At The School Of Rook, we provide free chess resources for beginners. Because money shouldn’t get in the way of learning chess.

Mission

The School Of Rook’s mission is to provide free chess resources and make learning chess fun.

Vision

The School Of Rook becomes a trusted learning source that serves a worldwide community of chess players.

This community consists of individuals from all walks of life and at different stages of their chess journey. They can be adults reconnecting with the chess community, parents wanting to teach their kids, senior citizens getting back into competitive chess, and the list goes on.

However, they are bound by either of these goals 一 to play chess to connect with like-minded people, improve cognitive functioning, or just have fun. Ultimately, The School Of Rook wants to be a one-stop shop for those who want to learn and excel in chess.


“Our goal is to help you learn chess by delivering high-quality content.”


Meet The Founder

Niyotee Koranne is a FIDE-rated chess player who loves few things more than walking her dogs, playing chess, and writing for people like you who’d like to learn chess online.

Her Story in Her Words

Let’s rewind to 2002 when I first started playing chess. Back then, I was a hyperactive child (“little ball of energy,” as I’d like to say) who needed an outlet for her pent-up energy.

I excelled at sports in school, but that wasn’t enough. My mother decided to enroll me in group chess training, and let’s just say my mother could sleep well at night.

I started doing well in chess and made a name slowly and steadily. I won a few tournaments, represented my state in the nationals, and finally achieved my ELO rating of 1542 in 2008.

Then came the point where I had to choose between improving my rating and doing my undergrad. I chose the latter and successfully graduated with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy.

However, I missed playing chess. I started coaching kids intermittently while having a full-time job. I realized that I was doing well in other parts of my life as long as I played chess regularly.

So after years of being away from the chess scene, I decided to start playing and studying chess again. Then I came across many posts asking for advice on how to improve their Chess.com or Lichess rating.

Most of the online chess content was written for generating leads to gain customers. There was hardly anyone giving real-world chess tips online.

The majority of the people relied on forums to look for answers. So that’s when I decided to create a blog to develop an ecosystem where chess learners can have all their questions answered.

I lacked the resources to get where I wanted to be. I made a LOT of mistakes along the way. These mistakes could have been avoided if I had the right mentor. So I’ve created The School Of Rook 一 a free all-in-one chess guide to help you achieve your chess dreams.