I never had a chess coach myself, but any good teacher should teach you what you need to know without the need for you to ask
What to Expect from a Chess Coach?
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Every coach is different, but I will tell you what I do.
If a brand new student comes to me and I don't know anything about them, I will look up their tournament history and try to draw some conclusions. THEN i either talk or email with the student to learn about their goals, what bothers them, their self-perceived strengths and weaknesses. After that, I ask for games -- tournament games are best of course, but online games can reveal a lot too -- and determine what I believe they need to improve. I then prepare my lesson and go see the student and discuss my findings. I tell them how I will help them achieve massive improvement if they follow my instructions -- because it's true.
In general, students aren't getting the results they want because of a lack of knowledge or understanding, and I can fix that.
what kind of games should I give to let the coach look at? The ones where I absolutely get smashed or...?
Aug 11, 2015
0
#5
I've been coaching chess for 25 years now. I've worked with individuals, school systems, and schools; beginners to A players. The following is therefore lessons learned mostly by sorrow.
1. Before looking for a coach decide what you need one for! Know what you want: write up a list of concrete goals you desire to accomplish.
2. Now that you know what you want it's easier to formulate questions which will enable you to decide if you have a good fit with a particular person.
3. Good coaches will ask you your goals right up front anyway so having them handy is a good idea anyway.
4. Good coaches will start with a personal assessment. While this may take several forms, it usually involves playing several positions or solving puzzles and the the coach will usually ask for some of your games to analyze (I preferrred getting 4-5 losses and one game the student was proud of). I always take these home and look for patterns of thought (wrong or right!) within the games.
5. The assessment should allow the coach to create a lesson plan and a model timeline for specific improvements in your game.
A coach who won't tell you all this up front may be a good fit but I wouldn't bet on it.
Now I can say based on your ratings here at chess.com that you fall into the range where most rapid improvement comes from work on tactical awareness (mainly pattern recognition) and opening preparation (I do NOT mean memorize lines 15 moves deep, I mean learn the moves of an opening and the tactical and strategic ideas behind them so you aren't behind the 8 ball after 10 moves). Chess.com provides tactics trainer and book openings so you can improve in these areas without a coach.
Good luck with your search!
@raymondnewton:
Ideally, I like to get 10-20 of the most recent tournament games. Again, online games are acceptable if the student hasn't played for a while. The results of the games don't matter, no preference to wins or losses -- but don't leave games out.
Realistically I would love to hit 2000 USCF Rating. But as an endgoal I would like to be an official FIDE Titled player one day. And I dont think I will ever stop playing chess until I am a FIDE Titled player.
I am a college student so I do have that responsibility. But basically my days consist of: fitness disciplines, school, chess.
One test that might be helpful is getting a good book on the Middle Game, like "The Art of Positional Play" by Sammy Reshevsky, "New Ideas in Chess" by Larry Evans, or "The Middle Game in Chess" by Reuben Fine, or an equivalent.
Make a copy of the table of contents from the book.
Then see whether the coach in his lesson deals with any of those subjects in a thorough way or when reviewing games whether the coach specifically explains how any of those subjects had a direct influence on the result.
If the coach doesn't hit on those subjects much, maybe a change might be considered.
raymondnewton wrote:
I would like to be an official FIDE Titled player one day. And I dont think I will ever stop playing chess until I am a FIDE Titled player.
You're strong enough for CM title already. You just need to pay the fees and enter select FIDE events. If you're busy with uni, can't travel, and don't have funds, then you need to wait or gain much more chess knowledge. Get a good coach, work hard.
Nckchrls wrote:
One test that might be helpful is getting a good book on the Middle Game, like "The Art of Positional Play" by Sammy Reshevsky, "New Ideas in Chess" by Larry Evans, or "The Middle Game in Chess" by Reuben Fine, or an equivalent.
Make a copy of the table of contents from the book.
Then see whether the coach in his lesson deals with any of those subjects in a thorough way or when reviewing games whether the coach specifically explains how any of those subjects had a direct influence on the result.
If the coach doesn't hit on those subjects much, maybe a change might be considered.
Why should a coach be bound by the contents of (any) book? Don't hire the coach then, just read a book, if it's that straightforward and the student doesn't value his expertise.
Unless the coach is being brought in for entertainment purposes (this does happen sometimes, mainly with children) the job of a coach is to help the student generate the desired improvement -- if the student follows the coach's instructions.
Let me give you a hint: there's a very good reason why coaches charge much more for one lesson than the price of a book.
The main task of a coach is optimising your work and collecting elements necessary for your progress. But the main factor is always your hard work. If you don't work/ play/ analyse a lot there is no trainer that can help.
Aug 12, 2015
0
#13
I find that the c.c community is a great coach, as long as you know specifically what you want...
Andre_Harding wrote:
Nckchrls wrote:
One test that might be helpful is getting a good book on the Middle Game, like "The Art of Positional Play" by Sammy Reshevsky, "New Ideas in Chess" by Larry Evans, or "The Middle Game in Chess" by Reuben Fine, or an equivalent.
Make a copy of the table of contents from the book.
Then see whether the coach in his lesson deals with any of those subjects in a thorough way or when reviewing games whether the coach specifically explains how any of those subjects had a direct influence on the result.
If the coach doesn't hit on those subjects much, maybe a change might be considered.
Why should a coach be bound by the contents of (any) book? Don't hire the coach then, just read a book, if it's that straightforward and the student doesn't value his expertise.
Unless the coach is being brought in for entertainment purposes (this does happen sometimes, mainly with children) the job of a coach is to help the student generate the desired improvement -- if the student follows the coach's instructions.
Let me give you a hint: there's a very good reason why coaches charge much more for one lesson than the price of a book.
Pretty much the essence of any game's result is going to be related to a concept or mix of concepts in those or like books. The test is if the coach doesn't understand that or if they just don't want to take the effort to explain that, maybe the coach isn't worth the dough.
Yeah, Ok.
Nckchrls wrote:
Andre_Harding wrote:
Nckchrls wrote:
One test that might be helpful is getting a good book on the Middle Game, like "The Art of Positional Play" by Sammy Reshevsky, "New Ideas in Chess" by Larry Evans, or "The Middle Game in Chess" by Reuben Fine, or an equivalent.
Make a copy of the table of contents from the book.
Then see whether the coach in his lesson deals with any of those subjects in a thorough way or when reviewing games whether the coach specifically explains how any of those subjects had a direct influence on the result.
If the coach doesn't hit on those subjects much, maybe a change might be considered.
Why should a coach be bound by the contents of (any) book? Don't hire the coach then, just read a book, if it's that straightforward and the student doesn't value his expertise.
Unless the coach is being brought in for entertainment purposes (this does happen sometimes, mainly with children) the job of a coach is to help the student generate the desired improvement -- if the student follows the coach's instructions.
Let me give you a hint: there's a very good reason why coaches charge much more for one lesson than the price of a book.
Pretty much the essence of any game's result is going to be related to a concept or mix of concepts in those or like books. The test is if the coach doesn't understand that or if they just don't want to take the effort to explain that, maybe the coach isn't worth the dough.
Dec 23, 2015
0
#16
A coach can tell you your strenghts, weaknesses and how to overcome that; then its you who has to work on it.
rama-chandra wrote:
A coach can tell you your strenghts, weaknesses and how to overcome that; then its you who has to work on it.
I used to think this. But I have now come to believe that virtually 100% of students can improve their chess if their thinking process is tweaked even if everything else remains constant. That's the secret of my success, really: I can quickly get an idea of a student's thinking process and implement simple adjustments that make a huge difference. Perhaps it's my NLP training?
Anyway, a student should judge the coach's competence by examining their track record.
This doesn't just mean ratings/titles achieved by students, but also results of students similar to yourself -- for example, if you only have a couple of hours per week to study chess, look at the coach in question's results with THOSE KINDS of students. If the coach can only succeed with students who can devote many hours a day to chess, even if they all become GMs, how does that help YOU?
Also beware coaches who teach every student the same way. A big tipoff is if this coach teaches virtually every student the same opening(s). That shows a lack of flexibility and inability to adapt to each student's individual needs.
Something too often overlooked: coaches often give advice that is far too abstract. I have taken lessons with some of the very best coaches out there, and I must admit that the higher the rating of the coach, the more abstractness was a problem!! They really tried to help, but simply couldn't relate to my problems as a chessplayer. I give my students a thinking method (adapted to them) that they can immediately begin scoring points with and that gives them confidence. Why do cookbooks exist? Because very few people are genius master chefs.
I've only had a couple of sessions with my coach so far, and my chess is pretty weak in probably every category.
So far he's got me reviewing my games without consulting computers, and he gave a few guidelines for how he wanted me to approach it. He also had me change how I approach tactics study to be more productive. During sessions we cover a mix of material from my recent games and from instructive positions he provides.
And between sessions I have challenging homework in which I'm supposed to practice certain problem solving approaches.
He asked my goals up front, and asks questions to clear the mud about my experience as I go. Based on my experience so far, I would say that he's helping me progress more directly toward playing my chess than I was through haphazard self-directed study.
No idea what it's like for other players and coaches, but I feel I'm being given beneficial structure to my study and confidence that I can learn over time.
I am considering getting a chess coach. Really just trying to take my chess to the next level, the only problem is that I have never had a chess coach. I have no idea what to expect or what questions to ask to see if he is the coach for me. Was hoping I could get some tips and advice for questions I need to ask the chess coach personally. I was also hoping someone could tell me how sessions with a coach usually go and what happens during a typical session. ANYTHING I MIGHT NEED TO KNOW. Because right now I dont even know what questions I need to be asking. Thanks!