So you are thinking of taking lessons from me and want to know about my chess teaching philosophy?  You came to the right place! This page includes special notes (in green) for teaching on the Internet Chess Club (ICC), where contact is not face-to-face.  Also, see my Adult Chess Lesson Guide, which is similar, but less philosophy and more about taking chess lessons in general.

• My full-time job is chess instruction, so my reputation is important.  Therefore, I will do whatever I can to make sure my students are happy and learning as much as they can during the teaching session. Of course I can't please everyone, but I do try.

• I primarily teach by going over student’s (slow) games.  This just makes sense, as I need to see what you are doing wrong before I can help you get better.  I believe that a series of pre-programmed lessons does not do a student any good, as they most likely do not meet his needs.  For example, a student who is still missing some basic tactics and losing pieces does not need a lesson on King and Pawn vs. King endgames!  This also means that the practice part of the homework should include a few slow games between lessons.   On the ICC I use "square circling" and "line drawing" to illustrate my ideas as I go over a game or position.  The student can see the moves and illustrations by using the "follow PhillyTutor" command.

• One of the main goals of a lesson is to concentrate on what YOU are doing that needs help. Therefore one of my goals is to not spend too much lesson time doing things you could be doing for homework, unless you ask. This includes playing games against my students, going over lots of tactical problems, studying opening lines, etc. If there is anything you don't understand, by all means bring it up at a lesson. I would rather spend time with you seeing how well you are applying what you learn rather than teaching you generic things you can easily pick up from my writings, etc. That is why 60-70% of my lesson time is reviewing your slow games. However, if there is something you need to learn during the lesson for any reason, I will teach it to you directly.

• The customer is always right (but that doesn't mean they know what is best for them!) I do have lots of pre-programmed lessons for those who either want these or for whom their games indicate that they need them: These pre-programmed lessons include: Most openings, Pawn Structures and Break Moves, King and Pawn against King, Basics of Rook and Pawn Endgames, Piece Mobility, Comparison of Bishop and Knight, Lucena and Philidor Rook Endgames, deGroot "thought process" positions, Hypermodern Theory: Center Control vs. Center Occupation, Time Management, Piece Value, The Four Boxes of Planning, and many more.

• Tactics are the most important part of chess, so I primarily like to talk about tactics and how the student can get better at tactics. Most homework, if the customer wants to study, is based on getting better at tactics until the student is good enough that studying other things is worthwhile.  Occasionally students would rather study other things, so I give them non-tactic homework to augment their tactical study. Advanced students may be studying anything: famous games, openings, endgames, planning, etc.  For beginning students, I recommend "Bain's Tactics for Students"; for advanced students who know  Coakley's excellent (and misleading title) "Winning Chess Exercises for Kids"; see my Guide to Chess Books.

• I use the Socratic Method of teaching - This means that rather than telling a student something they need to know (or telling them an answer to a question), I often ask a series of leading questions letting you figure it out for yourself.  That way your understanding and retention are MUCH better. It is like that old saying, "Give someone a fish and you give them dinner; teach someone to fish and they can feed themselves for the rest of their life."  If the Socratic method frustrates you, let me know and I will try to modify it; if you don’t know an answer, try to guess, but if you feel you are getting nowhere by guessing, just say "I don’t know" and if I feel that I can no longer lead you to the answer (or that you truly are unable to figure it out), I will tell you.  Occasionally we are reviewing and I know the student knows the answer, so when they say "I don’t know" I will give them a hint like, "Of course you do!".  But I will eventually tell you anyway, if you can't remember.

• Learning chess takes a long time. I have no magic fairy dust or magic words to make you instantly better.  If you are looking for instant results, I suggest another coach (but seriously, don’t go to anyone who promises you great results in a short period of time; they cannot be legitimate.  If chess were that easy, everyone would be good by getting a few weeks of lessons, and you know they aren’t!).  Many students take 2-3 lessons and stop because they are disappointed when they are not a lot better; it would not be likely that you would show great improvement in such a short time.  So if you only want to take 2-3 lessons, that is OK with me, but you shouldn't expect much.  A reasonable frequency is once a week for an hour or once every two weeks for 1.5-2 hours.

• A chess coach is primarily a guide.  The student does most of the work and learning by playing and studying between lessons.  The coach helps them by making sure they are studying what is most helpful for their needs and playing the most helpful opponents and time controls.

• I use guidelines (or principles) to give you something to think about and help you find the right move.  For example, the two most important chess guidelines are Keep All Your Pieces Safe and Make Sure All Your Pieces are Doing Something.  But there are literally hundreds of guidelines, such as First Look for all Checks, Captures, and Threats or Knight on the Rim and Your Future is Dim.  Keep in mind that these are just guidelines and not rules! If a guideline says not to do something, but it wins, Play Whatever Wins (a strong guideline!).  However, keep in mind that when a beginner thinks he has found an exception to a guideline, he is probably wrong!

• You have to be willing to try to play slow in slow time-control games - Not everyone can, but those who want to play fast and without thinking are not going to get as much from instruction since they are not trying to make decisions based on what they are learning.

• Let me know what you like!  I start out by teaching almost everyone new in a similar manner (modified by age, inputs prior to the first lesson, etc.).  However everyone is different and I try to adjust to individual needs and tastes. However, sometimes you have to tell me your preferences!  I keep written notes on each lesson with each student, but obviously they are somewhat sketchy because I am concentrating on teaching you. Occasionally I fail to write down something that was important to you and I heard it, but I failed to write it down.  If this is the case, forgive me and remind me, and I will write it down!  Although I try to properly adjust for each student, occasionally we just do not "click" and you might be better off with someone else. If so, let me know and I will understand.

• Regular Lesson Yield the Best Results, But not everyone has the time or financial resources to do so.  If you need to stop for a while or wish to take lessons spread out by a fair amount of time, please be truthful with me and just say that you are going to take a break and you will get back to me (but only if you really intend to do so; See #9).  One reason for this is that on the ICC I do take time to look at my student’s games and to occasionally say Hi! to see if they have any questions (I am just basically friendly); if you have stopped taking lessons from me, but didn’t tell me, then I don't need to look at your games and also you might think that my Hi! is a solicitation to get more lessons.  I wouldn’t do that, but if you stop taking lessons from me and don’t tell me, you may feel that way.  If you stop taking lessons from me and DO tell me, then you can be assured that my Hi! is just me being friendly!

• Early Lessons For Beginners Usually Include the Rules and Keeping Score.  For over-the-board (OTB) students, it is necessary that they learn how to keep score in algebraic notation; otherwise, they are not able to bring me their games so we can go over them.  It is also a US Chess Federation rule that you must keep score, if you know how, during your OTB games.  Also, in early lessons (OTB and ICC) we often spend time going over the rules.  You would be surprised how many students initially think that when you promote a pawn you can only get back a piece that was taken off the board!  And players who play in tournaments need to know the draw rules and, OTB especially, the clock rules.

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