Simone Curzi

"Valeri is really a solid teacher. He is very knowledgeable - and you can have proof of that if you watch any of his ChessBase training - but I think that he really excels in teaching directly. I admit that I just have had my first lesson with him, but he made quite an impression to me. I have had many teachers in my life and my experience with him is not the one you would expect from a standard teacher. When a teacher limits himself to transferring information to you, Valeri shines for the relationship he is able to build with his students in no time. You have the feeling that Valeri does not want to simply be your teacher: he wants to be your partner in your goal of being a better Chess player. You can trust him to understand your weaknesses, to help you to see them and to point you in the right direction. This is very effective in helping you to really understand the message and to improve your Chess. And he goes much further to that: he does not impose himself to you but helps you to grow and to acquire self-assuredness. He is not free. In my ignorance of the market, I found other trainers asking for way less than him: at first this struck me negatively, but talking with him I quickly changed my mind and now I have to say I am happy I did so. I cannot say about the quality of the service offered by those other trainers, but I can definitely say that Valeri does a great job before, during and after the session. He is really available and you have the feeling that he is there for you and only for you. I have exchanged many emails with him and most of them have been answered in less than 30 minutes! Not to mention the quantity and quality of the material that he is readily able to provide to you after your session, for integrating the contents of the session. I can say that I have found a mentor and a Partner, someone that I trust to guide me in the long term goal of being a (much) better chess player. Kudos, Valeri!"-- Simone Curzi, Italy