Who am I?

Les Lord

Welcome to my world of chess. As a professional full-time chess coach/tutor with over 45 years competitive experience (including 29 years coaching experience), I am very passionate and fanatical about the game of chess.

See Achievements

Personal Achievements

  • Australian Chess Federation (ACF) peak rating of 2021
  • U/18 Toowoomba Junior chess champion
  • Toowoomba Open Champion 1985
  • Runner-up in Toowoomba Open Championship 9 times
  • 1994 and 1995 Toowoomba Open "Lightning" Champion (speed chess)
  • 1994 Toowoomba Open "Active Chess" Champion
  • 3rd place in the u/18 Queensland junior chess championship
  • Australia Day Sports medal (2001) for my services to Queensland Chess
  • Level 1 "Coaching Principles" certificate from "The University of Queensland" (National Coaching Accreditation scheme course) in 2006
  • Organizer & Director of Play (on behalf of The Toowoomba Chess Club) for the Toowoomba and district Primary School & Secondary School "Individual" & "Teams" chess championships – for over 20 years
  • Director of Play for the IPSHA chess championship for 2015-2023 (independent private schools)

Chess Coaching Achievements

My chess coaching/training over the years with “Juniors” has produced the following achievements:-

Luthien:

  • No 1 ranked U/12 Girl in Australia in 2005. (Represented Australia in the U/12 section in the World Youth chess championship in France)

Michael:

  • 5th in Australia in the U/18 “Individual” championship in 2007
  • Runner up in the Queensland Junior (U/12) championship in 2002

Alex:

  • Runner up in the Queensland Junior U/12 Championship in 2007

Ben:

  • Champion in the 2010 & 2011 Toowoomba district Primary School chess championship.
  • Champion in the 2014, 2015 & 2016 Toowoomba district Secondary School chess championship.

Oliver:

  • Champion in the 2017 Toowoomba District Primary School Individual chess championship

Flynn:

  • Runner-up in the 2021 Toowoomba district Secondary School Individual chess championship
  • Champion in the 2019 Toowoomba District Secondary School Individual chess championship

Mirabelle:

  • Champion in the 2023 Toowoomba District Primary School Individual chess championship.

Darcy:

  • Champion in the 2024 Toowoomba district primary school Invitational chess championship

More Chess Coaching Achievements

St Thomas More’s Primary School

  • Equal 4th in Qld Interschool Primary School “Teams” State Finals in 2011.

Toowoomba Grammar School:

  • Equal 2nd in the Queensland Interschool secondary school TEAMS State Finals in 2021
  • Equal 1st in the 2006 Secondary Schools ‘GPS’ Teams championship
  • Champions in the Toowoomba and district Secondary School “Teams” championship for the last 29 years.