With my upcoming world open and future OTB events planned and to my wife’s agreement, I can finally break down and get a coach. I live in a great area with many resources. I go to a great club, with many resources as well. So who did I ask to be my coach?
None other than Jorge Sammour-Hasbun who showed up at our club earlier this year after his 10-year hiatus from the game. I struck up a conversation with him and found that at an early point in his life he had taken lessons from Mikhail Tal. He’s very down to earth and has a life to balance outside of chess as well. I felt very comfortable around him, as he’s very approachable and genuine.
I was at the Mass-Open tournament over the Memorial day weekend and took a bit of a beating in the U2000 1-day event. I happened to pass by Jorge and got enough courage up to ask if he coached. Sure enough, he does and can accommodate me.
I am so excited. This is the first time I am able to splurge on official training and to have found someone like Jorge tops it all off.
I plan to post some of the highlights of my lessons in the future. These probably won’t begin for a couple weeks as I have a busy schedule with graduations in the near future.
-BP
4 comments:
awesome, contrats...i too am thinking of getting a coach. at first i thought it would be silly, but now i see to really improve you kind of need one...i swear we share some kind of life track....
oh, i see i should instead get a spelling coach....congratulations to you...
Fantastic. I am often surprised by how many of the bloggers who are obviously obsessed with chess, pining endlessly about what they can possibly do to get better, but who don't get coaches (as for what to do to get better, it is on pretty much every "how to get better" list).
I guess the obvious limitation is that they are kinda expensive: it's like paying a chess therapist to counsel you, and they ain't always cheap. For the price of a nice chess book, you have one ephemeral meeting...That's why I have my wife come along and videotape the lessons. I then watch them in the dark. Over and over and over. Dressed in nothing but a helmet shaped like a Staunton Knight.
Seriously, as for cost, after meeting with mine once a week for a month or so, once every two weeks (or sometimes less) is enough to maintain a good contact. We primarily go over games, so it takes me two weeks to build up enough slow games to go over.
Also, there are coaches at ICC at the IM or GM level who cost around 20 bucks a lesson. For instance, some will annotate three games for a set price, and not with a bunch of Fritz variations but useful principles and an evaluation of what your main problems are. 20 bucks: that's not small change but usually it's easy to rearrange one's life just a tad to free up such money (less McDonalds or Starbucks).
sounds like good news blunderprone!
seems like you are dilegently searching for the next step in chess, and might not have the question, but searching for the question which leads to the answer. thanks, david
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