No meeting link. Your chess lesson is already on the board.

Rovian Coaching is a coach directory and lesson room on Rovian for one-to-one online chess lessons. You pick a coach by level, language and budget, then book one of their open slots with credits. At lesson time you both enter the same room: cameras, the board and your coach’s arrows share one screen, with no separate call app.

Most online lessons open with the same line: “I sent the link, can you hear me?” Then someone shares a screen and someone else sets up a board in another tab. The coach says “look at that bishop” and tries to describe which one. None of that happens on Rovian, because the lesson already takes place at a live video chess table. Your coach’s face and the board sit in the same place.

How do you book a one-to-one chess lesson on Rovian?

Booking takes four steps, all inside one account. Coaching is open to registered, age-verified accounts aged 18 and over.

1. Open the coach directory and filter it. You can set a specialty, a lesson language and a maximum hourly price, and switch on “Free first lesson” or “Titled only”. Coaches with open slots appear first.

2. Compare coach cards. Each card shows the coach’s name and any title, their star rating, how many slots are open, a one-line pitch, specialties, the level range they teach, lesson languages, lessons given and hourly price.

3. Pick a time on the coach’s profile. Each slot shows the date, the duration and the lesson’s credit cost; lessons run 30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes. Add a short note about your level and goal if you like, then press “Send lesson request”. Lessons can be requested at least 1 hour ahead.

4. Once the coach confirms, the lesson is on your schedule and you get a notification. If the coach declines or doesn’t respond before the lesson time, the full amount set aside returns to your wallet.

How do credits work, and can you pay by card?

Lessons are paid with Rovian credits; 1 credit equals 1 TL. For now, credits can only be loaded by bank transfer (havale or EFT). There is no card payment, and sending a lesson request never asks for card details.

1. On the My credits page, pick a package or type your own amount, then create the order. You get a personal reference code.

2. Send a bank transfer to the account shown and write only that reference code in the description. Transfers without the code can’t be tied to your order and get delayed.

3. If you like, attach your receipt to the pending order: JPEG, PNG, WebP or PDF, up to 2 MB. The team checks the transfer and approves it, the credits land in your wallet and you get a notification.

When you send a lesson request, the fee is set aside in your wallet but doesn’t go to the coach yet. When the lesson is completed, it moves to the coach’s wallet minus commission. If the coach declines, cancels or doesn’t show up, the whole amount comes back to you. Cancel a confirmed lesson more than 12 hours ahead and every credit comes back; cancel with less than 12 hours to go and part of the fee goes to the coach. The wallet activity list shows where every last credit went.

What’s inside the lesson room?

The “Join lesson” button opens 10 minutes before the start time. Coach and student come through the same button into the same room, which stays open until 30 minutes after the lesson ends. While you wait, you see your own camera and whether the other person has arrived. Once you’re both in, the game starts on its own with the coach’s settings.

Before the lesson, the coach chooses whether the game has a clock, the minutes and increment, their own colour (white, black or random) and the starting position. It can be the standard start. Or the coach can paste a FEN, the one-line notation that describes a position, and a pawn endgame or a critical opening moment appears straight on the board. When a game ends, the coach sets up the next one with “New game”.

On desktop, the two cameras stack on the left and the board sits on the right. Arrows and circles you draw by right-clicking and dragging also appear on the other board: the coach’s in gold, the student’s in blue. Moves and chat messages cross over instantly too. Instead of saying “look at that bishop”, the coach draws the arrow, and you answer on the board.

What happens after the lesson?

If the lesson time has arrived and you both entered the room, the coach closes the lesson with “Lesson done”. If the student never arrives, the coach can mark “Student didn’t show” only 15 minutes after the start. If the coach never entered the room, the full fee is refunded.

You can rate a completed lesson from 1 to 5 stars and write a review; only lessons that actually took place can be reviewed. If a lesson didn’t happen or you were charged unfairly, you can choose “Dispute this lesson” once on the My lessons page within 7 days of the lesson closing. An admin hears both sides, and if you’re right the fee goes back to your credits.

Want to become a chess coach? Where do you start?

Rovian Coaching has no title requirement: anyone who explains the game well can apply. The Become a coach form asks for a one-line pitch, an “About you” text of at least 40 characters, up to 5 specialties, up to 4 lesson languages, your hourly price and the level range you teach. You can also offer the first lesson free; it applies to a student’s first lesson with you. A human reviews every listing before it goes live. Coaching is currently in beta.

After approval, your coach panel opens. You can add single slots, repeat a slot for several weeks or add a weekly availability rule. A rule generates open slots for the same day and time over the next 4 weeks, and you can set up to 21 rules. In the panel you confirm or decline requests and set each lesson’s game settings in advance. Under My students you see the games and engine analyses of students with a confirmed or completed lesson; we explain those analyses in our game analysis post. Your earnings build up in your wallet, and once you reach the payout threshold you request a payout to your IBAN. You can pause your listing at any time.

If you want a FIDE title or the Chess Coach badge on your profile, that’s a separate application. We walk through it in our title and coach badge post. An approved title appears next to your name on your coach card in the directory.

Your coach’s face, the board and your move

In an online chess lesson, the real work happens on the board. That’s why Rovian puts the lesson right at the board: you see your coach’s face, you see the arrow they draw, and you make your move in front of them. Coaching is new, and the directory grows as coaches join. Open the coach directory, pick a coach with an open slot and send your request; if you love explaining the game, you could be one of the first coaches listed. Open your camera. Make your move.