A city guide to chess life in Krasnoyarsk
Chess schools, clubs and chess lessons in Krasnoyarsk
A big guide to chess in Krasnoyarsk: where to learn, how to find a coach, a chess club, a tournament or simply somewhere to play. Verified addresses of schools and clubs by district, information about the regional and city federations, coaches, the «Yenisei Bridges» tournament and the history of chess in the city.
The guide is put together for two people at once: a parent choosing a section for their child, and an adult resident of Krasnoyarsk who has decided to sit down at a board again.
One of the notable chess centres of Siberia
One of the notable points of Krasnoyarsk's chess scene is the International School of grandmaster Pyotr Kiryakov, opened by its founder, a Krasnoyarsk native. The school has six branches across the city: the main «Pokrovsky» office in the Oktyabrsky district at Akademika Kirenskogo St. 87, four branches in Sovetsky (Mate Zalki 10g; Aviatorov 44; Karamzina 10) and two in Sverdlovsky (Navigatsionnaya 5; Kapitanskaya 14). Alongside them work the Fenomen network (Mate Zalki St. 10g), Art-Fa (Respubliki 51), CHESS STAR in Vzlyotka, the Yuny Strateg academy, Gravitatsiya and the Shum-Gam children's centre. Free programmes are at the Dvoriki chess club at the Palace of Pioneers (Konstitutsii SSSR 1), Grand at Creativity and Development Centre No. 1 and the self-determination school. The Regional Chess Club on Otdykha Island 15A is the main venue for official events.
One of Krasnoyarsk's notable active chess names is Pyotr Kiryakov, an international grandmaster since 1998, Russian under-15 and under-20 champion and champion of the Siberian Federal District in 2008. The historic name is Yu. S. Shilov, Krasnoyarsk's first master and USSR champion in 1957 with the RSFSR team; and in 1926 the 16-year-old Igor Yavorsky, a worker at the railway workshops, shared victory in the Siberian workers' championship in Krasnoyarsk.
Chess schools and clubs in Krasnoyarsk
The chess addresses of Krasnoyarsk: grandmaster Kiryakov's international school with six branches, the Fenomen network, Art-Fa, CHESS STAR, the free programmes of the Palace of Pioneers and the self-determination school, and the Regional Chess Club. The cards give addresses, audiences, telephone numbers and websites.
Where there is chess near you
Krasnoyarsk has seven administrative districts. Below are the chess addresses by district where schools and clubs operate.
- The Krasnoyarsk city chess federation - Mira Square 1
- The Art-Fa chess school - Respubliki St. 51
- The Dvoriki chess club (the Palace of Pioneers) - Konstitutsii SSSR St. 1
- The Kiryakov school, main office - Akademika Kirenskogo St. 87 / Chernyshevskogo St. 118
- The Kiryakov school «Severny» - Mate Zalki St. 10g
- Fenomen - Mate Zalki St. 10g, office 17
- The Kiryakov school «Vzlyotka» - Aviatorov St. 44
- The Kiryakov school «Belye Rosy» - Karamzina St. 10
- Grand (Creativity and Development Centre No. 1) - Telmana St. 24
- CHESS STAR - 78 Dobrovolcheskoy Brigady St. 19
- The Kiryakov school «Yuzhny Bereg» - Navigatsionnaya St. 5
- The Kiryakov school «Kapitanskaya» - Kapitanskaya St. 14
- Gravitatsiya - Akademika Vavilova St. 54G
- The self-determination school - Akademika Vavilova St. 90
- Yuny Strateg - Dmitriya Martynova St. 24
- The Regional Chess Club - Otdykha Island 15A
- The Shum-Gam children's centre (chess club) - Babushkina St. 2
What age to start a child, and where
Under the rules of most Krasnoyarsk schools, chess can start at four or five. CHESS STAR takes children from 4 and Gravitatsiya from 5. The Dvoriki chess club at the Palace of Pioneers takes them from 7, and Grand at Creativity and Development Centre No. 1 from 6. The Kiryakov school works with pre-school age and older. Sports training through the regional federation comes in later, after an initial assessment of level and interest.
A parent should keep a simple set of things in mind: the age and the choice of group, who teaches the lessons, how convenient the journey across the city is, how the schedule fits, whether there is a route to tournaments, how large the group is and what mood the child leaves the trial lesson in.
What chess gives a child
- ConcentrationA single game holds the attention for 30-60 minutes at a stretch. That staying power later carries over to lessons at school by itself.
- Understanding consequencesOver the board nothing happens on its own; you answer for every move. A child gets used to calculating ahead.
- Losing calmlyThis is arguably worth more than the wins themselves. A child learns to take a defeat calmly and sit down to a new game.
- A communityA circle of peers appears outside the classroom and the yard, with conversations and rules of its own.
- Tournament experienceTrips away, keeping to the regulations, playing under the clock. All of it gradually builds independence.
You can start from nothing, and nobody will laugh at you
The Kiryakov school works with adults - group and individual lessons, with a free trial. The Regional Chess Club on Otdykha Island 15A is a place for casual games and official regional tournaments. The city amateur format Vibe Chess is somewhere you can turn up knowing only the rules.
Nobody asks about a rating or a rank at the door. A group is not compulsory either: take individual lessons or simply drop in on club meetups and amateur tournaments. Competitive play and amateur play live by different laws, and in the latter what counts is not a line in a table but the fact that you came to the board at all.
Lessons at a club or a school
A schedule, a programme and a coach at hand. An option for anyone who wants a system.
An individual coach
The fastest progress and a convenient schedule, but a higher price too.
Club meetings
Casual games, real conversation and city tournaments, both rated and unrated.
Vibe Chess
Amateur city tournaments right in Krasnoyarsk's cafes and bars. Nobody asks about your rating at the door.
Online lessons
When getting around the city is hard, online schools help - they are not tied to Krasnoyarsk.
Studying on your own
Books, lichess and chess.com, and analysing your own games. A good supplement to lessons.
How to look for a coach in Krasnoyarsk
We deliberately do not compile a «top coaches in Krasnoyarsk». There is no objective data for a ranking, and subjective selections are often misleading. Criteria for choosing are more use.
The coaches work at the schools and clubs listed above and can be contacted directly through their websites. Kiryakov's international school has a pool of coaches led by an international grandmaster. The Dvoriki club at the Palace of Pioneers has teachers including FIDE masters.
Experience with children
A coach's own playing strength matters less to a child than the ability to explain. Ask how many children of that age they have already taught.
Sporting title
A coach's rank or title is a hint rather than a promise of results. Look at the combination of «title plus teaching experience».
Experience preparing for tournaments
When the goal is completing rank norms, you need a mentor with experience of taking pupils to tournaments and a knowledge of the rules.
Reviews and recommendations
Real words from parents and pupils are more reliable than a rating on an aggregator site. Ask people you know and look in the city's VK groups.
District and format
Logistics matter for a child no less than the coach's level. Travelling across the whole of Krasnoyarsk wears you out faster than it helps; a decent mentor near home often wins. The fallback is online lessons.
Price
Prices vary widely: from about 500 roubles for a group lesson to 1,300-1,400 an hour individually with coaches whose pupils have serious results.
An individual approach
A good sign at a trial lesson: the coach takes an interest in the pupil rather than loading their methodology on you from the doorway.
Communication with parents
A decent coach explains what is being done, what for and where the progress is going. If all you get back is «everything's fine», that is a bad sign.
A trial lesson
Buying a season ticket blind, from a photo and a description, is not worth it. Go to a trial - there is usually one or two.
A guide to chess tuition prices in Krasnoyarsk
The price depends on the school, the format and the coach's title. Below is a guide to the main formats of chess tuition in Krasnoyarsk for 2025-2026.
The Kiryakov school - season ticket
The International School of grandmaster Pyotr Kiryakov. The standard monthly season ticket works out at about 500 roubles a lesson.
The Kiryakov school - single lesson
A single visit to a group - you can try it without a season ticket.
The Kiryakov school - individual
A 60-minute individual lesson with a coach from the Kiryakov school. The trial is free.
CHESS STAR - 8 lessons a month
An intellectual school in Vzlyotka (78 Dobrovolcheskoy Brigady St. 19).
Gravitatsiya - 4 lessons a month
The chess track at the children's science and technology centre at Akademika Vavilova St. 54G.
Shum-Gam - a single lesson
A chess club at the children's centre at Babushkina St. 2.
The Dvoriki chess club (the Palace of Pioneers)
A free programme for children aged 7-17 at Konstitutsii SSSR St. 1.
The Grand school (Creativity and Development Centre No. 1)
A municipal programme for children aged 6-11 at Telmana St. 24.
A Vibe Chess amateur tournament
Chess evenings in Krasnoyarsk's cafes and bars. Registration through the Telegram bot.
The chess federations of Krasnoyarsk and the Krasnoyarsk Territory
Two registered structures work in parallel in Krasnoyarsk and the region - a regional one and a city one. Under their auspices come the regional and city championships, rated tournaments, the regional stages of the Russian Cup and the «Yenisei Bridges» tournament.
Chess tournaments in Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk's main regular chess tournament is «Yenisei Bridges», a stage of the Russian Rapid Grand Prix. It is held annually in October; in 2025 from 10 to 14 October. Krasnoyarsk also periodically hosts a stage of the Siberian Federal District championship. All rated tournaments can be filtered in the ratings.ruchess.ru system by region 24.
What the formats are
Vibe chess in Krasnoyarsk
Vibe Chess runs city chess evenings in the cafes and bars of Krasnoyarsk. Short games, different opponents, real conversation between rounds. It suits anyone who wants to come back to chess without the atmosphere of an exam or the pressure of competition.
It is not a replacement for the classical schools but an addition to them. After a working week you do not want to sweat over the board - you want a good evening with a game and some interesting people. Vibe Chess has a page of its own for Krasnoyarsk with all the rules of the format.
What a «vibe tournament» means
- Short games: 3+2 or 5+3.
- Several rounds over an evening, with a new opponent each time.
- The players' strengths are varied; nobody demands that you be a grandmaster.
- In the breaks between games you chat and get a coffee or something else.
- Coming alone is entirely normal; plenty of people do.
- Registration and announcements go through the Telegram bot.
The history of chess in Krasnoyarsk
The key dates of Krasnoyarsk chess - from 16-year-old Igor Yavorsky's win at the 1926 Siberian workers' championship to today's international «Yenisei Bridges» tournament.
The 16-year-old Krasnoyarsk resident Igor Yavorsky, a worker at the railway workshops, shares first place at the Siberian workers' championship with a player from Novosibirsk. Both are declared champions of Siberia among workers.
G. Ardasheva becomes the first women's champion of Krasnoyarsk with a score of 11 out of 12.
Yu. S. Shilov, a product of the chess circle at the Krasnoyarsk House of Pioneers and Krasnoyarsk's first master, becomes USSR champion with the RSFSR team.
Pyotr Kiryakov is born in Krasnoyarsk - the future international grandmaster and founder of a major Krasnoyarsk chess school.
Krasnoyarsk's Pyotr Kiryakov becomes Russian under-15 champion.
Pyotr Kiryakov wins the Russian under-20 championship.
Pyotr Kiryakov receives the title of international grandmaster.
Pyotr Kiryakov wins the Siberian Federal District men's championship (Novokuznetsk).
The Krasnoyarsk Chess Federation, a city public organisation, is registered.
The Chess Federation of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the current regional federation, is registered.
Krasnoyarsk hosts a stage of the Russian Rapid Grand Prix - the «Yenisei Bridges» tournament. In 2025 it runs from 10 to 14 October.
Notable chess players connected with Krasnoyarsk
Names connected with Krasnoyarsk and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Every card has a link to the biography.
What to look at when choosing a chess school
For parents
- The age and make-up of the group: will the child be among peers of similar strength, where they will find it interesting.
- The teacher: have they worked with children of these years, and do they ask about your child.
- The journey: can you manage regular trips across the whole of Krasnoyarsk. If it is far, online makes more sense.
- An even level within the group, so that the child does not turn out to be obviously weaker than the rest.
- A route to tournaments: is a path to city events built into the programme.
- The mood after the trial: the child asks to come to the next lesson of their own accord.
- The price and what the season ticket includes: what is in it, what is not, and whether there is a trial lesson.
- A schedule that fits alongside school and the other activities.
- Reviews from real parents rather than only stars on an aggregator.
For adults
- Whether they run adult groups, not just children's ones.
- Whether they will let in a beginner who knows only how the pieces move.
- Whether there is free play rather than only programme lessons.
- Evening hours, so you can make it after a shift or after work.
- Whether there is unnecessary sporting pressure where you do not want it.
- Whether they run amateur tournaments to keep your interest going.
- A format to suit you: a group, individual lessons, online or club meetups.
How a school, a club, a coach and a tournament differ
Frequently asked questions about chess in Krasnoyarsk
Where can you learn chess in Krasnoyarsk?›
The city's notable addresses are the International School of grandmaster Pyotr Kiryakov with six branches across Krasnoyarsk (Akademika Kirenskogo 87; Mate Zalki 10g; Navigatsionnaya 5; Aviatorov 44; Karamzina 10; Kapitanskaya 14), the Fenomen school (Mate Zalki 10g, office 17), the Art-Fa school (Respubliki 51), the Dvoriki chess club at the Palace of Pioneers (Konstitutsii SSSR 1), CHESS STAR (78 Dobrovolcheskoy Brigady 19) and the Regional Chess Club on Otdykha Island 15A.
Which chess schools are there in Krasnoyarsk?›
On the state side there is the Dvoriki chess club at the Regional Palace of Pioneers and the self-determination school (Akademika Vavilova 90). On the municipal side, Grand at Creativity and Development Centre No. 1 (Telmana 24). Private: the Kiryakov school (6 branches), Fenomen, Art-Fa, Gravitatsiya, CHESS STAR, Yuny Strateg and the Shum-Gam children's centre. The Regional Chess Club is the main venue for official events.
Where can I find a chess club in Krasnoyarsk near home?›
In the Central district there is the city federation at Mira Square 1, Dvoriki (Konstitutsii SSSR 1) and Art-Fa (Respubliki 51). In Oktyabrsky, the Kiryakov school's main office at Akademika Kirenskogo 87. In Sovetsky (Vzlyotka, the Severny district, Belye Rosy), four branches of the Kiryakov school, Fenomen, Grand and CHESS STAR. In Sverdlovsky, two Kiryakov branches, Gravitatsiya, Yuny Strateg, the self-determination school and the Regional Club (Otdykha Island 15A). In Zheleznodorozhny, Shum-Gam (Babushkina 2).
Where should I send my child for chess in Krasnoyarsk?›
Many of the city's schools take children, and the starting age varies: CHESS STAR from 4, Gravitatsiya from 5, the Dvoriki chess club from 7 and Grand from 6. The Kiryakov school works with pre-school age and older. What parents should look at is whether there are separate groups for pre-schoolers and what the programme is.
Can an adult start playing chess from scratch?›
Of course. The Kiryakov school takes adults too, with groups and individual lessons and a free trial. The Regional Chess Club on Otdykha Island 15A is suitable for casual games and official events. And the gentlest way in is Vibe Chess Krasnoyarsk - chess evenings in cafes and bars.
How much does a chess coach cost in Krasnoyarsk?›
2025 prices: the Kiryakov school - a season ticket for 8 lessons 4,000 roubles (about 500 per lesson), a single group lesson 600, an individual 60-minute lesson from 1,300-1,400, with a free trial. CHESS STAR - 3,000 roubles for 8 lessons a month. Gravitatsiya - 1,700 roubles for 4 lessons a month. Shum-Gam - 312 roubles a lesson. The Dvoriki chess club at the Palace of Pioneers and the self-determination school are free.
Where can I see the tournament calendar for Krasnoyarsk?›
The main tournament is «Yenisei Bridges», a stage of the Russian Rapid Grand Prix (annually in October). The Siberian Federal District championship takes place in March, rotating among the district's cities and held in Krasnoyarsk among others. The national calendar and the region's rated tournaments are at ruchess.ru and ratings.ruchess.ru (region 24).
Where are official chess competitions held in Krasnoyarsk?›
The main venue is the Regional Chess Club on Otdykha Island 15A. Also the Regional Palace of Pioneers (Konstitutsii SSSR St. 1) and the Kiryakov school's venues.
What is the Chess Federation of the Krasnoyarsk Territory?›
A regional public organisation registered on 10 January 2018. Its registered address is Vostochnaya St. 15, Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory. The president is Semyon Olegovich Shlyakhtov (since 30 January 2024). In parallel, the Krasnoyarsk Chess Federation, a city organisation, has operated since 2001 (president Vladimir Nikolayevich Makarov, since 26 August 2021).
What is «Yenisei Bridges»?›
Krasnoyarsk's main regular chess tournament - a stage of the Russian Rapid Grand Prix. It is held annually in October; in 2025 from 10 to 14 October. It is part of the national Rapid Grand Prix series.
What is the difference between a chess school and a chess club?›
A school gives you a system: a programme, a mentor, lessons to a schedule, an assessment of level and a road to tournaments. A club is a venue where you simply play, meet other players and get to local events. In Krasnoyarsk both roles are carried by the Kiryakov school and the Regional Chess Club on Otdykha Island.
Do I need a rating to play in a tournament?›
Amateur meetups and Vibe Chess need no rating; people come straight from nothing. For tournaments rated by the Russian federation the player is first registered in the system through a club or the regional federation. And at competitive events with rank norms you will be asked for a confirmed rank or a permit.
Where can I play chess without the competitive pressure?›
That is Vibe Chess Krasnoyarsk - chess evenings in cafes and bars. The games are short, 3+2 or 5+3, the opponents vary widely in strength, and nobody analyses your slips after every move. Announcements and registration are through the Telegram bot.
Can I come to chess on my own?›
Yes, to any format. Almost everyone comes to the city evenings on their own, and the games quickly bring people together. Signing up for a school alone is entirely ordinary too.
How do I tell whether a coach suits my child?›
There are three signs. First, after a few lessons the child goes willingly rather than under duress. Second, in their free time they sit down to a game of their own accord, online or with the family. Third, the coach talks to you as equals, sets out the plan and explains what is being done and why. Two out of three and everything is fine.
Solve a chess puzzle
Mate in one - a real position from a chess database. Solve it and see if you're a fit for us.
How to run a tournament in Krasnoyarsk without being an arbiter
No arbiter skills required. The app takes over the part that usually stops people from running tournaments at all: who plays whom in each round and who finishes first.
- 1Creating the event takes a minute
- 2Open registration and drop the link into the chat
- 3Pairings follow FIDE rules (Dutch system, the bbpPairings engine)
- 4Results go in with two taps and the table recalculates instantly
- Swiss system. works for ten players and for fifty
- Round robin. for a small group that wants to play everyone
- Free meetup. for those who do not need a bracket at all
Fancy trying a vibe chess evening in Krasnoyarsk?
Vibe Chess is a series of chess meetups in Krasnoyarsk's cafes and bars. Nobody asks about your rating and there is no sporting pressure. Just the thing if you are only thinking about coming back to the board or want to play near home with no commitments at all.
More about chess in Krasnoyarsk and in other cities
Besides the schools and sections, Krasnoyarsk hosts the informal Vibe Chess evenings - short games and new acquaintances in cafes and bars, where you can turn up knowing only the rules. And below are guides to learning in neighbouring cities and a catalogue of openings for practice on your own.