Looking for a coach

Hi All, I am a UK based player looking for a coach (personal recommendations or direct contact, I don’t mind). A bit of background - i knew how to move the chess pieces around as a kid but only where they moved. Golf took up my life in my teens and early 20’s (got down to around scratch) and then picked up running (marathons and ultras) late 20’s because I was overweight.

Unfortunately due to deterioration of my health last summer (I am 39) - running isn’t an option and my two young kids mean 5 hours on the golf course is out.

So following the health scare last summer, I picked up chess and I have gradually fallen deeper and deeper for it.

Having been pretty good at training for golf and running, I am sure I can use some of the same structured processes to improve my chess - I want to improve and would love to start playing OTB tournaments in the future.

I am rated around 800 on daily chess (which is really the only game type I enjoy, blitz, rapid is fun but I’ve only just started playing it and as I don’t feel like I know the fundamentals, it feels a bit of a waste, ie they’re not really improving my skill set.

To now I have learnt a very basic opening style and have spent more time on puzzles and trying to understand endgames/calculation. Also using Aimchess to try and analyse my games and help me understand where to improve.

In terms of time I can commit, I can commit about an hour per day to playing/studying chess (though invariably I tend to spend longer on a fair few days) - whether a coach is the best way or not, I don’t know, but I do believe that the right coach would be able to keep me on the right track of what to study etc in order for me to keep improving. I spent many years working on my golf and then my running and I want to spend many happy (hopefully) years playing and studying chess - so with that in mind - any coach recommendations would be gratefully received.

The idealistic notion in my head that is that there is a quality coach that can act as a guide/mentor and help me see at what level I can play in chess.

Many thanks for reading,
Best,
James

orrrrrrr 

I am the most affordable coach on chess.com. if you want to find affordable coaches you have to look elsewhere. for instance, the icc, or the internet chess club ( chessclub.com) has a coaches page as well. they have certain people at my same rate which is 15 an hour. typically I work for 25 but I am in need of filling up my schedule again so I am working at my most competetive rate.

 

anyway, back to you. 

Another website where you can find coaches is on lichess.org, they have a coaches page as well.

 

there you might find also affordable coaches if you look in the right countries. india for isntance is competitive, another country which is super affordable is cuba. you might choose better countries. try it out.

by the way I am a coach here. I suggest also you work with coaches for 10 lessons at a time and then choose a new coach. this will guarantee you find your ideal coach, or your guru which can guarantee improvement.

those are my two cents.

also, if you only have an hour a day for chess I would suggest you look at something new to do, like photography or something like that. or literature. I dont think chess will be good for you because you need to devote a lot more time than an hour to chess to improve.

 

 

I'm open for a free 30 minute session. I usually charge $20/hour for online lessons. I've been coaching the last 5 years and spent some time doing it at schools. I've also been around 2400-2500 daily for years.

https://www.chess.com/coaches?sortBy=alphabetical&page=34

At the bottom, that's me - happy to discuss your coaching needs.

Cheers

Richie

Hi James! Happy to see new people who want to improve. I am a high performance chess coach, please DM me for more information. Thanks

Hi, I'm a beginner looking for a coach but I do not have any money . I am, however, a fast learner and love playing chess so anyone who would like to coach me for free please let me know, thanks.

@1

"I am sure I can use some of the same structured processes to improve my chess"
++ Yes, it is a matter of discipline and dedication.

"blitz, rapid is fun" ++ Blitz is worthless for progress; 15|10 rapid is good.
Daily is too inhomogenous: one player may play 1 game and analyse for hours,
another may play 100 games simultaneously and think for seconds.

"now I have learnt a very basic opening style" ++ Not necessary, principles are enough.

"have spent more time on puzzles" ++ 4 puzzles is a good warm-up, but golf is not putting only.

"trying to understand endgames" ++ Very important, that is the basis.

"analyse my games" ++ Analysing your losses and learning from your mistakes is key.

"I can commit about an hour per day" ++ 1 h/day is enough to reach 2000 in 1 year

"whether a coach is the best way or not" ++ A good book is better than a mediocre coach.

Hi James, I believe that advancing at chess is always possible when you enjoy playing it - and competing. Of course the more time you put in, the better, but I think 1 hour/day is totally OK at your level. The learning curve for beginners and intermediates is rather steep so you can make quite a progress with a relatively modest effort. 

On the other hand If you want to be ready for OTB play, I would suggest you to take the challenge of playing blitz and rapid games on-line. The reason is you will need to manage your time OTB, and playing either blitz or rapid on-line games will be a training to develop the same skill.

Finally, I think that a good coach can certainly help you in the improving process, as happens in other fields.

Good luck.!

 

Free trial lesson: https://bookme.name/chessknight/free-trial-lesson