The Chess Lab

The Chess Lab is for beginner and intermediate chess players. Have fun and boost your Elo.

Why you should join: Opening prep, middlegame strategy and endgame technique, with community support to keep you improving. Free to join, with paid tiers for deeper support.

The one-liner

A Skool chess community helping beginner and intermediate players raise their Elo rating.

What they actually sell

The Chess Lab, run by Michael Kurkowski, lives on Skool. Its public pitch: "The best place for beginner and intermediate chess players boost their Elo." A free tier sits at the front door, with Premium upgrades above it. The offer is a tidy list: opening prep, middlegame strategy, endgame techniques, community support and lots of fun. The promise is to boost your Elo. A premium tier sits behind the free door, but the about page does not explain what it adds. Inside sit 5 courses and a dense module library. A formal money-back promise is not spelled out on the about page.

Who pays and why

Beginner and intermediate chess players who want a higher rating. They want structured improvement across openings, middlegames and endgames, with others to learn alongside. They join for opening prep, middlegame strategy and endgame technique.

Where the members come from

No social links appear on the page, so Skool search and chess forums look like the main doors. Audience numbers are not shown.

What's holding it back

The about page is short and generic, with no coach credentials or member results, in a market full of free chess content.

Steal this

Promise a number your audience already tracks, such as a rating, so progress is easy to prove.

Would this work in another niche?

Yes for any game or sport with a public ranking. Weak where progress is hard to measure.