Terms and Conditions
Effective September 27, 2026. Binding contract. Read before you pay, book, email, or use this site.
These Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”) are a legally binding agreement between you (“you,” “Customer,” “Parent,” or “Guardian”) and Grandmaster Chess Academy, operating grandmasterchess.org (the “Academy,” “we,” “us”). By visiting the site, submitting a quote request, checking out, paying, attending, or using any service, you accept these Terms in full. If you do not accept, do not buy and do not use the services.
Nothing on this website is legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created by using this site. That same standard appears on laws.com; we adopt it here for all informational pages.
1. Covered services
These Terms cover every offering now or later, including without limitation:
- Online private lessons (Zoom or any video tool)
- Online or in-person group lessons (up to the posted student cap)
- After-school clubs, school programs, camps, and simultaneous exhibitions
- Subscriptions, packages, memberships, recurring billing, and prepaid lesson packs
- Business consultations, executive coaching, and strategy sessions (quoted or otherwise)
- Custom appearances, simuls, speeches, and special events
- Materials, recordings, homework, chat, email, and scheduling
Payment, a quote request, or attendance is acceptance of these Terms for that service and all related services.
2. All sales final — no refunds
ALL FEES ARE EARNED ON PAYMENT. THERE ARE NO REFUNDS, CREDITS, CHARGEBACKS, CHARGEBACK-EQUIVALENT CLAIMS, PRICE ADJUSTMENTS, OR “GOODWILL” RETURNS for any reason, including dissatisfaction, scheduling conflict, missed lesson, internet failure on your side, change of mind, illness, travel, school calendar, results, rating, quality complaints, or unused time.
This no-refund rule applies to private lessons, group lessons, packages, subscriptions, deposits, business consultations, custom appearances, and every other product. Quoted work that you later accept and pay is likewise non-refundable.
If we cancel a session for our own operational reasons, our sole obligation is to reschedule a replacement session of similar length, or, if we choose, to apply the unused time to a future session. That is not a cash refund and is not an admission of liability.
Initiating a card dispute, PayPal dispute, bank recall, or similar process is a material breach. You agree to withdraw it on written request and to pay our costs of defending it, including processor fees, attorney fees, and the disputed amount.
3. Scheduling, no-shows, and conduct
Purchase is for instruction time, not a guaranteed calendar slot at checkout. We schedule after payment through support@kumbaya.com or another channel we designate. You must provide working contact details.
If you or the student are more than ten (10) minutes late, we may treat the session as delivered in full. No-shows are fully charged. We may refuse service, mute, or remove anyone for abuse, recording without consent, or disruption, with no refund.
4. Online lessons and technical standards
You are solely responsible for device, camera, microphone, bandwidth, quiet space, and a legal Zoom (or other) account. Technical failure on your end does not create a refund, makeup, or claim. We may record sessions for quality and training. You will not record, copy, or publish lessons, boards, or materials without our prior written consent.
Results are not guaranteed. Chess rating, trophies, school grades, college admissions, and business outcomes are not promised.
5. Minors
If the student is under 18, a parent or legal guardian must buy, agree, and supervise. The adult is jointly and severally liable for all obligations, including payment, conduct, and these Terms. The adult binds the minor to the maximum extent allowed by Florida law.
6. Subscriptions
If we offer a subscription or auto-renew pack, it renews until you cancel in the manner we specify, with notice we consider reasonable. Fees already billed are non-refundable. Failed renewal payments may suspend access immediately.
7. Business consultations
Business consultations are opinions and discussion only. They are not legal, tax, investment, medical, or licensed professional advice. No fiduciary duty. ALL CONSULTATION FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE. You will not sue, threaten, review-bomb, or publicly allege malpractice based on consultation content.
8. Intellectual property
All lesson content, marks, videos, PGNs, worksheets, and site copy are owned by us or our licensors. You receive a limited, personal, non-transferable license to use materials for the enrolled student’s private study. No resale, no course cloning, no public posting.
9. Assumption of risk and release
Chess and related events involve ordinary risks (screen time, competitive stress, travel to in-person events). You assume those risks. To the maximum extent permitted by law, you release the Academy, GM Boris Kreiman, owners, contractors, and affiliates from all claims, known or unknown, arising from the services, this site, or your attendance.
You waive, to the maximum extent permitted by law, any right to complain in court, to seek injunctive relief against our operations except as a court of competent jurisdiction may still allow after arbitration is compelled, and to bring any class, collective, private-attorney-general, or representative action.
10. Limitation of liability
SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS.” WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM SHALL NOT EXCEED THE LESSER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US FOR THE SPECIFIC SESSION GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM IN THE THIRTY (30) DAYS BEFORE THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US $100). WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, OR LOST OPPORTUNITY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY.
Some jurisdictions limit these disclaimers. Then our liability is limited to the maximum extent that jurisdiction allows, and Florida law still governs the rest.
11. Mandatory individual arbitration — Florida only
YOU AND THE ACADEMY AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE, CLAIM, OR CONTROVERSY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS, THE SITE, PAYMENTS, LESSONS, CONSULTATIONS, SUBSCRIPTIONS, OR ANY SERVICE SHALL BE RESOLVED EXCLUSIVELY BY BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION, NOT IN COURT, AND NOT BY JURY TRIAL.
Arbitration shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer or Commercial Rules, as applicable. The seat and exclusive venue of arbitration is Miami-Dade County, State of Florida, United States. The arbitrator shall apply the substantive law of the State of Florida, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, and the Federal Arbitration Act. Proceedings shall be in English. One arbitrator. You and we each bear our own attorneys’ fees unless the arbitrator finds your claim frivolous, in which case you pay our reasonable fees and costs.
Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction in Florida. You may not file in any other state or country.
Small-claims court in Miami-Dade County, Florida is the only optional alternative, and only for claims that qualify under that court’s limits, brought individually.
12. No class actions
Arbitration and any permitted small-claims case must be individual. You waive class, mass, consolidated, and representative proceedings.
13. Indemnity
You will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Academy and its people from claims, damages, and costs (including attorneys’ fees) arising from your or the student’s conduct, your content, your breach, a chargeback, or your violation of law.
14. Privacy
Personal data is handled under our Privacy Policy, which is part of these Terms.
15. Changes
We may update these Terms by posting a new version. Continued use or a later purchase is acceptance. The version in effect on the date of your payment governs that purchase.
16. Miscellaneous
Florida law governs. If a clause is unenforceable, the rest stays in force and the clause is modified to the minimum extent needed. These Terms are the entire agreement and supersede prior discussions. Failure to enforce is not a waiver. You may not assign your rights. We may assign ours. Headings are for convenience only.
Contact: support@kumbaya.com. Notices to us are effective only if actually received in writing at that address.