Built for the child who wants to compete.
This is for the family that wants every game reviewed, every parent call on a calendar, every step of the plan written down. Five students per cohort. Twelve weeks. Two sessions a week. The most personal version of ReelChess coaching.
It isn't for every young player, and that's by design. Five spots means every child knows their coach by name, and every coach knows every game. That's the cohort.
Two sessions a week. One in person, one online.
The Saturday session is the heart of the cohort. The Wednesday session is the reinforcement that keeps the work moving between weekends.
Total contact time: 33 hours of structured coaching across 12 weeks. School holiday break (September 25 to October 12) is excluded from the count.
Seven things you receive, no upsells.
Every cohort member gets all seven. No tiered packages, no add-ons. The price you see is the price.
Three things they keep. Forever.
No promises about rating points. Those depend on the student. These three deliverables are ours to give.
Locked. Transparent.
Four steps. Two weeks.
Application-only. Five spots per cohort. Strong applicants hear back within seven days.
The person running this.
Rayman is the founder of ReelChess, Australia's most-watched junior chess education brand. He was the NSW Under-12 State Champion before turning to teaching full time at 20.
ReelChess now operates programs in ten-plus NSW schools, serves two-hundred-plus students, and has accumulated ten million views across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
He runs the Saturday group at Schofields, the Tuesday group at The Ponds High School, and the Online Accelerated program from Sydney. The Mastery Cohort is the most concentrated version of his coaching he has ever offered.
Honest answers.
Children aged 7 to 11, currently rated 1000 to 1500 on Chess.com, Lichess, or in a rated tournament. We need to see real chess experience and parental commitment to the schedule.
Kids a little outside that age or rating range can still apply. Strong fits get considered regardless of being a year above the ceiling or fifty points below the floor. The interview tells us more than the rating does.
Saturday 2:00-3:30 PM at our Schofields venue (Western Sydney). Address confirmed at enrolment.
If your family lives too far to attend in person every week, you can join the Saturday session live via Zoom. We recommend in person whenever possible. The in-person time is where the cohort becomes a cohort.
Every Saturday session is live-streamed via Zoom for the cohort. If your child can't make it in person, they can join from home and miss nothing.
Wednesday online sessions are recorded and posted within 24 hours.
The cohort runs September 1 to December 12, 2026, with the school holiday break (September 25 to October 12) excluded from the count. That's twelve actual weeks of sessions spread across the term.
Saturdays are locked at 2:00-3:30 PM. Wednesdays at 4:45-6:00 PM. Both for the whole 12 weeks.
Because anything more dilutes the personal feedback. Five is the largest group size at which Coach can know every student's game, run individualised homework, and have meaningful biweekly conversations with every parent. Eight would be a lecture. Five is a cohort.
No. $3,000 is the founding cohort price. It is already significantly below the equivalent in private coaching hours (33 hours of structured time, plus everything else, at private rates of $80-150/hour would be $2,640 to $4,950 for contact time alone, before the bonuses).
The two-payment option exists for families who want to spread the cost. It's the same total, no premium for splitting.
We don't promise rating points. We promise deliverables: the personal game reviews, the opening repertoire, the tournament experience, the Academy access for life. These are ours to deliver, and we deliver them.
That said, every 7-11 year old at the 1000-1500 level who does the homework and attends the sessions will visibly improve over 12 weeks. We've seen it across 200+ students. If your child does the work, the work works.
If you withdraw before the end of week 1, you receive a full refund minus a $300 administration fee.
After week 1, the cohort fee is non-refundable but credit toward a future cohort is available at Coach Rayman's discretion if there are exceptional circumstances.
Yes. If fewer than four students are accepted by August 24, 2026, the cohort is rescheduled and all paid deposits are fully refunded. We will not run a degraded cohort.
Five spots fill in order of fit. If we don't have a place for your child in this cohort, you'll receive a short reply letting you know. We can't always provide detailed feedback on individual decisions.