Head coach Michael Iskhakov
Michael is head coach of the Tsameret-Duna chess school in Ashdod. His pupils include children playing their first local tournament and players who have competed at European and world championships.
The coach
Michael has coached for twenty years and earned the FIDE Instructor (FI) title in 2016. His FIDE ID is 2807467.
Coaching in Ashkelon
Emma Tsirkel and Malachi Dayan, two of Michael’s pupils in Ashkelon, began playing chess in kindergarten. In 2019 Emma scored 4½ points in nine games at the European Under-8 Girls’ Championship in Bratislava. In December 2020 she qualified for the Israeli under-10 final. At the same southern qualifier, Malachi took third place in the under-7 section, his first podium finish.
Three pupils at the Autumn tournament
On 24 October 2026, three of Michael’s pupils played in the Ashdod municipal club’s Autumn tournament. Eli entered the section for grade four and above for the first time and won it with 4½ points out of 5. After a year of chess, Yoel played his first rated tournament. He went unbeaten in all five games and finished second with 3½ points. Five-and-a-half-year-old Yuli, who had started lessons that school year, also scored 3½ and came second in the section for children up to grade three.
After the Autumn tournament
“The effort you put in all along and the support you gave at the tournament itself really made a difference.”
“I’m very proud of you.”
