Performance System

Train How
You Decide.

Poison Pawn is a performance system that trains how you make decisions. Using chess as the training tool, every decision is tracked and every pattern is measured — so you know exactly how you think, where you're sharp, and where you break down.

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Trusted by Elite Performers
Porsche
YPO
Panda Restaurant Group
UCLA
Michigan State
Toronto Blue Jays
USA Swimming
NY Giants
NFLPA
Porsche
YPO
Panda Restaurant Group
UCLA
Michigan State
Toronto Blue Jays
USA Swimming
NY Giants
NFLPA
The System

Most people train execution.
We train the decisions
behind them.

Poison Pawn is a decision-making training system delivered through an app. You train through chess-based sessions, the app builds a complete picture of how you think and where you break down, and then gives you specific drills to close those gaps. Every member of your organization gets their own decision profile, targeted training, and performance data tracked over time. The system is app-driven, with direct support from the Poison Pawn team throughout.

What makes it work at a deeper level is neuroplasticity — the brain's ability to form new pathways and change how it processes information. Every session isn't just practice. It's literally reshaping how you think, how you see situations, and how you respond under pressure. Over time, the system doesn't just sharpen your decision-making. It rewires it.

Poison Pawn app — Your Trajectory decision profile
By The Numbers
15
NFL Quarterbacks Trained
100+
Elite Organizations
10 Years
Training Elite Performers
20+
Industries Served
As Seen In
The Athletic

"A confidant and the most unique quarterback guru in football."

New York Times

"Teaching Olympians how to make the right moves — on and off the board."

LA Times

"The chess guru turning rising NFL quarterbacks into decision-making machines."

ESPN

"Makowsky has revolutionized how decision-making fuels elite performance."

What Elite Performers Say
Cameron Diaz
Actor, Entrepreneur, Mother
"It definitely helped my game. If I move this here — it's just like, about life. If I move this one way, something else can happen. You could get captured. It definitely helped me... That week was what changed my life."
C.J. Stroud
Pro Bowl NFL Quarterback
"It's just as important for our team to train our minds as it is our physical strength or volleyball skills."
John Speraw
UCLA Men's Volleyball Head Coach — 2023 & 2024 National Champions
"I've been working with Poison Pawn, and it really ties into the training and the elite mindset of things. There's so much strategy that goes into it — learning how to think quickly and how to see steps ahead, which I translate into my sport."
Michael Andrew
Gold Medal Olympic Swimmer

The Edge
Starts Here.

Poison Pawn works with a select group of high-performance teams and organizations. Apply to find out if it's right for you.