2nd place 2011 U.S. Junior Open Under 8 Division

4th place U.S. K-1 Championship

During my child hood in 1980s, chess was not very popular in Turkey. Therefore I started playing chess only when I was 14 and some educated chess only when I was 17-18.  Despite the late start , I played and had good memories with the ITU University chess team. We became several times Turkey champion on university team level. I  also played some when I was in USA for my MBA.  After college I joined steel business and didn’t have much time for chess. Now I am 38 years old. I own a steel trading company (www.galvametal.com.tr) and have a very busy schedule. And tring to spare every second that I can to get back to chess . Vita is helping me a lot to see my mistakes. It is also a lot fun during the lessons. My dream is to join some chess tournament together with my daughter one day who is only 3 years old now

     I began to play chess when I was 9 years old in elementary school.  My dad first taught me the game and for several years my only opponents were computers.  I have been entering tournaments for 5 years now and have over twenty titles to my credit.  Vita Chulivska, my coach, has taught me a great deal about chess and I have won numerous titles because of her hard work training me.  She is not just a coach to me, but my friend as well.  My chess goal in life is to become Idaho’s first female Grand Master, and my current aim is to win a chess scholarship so I can attend college.   

   My chess achievements are:

• Idaho State Girls’ Champion (2011)
• Ninth Place (2011) Susan Polgar United States National Girls’ Invitational Tournament

Several years ago I went in search of a chess coach who would be a not only a great instructor for teaching chess, but a role model that could inspire my teenage daughter to become a strong girl player in a game predominantly played by males. My search led me to Vita, and it was truly a blessing that I found her. Since my daughter’s lessons began, Vita has become more than just an outstanding coach to my daughter, she has taken on a big sister role in my daughter’s life and their friendship extends far beyond the ranks and files of a chess board. Vita’s genuine and dedicated teaching style has helped my daughter to excel in chess and in life. As a parent I have always found Vita to be very flexible in arranging lessons and affordable. Lessons with Vita are really challenging and instructional which brings out the best in my daughter’s games. Her homework is educational support that helps to extend the learning until the next lesson. I highly recommend Vita as a coach, she is truly a champion in every way.  Savi’s daddy Chris.

As all kids my 4 years son Yulian didn’t want to study chess. He was very busy and play with the toys during the day. But Vita found the approach to him and he began to study chess and make a homework which she gave him. He has already solved near 300 puzzles and took part in different competitions,so they could analyze his games. Also he took part in his first strong tournament Championship of Ukraine under 8 and he was the youngest player in this tournament. He understood how it’s important for progress to play chess with strongest players and don’t worry,if your lost a game. Thanks Vita for coaching and love to my kids! ( Yuliya Rak )

My son started to play chess,when he was 5 years old in kindergarten.After one year his first move for White was e3 and he didn’t know,how to move with the pieces very well.I decided to change a coach and he began to take private lessons with Vita 1 time per week,and after few month 3 times per week. They played together and analyzed his games, discussed a lot of interesting positions and Vita explained the typical ideas of middlegame and endgame.Also she showed him different openings and gave a homework after every lesson. They analyzed grandmaster’s games and discussed every move. So after 1 year he took part in Championship of Ukraine under 8 and she went with him to this competition like a private coach.
I am sure Vita is really the best coach in the World! ( Yuliya Rak )

I love playing competitive chess! Chess is a game of deep thinking and ideas. It is also full of harmony, beauty and art. It makes our brain work to its full capacity and winning is the ultimate goal. I started appreciating the game a lot more after taking lessons with Vita. She helped me discover many secrets of the game, how to best develop and place the pieces from the openings, on to the middle game and what to expect in the endgame. She also helped me plan my ideas better, improved my overall understanding of the game and talked about how to best be ready for big tournaments. No  matter what level you are- I strongly recommend her as a coach. She is very knowledgable and her lessons are both very enjoyable and instructive. She will definitely help you achieve your goals as well as be an excellent close and personal friend who gives great advices on everything.

I have been taking chess lessons from Vita since February 2016 once to twice
a week. I totally enjoy the time we spend learning new openings, analyzing
games I played, understanding tactics and strategy. Vita requires/encourages
the student to solve game situations without moving the pieces which
ultimately benefits the individual when playing in a live match. Members of
my chess club have seen continuous improvement/competitiveness over the
duration of my lessons. I wished I had a chess coach like Vita when
beginning my chess journey back in the 4th grade. It is exciting to be
taught by a true professional and a pleasant individual.

My daughter Sarah started learning from Vita Kryvoruchko about 3 months ago. Vita spends considerable time during each lesson analyzing Sarah’s games. During her lessons, she is able to pinpoint mistakes not only in one game but recurring mistakes that Sarah makes across many games which we would have never noticed. She also gives Sarah pointers on how to improve her chess openings. Sarah has improved considerably during that time.

Vita is also very passionate about chess and about teaching. I feel that is very important because it gives Sarah a good role model. She provides a good example that one should be passionate about something, work hard and excel at it.

Vita is also a very warm, open and friendly teacher. She is also very flexible in scheduling lessons. We meet regularly every week at a very convenient time. Despite being separated by distance we feel like Vita is like a friendly neighbor that lives next door.

Learned chess at the age of 5, started playing chess at 14 where my first coach when I lived in Rochester, NY was soviet émigré Yevsey Gelman who trained such champions like Anatoly Karpov and Igor Ivanov while in the soviet union.   From 1988-1991 I played board 2 for the 3-time, 2-yr college Pan-Am Champion Monroe community college chess team.  Our college won the 2-yr college Pan Am title 3 yrs in a row!

highest rating achieved was 2014 in 1996…  In 1995, I won the US Class “A” championship with a score of +5-0=2.

Moved to phoenix AZ in 2000, taught chess to students at the Chess Emporium from 2008-2010 where I taught chess to over 150 kids in 10 different schools, with many of them winning not only several personal trophies, but team trophies for their respective school.   A parent of a student I used to teach to created a great video of me playing blindfold chess against one of my former students who was rated 1600 at the time this video was taken.  Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4xaHk42uCE

I have taken lessons from several different coaches at different times in my career, and I have found that Vita has developed my game the fastest and has helped me understand the game on both a tactical and positional level, deeper than ever before.   After taking a break from lessons with her last yr, I am anxious and looking forward to her helping me achieve my goal of reaching 2200 by the end of 2013.

I have been taking lessons with Vita since I was 9.  Since then, my rating has gone up by almost 400 points and I won my first US National Scholastic Championship.  I really enjoy my lessons with Vita.  She gives me puzzles that prepare me to properly evaluate positions I face in real games.  She also analyzes my tournament games, showing me subtleties in position and timing that I might have missed across the board.  Vita is an excellent coach – she starts the lesson on time, is very reliable, and has a very approachable personality.  I highly recommend her!