Before we begin, I would like to immediately point out that this is not a self-promotional article where the conclusion will be “choose International Grandmaster Valery Filippov as your chess coach,” meaning me. No, my goal here is completely different: to help beginners make the right choice when selecting a coach. I will gladly explain where and how you can find one, as well as what qualities this coach should have so that a beginner who comes to them for lessons truly benefits and does not lose motivation.
And one more important remark before we start. This is the portrait of our student. In this article, I will focus specifically on an adult student with a Chess.com rating from 0 to 1800 who is looking for a coach in order to improve their online rating and maybe one day start playing OTB tournaments. I will only briefly touch on children’s chess in this article, and I will also not mention the principles of finding a coach for 2000+ USCF players because that is an entirely different case. So, let’s begin! I wish you an enjoyable read!
The New Era of Chess That Began in 2020
Please do not think that I decided to make a huge lyrical introduction to this article. I respect your time and do not want to drag this article out, but I believe it is very important to mention this point. As you probably know, in 2020, because of COVID and The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, a huge number of beginners came into chess. A sport that used to be niche and had a broad but not nearly as massive audience as it does now became mainstream. Immediately after the newcomers, a huge amount of new educational materials appeared, as well as quite a few new coaches. And this is exactly where the problem I want to address in this article appears.
All these newcomers who entered after 2020 found themselves in the middle, where on one side there were old-school coaches, most of whom either never worked with beginners at all, or never worked with adults, or both. And on the other side, new coaches appeared, some of whom came into chess exclusively for commercial reasons and had neither real teaching experience nor a clearly structured training system.
The chess market simply was not ready for such a sudden rise. But what happened, happened, and honestly, I am very glad it did. Now, let’s build the portrait of an excellent chess coach!
What Should a Chess Coach Be Like?
A coach must know how to listen to the student.
This is the very first and most important point. I place it even above qualification. During the first introductory lesson, a good coach should learn about your goals in chess and roughly outline your path toward those goals. A good coach will обязательно ask you about your chess experience, whether you have ever quit chess before, and if so, why.
After reading this, you may ask in surprise, “Valery, is it really different sometimes?” Unfortunately, this point is more the exception than the rule, especially among titled coaches. Over the years of my work, I have heard many different stories from students, and sometimes I have personally observed coaches working. Very often it happens that the coach asks the student only one question: “What’s your name?” and then starts telling them how world champions trained or how he himself trained in his best years. And just imagine the look on the student’s face as they sit there listening to all of this, understanding that they definitely will not be able to train this way and therefore it feels like there is no point in even starting.
Please, if you want to become a coach or are already working as a chess coach, do not neglect this point! Spend 15-20 minutes of the lesson, listen to your student, ask different questions in order to better understand their situation.
A coach must be flexible.
And this point again is not about qualification! Every coach is simply obligated to apply an individual approach to each student. This is an especially painful topic in children’s chess. Very often clubs that position themselves as “the place where future grandmasters are born” use only one training system because thanks to it 2-3 graduates became titled players. But at the same time, such schools never mention how many children left chess because that system did not suit them. And if they do mention it, they say something like, “Only the strongest survive in sports.” But I fundamentally disagree with this. Believe me, I have seen many talented chess players whose fire in their eyes went out because of the wrong approach and the wrong attitude.
REMEMBER: A good coach must know how to adapt their training system to you – based on your strengths and weaknesses.
A coach must be qualified.
No, if a coach is not a grandmaster or an international master, it does not mean they are a weak coach. I admit that a good coach may not have a title at all. But what they absolutely must do is improve their qualifications, for example: – Take coaching courses – Turn to another more experienced coach in order to learn the coaching craft – Possibly work for some time for free or for a symbolic amount in order to gain experience
And this is also an important and seemingly obvious point, but unfortunately today the reality is different: many think that if they got, for example, a 2000 rating on Chess.com, they can already coach and recruit beginners. On one hand, of course, their chess knowledge will be enough to explain basic combinations and openings to a beginner. But on the other hand, this is where the next problem arises: explaining it to the student from the position of a coach rather than from the position of a player. And an experienced coach will definitely know how exactly to present the material, where to place the emphasis, and what exercises to assign to their student.
IMPORTANT NOTE: A coach’s skill in presenting material well is much more important and valuable to the student than the coach’s rating or title.
Where and how to find a coach?
My first recommendation is to use tutoring websites where you can read real reviews. Reviews are the most valuable information for a student during the process of finding a coach. Also, make sure to find the coach’s profile on the USCF or FIDE websites and verify that they действительно have a chess title. As a second priority, you can use Chess.com and Lichess.org. There are no reviews there, but there are more titled players with verified titles on the site. You can also enter their online profile and see their online ratings.
I recommend choosing a coach according to the following criteria, from most important to least important:
Experience working as a coach
Country / Native English speaker?
Price
Coach’s rating / title / playing strength
Should a beginner train with a grandmaster?
More likely no than yes. It pains me to admit it, but by choosing a grandmaster, there is a higher chance that you will not be able to establish good contact. As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, chess only became truly mainstream in 2020, and 99% of grandmasters spent their entire lives working only with professionals. In most cases, they do not have any special training plan for beginners. They will give you the same material they have always given to strong tournament players and explain it in the same way. And most likely, you will understand nothing.
But! If a grandmaster explicitly writes that they are happy to work with beginners, then definitely try it – why not. For example, for me it is actually more interesting to work with a beginner because I like the way they look at chess and the sense of amazement they have for the game they are only just beginning to dive into.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If qualification matters to you, avoid the “A” prefix in titles.
In this paragraph, I just want to clarify that there are additional online titles that FIDE introduced not so long ago. Specifically: Arena International Master (AIM) and Arena Grandmaster (AGM). To get them, you need to achieve a relatively small rating on the FIDE online platform and also (of course) pay a yearly fee for this status to be displayed on your FIDE profile. I think the main downside of these titles is already obvious to you. Any beginner can register on this online platform and ask a stronger friend to earn these titles for them in 1-2 weeks. Nobody checks this. And just like that, such a player will differ from a grandmaster by only one letter “A.” But in practice, the difference between them is enormous.
Therefore, if it is specifically important to you to have a titled coach, pay attention to this. Here are the official abbreviations of titles that players spend years and sometimes decades achieving: CM – Candidate Master NM – National Master FM – FIDE Master IM – International Master GM – Grandmaster
If a coach has the title AIM or AGM, this does not mean they have no qualifications! They may be an excellent mentor. But still, keep in mind that these titles are much easier to obtain and carry less weight.
Unfortunately, nowadays it is common practice that, for example, an AGM presents themselves as a grandmaster in order to attract more students and mislead beginner chess players.
If you can’t establish good contact with your coach – find a new one.
Remember, no matter how highly qualified the coach may be as a player, if for some reason your connection with them does not work out, there will be no benefit from the lessons. Under no circumstances should you endure it or think that the problem is your weak playing level and that is why you do not understand the coach.
If a coach cannot explain the material to you in an understandable way, it does not mean you are a weak player – it means they are an incompetent coach.
Chess is an incredibly complex game, but a competent mentor will always be able to clearly explain a particular topic or opening.
What about group lessons?
This is an interesting option, but I would advise you to attend group lessons only in person. Because here a big motivating role will be played by the fact that you immediately enter a community made up of other students just like you. This is a great way to meet someone and find yourself a sparring partner with whom you can grow together in chess.
But I would advise against online group lessons. Unfortunately, I have often encountered the fact that these kinds of services are often low quality. The audience of an online class is unlimited, and the coach often recruits players of different levels into one group simply to earn more. At the same time, you do not really interact with the other participants in the training, or this interaction is minimal or limited. But if the price of such a group lesson is low, then why not give it a try? Just do not expect a much greater effect than from watching a chess lesson on YouTube.
To sum it up
A good chess coach can significantly accelerate a student’s progress. But when choosing a specialist, focus first and foremost on their experience and ability to interact with the student, not on their rating or playing strength. Remember, you came to a coach precisely because you are a beginner and because you want to improve in chess. And it is absolutely natural if you poorly understand one topic or another. A competent coach will never criticize you for not knowing something, but on the contrary will gladly explain it and answer all your questions. I sincerely wish you to find that very coach with whom you will go through your long chess journey!
♟ Article prepared by Grandmaster and chess coach Valery Filippov ♟
FAQ
Should beginners hire a chess coach or study alone? A good coach can greatly simplify the training process and guide you in the right direction. However, not every beginner actually needs one right away. The answer depends on your goals, learning style, and available time, so I discuss it in more detail in my article about whether you really need a chess coach as a beginner.
What rating should a beginner’s chess coach have? Any rating, but it should be significantly higher than yours. For example, if your rapid rating on chess com is 1000, you can absolutely choose a coach with a rating of 1700. The most important thing is that they meet the criteria listed in this article.
How much does a chess coach usually cost? If we are talking about experienced titled coaches, the price usually starts at $75 per hour and goes higher depending on their title, experience, and the number of students they are able to take.
Can a non-titled player be a good chess coach? Yes, absolutely! I know many non-titled coaches who, throughout their coaching careers, have developed a large number of titled players.
When should I change my chess coach? If you feel that you have not been making progress for a long time and your coach is not offering you any ways to overcome this situation.
