Free?


I used to coach for free. I stopped for two reasons.
1- Believe it or not, people were constantly complaining that it was some sort of publicity stunt. I lost (somewhat ironically) a lot of respect on this site from a lot of people for some reason.
2- My coaching method starting working wonders. Most of my students experienced some sort of rating gain and one went from 1350 to 1800 in a very short timeframe.
Now, technically my rates are still pretty competitive. If you are still interested in learning and you can convince me that you have what it takes to be a developing student (I know it's weird for me to be so selective but I do this job for the satisfaction of helping people that want to know, not so much for the money) I'll definitely consider a 1 hour/week at $10/hour training program.
That said, I've also started work on a book that I am considering making available to members of chess.com online for $10.00. The book is made up of 50 heavily annotated games along with lessons for the average player. Unfortunately writing a book like this takes a considerable amount of time (upwards of 2 hours per game) and I won't be able to finish it unless I know people are interested in purchasing it.
Either way you're getting a decent rate for some top knotch learning materials.
Beyond that I think you'll have a hard time getting free lessons... and even if you do, you'll likely get what you pay for.
-matt
Would anyone be willing to coach via email for free ?