Master FIDE (since 2004)

ValentinaYakovich (born in 1964) entered the Psychology Department of Saratov State University in 1981 and graduated with honors in 1986.

For 25 years after graduation she worked as a psychologist, including 17 of them as a child psychologist.

In her free time she participated in chess competitions: twice won the Samara region championship among women, became a prize-winner in international chess tournaments in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and the Netherlands

In 2004 she started teaching chess to children. Among her students are winners of regional and international competitions. From 2006 to 2023 she worked as a coach and psychologist at the Grandmaster Center for talented children of the Russian Chess Federation.

The total experience of teaching chess to children is 20 years.