chessGM's live classroom lets a chess teacher run a lesson on one shared board. You share one link; your students open it and see your board live and hear your voice. You can set up any position, play through a game, run games between any two people in the class, and give each student puzzles at their own level.
A class holds up to 30 students and is not recorded. Students can join as guests to watch and listen; to speak or move pieces they sign in, and the teacher decides who has the floor or the board. Once everyone is in, the teacher can lock the class so no one else joins.
To start a class you need a chessGM account with at least ten finished games, which keeps the classroom for real players. It is free, like the rest of chessGM. Many teachers pair a live class with the free courses and puzzle themes for homework, and with Game Review so students can check their own games before the next lesson.
How to run a class
Open the Teach page and start a class. You get a link, a short code and a QR code to share.
Students open the link or type the code. Everyone joins as a viewer; signed-in students can be given the floor to speak or control of the board.
Set up the lesson: move pieces freely, place them from a tray, paste a FEN or PGN, pick a template (openings, checkmates, endgames, tactics, famous games), or use one of up to 200 positions you saved. Draw arrows and highlights in four colours.
Talk: your voice goes to the whole class. Students raise a hand, and you give the floor to one at a time.
Practise: run class games between two students, between you and a student, or a student against the computer, with or without a clock. Or start a puzzle round where every student gets a puzzle near their own puzzle rating, and see who solved it and how fast.
Lock the class when everyone is in, and end it when you are done.
Good to know
A class holds up to 30 students, guests included. Guests can watch, listen and solve puzzles; speaking, moving pieces and playing class games need an account.
You can show the eval bar, up to three engine lines and move icons to yourself only or to the whole class.
A class lasts up to four hours and ends ten minutes after the teacher leaves. One teacher runs one class at a time.
Classes are not recorded and class games are not saved. Puzzle rounds count like rated puzzles, so students' puzzle ratings change.
Questions and answers
Who can start a class?
Anyone with a chessGM account and at least ten finished games on chessGM. The page shows how many more games you need.
Do students need an account?
No to watch, listen and solve puzzles. Yes to speak, move pieces or play in a class game.
How does the teacher keep order?
The teacher decides who has the floor and who has the board, can mute everyone, take the board back, lock the class and remove or block a student.
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