Chess Coach Recommendations for older long-time player looking to improve

Hi,

With Covid-19, and a reduced workload, I'm finding myself with enough time on my hands to actively pursue chess improvement.   Of late, I've been doing tactics, endgame, and strategy puzzles on chess.com like crazy.  I'm also studying openings a bit, basing my studies on videos from chess.com.

I'm an adult player who began to take chess seriously in my mid-30s.  I'm now 51 and have reached a stubborn plateau where I've been stuck for at least five years.   My USCF standard rating fluctuates between around 1700 and 1800.  I tend to play "quick" chess over the board (20 minutes), and blitz online (3m + 2s, usually). My USCF quick rating has been as high as 1880, but hovers around 1800 mostly.  

I'm very "streaky".   I have periods of time where I play extremely well, and my rating skyrockets.  I follow this with long periods where I bleed points profusely.

I'm looking for a coach who can identify my weaknesses and give me a program of study catered to them.   Given that I'm mostly out of work, I'm looking to pay between 25-30 USD per hour.  I'm fluent in English and Portuguese, and I don't mind a coach with a regional accent as I live in a diverse community.   Age, gender, nationality are unimportant to me.   

I live in the US eastern time zone (GMT + 4 during the summer months)

Would anyone have any recommendations for a coach that they have found helpful and good to work with and who has experience coaching "older, plateaued" players?

Thanks!

I think you need to contact the coaches on the coaches page and see who is interested..

https://www.chess.com/coaches

I would think that $25-$30 per hour should get you a decent coach.

I wouldn't be embarrassed to offer that to Grandmasters these days.

Thanks,

I'm looking  for endorsements from folks who have taken lessons from the coaches on chess.com.   I realize that is drawing on a rather small group, but I thought I might give it a try.

You can look for coaches on chess.com/coach

20$ to 30$ an hour.. you guys are crazy this is a huge chess scam

If you want to improve, you can find free videos here: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChessMastery123

yes it is... It is a game no matter how many tittles people will give it.. At the end of the day its just a board game and when we pay 10$ and 20$ per hour for actual math and physics teachers to help us at school then 30 and 90 per hours to learn a GAME is a scam.

You clearly have no regard for the game. Your'e into cyber security right? May I take the liberty to say that Cyber Security is a complete hoax? It's an artifical industry. People first create viruses then create anti-viruses. What about this then? By your logic everything except food, water and security is a hoax lol. And why shouldn't a "Game" have the same respect as let's say a "subject"? Then entertainment is a hoax as well! Why are actors paid so much? Is that a question that piques your rigid brain often my Greek friend? 

lmao wtf are you on about.. The difference is obvious.. What would happen to the world if all at cyber security stopped working? All the companies would go bankrupt not to mention all the individual damage that it will cause to people from the viruses going wild and no, cyber security does not stop at the creation of anti-viruses, You seem quite clueless. Its like disabling your immune system in your body. Now what will happen if everyone stopped playing a game like chess? Absolutely nothing. At least acting provides entertainment to many people, what does chess do? nobody plays chess anymore. Only 1-5% of the world plays chess regularly if not at all. Why would people have to pay 90$ per hour to learn how to play a game. There are better games with way more strategy and tactics out there. You are living in the past and you need to wake up my Indian friend. Paying so much to learn a board game is ridiculous. Dont compare me cyber security with chess, its silly. Yes entertainment is important too for human beings but show me a game besides chess were you have to pay so much to learn.. What, basketball? i was paying 10$ per month when i was a kid, football? The same.

Improvement in Chess requires a lot of Effort and Time Investment . 100$/Hour wouldn't be Unfair for a Coach . It's not because I am a Coach , I know how much time people can waste on Non-Productive methods . 

What a joke

lol your'e a simpleton. I expected more from a man of your erudition! I never claimed that cyber-security ends at 'Viruses'. I work in an information technology consultancy firm. And believe me Indians have to deal with cyber security WAY more than people of other nations because IT is the dominant contributor to our GDP. My point was: Cyber-Security is an artifical industry. We need medicines because most diseases are not man-made (atleast that's what the non-cynical lot would like to believe). So don't even compare it with our immunity. Viruses are man made. MNCs first create viruses just to create a demand for anti-virus softwares. MNCs first create malwares/adwares just to create a demand for a product that would help consumers get rid of it! 

For you chess may not be entertainment. But we can only speak for ourselves, right? There are a LOT of people who enjoy chess. And they are ready to pay more for chess than they would want to pay for a silly artifical industry like Cyber-Security. You see what's happening here? Demand-Supply. There are millions of physics teachers. How many GMs are there? Prices are governed by Demand-Supply. Why are actors paid more than a Doctor? Demand-Supply. Why is Ronaldo paid more than the Italian doctors risking their life to save Covid patients? Demand-Supply. 

Teach your kids economics more to understand how the world works. Because there seems to be a serious lacunae in your understanding of economics. You may end up with another debt-crisis in Greece soon, otherwise. 

@Hoehne-Badger   I am in my 50's also and was in search of a coach to get me boosted and to improve and came across Kestony (https://www.chess.com/member/kestony) He is in Latvia but works EST time to accommodate.  He is EXCELLENT in identifying weak spots and guiding you to improve. He is a great guy, passionate, sense of humour and great to work with. I can't recommend him enough.

Nigel.

Funny that you compare corruption in an industry with the industry itself and how useful it is to the world.

First hole in your argument:

Those 2 if you haven't yet realized are 2 separate things as people do not create viruses BECAUSE of cyber security but because people are corrupt and selfish regardless where they work or what industry they are in. So the corruption in an industry has nothing to do with the industry itself because it is not caused by it.

Second hole in your argument:

You said "There are a LOT of people who enjoy chess and they are ready to pay more for chess". Simply because someone is *willing* to pay more does not automatically mean that he *wants* to pay more. I am sure everyone would be happy if they where able to pay less and get what they get now.  If the demand for chess teachers is high and the numbers low then simply increasing the number of teachers or by  creating more chess academies for people to attend will fix the problem. There is no need to keep increasing the price since there are other and better solutions. So why is it that fewer and fewer academies form while chess teachers seeking private lessons rise? Because of Greed! And because of greed the private teachers also lie to you, not teaching you properly so that you never really learn chess in order to pay them for as long as possible, therefore private lessons is a big scam. You mentioned how actors are paid more than doctors. First of all  thats not entirely true because MOST actors are not getting paid enough, only the really famous ones do similarly to how the really famous doctors are getting paid EVEN more sometimes than actors but even if we assume thats true the difference is that i, am not paying the actors anything more than 5$ per month when i subscribe to a streaming service to watch their movie. Similarly to football players, i dont pay them anything, all i do is i watch some adds whenever i open the tv.. and that's how it should be. Entertainment should be CHEAP and easily accessible for everyone. What happens if someone poor wants to learn chess? He simply cant, so where the fun in that huh? 

Lastly you mentioned my country twice now, and now you are using it as an insult. I expected more from you. I will not go there because you know pretty well your own countries flaws. 

So how does a person solely devoted to chess earn? Corruption in an industry and the industry? What? Lol the industry has a corrupt foundation! It's like creating crime and then ask people to pay for protection. Good chess teachers are few in number. All what I'm saying is: No matter which field it is, there's more demand for people at the top. We should not besmirch any field just because it doesn't confirm with our ideas in life. 

Especially on a forum solely dedicated for that thing. Lol 

And I never insulted any country. On the contrary I love Greece and planned to visit it (but covid... :/) I merely pointed out a fact. You can do so for India too. I'm not a nationalist. I'm an objective person ready to accept criticism. 

What happens if someone poor wants to learn chess? He simply cant, so where the fun in that huh? -- Group Lessons ? YouTube ? Twitch ? There's always a Way

Exactly !

VirusS3 simply doesn't know what he is talking about. 

Hi! I am 38 years old Fide Master with Fide rating 2362 (max was 2389).

https://ratings.fide.com/profile/4501233

I offer chess lessons (10 eur per hour). I speak English, Russian and Estonian languages.

I was Tallinn champion in 2004 and Irish champion in 2012. I also won many other tournaments.

My email: chesslessonsacademy@gmail.com

We can do online lessons via zoom, teamviewer, skype, viber and whatsapp and play games, analyze chess openings. I'll explain to you chess strategy and etc.