One class, end to end.
Sign-ups to progress.
Your program page takes registrations, enrollment hands the family straight into a class, and students join with a code and an alias — no student email, no chat with strangers, and no personal data required from kids.
When NGChess is worth it — and when it isn't.
Lichess and Chess.com already do chess play, analysis, puzzles and teaching tools very well, and they are free. NGChess is for clubs and academies that want the program page, the registration and waitlist requests, student onboarding, assignments and progress to be one connected workflow instead of four separate ones.
🌐 Your program page is part of it
A public page with your programs, schedule and events. Families register from it, and those requests land in your dashboard rather than your inbox.
👤 Enrollment becomes a class
Marking a request enrolled emails the family how to join the class linked to that program. Students join with a code and an alias — no student email, no student password.
📊 Practice and progress in the same place
Assign puzzles with due dates and see, per student, what is not started, attempted or solved — for the same roster that came out of registration.
| What you may want | Free consumer sites | NGChess |
|---|---|---|
| Somewhere to play, analyse and train | Excellent, free | Yes |
| Teacher-managed student accounts without student email | Yes (Lichess Classes) | Yes, code and alias |
| Persistent annotated teaching material | Yes (Lichess Studies) | Not yet |
| A public program page for your club | No | Yes |
| Registration and waitlist requests | No | Yes |
| Enrollment handed off straight into a class | No | Yes |
When NGChess may not be worth switching for
If you already run one class well with Lichess Classes and Studies, NGChess may not give you a reason to move. The guided pilot exists to find out whether having the program page, registration and class in one workflow saves you enough time to be worth it — on your own class, with your own students, before you decide anything.
Running a class takes about ten minutes.
Create a class
Name it, pick a grade or skill range, and get a join code instantly.
Students join
They enter the code and pick an alias — no email, no account, no personal profile.
Assign practice
Pick puzzles for the class and set a due date.
Review progress
See who finished, accuracy, and the skills your class keeps missing.
Printable material you can take into the room.
A 16-week curriculum guide, three ready-to-run lesson plans and three student worksheets. Free to download and use, with or without an NGChess class.
16-week curriculum guide
A term of chess club, week by week, with objectives and what to cover in each session.
Beginner → IntermediateIntroduction to chess
The board, the pieces and the first safe habits.
BeginnerPawn movement
How pawns move, capture and promote — with the exceptions that trip students up.
BeginnerCheckmate patterns
Back-rank and ladder mates, and recognising them on sight.
Beginner → IntermediateThree student worksheets
Piece identification, pawn movement and checkmate puzzles, ready to print.
BeginnerPuzzles you assign
Inside NGChess you assign puzzles with a due date and see, per student, what is not started, attempted or solved.
Any levelTry NGChess with one real class.
A guided 30-day pilot for up to 30 students. No credit card required. We help you set up your class, assign your first activities, and work out whether NGChess fits how you already teach.
What you get
Your class, your students and your own material for 30 days: a public program page, registration and waitlist requests, alias-only student joining, assignments with due dates, per-student progress and the tactics trainer.
What we do
Guided setup. We create the class with you, help you invite students and assign the first activities, and check in while it runs.
What it costs
Nothing, and there is no card to enter. We will tell you what continuing would cost before you start, so the end of the pilot is a decision rather than a surprise.
Would rather talk first? The same form asks how to reach you — say you would like a call and we will arrange a 20-minute walkthrough before anything is set up.
Safety and student privacy, built in from the start.
🛡 Safety by design
- ✓No direct chat between unknown users — ever.
- ✓No public matchmaking. Students play only inside classes you control.
- ✓No ads and no third-party content feeds.
- ✓Teachers control every class interaction and can archive a student anytime.
🔑 Minimal student data
- ✓Students join with an alias — no email or personal profile required.
- ✓No public student profiles by default; visibility stays inside the class.
- ✓Role-based access, account deletion, and data export on request.
- ✓Clear student-privacy documentation and a data agreement for schools.
We designed NGCHESS to collect the minimum student data. We'll share our privacy practices and a data-processing agreement so your district can review them against its own requirements — we don't ask you to take a compliance claim on faith.
Designed around how you actually teach.
Enrollment becomes a roster. The families who registered on your program page are the students in the class — no re-typing a list, no second sign-up.
Safe by default. No chat with strangers, no public matchmaking, and students join with an alias — no email or personal data required.
See who’s stuck, automatically. Progress and per-student reporting show which ideas need another pass — without grading anything by hand.
Teacher FAQ
Do students need accounts or email addresses?
No. Students join a class with a code and pick an alias. There's no email, password, or personal profile required to play and complete assignments.
Is there any chat with strangers?
No. There is no public matchmaking and no messaging with unknown users. Students interact only inside the classes you create and control.
What does the pilot cost, and what happens at the end of it?
The pilot costs nothing and there is no card to enter. Before it starts we will explain the options and the expected cost if you decide to continue, so you can plan for it. At the end you decide; there is no obligation to buy and nothing renews automatically.
How do you take payment?
For clubs and schools, by invoice or purchase order, arranged with us directly. There is no online card checkout for class plans.
Is there a catch with the student limit?
The pilot covers up to 30 students in one class. If your group is larger, tell us in the form and we will say up front what that changes.
What data do you collect about students?
The minimum needed to run a class: an alias, in-class activity, and progress. No personal profiles by default. We'll provide our privacy documentation and a data agreement for review.
Run a guided 30-day pilot with your class.
Up to 30 students. No credit card. Guided onboarding, and we tell you what continuing would cost before the pilot begins — with no obligation to continue.
Prefer to talk it through first? Say so in the form and we will arrange a 20-minute walkthrough.