Dan Heisman vs other coaches. high prices worth it?

Why did you stop? The expense or loss of interest?

What books did he recommend? I have his HUGE list, but can you narrow it down lol

Again, try Dan and one or two others. See who suits your style. Worked with me for foreign language learning.

Yeah i had different expectations. I went from 1400 uscf to 1800 in 1 year now. Im currently 17 now. I dont really consider chess.com ratings as the real deal because i focus more otb. Dan heismans books are great and no doubt about that. Its not that i didnt click with him at all, its just that i didnt get any enthusiasm from him when he taught me which had some psychological effects on me making me concentrate less,etc. Currently i just got a gm near my house in california. So far i like his teachings and he is exactly what i expected.

Who? I live in California.

What you get from NM Dan Heisman as a coach:

Dan's strength, compared to other coaches, is his strength with low rated players.  He understands the common mistakes that holds lower rated players back (i.e. safety, counting mistakes, tactics, etc.).  He also understands that not all beginner chess books are equal and provides a suggested sequence of books to read for players rated under ~1400.  His lessons are pricey, however if you follow his guidance, you will see improvement at a reasonable pace.

I've taken several lessons from Dan.  My problem was lack of time getting my homework done to truly get the value out of the lesson.  I made time to play fast games, a big no-no in Dan's eyes.  He recommends playing slow games at 45/45 or 60 minutes until you improve well enough to stop the basic mistakes.  

I've been taking lessons lately from IM Valeri Lilov.  In addition to his excellent teaching style, he includes a video recording of the lesson.  A nice benefit not all coaches provide.

Anyway, my two cents.  

Dan-- agreeed. I have read one of his books and talked to him on the phone several times. No charge.

I watched a video by IM Valeri Lilov online here. It was a while ago...I believe it had to do with the Lolli and/or Fried Liver. Excellent.

Aww-Rats is on my radar. Heard great things.

NM linlaoda....there are a bunch of others. It's going to be hard to make a decision.

If you have money to spend on lessons you should look around and pick out someone who is compatible with you. If you have only a small amount of money I suggest Dan Heisman's videos on ICC. There is a small membership fee to watch these videos but it is well worth it. I have improved just by watching them.  

I have copious amounts of mone. I want the best (for me).

After all, you're a trillionaire astronaut and nobel prize winner.

But of course. Would you pass the Grey Poupon, Sir?

That's hard to believe.  I don't know an IM or GM in Boston who charges less that $100 per hour, and that's if they have a minimal (or no) reputation.  It goes up from there.

Regarding Heisman, he gets paid for his reputation as being pedagogically proven in his craft.  Period.  For anyone who cares to hear about coaches from someone whose had a number of them, I've written a blog on the topic: https://www.chess.com/blog/Milliern/on-the-topic-of-chess-coaches-part-1

Chess players as cheap as **$!*!

Seriously, a 1 hour swim lesson with the local no-name YMCA coach runs north of $50/hr here.

I looked into piano lessons (you have to go to the studio, they don't come to your house) for my 6-yr old daughter at a local piano school (not some elite conservatory), and it was $100/hour. For some no-name piano teacher.

To get a world-class GM to teach your for $100/hr is a great deal, but at the same time, most class players don't need a full GM to give them advice and may be better off with more 'human' players who don't have gobs of natural talent, like IMs or even masters.

It depends on what the video's intent was.  Some people hate reading books and hate fiddling with engines, databases, and whatnot.  Not all of his videos are like that, and even when they are, such teachers tend to give opinions where engines give lines where the practical chances are much smaller.  For example, my coaches often tell me, "maybe nth move X is objectively best, but move Y has far fewer subsequent must-find moves and offers a lot of practical problems for the opponent." 

I don't know if this is still active, but Dan is my coach. Because of him, I have raised my rating by about 500 points in 6 months.