Chess is one of those games most people only play for fun, not for money. It’s not like the regular sports games with so much traction around them. The prize funds for Chess are nothing near what other sports have, except you’re competing on a global platform.
Despite this lack of traction, there is still money in Chess. The famous chess player Hikaru Nakamura has a net worth of $50million. He made all that wealth from competing in tournaments right from a young age. You may not be Hikaru, but you want a reward for your passion for Chess. After all, people who play other games make lots of money from it, so why not you?
The internet is where most of us turn to search for side income. Make money online schemes are all over the place, and Chess might give you your next paycheck. Let’s see the various methods you can make money online from teaching Chess.
Write A Book
Writing a book is a great way to gain credibility and make money as an author. If you’re interested in writing about chess or becoming a chess coach, writing a book can be very lucrative!
If you want to teach chess for a living, you’ll need to write a book on the subject, preferably one that’s easy to understand and use. You could even write a book on any topic related to chess. For example, if you want to teach people how to play better at chess, perhaps you could write a book about it.
Your book doesn’t have to be about chess; you can write a book about business strategies, motivation, or self-development using the principles of chess.
Create A Chess Blog
You can create a blog for teaching Chess online. Your content will primarily teach your audience all you know about playing Chess—the elements of Chess, the role of each piece, and how to make the right moves. Your content should be rich, and your articles must be instructive, just like if you were coaching. Make sure you provide answers to the possible questions someone would ask if they were being coached.
Optimize your blog posts, so the search engine notices them and brings them to your readers. As a tip, interact with your audience by answering the questions in the comments. That way, they’ll trust the information you’re giving them. Once you’ve successfully built traffic, the next thing is to monetize your blog. Google AdSense is always there; many beginner bloggers earn from Google AdSense, and you, too, can.
Sell A Chess Course
Away from the traditional chess coaching, you can teach Chess online. Virtual classes are here to stay, and Chess players can make money teaching Chess online. You should have some level of expertise in Chess before attempting to teach. An Elo rating of at least 1400 would do just fine. To teach Chess online, you must find students. They could be from any social media platform.
Before you go hunting for students, write out a course outline so you don’t get overwhelmed and miss essential points when your class begins. Make sure to inform them of the fees. You can also teach Chess on websites such as Chess.com, where you are paid depending on your rating. The commission, however, isn’t below $5.
Start A Chess YouTube Channel
Thanks to YouTube, people can teach courses online by creating video content. Creating video content about Chess is a money maker. You can film yourself and maybe a friend while playing Chess and put it up on your YouTube channel. Or you could post videos of professional Chess tournaments on your channel. Once it’s monetized, you can start earning.
The challenge with YouTube is getting views. You could have educating videos, but it’s as good as not being there if no one sees them. So aside from creating content for your channel, look for traffic sources. Pull traffic to your channel and make good money teaching Chess on YouTube. Popular Chess YouTube channels include GMHikaru and Gotham Chess, having over 1 million subscribers.
Create & Sell eBooks On Chess Strategies
An eBook on Chess is another great way to teach Chess online. You can write an ebook that teaches Chess players Chess principles, elements, and instructions. After writing the ebook, you’ll design the cover page and sell it on your blog or website. You’ll need the traffic to sell ebooks, and it could come from social media, blogs, or email lists.
Third-party sites such as Amazon and Shopify have made selling ebooks easier. You could list your eBook on Amazon through the Amazon KDP and take advantage of the massive traffic. Amazon will charge a commission per sale of your ebook.
All four strategies I mentioned can be combined into one to ensure that you generate as much revenue as you possibly can teaching Chess online.
Can You Make Money Playing Online Chess?
Yes, you can make money by playing Chess online, and some websites support that. Playing Chess online is quite similar to a traditional board game; the moves and rules are the same. However, an online chess game is limited to some extent.
Players in an online Chess game can cheat without getting caught because there’s no way to enforce the rules. You could be playing against a robot instead of a human player without knowing. Other than that, online Chess is excellent. On websites such as BMchess.com, chess players can earn by playing against each other.
Like chess tournaments, online tournaments also allow chess players to earn by competing for a prize. chess2play.com is one of the popular sites where online tournaments are hosted. You could check them out.
How Much Can You Make Teaching Chess?
If you are setting the fees yourself, the amount of money you’ll earn depends on how much you charge your students. If you charge $15 per hour, you will make $75 in 5 hours per student. If you want a lot of money, you need a lot of students. Chess teachers in the US earn as much as $70,000 per year.
How Do Teachers Make Money Playing Chess?
If you’re a chess teacher, you have achieved mastery of the chess game. There are many ways you can earn that skill besides just teaching Chess. Here are other lucrative ways to make money from Chess.
1. Tournaments
A chess teacher with an Elo rating of up to 2000 would do great in tournaments. You can earn a living from Chess by competing in online tournaments. Major tournaments, such as the World Chess Championship, offer the top winner between $1 and $2 million in prize money.
Online tournaments on Chess2play.com could earn you a lot of money if you bring your best game on.
2. Chess Hustling
You don’t need to be a professional to participate in chess hustling, but if you don’t mind betting on your skills, chess hustling could be a good source of side income. Chess hustlers often gather in parks to bet on the game. If you’re good, you will walk away with a good amount of money.
3. YouTube content
YouTube is a great platform to earn from video content. As a chess player, you can analyze professional Chess tournaments and upload them on your channel. Create videos teaching Chess to newbies, and make sure your content is educating. When your YouTube channel meets the requirements, you can monetize it and start earning.
4. Write Content On Chess
If you teach Chess, you should be able to write content about Chess. It simply means you understand the fundamentals of Chess and can communicate information. There are many ways you can earn from writing content about Chess, such as blogging and writing for websites and magazines.
You can create a blog to teach others how to play Chess, build traffic and monetize your blog. You don’t have to be a chess teacher to make money writing about Chess; know enough about Chess and be able to convey the information to your audience.
Chess websites also hire content writers to provide articles for their sites. If you can freelance, this could be a terrific way to earn between $50 and $150 per article, depending on the word count.
Writing for websites also allows you to build a portfolio that attracts additional clients. You may even turn it into a business. Some websites will demand writing samples. Have your writing samples ready if you’re hoping to apply to such sites.
Writing for magazines is similar to writing for a chess website, but magazine content is more interesting. The intent is to entertain the readers and not to teach them. You’ll be writing about the fun side of Chess; if you’re passionate about Chess, this should be easy.
Magazines may not readily accept your application except if you’ve made a name in the field. Nonetheless, writing for magazines is a great way to earn from Chess.
5. Endorsements and Sponsorships
If you’ve made a name for yourself in Chess, like holding a title, you can earn an income from endorsements. Like any other industry, professional chess players earn money through sponsorships, endorsement from companies, and simply participating in events.
These types of opportunities aren’t very common in the industry, but if you’ve built yourself, you could get endorsements too.
6. Play For Clubs
With your level of expertise, you could play Chess for clubs and get paid. You could earn between $5-20k depending on the club and your level of mastery.
Can I Earn Money From Chess?
You can earn money from Chess by playing in tournaments and online blitz games, but it won’t be very much. If you keep winning, you will gain enough rating points to qualify for bigger tournaments and have the chance to win bigger prizes.
A handful of professional players can make a living from tournament winnings, but the number of players who can do this is relatively small. The average prize money for a top-level tournament is around $150,000 to two million dollars. Still, even Grandmasters don’t win every time they play, so you need to consistently get great results before you can afford to live off your profession.
How Do You Become A Chess Teacher?
The first step in becoming a chess teacher is to be a good Chess Player. You can only teach what you know. So if you plan to be a chess teacher, you must invest in yourself. Learn as much as you can about Chess and be good at it. In Chess, what determines a good player is the Elo rating. It should be at least 1600 rating points (USCF or FIDE).
If you’re perfect, you won’t have such a hard time charging your clients. They’ll be willing to pay for value so make sure you deliver that. Being a good chess player will help you if you want to teach, but it will also improve your chances of winning tournaments.
Practice
Practice makes perfect! The proof that you know so much about Chess is that you’re practicing. That’s how you’ll gain experience. Many jobs, not just chess jobs, require at least a few years of experience. You may not land a coaching job because you’re a good player. People want to know how long you’ve been teaching Chess.
At this stage, the aim is to gain experience and not make money. You could teach Chess for free. Coach your friends and family. Ask them to give honest reviews on your teaching skills. If you’re good, they’ll tell you.
Promote Your brand
The next thing you want to do is promote your services. Let the world know you. Start by creating relationships with other chess players, and connect with the local chess community. You could reach out to schools in your community and teach in their chess clubs.
You could leverage social media to promote yourself, build your portfolio, and apply for jobs. Offer individual chess coaching as well.
Publish Chess Content
You can write and publish chess content as a book or on blogs. Writing content about Chess is proof that you have good knowledge about Chess. Publishing chess content will raise your profile in the chess society and help you improve your chess coaching curriculum.
Get certified
If you want to get certified as a chess coach, it’s essential to understand what makes a good teacher. The most important thing for any teacher is a passion for the game and a desire to help others improve their game. If you don’t feel passionate about teaching, you won’t be able to help your students learn.
Your passion must come from within and not from outside sources like books. You must also be willing to put in the time and effort required to become an effective coach.
If you’ve gotten some level of expertise, it’s time to get certified. Depending on your level of knowledge, you can apply for different certifications. Each one has strict requirements you must meet before getting certified. The basic requirements are Elo rating and coaching experience. FIDE requires an Elo rating of at least 2300 Trainer and five years of training experience.
How Do Chess Hustlers Make Money?
Chess hustlers are those who play Chess for money. You may have seen them outside of a coffee shop, in a park, or on the subway, challenging anyone willing to play for money. But, how do they make money?
First, you need to understand that hustlers do not always win. They also lose. To succeed as a chess hustler, you need to know your level and find opponents whose skill level is lower but still good enough to make the game enjoyable. Hustlers also need to be able to recognize their own mistakes and learn from them. They also don’t play for long hours – just a few games a day is enough.
Hustlers usually prefer high-traffic areas where they can find plenty of potential opponents: parks, tourist attractions, beaches, and other public spaces are favorite locations because they get a lot of foot traffic. However, these places can also provide distractions; the hustler must be able to ignore the noise and other interruptions to concentrate on his game.
To make money as a chess hustler, you must be highly skilled, except if you want to rely on luck. In chess hustling, the players bet money, and the winner takes it all. It’s gambling, but the authorities chose to ignore it. Chess hustlers are smart; they apply tricks when playing. If you’re good, earning $300 a day is achievable.
Chess is one of the few board games that has managed to maintain its popularity amongst the masses and has found an audience worldwide. Playing Chess is a beautiful hobby, but you could earn a lot by teaching Chess.
There are many ways to market yourself as a chess teacher. Begin by building a unique and valuable presence. Create content (videos, articles, etc.) and share some of your methods with your audience. And most importantly—be a great ambassador for the chess game!
