Top chess coaches in Spain: 10 Grandmasters accepting students
Spanish chess has quietly gotten deep. Behind headline names like Vallejo and Antón sits a whole bench of Grandmasters who split their time between the tournament circuit and teaching, plenty of them fluent across Spanish, Catalan, Galician, and English.
Below are 10 of them taking students now. Some are homegrown Spanish champions; a few arrived from Russia, Cuba, or Latin America and now play under the Spanish flag. Here's how the list came together.
10 elite titled coaches
#1GMSpanish champion in 2024 and a World Team Championship bronze medallist, who has worked as second and coach to top Grandmasters. He learned his craft under Iossif Dorfman and Vladimir Potkin, and he's a genuinely warm, attentive teacher.
#2GMA Spanish under-18 champion from Navarra who has coached since he was 16 — and, tellingly, holds a degree in primary education. Pedagogy is the whole point for him, from five-year-olds to veterans.
#3GMGM since 2013 and a Spanish championship regular, better known to many as a Chess24 commentator and the analyst behind elite Spaniards Paco Vallejo and Iván Salgado. He teaches the fun side of chess without letting the results slip.
#4GMMore than 40 years in professional chess, founder of the Catalan Chess School, captain of the Spanish Olympic team, and author of books and articles. If you want pedigree with structure behind it, start here.
#5GMFIDE around 2480, with calculation as his core subject. He wants students to become strong tournament players by mastering the part of the game he sees as its essence.
#6GMA Russian-born GM now representing Spain, peak FIDE around 2648, and a World Cup 2019 participant. He describes himself as a universal player, at home in any structure. He mainly takes students rated 1900 and up.
#7GMThe second Grandmaster in Venezuela's history, past 2500 FIDE, who now runs a Spanish-language online academy. His method is simple: he makes you think, then shows you the correct reasoning.
#8GMA Cuban Grandmaster who has crossed 2600 FIDE and played two Olympiads, now a full-time player and coach.
#9GMGM since 2007 and once Spain's fourth-ranked player at a peak around 2607, a two-time Spanish youth champion the locals know as "SuperLópez." First lesson runs two hours for the price of one.
#10GMFIDE around 2561, a five-time member of the Spanish Olympic team and a law graduate from Granada, with national youth titles and a 2013 Spanish Championship bronze. He works every phase of the game, opening repertoire through endgame.
How to actually pick one
Goal first, then level — Put both in your opening message and you'll get a far more useful reply.
🎯 Goal first, then level
Put both in your opening message and you'll get a far more useful reply.
📜 Weight the teaching credentials
For a coach, a teaching qualification or a long track record can matter more than a few rating points. You're hiring someone to teach, not to play your games.
⚡ Do a trial lesson, always
Whether the two of you click is the one thing a bio can't tell you.
🌎 Use the language fit
Learning in Spanish, Catalan, or Galician beats fighting through a second language, especially for younger players.
📅 Agree on cadence and homework
so the work carries on between sessions.
Frequently asked questions
Can Spanish coaches teach students abroad?
Yes. Almost everyone here teaches online, and several already coach students across Europe and Latin America.
Why lean on credentials instead of online ratings?
Because a blitz rating on a website tells you how fast someone moves, not how well they explain. Teaching records and FIDE titles are the signal that matters when you're paying to learn.
How do I check a coach is really a Grandmaster?
Every coach here holds an official FIDE title you can verify at FIDE Ratings Database. Ask for the FIDE ID if you want to be certain.
Ready to find your coach?
Chess with Masters connects you straight to titled coaches — Grandmasters like the ones above — taking students right now.
Browse coaches and book a trial lesson →Are you a titled coach? Get featured and start receiving students →