Is chess coaching a scam or no?

"... Novice Nook readers knows that I believe that two of the most important features of chess instruction for players rated under 1600 are 'thought process' and 'time management' (the other three are tactics, piece activity, and general principles – the Big Five). So therefore any long-term instructor that does not spend at least some time listening to his student think out loud is likely not addressing an important aspect of that student’s needs. ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2002)
web.archive.org/web/20140627082829/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman21.pdf

I would like to talk to the guy that recommended that titled players were the only ones that could teach it. I bet he or she had a title. The skill set needed to play this game well and to teach this game well are not the same. Whenever anyone asks, I recommend @lonerdruid. <--

You want a guy that can actually teach the game.. well there he is.

nice

@RishikaPlaysChess said in #2:
> Just stick to youtube opening vids
Many YouTube videos don't show the bad side or side effects of certain 'trappy' openings as advertised by the channels.
You have to search the database to discover the side effects of playing an opening.

I think its very important to first understand what exactly it is that you want. Theory is literally just a bunch of lines and that you can very much learn like a parrot from a database, books, videos etc. I think what you want is someone to teach why. Why these lines gets played, what types of positions you are looking for with these lines, what you need to understand about the positions you reach etc. You want to learn middlegame strategy that is derived from said openings. Thats not theory, thats understanding. And for what you want, you need a different set of skills to learn this, you need to learn how to evaluate!
Message me if you want to have a bit more of a conversation about this @DontShadowBan

As with many things in life:
1. Do your research and see what a coach's teaching style is like and if it suits your learning style
2. Clearly communicate what you are looking for and ask beforehand if the coach can help you with that.

That coach you hired doesn't sound any good, which you probably could have foreseen if you talked to him for a minute.

I suspect that a few books would probably teach general opening theory better than a coach. A coach - I think - will be able to analyse your games and advise.

Scam in pure form.

It seems important for me to point out the fact that having a (good) coach also simply avoids you to lose hours and hours of your lifetime.
Many players don't know where to start, what to study, what to play, which book to read and which book not to.

@Poubelle said in #19:
> Il me semble important de souligner qu'avoir un (bon) coach évite aussi tout simplement de perdre des heures et des heures de sa vie.
> De nombreux joueurs ne savent pas par où commencer, quoi étudier, quoi jouer, quel livre lire et lequel ne pas lire.

Does it important to get a coach ifyou have a standard level (as like me by exemple). We can find a lot of good support pour learn, increase his level (open, middle, finals and thinking process).

After i join you, at a moment you need a (good) coach for analyse specific weak (and inmprove strong things).