Laurent is truely one of the best coaches out there. His approach to explaining the basics has renewed my faith and confidence in chess also.

Hi Laurent,

Thanks very much for taking the time to coach me this week.

I was impressed with how you asked what I wanted to get out of the session and then superseded my expectations. As you know, I have previously had bad chess coaching experiences, so for you to be able to make me feel comfortable and impart your knowledge in such a pleasant and simple manner is something you should be proud of. It does take a lot to impress me usually but on this occassion I found your tips and advice invaluable and you provided answers to my initial requirements perfectly. You delivered the session very professionally and you have a good sense of humor. This professional humor helped me understand the concepts presented more clearly and I never once felt patronised or belittled for being a rookie chess player.

Thank you very much Laurent, you have restored my faith in chess coaches. 

Kind regards

Art

http://blog.chess.com/ArtDean/playing-higher-rated-players-mars-your-game

Bravo et bonne continuation compatriote. Nous sommes heureux que vous représentiez le haut du  pavé aux Chess....

Je vous connais depuis assez longtemps pour savoir que vous êtes une de nos références.

Bonne année, et à bientôt....

Salutations respectueuses

Of the lesson ideas listed, I might be interested in: 

• Winning the won game 
• Basics of the Italian opening as white 

Thanks Laurent for further explaining your experience and possible designs for group training. It sounds great!

Ed

Hello Ed,

I used to take part in group analysis sessions on the Internet a few years ago. My experience is that it was manageable with a maximum of 4 people, else the interaction becomes too difficult. But 3-4 people worked.

The format I consider using is closer to a regular lecture format : 1) didactic examples, 2) Q&A, 3) exercises, so it should be easier to handle than an open analysis session. However, as I don't want to lose the interactivity, I want to limit it to 3 students only.

You're right it would be better if the students have similar needs (though I think there are many topics of interest for most people rated U1700), and the rating gap is not too wide. However, drawing from the experience of teaching in clubs, I know it's possible to design a lesson so that everybody can benefit from it : some people will be more challenged at some parts than others, but overall, everybody should learn a lot !

People attending will also have the opportunity to train together after the session : finding training buddies with similar goals and strengths can help a lot too !  

I suggest that not only the needs of the group be considered but also some 'research' into how other chess workshops have been 'successfully' conducted. This could be an attractive alternative to some and is a great idea. Getting three students who can work together and have similar skills and needs could be a bit of a challenge. Perhaps a welcome challenge

Hello Colin, glad to hear from you - I hope you're doing fine

I'll have to work the schedule with the 3 participants, so obviously we'll need to plan this a few weeks in advance.

In the meantime, here are some proposals for the training workshop :

• Basic tactics workshop
• Pawn endgame basics
• Rook endgame basics
• Winning the won game
• Learning to calculate : how and when ?
• Basics of the Italian opening as white
• Using a development advantage
• Identify and deal with your opponent's threats
• My opponent plays an unexpected opening move : now what ?
• Building an attack

Other ideas are welcome.

The Class sounds excellent Laurent, i may be interested depending on the actual schedule.

Cheers

Yes : Skype + Live chess board.

Interesting idea! But how would this work more specifically? Via Skype and the Live Board here on Chess.com?

I've decided to offer a new service : group training.

The idea is to organize a live training interactive session with 3 students. The session will feature a common theme of interest for the students : it can be a technical theme (ie. rook endgames), opening study, or going interactively over some interesting master games to illustrate a strategic idea.

The session will last 4 hrs. and feature at least 2hrs of 'active training' : meaning you will have to think over positions and find moves

The entry price is 75$ per student, which includes my preparation time (probably as long as the lesson itself !) and handouts files.

If you're interested in this idea, please get in touch with me and post here the topic(s) you'd like to study.

This guy is great! I've learned so much from him, in just three lessons. His prices are favorable. Laurent is rated 2075 (FIDE, not Chess.com), and his deep understanding of the game is evident. He is also a very pleasant guy, and I really like his approach. Some coaches seems to advocate a somewhat conformist way of playing chess (or at least, that's how I perceive it, when I read their comments in the forums). Laurent isn't like that, which is great for a player like me, who like to experiment, and play somewhat offbeat openings. 

I highly recommend him! 

whats the discounted rate? I mabe interested.

cheers

Hello, as I understand it's difficult to pick a coach among all those around here, I've added a new offer : a 1 hr. intro lesson, at a discount rate, so that you can check if my teaching style suits you.

We will go through one of your selected long games and analyze it together. I'll ask many questions to better understand your approach to the various positions.

i wouldbe honered to be your pupil

i keep losing focus, then when i regain it i am at a severe disadvantage.

ME