I'm not a coach, I've never had a coach and I'm not considering getting one, but I'd imagine the decision for you is based upon time and money. A good coach should save you time and cost you money. You should try to establish how much time a coach would save you. You might want to trial a coach or a few coaches to see what you're currently missing.
At what point do I get a coach?
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Jul 27, 2022
0
#3
thisisjdf wrote:
So the question I am having is at what point in my chess journey do I splurge on regular coaching? I have played chess my whole life (my father taught me when I was 6 because he had dreams that I would be the next great American chess player...I was not that person.) I enjoy the game greatly and have studied a few books over the years but have not taken it very seriously until recently. I am 41 years old and my rating here is 1250. I don't know exactly what my goals are in the game yet but I know I want to take it seriously, improve my game significantly, and eventually play in some tournaments.
I see from looking at your most recent games that you are trying out 45|45 chess.
Has that made an difference in the quality of your games?
Do you find yourself taking advantage of the extra time?
A coach can help you go through your games and show you how to look at the positions where you went wrong. However, you still have to do a lot of work yourself to get anything out of it.
Jul 27, 2022
0
#4
@justbefair
I have always preferred longer time controls but it is often difficult to get a game at anything more than 30 minutes. The reason I switched to 45|45 is that I want to be able to put more effort into evaluating positions and move choices. I think it has made a difference (despite how bad the games I played yesterday were.)
Jul 27, 2022
0
#5
I got a coach when i was 1800, before that i studied on my own, and every now and then got tips from a higher rated player. you can also get 1800 if you study on your own, but it will take longer than if you got a coach.
Jul 27, 2022
0
#6
You can see the first part of my experience in my blog post here: https://www.chess.com/blog/PawnTsunami/how-to-improve-at-chess-part-1
To your question: It really depends on you. A good coach is going to help you identify your weaknesses and come up with ways for you to practice until those are strengths. You can do this without a coach, but it will be a lot of trial and error and take a lot of time. A (good) coach will speed that up significantly, while a bad coach will simply cost you more time and money.
Before you look for a coach, there are a few things I would recommend you do:
- Identify what your goals are. I would even break them down into long term, medium term, and short term goals. For example, suppose you want to make USCF master (2200 USCF). Obviously, that is a long term goal. You might have 2 medium term goals of breaking 1800 USCF and breaking 1400 USCF. Your short term goals might be to play in 6 rated events with slow time controls over the rest of this year and get an established rating over 1200 USCF. You do not have to make these goals rating based (I just used those as an example). It could also be something like "I want to master removal of the guard tactics" or "I want to master practical rook and pawn endgames". Whatever they are, the goals should be something YOU want to do that will help a potential coach figure out how to help you achieve them.
- Assess your own strengths and weaknesses. Don't worry if you are wrong here (you will be!). The purpose here is to allow both you and your coach to establish a baseline of how far off your view of your play is from where you actually are. For example, when I fired hired a coach, I thought I was strong tactically but weak positionally. It was eye-opening to realize I had that backwards!
- Play in a couple OTB events where the time control is at least G/30 and keep your notation sheets. You will send these to your new coach so he or she can review them and see the types of mistakes you are making.
- Decide on the type of coaching you want. Do you want it in person? This may be the most effective for some, but does limit your options for potential coaches. Do you want it over Video Chat? Do you want it just over text chat? The coach should be someone significantly stronger than you, so someone at least 2000 USCF/FIDE. You do not need a GM as a coach at the club level, and many IMs in the US are extremely expensive. If you do not mind some weird time differences, there are some strong IM coaches in Europe who offer much more reasonable prices. Find a coach that you mesh well with and is within your price range.
- Make a list of your opening choices. This does not have to be a complete repertoire, but just the main ideas. For example, if you play 1. e4, how do you handle the Sicilian? How do you handle the French? Do you play the Italian or the Ruy Lopez? For Black, what do you play against 1. e4 and 1. d4. This will help any coach meet you where you are.
- Some coaches may provide homework problems - if you provide a list of books you already own (specifically ones you have not read or solved yet), they may be able to use those to give you extra work related to whatever topics they are covering at the time.
- Finally, reach out to several coaches you think may be able to help you and see what their initial pitch is before you settle on one. (EDIT: When you do hire a coach, just hire one. It is not a case of more is better - often you will get conflicting information if you hire multiple coaches and it will just leave you confused).
Jul 27, 2022
0
#7
My personal opinion on it is that people should get a coach when they become hard stuck in their growth and have explored every other avenue to improve. You will learn most from discovering and understanding things on your own. A coach will probably be able to show you some techniques and ideas which can speed up your growth but if you use other resources to learn the same ideas on your own then you'll develop a deeper understanding. I feel that in many cases, people hire coaches to substitute hard work. You can have a coach, but you'll still need grind on your own if you actually want to get better. I think the passion to improve will serve a player better than any coach ever could.
A good book costs $20 and gives you 200 hours of top coaching.
Books cannot replace conversational, interactive coaching. I got a coach at around 1200 level and it helped immensely. I find coaching helpful at any level. It just depends on how good of a teacher you get.
NervesofButter wrote:
Let me first say that you are off to a good start by playing long time controls. Now the problem i have seen in your games is that you don't use your time wisely. You had a game you lost in 15 move and finished with ore time than when you started. Use your time. Its better to lose on time than to lose by playing quickly. juts my opinion, but i would hold off on a coach until you get used to playing slowly. No sense in throwing money way to have someone tell to you slow down :-)
Good Luck to you!
For some reason the lower the player's rating the more they want to rush these long games. I played longer games on another website and I would almost always try to use my time. My advice to you, thisisjdf, is also to use more time, especially if you have 45 minutes increment. I have gone through several of your games and you took about 20 seconds per move in those games. Feel free to play slower, even when you reach time trouble you can still use more than double the time that you were using in the beginning of the game.
Jul 27, 2022
0
#11
At every move, imagine that there is a subtle trick you are missing in the position. Try understand best play for both sides, at that longer time control. Realise that tricks you use at short time controls might not work if your opponent is using his time properly. Think of longer games like watching longer movies, where there is more time to build structures and the tactics are built upon these structures.
Jul 27, 2022
0
#12
It comes down to how much money you are willing to spend versus how much time you want to invest into chess. I'll also note the obvious that even with a chess coach, the player still must invest time and effort into their chess; a chess coach merely offers advice and direction (although still very valuable).
I'd also like to mention that you don't have to choose a coach OR work by yourself; you aren't limited to just those two options. There is also a lot of value in finding chess friends to discuss chess with and value in finding stronger rated chess players than you who are also friendly enough to share their insights. This can be almost as effective as one-on-one coaching if you get a knowledgeable friend or two good at conveying ideas and concepts.
Although I'm too busy for traditional "coaching" - I still try to be such a friend to lots of chess.com members and you are welcome to be one of those people I help too 
No charge. Just someone who likes helping others and spreading chess. We could play some unrated live games sometime and I can share whatever insights I have tailored to what I observe in the game(s). This is a primary part of what one-on-one coaching typically entails, but naturally if you want routine, "homework" and lessons of that nature, a coach would be more dedicated.
See ya around chess.com
So the question I am having is at what point in my chess journey do I splurge on regular coaching? I have played chess my whole life (my father taught me when I was 6 because he had dreams that I would be the next great American chess player...I was not that person.) I enjoy the game greatly and have studied a few books over the years but have not taken it very seriously until recently. I am 41 years old and my rating here is 1250. I don't know exactly what my goals are in the game yet but I know I want to take it seriously, improve my game significantly, and eventually play in some tournaments.