first you find a coach, email him. he will set it up. with mine, we talk through skype but he has a software on his website where i can see what board he has made
taking lessons
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Oct 3, 2011
0
#3
You should try to find an OTB coach instead, believe me, its MUCH better. As I se it, an online coach is only if there is no good players close to where you live, but there usually is.
Oct 3, 2011
0
#5
SimonSeirup wrote:
You should try to find an OTB coach instead, believe me, its MUCH better. As I se it, an online coach is only if there is no good players close to where you live, but there usually is.
Not always the case and really based on the kind of student you are. If you are under the age of 16, you probably would exhibit behaviors that are typical for the age and would require personal face-to-face interaction.
If you are an adult, you probably need to do your homework and pick somebody who can work with you and really understands your roadblocks.
I've seen OTB face-to-face coaches in my city who barely remember your name, speak/vocalize like they're about to have a stroke and formulate their lesson plan verbatim out of the book...and most of the times, a really, really bad chess book.
On the other hand, I've personally had two coaches (online + phone) who've together brought me 500+ points on the USCF Rating ladder.
The key really is finding the right person ... not so much whether they are close / far away.
Sure, the right guy who happens to be accessible for face-to-face is icing on the cake ... and of course you can have a really bad experience with online coaching as well.... keep an open mind! Good luck! :)
Update:
A few other tips :
- Cheap is not always the best.
- Make sure they have established federation "slow game" ratings ... not someone whose only qualification is a 2500+ at online blitz/bullet chess rating.
- At the club levels of play, find people who are atleast rated 400 Federation points higher than you are.
- Take hour-or-more long lessons ... as opposed to 30-minute quickies that really don't give you enough time to answer key questions or go over complicated concepts.
- It is nice to find somebody who still has fire left in their belly and still play competitively at tournaments. Look for this...
- A PhD in math may not necessarily be a good math teacher for a grade-schooler ... he may have no clue why his students don't "get" simple concepts ... so don't assume a lofty rating implies that this person can actually teach with a passion.
How do I go about taking a live lesson from a coach? Do I need special equipment like Skype? How do I pay for it?