Short answer: yes. WhiteKnight Academy is an online chess school run by a registered Polish company, TheBroda sp. z o.o. Our coaches are named and their titles can be checked. Payments go through Stripe, and you can cancel online. But you are putting your child in front of a coach and your card into a form, so you should not take our word for it. Here is how to check each of those yourself.
Who runs the school
WhiteKnight Academy is operated by TheBroda sp. z o.o., a private limited company registered in Poland.
- Address: ul. Wierna 12, 03-890 Warszawa, Poland
- KRS (National Court Register): 0000677402
- NIP (tax number): 5242831345
- REGON: 367267919
You can look the company up yourself in Poland's National Court Register, and check the VAT number in the European Commission's VIES tool as PL5242831345. To write to a person, use contact@whiteknight.academy.
We teach online, so we have no classroom you can walk into. Our founding coach, FIDE Master Vitaly Andreev, the 2024 Champion of Edmonton, is based in Alberta, Canada.
Who the coaches are
Coaches are listed by name with their photos on our coaches page. Chess titles are awarded by FIDE, the world chess federation, which lists rated players at ratings.fide.com. Type in a name and you will see the title and rating. Several of our coaches also have their own Wikipedia entries, linked from the coaches page.
We take only checked coaches: each one is background-checked and trained in child online safety before meeting a student.
How paying works
- Prices are public. You can see them on our pricing page before you create an account. Weekly lessons are $79 a month in the US and C$99 in Canada.
- Stripe takes the payment. The card details go to Stripe, the payment company, and we never see or store your card number.
- The first lesson is free. It is one to one. You add a card to hold the place, and nothing is charged that day. The card starts the weekly lessons after the free one, unless you cancel first. See how the free lesson works.
- You can cancel online in your account, with no phone call. If you cancel before the first charge, you pay nothing. Our refund policy is public.
How we keep children safe
- Lessons run in private rooms with the coach and a small group of up to five children. There are no public chats.
- A parent creates and manages the account.
- Parents are welcome to sit in on any lesson, at any time.
- We collect only what we need, and we never sell a family's data. Under-16s need a parent's consent. The detail is on our online safety page, in our safeguarding policy and in our privacy policy.
Our apps are in both stores
Students can use our app, which has passed review at both Apple and Google: WhiteKnight on the App Store and on Google Play.
What about reviews?
We are a young school, and we do not have many public reviews yet. We would rather tell you that than dress it up. We are starting to ask our families for their honest opinion, and we do not pay for reviews.
Until there are more, the best check is the free lesson itself. Sit next to your child, watch the coach, and ask anything you like. If you do not like what you see, cancel online and you pay nothing.
You may also come across automated "trust score" websites. Those scores are produced by software from signals such as how old a domain is and how much traffic it gets. They are not reviews of our lessons, and they tend to mark young, small websites down. The facts above are a better guide, and you can check every one of them.
Six questions worth asking any online chess school
We wrote these for parents comparing schools, and we hold ourselves to them too.
- What is the legal name of the company?
- Who exactly will teach my child, and can I verify their title?
- What is the maximum group size?
- Can I see the price without a sales call?
- How do I cancel?
- Can I sit in on a lesson?
If you are comparing, our guide to the best online chess classes for kids sets out the alternatives, and says where they are better than us.
FAQ
Is WhiteKnight Academy a real school?
Yes. It is an online chess school for children, run by TheBroda sp. z o.o., a company registered in Poland, with coaches listed by name.
Is WhiteKnight Academy a scam?
No. The company is registered, prices are public, payments go through Stripe, and you can cancel online. You can verify each of these with the links on this page.
Where is WhiteKnight Academy based?
The company is registered in Warsaw, Poland. Our founding coach is based in Edmonton, Canada. Lessons are online.
Is the free lesson really free?
Yes. You add a card to hold the place and nothing is charged that day. If you cancel before the first charge, you pay nothing.
Can I cancel any time?
Yes, online, in your account.
How can I contact a person?
Write to contact@whiteknight.academy.