Perth's chess scene runs on volunteers more than storefronts. No big commercial academy dominates the way one might in a bigger capital. The Chess Association of Western Australia hosts the annual Perth International Open at the Manning Community Centre, and a scattered network of suburban clubs, from Warwick to Dalkeith, has kept the game alive for decades on community-hall bookings and word of mouth alone. Finding real, currently running chess classes in Perth means separating the clubs that actually meet every week from a Facebook page nobody has updated since 2022. Not glamorous, but that's the market. This guide narrows it down to seven worth your time.
The best chess classes in Perth in 2026 are Kingdom of Chess, Perth Chess Academy, King Chess Club, Warwick Chess Club, Kingsley Chess Club, Dalkeith Junior Chess Club, and South Perth Chess. One trains kids online with grandmaster-level coaches. The rest are Perth institutions, each with its own coach, suburb, and regulars. For the wider national picture, our guides to chess classes in Sydney and chess classes in Brisbane show how the market looks on the other side of the country.
Why Structured Chess Coaching Matters in Perth
- Builds real focus: kids who train chess regularly carry that concentration straight into the classroom, not just onto the board.
- Builds patience: sitting with a losing position for twenty minutes teaches patience that a fast-scrolling app never will.
- Builds resilience: losing a rated game and coming back to work out why teaches a kid to sit with failure instead of running from it.
- Structured beats casual: a Tuesday-night club is great for playing, but a level-based curriculum is built for actually improving.
- Compounds fast: coaches running a structured program tend to see real change within a school term, not years.
- Removes the commute problem: Perth sprawls from Joondalup to Rockingham, and for a lot of families, an online lesson is the difference between fitting chess in and skipping it entirely.
1. Kingdom of Chess
Kingdom of Chess is a premium online chess academy founded by Arena Grandmaster Chandrajeet Rajawat, who started out coaching four or five kids in a small room in Udaipur, India. The academy now trains 10,000-plus students across 30-plus countries, and for Perth families the time difference works in their favour: Western Australia sits two and a half hours ahead of the coaching team, so a child's after-school hour still lands inside the coaches' working day. A student in Fremantle gets the exact same GM-led curriculum as a student in Joondalup. Postcode stops being the deciding factor.
The coaching roster is what does the heavy lifting here. GM Diptayan Ghosh (ELO 2577), part of India's gold medal-winning team at the World Youth U-16 Olympiad, and IM Sanket Chakravarthy (ELO 2303), a 2300-plus rated International Master with global tournament experience, lead a fully FIDE-certified faculty. Classes run live over video, never pre-recorded, and students move through five structured levels from Pawn to King. Families juggling a Perth school run, weekend sport, and homework do not need to add a Saturday drive to Mount Lawley on top of it.
Information
- Address: Fully online; accessible from anywhere in Perth and Western Australia
- Website: www.kingdomofchess.com
- Google Rating: 4.9
- Student Base: 10,000-plus students across 30-plus countries
- Mode: Live online classes
- Courses Offered: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Elite level programs
- Programs: Group classes, weekly GM masterclasses, internal academy tournaments
- Best For: Perth families anywhere from the CBD to the outer suburbs wanting structured, title-holder coaching without the drive
Key Features
- FIDE-certified faculty, including GM Diptayan Ghosh (ELO 2577) and IM Sanket Chakravarthy (ELO 2303)
- Five-level structured curriculum, Pawn through King
- Monthly progress reports and a parent dashboard
- Weekly GM masterclasses plus an internal academy tournament ecosystem
- Free trial class before any payment
2. Perth Chess Academy
Perth Chess Academy runs out of Mt Lawley Senior High School every Saturday, organised by GATCA WA (the Gifted and Talented Children's Association of WA, a not-for-profit founded in 1978). It is the closest thing Perth has to a genuine graded pathway: four separate classes run back to back, Beginner through a Masterclass that pulls in some of the state's strongest junior players for long, deep-calculation games.
Instructor Jay Lakner has coached the program for years, and the academy adds one-on-one sessions with named coaches for students who want more than the group format gives them. Open to ages five through seventeen, at $130 a term for GATCA members and $160 for everyone else, this is a real academic-style commitment rather than a drop-in game.
Information
- Address: Mt Lawley Senior High School, Building P, Mt Lawley WA 6050
- Contact: [email protected]
- Mode: In-person, term-based, Saturdays
- Courses Offered: Beginner, Development, Advanced, and Masterclass groups
- Programs: Optional one-on-one coaching add-ons; GATCA member discount
- Best For: Ages 5 to 17 wanting a graded, term-based pathway toward competitive WA junior chess
Key Features
- Run by GATCA WA, a not-for-profit operating since 1978
- Four graded classes, from complete beginner to a competitive Masterclass
- Long-running instructor Jay Lakner, an experienced tournament coach
- Optional one-on-one sessions with named coaches
- $130 per term for members, $160 for non-members
3. King Chess Club
King Chess Club is a private coaching provider built around head coach Siva Murugappan, and it runs directly inside Piara Waters Primary School as an official after-school program, alongside weekend sessions at the Piara Waters Pavilion and a second weekly slot in Willetton. That gives families across Perth's south-east corridor two suburbs to choose from rather than one.
Lessons run in blocks that follow the school term, and the coaching style leans kid-first: no experience required, and a curriculum built for a room full of five- and six-year-olds meeting chess for the first time. For a family in Piara Waters or Willetton who wants an after-school option without a long drive, this is about as straightforward as it gets.
Information
- Address: Piara Waters Pavilion, Broadway Blvd, Piara Waters WA 6112 (also Willetton WA 6155)
- Contact: +61 470 437 111
- Mode: In-person, after-school and weekend sessions
- Courses Offered: After-school lessons (school-term blocks), weekend group sessions
- Best For: South-east corridor families wanting a genuine after-school option in Piara Waters or Willetton
Key Features
- Private provider run by head coach Siva Murugappan
- Runs as an official after-school program inside Piara Waters Primary School
- Second weekly session in Willetton for families further north
- Term-length blocks that line up with the school calendar
- Beginner-friendly, with no prior experience required
4. Warwick Chess Club
Warwick Chess Club meets Monday evenings at a hall on Ellersdale Avenue, and it has built a small but genuine following: 4.3 stars across nine Google reviews, several of which mention players driving in from suburbs like Cannington just for the atmosphere. Tournaments run throughout the year, and the club charges a low door price instead of term fees, two dollars concession or five dollars standard.
This is a club, not a curriculum, so a child sits down against real, varied opponents rather than following a fixed syllabus. Reviewers specifically call out how welcoming it is to first-timers, with informal introductions offered before tournament nights get underway around 6:45pm.
Information
- Address: 77 Ellersdale Ave, Warwick WA 6024
- Contact: +61 417 976 872
- Google Rating: 4.3
- Mode: In-person, weekly club night (Monday)
- Programs: Club tournaments running throughout the year
- Best For: Kids and teens ready to play varied, real opponents outside a fixed curriculum
Key Features
- 4.3-star rating across nine detailed Google reviews
- Tournaments run continuously throughout the year, not just on special nights
- Welcomes complete beginners through strong, experienced players
- Low door price (two dollars concession, five dollars standard) instead of term fees
- Reviewers describe travelling across Perth suburbs just to play here
5. Kingsley Chess Club Inc
Kingsley Chess Club meets Tuesday evenings in Woodvale and has earned a perfect 5.0 rating across six Google reviews, with reviewers repeatedly describing it as supportive and, in one reviewer’s words, "not judgemental." It is entirely volunteer-run and mixes junior and adult players in the same room rather than splitting them into separate sessions.
There is no fixed curriculum here, just a well-organised community club where a new player of any age can turn up and find an opponent at their own level. For a family that wants their child to feel the social side of chess before committing to a structured program, that mix is exactly the point.
Information
- Address: 4 Chichester Dr, Woodvale WA 6026
- Google Rating: 5.0
- Mode: In-person, weekly club night (Tuesday)
- Programs: Casual and rated games; mixed junior and adult membership
- Best For: Junior and adult players wanting a friendly, volunteer-run community club
Key Features
- Perfect 5.0 rating across six Google reviews
- Volunteer-organised and consistently described as welcoming to newcomers
- Mixes junior and adult members within the same weekly session
- Diverse range of skill levels and playing styles in the room
- Low-cost, community-club structure rather than paid term enrolment
6. Dalkeith Junior Chess Club
Dalkeith Junior Chess Club is a free, junior-branded club that meets fortnightly on Saturday afternoons. Reviewers describe a genuinely low-pressure culture: after each game, the winner voluntarily walks the other player back through what happened, rather than the group just moving straight on to the next round.
There is no membership fee and no ranking pressure attached, which makes this one of the easiest entry points in Perth for a child who has never played an over-the-board game before. It will not replace a structured curriculum, but as a first taste of real chess, it is hard to beat on cost.
Information
- Address: 123 Waratah Ave, Dalkeith WA 6009
- Google Rating: 5.0
- Mode: In-person, fortnightly (Saturday afternoons)
- Best For: Young beginners wanting a free, low-pressure first taste of over-the-board chess
Key Features
- Completely free to attend, with no membership cost
- Fortnightly Saturday sessions that are easy to fit around other activities
- Culture of players analysing games together after each round
- Welcomes complete beginners through experienced junior players
- Perfect 5.0 rating from families who have attended
7. South Perth Chess
South Perth Chess runs through the South Perth Library on Thursday afternoons as a free, drop-in club with no bookings required. Boards are provided on-site, and the mood leans casual rather than competitive. One reviewer specifically mentioned how good it felt to finally play over the board again after months of playing only online.
Because it runs through the local council rather than a private business, this is about as low-risk an entry point as exists in Perth: no cost, no commitment, and a library setting a lot of parents already trust for after-school activities.
Information
- Address: South Perth Library, Cnr South Terrace and Sandgate St, South Perth WA 6151
- Contact: +61 431 799 224
- Google Rating: 5.0
- Mode: In-person, weekly drop-in (Thursday afternoons)
- Best For: Families wanting a free, no-commitment way to try over-the-board chess
Key Features
- Completely free, with no bookings required
- Run through the South Perth Library, a council-backed venue
- Chess boards supplied on-site
- Casual, drop-in format welcoming beginners through advanced players
- Centrally located in South Perth, close to the CBD
Quick Comparison: Best Chess Classes in Perth
Academy | Mode | Level | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
Kingdom of Chess | Live online | Beginner to Elite | Structured GM/IM coaching, zero commute |
Perth Chess Academy | In-person (Mt Lawley) | Beginner to Masterclass | Graded pathway toward competitive WA junior chess |
King Chess Club | In-person (Piara Waters, Willetton) | Beginner to Intermediate | After-school lessons in the south-east corridor |
Warwick Chess Club | In-person (Warwick) | Beginner to Advanced (club) | Year-round tournaments, competitive scene |
Kingsley Chess Club | In-person (Woodvale) | Beginner to Intermediate (club) | Welcoming junior-and-adult community club |
Dalkeith Junior Chess Club | In-person (Dalkeith) | Beginner (junior) | Free, low-pressure junior club |
South Perth Chess | In-person (South Perth) | Beginner to Advanced (club) | Free, casual drop-in, no bookings |
How to Choose the Right Chess Class in Perth
Picking between chess classes in Perth comes down to a handful of factors that matter more than a club's logo or how recently its website was updated. Here's what actually counts before you commit a term's fees, or a Saturday morning.
- Coaching credentials: look for FIDE titles, not just years of experience. A GM or IM brings pattern recognition a well-meaning volunteer coach usually cannot match.
- Format that fits your life: Perth is a spread-out city. Online programs remove the commute entirely, while in-person clubs like Warwick or Kingsley give kids a physical room and face-to-face games.
- Structured curriculum versus a club: a level-based curriculum builds skills in order, the way a swim squad builds technique lap by lap. A social club like Dalkeith or South Perth Chess is brilliant for kids who just want more games and a friendly room, closer to a casual kickabout than a training program.
- Tournament access: if competing matters, ask how the program preps students for the Chess Association of Western Australia calendar, including events like the Perth International Open.
- Progress tracking: monthly reports or parent updates are a sign a program is actually watching your child's development, not just filling a timeslot.
- Age and pace fit: younger or newer players usually do better in a paced, structured program. It's worth reading up on mistakes parents make while teaching chess before picking a format that moves faster than your child is ready for.
The Bottom Line
Finding chess classes in Perth was never really about a shortage of options. It's about a scene built on volunteers and community halls rather than storefronts, which makes it harder to compare one Tuesday-night club against a Saturday academy against an online program that never asks anyone to leave the house.
That's the actual problem this guide solves. And solving it doesn't require picking the flashiest name, just the format that matches your kid and your Saturday mornings. Kingdom of Chess gives Perth families GM-level structure with zero commute, and Perth Chess Academy, King Chess Club, Warwick, Kingsley, Dalkeith, and South Perth Chess each give a different pocket of the city its own solid, in-person alternative. Whichever you pick, the best chess classes in Perth all share one thing: someone who actually shows up, week after week.
Not sure where to start? A free trial class is the lowest-risk way to find out. Book one, watch your child work through a real position with a real coach, and judge for yourself.
Also Read:
- Best Chess Classes in Sydney 2026
- Best Chess Classes in Brisbane 2026
- 10 Common Mistakes Parents Make While Teaching Chess to Kids
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best chess class in Perth for beginners?
Kingdom of Chess is the strongest choice for absolute beginners in Perth, because its Pawn-level curriculum starts with piece movement and basic checkmates under FIDE-certified coaches before building up. For an in-person option, Dalkeith Junior Chess Club and South Perth Chess both welcome young beginners at no cost.
Are there free chess classes in Perth?
Yes. Dalkeith Junior Chess Club and South Perth Chess are both completely free, with no membership fee or booking required. Kingdom of Chess also offers a free trial class before any payment, so families can judge fit at no cost either way.
Can kids in Perth take online chess classes?
Yes. Kids anywhere in Perth, from the CBD to Rockingham or Joondalup, can join live online chess classes through Kingdom of Chess. Classes run on a fixed weekly schedule with real FIDE-certified coaches, not pre-recorded video, so a student in Fremantle gets the same instruction as one in Mount Lawley.
Does Perth have chess tournaments for young players?
Yes. The Chess Association of Western Australia runs a calendar of rated events across the year, including the annual Perth International Open at the Manning Community Centre. Warwick Chess Club and Perth Chess Academy's Masterclass group both give students regular competitive practice ahead of events like these.
Which part of Perth has the most chess clubs?
Perth's chess clubs are spread fairly evenly across the metro area rather than clustered in one suburb, from Warwick in the north to Dalkeith and South Perth closer to the river, plus Woodvale, Mount Lawley, and the Piara Waters and Willetton area further south-east. Kingdom of Chess removes the location question entirely for families anywhere in between.
