Get your academy up and running on ChessMethod

What you get

• •Curriculum. Seven levels from Foundation (under 600) to Expert (1600+), with every lesson and activity playable exactly as a learner experiences it.
• •Certification levels. Learners sit a timed, webcam-proctored exam for each level and earn a certificate that anyone can verify online.
• •Learner management. Invite learners, decide which levels each one can see, and follow their progress, mock exams and results.
• •Branded certificates. Your academy name, logo and up to two signatories appear next to ChessMethod's on the certificates of learners who unlock levels through you.
• •Earnings. You earn a share of every level your learners buy.

How the money works

• •Learners buy levels. Each level has a price in the learner's own currency. You can set your own price for every level; otherwise the default price applies. Learners outside India never see rupees: they see their own currency, or US dollars.
• •You earn a share. By default you earn 80% of what a learner pays for a level and ChessMethod keeps 20%. Payment-provider fees come out of ChessMethod's part, not yours. If ChessMethod agreed a different rate with you, your Pricing page shows your exact split.
• •Each level uses one level credit. You prepay credits in advance. Every level that a learner linked to you obtains uses one credit from your balance. Joining you, or you making a level available to someone, costs nothing.

The path in one line

Sign up, get access, complete your profile and check your billing country, buy level credits, set up payouts, set your prices, create a learner code, brand your academy, invite learners. A one-page checklist is at the end of this guide.

Create your account

1. 1Open chessmethod.io and press Sign up.
2. 2Choose I'm a coach. (I'm a learner creates a learner account instead.)
3. 3Enter your name, your email and a password of at least 8 characters, confirm the password and enter your mobile phone number.
4. 4Press Sign up. You can also press Continue with Google, or Continue with Apple where it is shown. Choose I'm a coach first so the account is created as a coach account.

Activate your coach access

A new coach account has to be activated before you can use the curriculum, buy level credits, set prices, create codes or manage learners. Until then you can open every page, but those actions are refused. There are four ways to get access:

• •Subscribe with Stripe. Press Subscribe on the dashboard. The price and billing period are shown on the screen, you pay by card through Stripe, and you can manage or cancel the subscription at any time in Stripe.
• •Coach promo code. If ChessMethod gave you a coach coupon, type it into Coach promo code and press Redeem. It gives full access at no charge while the code is active.
• •A coach link from ChessMethod. A link that looks like /join/coach/… gives permanent free access. Sign up through it, or open it while you are signed in and press Activate permanent coach access.
• •Chesslang One membership. Existing members can press Continue with Chesslang One on the same screen (shown where it is available) to sync their membership.

Which currency applies

A currency only applies once ChessMethod has switched it on. If yours is not on yet, you see prices in US dollars, and the buttons that need a payment are disabled with the message Payments in US dollars open soon. ChessMethod will let you know. (with the name of your currency). Nothing is charged until payments in that currency open. The current state is listed in step 1.

Where to set your billing country

1. 1Open Profile from the bottom of the sidebar. (This page used to be called Account.)
2. 2Find the Billing country card and pick your Country. The line under it confirms the currency, for example "Prices and payments for your account are in USD."
3. 3Press Save.

The rest of your profile

• •Photo. Press Upload photo (later Change photo or Remove photo). Your photo is shown on your account.
• •Personal details. Your First name and Last name (leave the last name empty if you use a single name). Your email address is shown but cannot be changed here: contact support to change it.
• •Phone number. Required for coaches, with its country flag. ChessMethod uses it to contact you about your account.
• •Password. Enter your current password and a new one (at least 8 characters). If you do not remember it, press Send me a password reset email; the link expires in 30 minutes. If you signed up with Google or Apple and never set a password, press Email me a link to set a password so you can also sign in with your email.
• •Delete account. At the bottom of the page. This permanently deletes your account and personal data and cannot be undone, so you are asked to type DELETE and your password.

How to buy

1. 1Open Level credits in the sidebar (or press Buy credits on your dashboard).
2. 2Under Buy level credits, set the Number of level credits: any whole number from 1 to 1,000. Type it, or use + and -.
3. 3Check the Order summary. If ChessMethod gave you a Level credit code, enter it and press Apply to see the discount.
4. 4Press Pay. In India (INR), Razorpay Checkout opens over the page: enter your mobile number and email, then pay with one of the methods it offers, such as UPI, card or netbanking. In every other currency you are taken to Stripe Checkout, which takes cards only (Apple Pay and Google Pay appear as card options on supported devices). If payments in your currency are not switched on yet, the button is disabled and says Payments in US dollars open soon (or your currency); nothing is charged.
5. 5When the payment is confirmed your balance updates by itself.

Who sets up what

Stripe payouts (everything except INR)

1. 1Open Earnings in the sidebar.
2. 2On the Payouts with Stripe card (status Not set up) press Set up payouts with Stripe.
3. 3Stripe's own secure page opens. Stripe asks you to confirm your contact details and, as an individual, to give your name, date of birth, address and any ID number your country requires, plus the bank account that should receive your money. The exact questions depend on your country. ChessMethod never sees these details.
4. 4Finish on Stripe. It sends you back to Earnings with a message about your status.

What the status means

• •Not set up. You haven't started. Press Set up payouts with Stripe.
• •Setup in progress. Stripe still needs details from you, or is verifying what you sent. Press Continue Stripe setup to carry on where you stopped. If Stripe is only verifying, the page updates by itself when it finishes.
• •Connected. You are ready. Press Open Stripe dashboard to see your payouts and bank details in Stripe.
• •Needs attention. Stripe paused payouts to the account. Press Fix in Stripe and follow what Stripe asks for. Your earnings keep being recorded in the meantime.

Where Stripe payouts are available

Stripe payouts work for coaches in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland and the European Economic Area (the EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). In other countries, such as the UAE, Malaysia and Singapore, the card says that Stripe can't pay out to your country from ChessMethod's account. Your earnings from Stripe payments are then recorded as owed, and ChessMethod pays them to you by bank transfer (see "When you get paid").

India (INR payouts)

The INR payouts card shows Not connected yet and says that ChessMethod will contact you to set up INR payouts to your bank account. Razorpay verifies the account holder and the bank account, so expect to be asked for identity (KYC) and bank-account details. When it is done the card turns to Payouts connected. You do not set this up inside ChessMethod.

When you get paid

• •Automatically at the time of purchase when your payout account is active. The earning shows as Paid out.
• •Later when it is not active yet. The earning is recorded as Owed and ChessMethod pays it once your account is connected.
• •By bank transfer from ChessMethod. When Stripe cannot pay your country, or you have no payout account, ChessMethod pays your owed shares by bank transfer and records the payment. The row then shows Paid out with Paid by bank transfer on the date and the bank Reference:, and the amount moves from Owed to you to Paid out. Keep the reference to match it with your bank statement.
• •Refunds. If a learner is fully refunded, a share that was not yet paid is cancelled and shows as Reversed. A share already paid out is recovered by ChessMethod through the payment provider and then shows as Reversed. A partial refund does not change your share.

How to set prices

1. 1Open Pricing in the sidebar.
2. 2Pick a currency tab (INR, USD and so on). There is one tab for each currency that is switched on. Your own currency is always there and comes first (US dollars for most coaches outside India, never rupees); its prices take effect once ChessMethod switches that currency on.
3. 3Type your price for each level in Your price. Leave it blank to use ChessMethod's default, or press Reset to default.
4. 4Read across each row: Learner pays (no code), Your share and ChessMethod show exactly how a payment would be split.
5. 5Press Save prices.

• •Prices are per level and per currency. A learner sees your price in their own currency, or the default if you left that currency blank. Set every currency you care about.
• •Your prices apply to learners linked to you (step 9). Discount codes you create (step 7) come off your price.
• •Each currency has a maximum price per level. The form tells you if you go over it.
• •A currency's prices only take effect once ChessMethod has switched that currency on. You can edit and save them before then, and the page says so.

Create a code

1. 1Open Promo codes and press Create code.
2. 2Code: leave it blank to generate one, or type 4 to 24 characters (A to Z, 0 to 9 or a hyphen). You cannot change it later. Name: only you see it.
3. 3Levels unlocked at signup: tick at least one level. Learners who join with this code see only these levels, plus any they pay for.
4. 4Discount type: choose No discount (a plain link and level selection), Percentage (with an optional Discount cap) or Fixed amount. Fixed amounts and caps need a Currency, and only apply to payments in that currency.
5. 5Discount applies to: tick levels, or leave all unticked to discount every level.
6. 6Optionally set Starts and Ends, a limit under Learners (credits), and Single use per learner. Keep Active ticked, then press Create code.

How learners use it

1. 1You send the join link, which looks like chessmethod.io/en/join/YOURCODE.
2. 2It opens a page naming your academy with Create your account. The learner signs up as a learner with your code already applied.
3. 3At the level chooser they see only the levels you unlocked, with your discount applied. A learner who already has an account can type your code there instead.

How to set it up

1. 1Open Branding in the sidebar.
2. 2Type your Academy name and pick a Brand color.
3. 3Under Logo, choose or drop a PNG, JPEG or WebP file (up to 2 MB). A landscape 5:2 image such as 1000 × 400 pixels works best, and square logos are fine. Position it in the crop step and press Use image.
4. 4Under Certificate signatories add up to two people: a name, a designation such as Head Coach, and optionally a signature image (4:1, for example 1200 × 300 pixels, dark ink on a transparent or white background).
5. 5Press Preview certificate to see a sample, and Download sample PDF if you want to check the PDF.

What learners see

On certificates for levels your learners unlock through you (with your code, at your prices or from your invite), your logo and signatories appear next to ChessMethod's, on the certificate page and in the PDF. Other certificates are ChessMethod only. Anyone can still verify a certificate at its public link.

Invite learners

1. 1Open Learners and press Invite learners.
2. 2Choose One learner (name and email) or Several learners (upload a CSV, or paste emails one per line or as "name,email"). A CSV can also say which levels each learner gets (see Invite with a CSV file below).
3. 3Optionally pick Levels to unlock, which gives those levels free and uses one level credit each, add Promo codes to include and add the learners to a batch.
4. 4Press Send. Each learner gets an email with a link. If email is not set up, copy the links shown and share them yourself.

Invite with a CSV file

Download the sample from the dialog (Download sample CSV), or use /samples/chessmethod-learner-invites.csv, and fill it in. Up to 2,000 rows are read.

• •Columns. name, email and an optional levels. A header row is optional; with one, the column order does not matter. Files separated by semicolons or tabs, as Excel sometimes saves them, also work.
• •The levels column says which levels that learner is given for free. Write level names (Foundation), numbers from 1 to 7 (3) or slugs (phase-3). Capital letters, spaces and accents do not matter.
• •Several levels in one cell. Separate them with a comma (put the cell in quotes, like "Foundation, Beginner"), a semicolon or a vertical bar (4|5).
• •Blank cell. The learner gets the levels you picked in Levels to unlock in the dialog, if any. A row that names levels replaces that selection for that learner only.
• •Mistakes stay visible. A row with an unknown level or an invalid email is kept in the table with an error, so you can fix it in place. A repeated email is skipped.
• •Credits. Each level given uses one level credit. The dialog shows how many credits the import can use and how many you have. If you are short, learners are still invited, but their free levels are not granted until you buy credits (when enforcement is on).

The sample file has the columns name,email,levels and four rows: "Foundation, Beginner", phase-3, 4|5 and an empty levels cell.

Who counts as your learner

A learner is linked to you when they sign up through your join link, code or invite, or when they type your code at checkout. Joining costs nothing and uses no credit. An email on your roster that has not joined is only an invitation: you cannot see progress or control levels until the learner is linked. Only one coach can control a learner's levels.

Control which levels each learner sees

• •Learners who join with your code or invite see only the levels you enabled plus any they paid for. Other levels are hidden, not locked.
• •To change it, open the learner's row menu or profile and use Levels. Use Turn on level control if the learner has not got it yet, then switch levels on, or press Enable next level. To do it for many learners, tick them and use Enable level….
• •Enabling a level costs nothing. It makes the level available to buy, it does not give it away. A level a learner has paid for always stays visible.

Follow progress

The table shows each learner's status (Joined or Invited), levels, latest mock exam and certification. Open a joined learner's name for their profile: unlocked levels, certification sessions, mock exams, scores and Review for exam answers. View as learner in the row menu previews the product as they see it, and Manage batches groups learners into classes. Your dashboard also lists learners who need attention (no activity for 7 days) and those who are exam ready.

The learner's journey

1. 1Opens your join link, or the link in your invite email.
2. 2Creates a learner account. Your code is already applied, and a phone number (a parent's or guardian's for young players) is optional. A profile photo is asked for before the exam.
3. 3Chooses levels. They see only the levels you unlocked, each with the price in their currency and your discount.
4. 4Pays: Razorpay for learners in India (rupees), Stripe Checkout for everyone else. A learner outside India is never shown rupees. If their currency is not switched on yet, they see the prices in US dollars and a Payments in US dollars open soon message instead of a working Pay button.
5. 5Gets immediate access to the level's curriculum, practice and mock exams, plus the real exam with unlimited attempts.

What you see afterwards

• •Earnings: a new row with the date, the learner, the level, Learner paid, Your share and a status. Owed means your share is waiting to be paid, Paid out means it has been sent (by Stripe, Razorpay or by ChessMethod's bank transfer, with its date and reference), Reversed means it was taken back after a refund.
• •Level credits: a Level credit used row naming the learner and the level, and your balance goes down by one.
• •Learners: the learner shows as joined, with the level they bought.

Your checklist

1. Create your coach account (step 2)
2. Activate your access: subscribe, redeem a coach code or use a coach link (step 2)
3. Complete your profile and check your billing country (step 3)
4. Buy level credits (step 4)
5. Set up payouts on Earnings (step 5)
6. Set your level prices on Pricing (step 6)
7. Create a learner code and copy its join link (step 7)
8. Add your academy name, logo and signatories on Branding (step 8)
9. Invite learners or share your join link, and choose their levels (step 9)
10. Watch your first earning arrive (step 10)

Questions and fixes

Still stuck? Email support@chessmethod.io and include your account email.

Screenshots use a fictional "Demo Chess Academy" and test data.