Press kit.

The Eight Ranks Method is a belt-ranked chess curriculum for learners aged 6 to adult. Eight books take a learner from the first move to Black. Eight ranks, White to Black, in four tiers: Foundation, Builder, Competitor and Master.

Written by Moheb Girgis, FIDE National Instructor, with more than forty years of play. Moheb Girgis is the author of the method and of every book in it. He holds a BSc in Biology, with majors in Chemistry and Botany.

The Eight Ranks Method is a belt-ranked chess curriculum for learners aged 6 to adult. No chess experience is needed to begin: Square One starts from zero. Children and adults can share one room: the Mixed-Rank Room Guide shows how.

After each twelve-week cycle comes Rank Day: a quiz, a puzzle set, games, a short oral explanation and the cycle's portfolio, weighted by tier. A learner passes at 70 or more, with no attribute below Developing and conduct at Proficient. No rank is skipped, except by the placement rule at entry. One cycle in each of the first four ranks; two in each of the last four.

The eight colours are the names of the ranks, not something to wear: no belt, bracelet, band, pin or token is given. Each rank earned is recorded by a printed certificate and the Rank Progress Report.

Every chapter ends with a STEM lab in seven parts: predict, measure, record, show, conclude, connect, and an exit ticket. Each lab ends with a footer naming the New York State mathematics or computer-science standard it practices. So the method does not wait for chess to turn into math on its own: every chapter ends with a lab that makes the math explicit.

We do not claim chess raises grades; the research points both ways. A 2016 review of 24 studies found a moderate average benefit of chess instruction (g = 0.338), larger for mathematics than for reading. A large 2018 randomized trial in England that taught chess as a stand-alone subject found no change in test scores.

The Eight Ranks Method is designed to produce evidence aligned to the six attributes of the New York State Portrait of a Graduate. The rubrics and reports name six attributes: Academically Prepared, Creative Innovator, Critical Thinker, Effective Communicator, Global Citizen, and Reflective and Future Focused. New York's Board of Regents adopted six attributes for every graduate in July 2025.

A site licence gives a club, school provider, library or coach the instructor books, the Rank Day papers and the right to award the eight ranks. The method is written to run from the page: every session is planned minute by minute, and every answer is printed. For White and Yellow, a teacher needs no playing strength: the Teacher's Chess Companion, Foundation, holds the chess, and the Instructor Edition has every answer. One certified instructor may teach and score alone; the method requires no second adult.

The author runs no classes and makes no site appearances; every question is answered in writing. A licence does not include training, visits, calls or workshops: the materials are written to be used without them.

Each Student Book is $22.99 in colour paperback and $46.99 in colour hardcover; licensed sites pay $12.50 for the black-and-white site edition (each introductory, subject to counsel). The Founding Pilot is one 12-week White cycle at one site for $295 (introductory, subject to counsel), credited in full against a first-year licence. The Foundation Site License covers White and Yellow for $695 a year (introductory, subject to counsel), with up to 2 certified instructors. The Full Site License covers all eight ranks for $1,800 a year (introductory, subject to counsel), with up to 3 certified instructors. A school runs the program through a licensed provider; the suggested cycle is $3,200 plus books (introductory, subject to counsel), and the provider sets its own price. Every price is introductory, subject to counsel.

Sites keep records by student code, not by name, and publish no learner's name, photograph or score without written consent. The site shares attendance and Rank Day results by student code only; no learner's name, birth date or photograph leaves the site.