflection (“What happened there?” “How did that feel?”)
• emotional regulation support
• teaching thinking tools
• practicing strategic planning
• playful analysis of patterns
• strengths-based encouragement
This isn’t tutoring — it’s developmental work through the medium of chess.
(Optional Service)*
An additional 30-min progress discussion with a developmental report can be provided with an additional fee for involved parents who want to engage with their child's developmental progression. The report will combine aspects of chess but focuses mainly on your child's cognitive, behavioral and psychological aspects of function.
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Rates
Rate
- $125
Pack prices
- 5h: $626
- 10h: $1253
free lessons
The first lesson with Zane will allow you to get to know each other and discuss your needs for future lessons.
- 30mins
online
- $125/h
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