Can is a Candidate Master and FIDE Instructor based in Sweden. If you’re active on Chessable or YouTube, his name likely rings a bell. As one of Chessable’s most popular authors, you might even own one of his courses.
His track record speaks for itself: he won the 2022 Community Author of the Year Award, his course Fundamental Chess Calculation Skills was voted Best Tactics Course of 2023, and he was crowned Chessable’s Author of the Year in 2024. Need I say more? Let’s dive in and see what this remarkable coach—with his unique chess background—has to share about coaching, training, Chessable and much more.”
From your biography on Chessable, I gather that you started playing chess relatively late. What triggered your interest, when did you begin and who taught you?
My cousin taught me when I was eight. She attended a private college in Istanbul where they offered chess lessons, but my school didn’t. So, one summer, she taught me the rules and I became interested in the game. I remember finding the game absolutely fascinating when she explained it to me. I played a little against my grandfather, but those were just casual games; nothing serious at all. I still remember some of the games we played in his old place in Ankara. Sadly, he died when I was 11.
Later, around the age of 15 or 16 in secondary school, we played against friends during breaks. A couple of people brought chess sets and we would play. It was still very casual, but competitive. Around the age of 17, I got my first book: Capablanca’s Chess Fundamentals. My grandmother bought it for me. I started reading chess books and became more serious about the game, though I still wasn’t playing in any tournaments.
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