About GM Neiksans

Hello! My name is Arturs Neiksans, chess Grandmaster from Latvia and the country's leading player. I am an experienced coach, author, and tournament commentator. Chess has become a central part of my life. I genuinely love what I do, and there is no greater joy than seeing a student succeed. I still play competitive chess, though much less than before, and my rating is usually around the 2600 Elo mark.

I am a FIDE-accredited chess trainer. From 2010 to 2021, I served as head coach at the Riga Chess School, working with the most talented Latvian youngsters, many of whom later would become grandmasters themselves and the core of the Latvian national team. Among my best former students are GM Nikita Meshkovs, GM Toms Kantans, WGM Laura Rogule, WIM Katrina Skinke, WFM Elizabete Limanovska, FM Arturs Bernotas, FM Dmitrijs Tokranovs and others. Two of them in 2011 became European Youth champions in rapid and blitz.

Most recently, I coached YouTuber and International Master Levy Rozman, also known as GothamChess - https://www.chessbase.in/news/Levy-Rozman-on-his-first-victory.

 

As a player, I have played for Team Latvia in seven World Chess Olympiads (2000, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2024) and two European Team Championships. I'm a five-time Latvian Champion (1999, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2025), winner of the Summer Chess Classic C tournament (Saint Louis, USA, 2019), and winner of the 9th Wunsiedel Chess Festival 2015, shared 1st of RTU Open 2016 A tournament. I played in the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss in 2021.

I play in several international chess leagues in Europe, including the prestigious French Top 16, the German Bundesliga and the Swedish Elitserien.

​

Recently I have focused more on providing commentary on high-level chess tournaments - I've done many commentary jobs for Chess.com, Chess24, FIDE, ECU, and also some respectable open tournaments like Biel Chess Festival and RTU Open.

 

I'm committed to developing a community of chess education and improvement. In addition to coaching and playing chess, I continue to create videos and chess courses, intended to share career insights and assist those interested in reaching the next level.