Happy Customers
I am so happy and grateful to teach the most amazing children – Sarah
“Sarah has been an inspirational chess mentor and coach to our son Ethan and to ourselves as chess parents! Ethan has benefited tremendously from her knowledge and advice. Sarah has helped Ethan develop from a talented 6 year old chess player, into a strong player that represented England at age 9 in the under 11 section at European Schools Chess Championships in Poland. Above all, Sarah’s enthusiasm and passion for chess rubs off on all around her and this makes her a very special coach, especially for young players.”
Dave Gardiner“My son has been learning chess with Sarah for over a year now. In this time I have seen all the benefits of playing chess: how it helps improving the concentration and the memory, the strategy thinking, how it helps the children dealing with failure, the respect for others, resilience ….all that comes as a given with chess. What Sarah does with chess is taking it to another level, she can make an under9 feel like a Champion, she empowers the children and passes on the passion for the sport. You can tell that she is not only a teacher but also a coach, and she is there when the children feel demotivated or not capable. For me Sarah gives the children chess as a tool for life”
CarmenSarah has been teaching chess to my two boys for about three years now. They both enjoy the game and say that Sarah makes the chess lessons fun. From being complete novices they are now playing and winning in the school and county teams. Sarah has gone out of her way to support them and give extra training before competitions. She has developed the school chess team as well which is doing very well. She is passionate about teaching chess and the boys have greatly benefited from learning chess from her.
SridharHi Sarah and Alex,
Do hope all is well with you, I expect Isabel is growing fast…and hopefully sleeping through the night!
This is to let you know that after 48 years, I shall be retiring from teaching at the end of December so will need to cancel receiving your lovely weekly chess puzzles which we have forwarded to all our players since September.
I’ve run Chess Club at Broomgrove Junior School for over 20 years but our association with first Mike Basman and then yourselves has been the thing that has kept me going with tactics, puzzles and general support, but I’ve got to say that the highlight of all those years was you coming to play a simul with our children. They all still remember and talk about it, such was the impact and for this I thank you again.
The Delancey UK Chess Challenge is simply an inspired and wonderful tournament that is so exciting and encouraging to all the players be they Megafinal qualifiers or not, however, winning a mascot seems to be the most cherished goal for everyone! I’ve attached my leaving letter to the club members and highlighted a plug I’ve given your organisation.
Long may UK Chess Challenge continue and go from strength to strength.
With my very best wishes for your successful future,
Jean QuinnDear Alex,
Thank you again for inviting Tristan to take part in Friday morning’s lesson. It was really good for him and he enjoyed the afternoon much more on Friday. He told me half way through the afternoon that he has his confidence back and we’ve played chess a few times over the weekend which has been lovely. He’s enjoying the Three Check (hope that’s what it’s called!) too and he is thinking ahead much more like he used to.
Thank you very much for your feedback and the encouragement to continue. Hope you, Sarah and your team have a good week.
Best wishes,
ClaireThank you very much Sarah and team for such a fantastic Autumn Term chess club. For these youngsters who love chess and are used to attending chess clubs at school (prior Covid), the possibility to continue with this online has been amazing. You guys have made it fun but also challenging.
Carlos has really enjoyed the Wednesday’s lessons and the many tournaments he has taken part in. And the fact that there were 3 possible tournaments (Wednesdays after the lesson, Saturdays and Sundays) has meant that he was not upset when he had to miss some due to other commitments. It has worked really well.
As a teacher myself, I know how much work it takes to plan, find resources and produce good and engaging lessons, and you have certainly done this.
Many thanks and I hope you guys enjoy a well-deserved break.
Kind regards,
Pilar Navarro
We would like to thank everyone at UKCC for the excellent job they have done in teaching and stimulating our son to love chess. Our son loves his class and we find the teaching approach amazing.
Lia Gialelis-BartsocasThis has been a really good pair of weekends Sarah and Alex, it’s obvious you’ve both put loads of effort into making it interactive. In fact so good that in some ways it’s actually better than a normal academy weekend. I’d be quite happy to keep some of the weekends like this after lockdown returns to normal. 👍🙂
Neil JacksonOur 3 children have all been coached by Sarah Hegarty starting from as young as 4. She has been fantastic at helping them to understand the game but making it enjoyable as well. She’s been able to very quickly get the children to a very high standard, playing competitively around the country. Can’t recommend Sarah highly enough, and we thank her for giving our children a life long passion for chess.
Hayley GoldsmithDear Team, I’d like to congratulate you all on the fantastic megafinals and gigafinals that you’ve organised. I can only imagine what a logistical challenge this must have been! My son, Sammy, really enjoyed playing in both tournaments and it was a really exciting and educational experience for him. I’m sure all the children learnt a lot from this wonderful opportunity and experience.
Many thanks, and well done again on organising this fabulous competition.
My-AnhHi Sarah, Giya also wanted to let you know that she performed 3 fork moves in the chess MEGA tournament today that she had learnt in your tuesday lessons, which I have attached to this email. She says that this really helped her to come 5th and is really happy about it.
She also says that your lessons are always packed with information and tactics and is always looking forward to them!
Have a great weekend.
Sree
Hi Alex and Sarah, Niamh absolutely loved her prize in the post today. We had no idea that she had one until she opened the letter so it was a lovely surprise. It made her day. The chess sessions have been brilliant. I am at work 3 days each week and my husband works from home so the chess camp has kept all three children occupied on the days that I am at work and has really improved their chess.
Thank you
Maria BrownI cannot thank you enough!! You have no idea how grateful we are for this! Thanks so very much xx
Rachael OngleyFantastic weekends of chess – very well organised. Sophie enjoyed them immensely. A big thank you to Sarah, Alex and Pauline and all the coaches for giving up so much of their time to make it such a success.
Rafik FilobbosNicely presented, with some engaging commentary by Danny King and practical examples from Sarah on some endgame positions. A good intro into endgames, and certainly whetted the appetite of our kid – hungry for more of the same!
Bunnikin (username)Lichess Testimonials
