My daughter who has an aptitude for chess is a student at Chess Max Academy. She takes private lessons with Max himself who is Grand Master! She started with Max when she was 5 years old. She is now 7. I have used other chess grandmasters and she was never excited as she is with Max. Through my experiences, I came to realize that not only is Max a grandmaster, he is also an excellent chess instructor! Max Chess Academy offers private lessons as well as group lessons. He engages his students with different exercises and drills. Max was World Blitz Champion therefore he has the extra skill of teaching Blitz chess which my daughter absolutely loves! She loves the challenge of thinking or making decisions and moving the pieces at lightening speed. It's actually very interesting to watch! Max really cares and looks after his students. He is results driven. He even goes to local and out of state tournaments to coach his students. He appreciates that parents are putting an effort into teaching their kids chess and he takes that commitment seriously. The location itself is excellent. He is located on 1st between 76th and 77th. There is a comfortable waiting area for parents to sit and wait. Along with group classes he also has classes for school breaks and summer. He also has other instructors. I believe he offers chess instruction in mandarin and Russian as well! My daughter has really benefitted from chess instruction with Max outside of chess itself. She has developed great problem solving skills, memory, endurance and even emotional intelligence. Believe it or not these youngsters experience a lot of highs and lows on the chess board. I can't thank Max enough for commitment and attention he has given our daughter. Every child can benefit from learning chess. They may not all be grandmasters but I promise you the skills they learn at a young age they will utilize for the rest of their lives! read more

Chess Max Academy - Specialty Schools Near Me - New York, New York

Nice new place ran by Maxim Dlugy and his wife. Maxim is really into chess and it shows. The place is similar to a small apartment though with a bunch of chess boards and 2 small rooms for tournaments (with an adequate number of clocks/boards.) The gold room is more for stronger tournament play while the silver room is more of a younger kids room (I assume this is used for his lessons.) A good change from the somewhat stuffy Marshall for events. Check the website though the calendar is a bit confusing. Give them a call if you are having issues. My only issue with the place is it's location. It's not the neighborhood of course but the Upper East Side means late running tournaments are really hard to get home from. There is a 6 train somewhat close to here...somewhat. read more

Max runs a great school. Jimmy is a great teacher. Have tried a few chess programs and this is the first where my son has found his niche and a program at the right level. Strongly recommend. read more

They have now moved to a larger space (still UES). Still awesome! Love the new place!

My kids take Chess and Russian in this school. We started with Russian classes 2 years ago at their old location, and this year started Chess Jump-starters level at the age of 6 yo. Its a challenging class for them, but they are very engaged during the classes, and they now play chess with each other whenever they have free time. I feel very proud that after 5 weeks their chess level is more advanced that my current level. I also have to say that I love the attention of our current Russian Teacher, she takes time to address each kids progress after every class and gives us some material to read or study at home. read more

One of the best in Manhattan. Great atmosphere, perfect teacher and school!!!! Definitely recommended. read more

My son has taken after school classes at Chess Max Academy and also participated in 5 weeks of the summer camp in 2018. He loves the Academy and Coach Max Dlugy. He also comes home excited about chess. The focus on middle game techniques over and against openings is perfect and makes great sense. And the belief that chess should be fun is perfect for my son. He'll be back. read more

Max academy offers unique approach to chess and math instruction; custome lesson and teaching experience produce phenomenal results. There are a lot of good players but few good coaches and this is THE place where chess skills are developed and taught read more

We took the trial class with Max today. Max is a super nice person , There are a lot of good players. Max is really into chess and it shows. My son loves it . read more

Grandmaster Maxim Dlugy is an amazing teacher. His classes are lively and fast-paced events that my sons (elementary school age) enjoy tremendously. They have learned so much with him. The proof is in the "pudding " of the ratings. But more important than that, he has nourished their love for chess. Some people don't understand why the academy is more expensive than other chess classes. However, it's obvious, since the instructor is a Grand Master and former world champion. Well worth the cost. read more

Great place to play and learn chess. My son has been going for a year and a half to a weekly session and for the week-long camp sessions and he loves it. He's gotten much better and has developed a passion for the game. Fun place to play, as well, very comfortable and Max is always around to give tips on your game. I recommend it highly. read more

We took the trial class with Max today. He was so patient with young kids and he made the learning really fun. Kids are going home with light homework, so they could keep practicing at home. read more

This is a great new chess facility and anyone with chess-playing children in Manhattan should check it out. Classes: For younger kids through very experienced older kids, there are group classes at all levels that allows for more individual attention and instructor experience than the typical school-based program. Tournaments: Even better is for the stronger kids who otherwise would be playing down at Marshall or local scholastic tournaments, for families living on the UWS or UES, the Quads tournaments are significantly more convenient than either trekking down to the Marshall Chess Club in the West Village or attending local scholastic tournaments that are generally more chaotic. It also takes less time because sections are small, so there is more time to enjoy the rest of the weekend. Considering how many nationally-ranked children live nearby, I'm hoping that this becomes the go-to place for good competition in a convenient setting. Lectures: The GM lectures are also a nice touch, and my son enjoyed one that he attended. read more

I emailed to schedule a beginner's trial class for my four year old after stopping in earlier that week to discuss the program. Told them he is 4. Told them he is in pre-school. Told them he has never played chess before. They told me what day and time to bring him in. Upon arrival, the woman behind the desk didn't have his name. They asked if he'd brought his homework from last week. All the other children were at least 6 years old, some older. Reading and writing letters and numbers was a required skill. It was 100% age inappropriate. When I tried to pull him out, they said he should stay. 2 minutes later they realized that made no sense, and brought him out and told us he should come back next year. In an act of bad faith, they still charged us $30 for the class - a class we never would have taken had they been honest about what an age inappropriate waste of our time it would be. They tried to keep our $60 but I asked for at least a partial refund. I hope they put these ill gotten funds to good use. read more

We always wanted to raise our son bilingual. I'm Russian and it is important for me that he learns the language. I could not be happier when I learned from an associate that there is a school on the UES where they offer private and group Russian language classes of all levels. I brought my son to Inna's class when he was 1,5. We have made much progress since. He started to pick up everything she is teaching him, started to repeat even longer and more difficult-sounding words. More importantly, Inna is excellent at keeping his interest and he always wants to come back for more. It is a great learning environment for the little ones. Inna teaches little kids through play and they never grow bored of their studies. Highly recommend Chess Max Academy for those who wish to learn/brush up their Russian skills. I'm looking forward to enroll him in chess lessons once he turns 3. Could not be happier with this place! Thank you guys! read more