Strategem Club Coach Policy

1. About this policy

• This policy applies to every member who applies for, or holds, a Strategem Club coach account for Chess or Backgammon on play.strategem.us, bg.strategem.us or strategem.us.
• It adds to the Club Policies and Code of Conduct at strategem.us/policies, which also apply to coaches. Where they differ, the stricter rule applies.
• By ticking "I have read and accept the Strategem Club Coach Policy" in the coach application, you agree to this policy as a condition of holding a coach account.

2. Who can apply

• You must be a Strategem Club member in good standing and at least 18 years old.
• Chess coaches must give a valid US Chess (USCF) ID. The club checks it, along with your rating and any title, against US Chess records.
• Backgammon coaches should give a USBGF membership number if they have one, and describe their playing and teaching experience.
• You must describe your coaching school or program (name, website if any, where you teach) and how many students are currently enrolled with you. This information must be true and kept up to date.

3. Verification and approval

• Every application is reviewed by hand by a club organizer. The club may contact your school, your references, US Chess or the USBGF, and may ask for more information.
• Coaches who will work with members under 18 must complete a background check and abuse-prevention training accepted by the club (for example US Chess SafePlay training or US Center for SafeSport training) before coaching minors.
• The club may approve, decline or later remove a coach account at its discretion. Approval is not an endorsement of any outside school or business.

4. The Coach badge

• Approved coaches show a 🎓 Coach badge next to their name on the club's online sites, with a coach profile showing the details you gave.
• The badge means the club has verified your identity and coaching details. You may not use it, the club name or the club logo to suggest the club runs or guarantees your outside business.
• The badge is removed if your coach account is suspended or ended.

5. Fair play and fair conduct

• Coaches are held to a higher standard of fair play. You must never use an engine, another person or any outside help while playing club games, and never help a member do so during a game.
• You must not manipulate ratings: no sandbagging, no deliberate losses, no playing on another person's account, and no letting anyone play on yours.
• Coaches may not stake Gems in any challenge. Laurels challenges are allowed. Coaches who host a club bounty (such as Beat the Coach) must play every bounty game at full strength.
• Your reviews and lessons must be your own honest work. You may use an engine to prepare a review, but you must not present engine output as your own judgment without saying so.
• Do not collude with members, arrange results, or help anyone get around club rules on Gems, Laurels, ratings or tournaments.

6. Respect and safeguarding

• Treat every member with courtesy. Harassment, discrimination, abusive language and pressure selling are not allowed, in chat or anywhere else.
• With members under 18: communicate through club channels or with a parent or guardian included; do not meet a minor alone outside a club event or arrange private contact without a parent or guardian's consent; follow US Chess SafePlay or equivalent guidance.
• If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, Texas law requires you to report it (Texas Family Code §261.101). Tell a club organizer as well.

7. Paid coaching in Gems

• Approved coaches may offer paid services through the club (written game reviews, and through Coach Studio simuls, group clinics, Backgammon sessions and courses) at a price in Gems you set within the club's price bands.
• Members pay with Gems they bought. Gems won from challenges or bounties cannot be used to pay a coach.
• Gems themselves are never redeemed for cash, including by coaches. When you complete a paid service, the club credits you a coaching fee in US dollars: 75% of the service's Gem value at $1.00 per 10 Gems. The club keeps 25% to run the platform.
• Coaching fees become payable 14 days after you deliver the service, to allow for refunds and disputes. The club pays coaching fees monthly once at least $25.00 is payable, by the method agreed with you.
• If you do not deliver a paid review within 7 days, the member may cancel and receive their Gems back. If a member disputes a service, a club organizer decides; a refunded service earns no fee, and a fee already paid may be deducted from later fees.
• Set prices honestly and keep them stable. Do not use prices, refunds or repeat bookings to move value between members.

8. Coach Studio: events and courses

• Events (simuls, group clinics and Backgammon sessions) and courses are coaching services. A member pays for your teaching and your time, never for a chance to win anything.
• No prizes: you may not offer or promise Gems, money, merchandise or any other prize funded by event fees. Beat the Coach medals and other recognition have no value and cannot be exchanged for anything.
• Your first three events, and your first course, are checked by a club organizer before they are listed. Prices must stay within the club's price bands.
• Simuls can be untimed or clocked. In a clocked simul every board has its own clock for you and for the member, and your clock on a board runs whenever it is your move there, even while you are at other boards. A player who runs out of time, or leaves the event for 5 minutes (coach) or 3 minutes (member) while it is their move, loses that board.
• Start your events on time and play every simul board at full strength without outside help. If you cancel an event, or have not started it 30 minutes after the listed start, every member is refunded in full and the event counts against your reliability score, which is shown on your profile.
• Members may cancel a booking for a full refund up to 24 hours before the start. Bookings cancelled later, and members who do not attend, are not refunded. Your fee for an event becomes payable 14 days after the event is held.
• Youth events (open to members under 18) may be hosted only by coaches the club has cleared to coach minors, are held only on the club's own board and chat, and may not use an outside video link. Members under 18 may book only youth events.
• Course lessons must be your own work or properly credited, and accurate. Posts on your profile must follow the Code of Conduct and must not advertise paid services outside the club to members you met here.
• If you share your referral link and a member you referred buys their first paid membership, the club may credit you a small, club-funded Gem bonus. It is shown on your profile, has no cash value and is not part of your coaching fee.

9. Independent contractor, taxes and payments

• Coaches are independent contractors, not employees, agents or partners of Strategem Club. You are responsible for your own taxes, licences and insurance.
• Before your first payment you must give the club a completed IRS Form W-9. The club issues tax forms (such as Form 1099-NEC) where the law requires.
• The club may hold or withhold coaching fees while a fair-play, conduct or refund matter is under review.

10. Members and the club

• You may describe your school and services on your coach profile. Do not send unsolicited promotional messages to members.
• For 12 months after you first coach a member through the club, do not invite that member to pay you outside the club for the same service the club offers (for example game reviews). Teaching your existing students, and members who come to your school on their own, is fine.
• Keep members' personal information and games confidential. Use them only to coach that member.

11. Suspension and removal

• The club may suspend or end a coach account, remove the Coach badge, or close the member account for a breach of this policy, the Club Policies or the Code of Conduct, or where needed to protect members.
• Where possible, the club will tell you why and give you a chance to respond. Fees for services properly delivered before removal remain payable unless they are refunded or relate to the breach.
• You may close your coach account at any time by telling a club organizer. You must still complete or refund services already paid for.

12. Changes to this policy

• The club may update this policy. Coaches will be told of material changes and asked to accept the new version to keep their coach account.
• Questions: hello@strategem.us.