NM Sam Martin

My name is Sam Martin, and I am a National Master from the United States. I learned the rules of chess when I was a child, but it wasn't until I was 12 that I went to a local chess club and began to compete against experienced players. I was very fortunate during this time to find a coach, Mike Cornell, who generously played and analyzed with me for multiple hours every week, and it was this intensive training that raised my rating to over 1800 USCF. I took a break from chess while at college, but returned to actively competing in 2022 and quickly reached a rating of 2150. I then went on to cross 2200 and get the NM title in 2023. In 2025, I had the greatest success of my chess career when I played in the under 2200 section of the World Open in Philadelphia, and won first place with a perfect score of 9-0. I more recently played in the top section of the World Open in 2026 and crossed 2300 USCF for the first time. I believe that it's never too late or too early for anyone to reach their potential as a chess player, and with my experience I can help you climb to new heights!

I have taught chess on a formal and informal basis for the last 10 years. In this time, I have accumulated a large library of example games and positions, and refined my communication skills and teaching methods. I have worked with students of all levels and ages, from kids who only recently learned the rules to adult players with tournament experience. I have mostly taught private lessons with students one-on-one, but for the last several years I have also led a group class for adult improvers. Anyone who is interested is welcome!

I strongly encourage my students to play in classical tournaments regularly and bring their games for us to analyze together during our lessons. The best kind of training is playing a long time-control game, because it uses every one of your skills (opening knowledge, positional understanding, calculation, tactical vision, endgame technique, etc.). I believe one of the best ways I can help as a coach is to identify patterns in your mistakes you might not notice on your own, and then work with you to correct your thought process. In my time as a chess teacher, I have gathered a large number of example games and positions, which illustrate positional and attacking themes, common pawn structures, and planning. I like to guide students through these games and stop at critical moments, so you can find the right move. Besides this, I also have a number of exercises for calculation practice, and as we solve them together I will give advice on how to improve the search for candidate moves, analysis, and visualization. For homework, I normally give problem sets to solve before the next time we meet, or suggest a training routine for you to adopt on your own.