Chess academies and courses across Istanbul 11

Most organised chess teaching in Istanbul happens in academies, and most of their classes fall on the weekend. Satranç İstanbul runs branches on both sides of the city, in Kadıköy, Ataşehir, Maltepe, Üsküdar, Levent, Beylikdüzü, Bahçelievler and Halkalı Atakent, each with weekly face-to-face group lessons in Saturday or Sunday slots and a winter term that runs from September to June; the Üsküdar branch sits inside a private school and opens to outside pupils at the weekend. Every branch publishes its own monthly fee, and the amounts differ between branches.

Galatasaray’s chess academy teaches on Saturday at the club’s Kalamış facilities, face to face and online, and on Sunday in a hall in Levent, with groups set by age. Tamer Karatekin’s academy has a centre in Şehremini, Fatih, and lists working groups across the city, but its pages carry no date. Debüt in Bahçeşehir lists online lessons and runs its own tournaments. Before enrolling, ask about the language of teaching, since almost no page states it.