The junior club primarily exists as a place where children can come to play chess, meet friends, and increase their knowledge of the game. We try to provide some teaching during the sessions but we are sometimes asked whether additional coaching is needed or available. A brief summary of junior chess coaching is below:
- What we offer at Didcot Chess Club.
The junior coaches at Didcot Chess Club are players of club level, generally playing in the Oxfordshire Division 1/2 leagues. This is below the level of national junior squad players, and county junior squad players are likely to need additional coaching. Club coaches are happy to provide free chess advice or coaching in club hours, or via communication through parent/guardian outside of club hours.
- When is a dedicated coach needed?
The primary reason would be to accelerate learning, especially for children who are competing and want to catch up or get ahead. They can then practice their coach’s teachings in games at the club.
Another reason would be if the player needs coaching from someone with more experience. Online rating is not a perfect comparative measure, but it is a relatively easy way to check if a child is “outgrowing” the coaches. Players below 1000 Chess.com or below 1200 Lichess.org are very unlikely to need coaches with more experience than the club coaches. Players above 1500 Chess.com or above 1700 Lichess.org may benefit from additional advice.
- What should I look for in a chess coach?
As in most other pursuits, stronger chess players do not necessarily make better teachers. A professional coach should first assess the student’s strengths/weaknesses and then work with them to improve their level of play. The coach should have a good level of experience as evidenced by either: a strong competitive rating (~2000+ FIDE for a dedicated coach); or alternatively good coaching credentials/references. There are many different ways to coach and it is more important to find a coach that works well with a child than one with better qualifications.
- Where are some places to find chess coaches?
- The Oxfordshire Juniors (OJays) runs some group coaching sessions for competitive players. These are normally run in Cowley. The advanced group (who are normally Ojays members) will be advised when these are next running.
- ChessPick has been sponsoring quite a few chess tournaments recently, and have a selection of coaches available. They allow you to search coaches for children of a particular level (rating), and by the times and days of the week for scheduling lessons. https://www.chesspick.com/
- A local (Oxford) England youth player is offering coaching both online and in person at a competitive rate. Please ask at the club for contact details.
- Lichess allows titled coaches to advertise here ( https://lichess.org/coach ).
Another idea is if you have connections to another country, then searching for chess coaches in that country may be a good idea, potentially to combine with language practice.
Self-coaching
Less fun, but cheaper is the ability to train online with a variety of tools such as https://noctie.ai/ (not an endorsement). Youtube videos (especially “speedruns” / Slowkaru), Chess.com (paid) and Lichess.org (free) lessons are other options. Please ask for advice on this route at the club as there are too many resources to list.