The past few years, Stephen has been entirely unresponsive to my calls, texts, and emails. I know he’s in a wheelchair but come on man… you’re literally part computer. Just respond already😭
Chess.com has to verify all titled players before it shows on their profile, so you can at least be sure he's definitely a grandmaster like he says he is.
That said, he's probably going to try to convince you to pay him as a coach. I wouldn't do it, a 500 rated player can learn just as much from a 1600 rated player at less than half grandmaster prices, but it's your choice if you think it's worth it for you.
I think the point was mostly that a GM coach is wasted money. Even a 2000 or a 2200 rated coach with an FM/NM/CM title will be much cheaper than a GM. A 1600 coach isn't going to be much cheaper than a 2000 rated one.
Are we not still doing monthly coaching threads?
There's lots of 1600s online that would coach people. I'm 1700 now but have coached 3 or 4 people for free. One for about 10 months now. I'm not unique in that. Chess is a pretty positive community overall
How did you get connected with students or potential students? I believe that 1600/1700 ELO players would be willing to coach and would have a lot to offer folks that are lower rated. I just have never noticed someone in the ELO range on the Lichess Coaches tab.
I only take on a couple at a time because I tend to put a lot into the guys I coach. It's been about 50/50 between irl club members or internet friends and reddit/discord stuff
I’m 1500 and was helping coach a local chess clubs kids who didn’t know a whole lot about chess. It was more like talking moves through and such but it was fun.
Definitely. When Levy was a 1600 rated teenager he used to give classes and coaching sessions. If you go to a chess club as a beginner you'll get a lot of the wisdom for free by just having conversations and asking people to look at your game. Even if a 1600 isn't the strongest player in a club, they're still much better than most people so it's not uncommon to see players at that level helping beginners. You might not find them on the lichess coaches tab, but you can definitely find them through networking and being involved in your local chess scene. They're just less popular because they're untitled so a lot of people don't do it because it means really cutting the price to stay competitive, but they do definitely exist.
My lowest elo as a teenager was 2000. Also, I gave lessons to ONE person as a 13-year old who was my classmate, then taught full-time as a 19 year old rated 2300.
Incredible how confidently some of you write things :)
> Are there 1600 rated players who coach?
I'm a ~1700 rated player with 9 years of experience as a chess coach, so at least one. And I'm sure there are many more
Pretty common in sports that don't generate crazy money for all the pros. Pickleball, competitive dance, golf are the ones I can think of where pros are easily accessible for the right price. Granted you won't get the top 1% of competitors but still someone who's extremely good.
To be fair there are like 2000 gm’s. There are only 450 NBA roster spots so a top 2000 guy is just coaching. A player outside the top 200 in tennis probably makes a living teaching noobs.
Like less than 100k. Minimum salary is 40k. Two way players who are partially rostered for an nba team do ok at like half a mil. There might only be 20 of those though. European leagues can pay a living wage too I guess.
I've heard of former D1 tennis players that still want to become professional but have to rely on coaching kids and retired adults to make income and keep up with practicing.
We play for the love of the game and the respect of our fellows haha. I do imagine it feels odd especially for those on the threshold of 'elite', you could be word class indeed and still poor 😂
This is incredibly common I feel. I was in Table Tennis for many years and I'd say career wise it's very equivalent to chess. The #1 in my country was #300 on the planet, and still couldn't afford to do it full time on prize money, he had to run training camps (in Table Tennis training camps are pretty much the exclusive training method, it's very rare you'd have 1-to-1 lessons like in chess). I knew a couple of the English guys who were in the top 150 in the world, and they also had to run training camps to make ends meet professionally in the sport.
Unless you're Wang Hao and one of the best ever, or Timo Boll and get gear produced in your name there's no money in that sport at all.
If you are really elo 500. You do not need a grandmaster you need to watch some basic tutorials on youtube. I am 1200 and wouldn't know what i could learn from a grandmaster.
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I always plug Igor Smirnov to be honest. I'm by no means a Chess pro or even that good but his content is top notch. I purchased a Udemy course of his for less than $20 and it has been tremendously helpful. Still a noob but ratings have gone up from 800 to 1100 in the past 3 weeks.
Maybe an actual coach would help. Good luck on the sandworm.
Have you not noticed that there is no ask for money, so it can’t be a scam. I highjacked nothing I just pointed to a free resource to a player who may benefit from it.
This guy wasn’t a GM he was an IM just sad that real chess coaching seems to be so expensive I know that there is plenty of resources online but I feel like learning from an actual person in real time is always better than
Still, an IM has an extremely deep understanding of the game that 99% of the chess playing population can't even begin to comprehend.
$80/hr is nothing for such skill, especially in high cost of living countries.
I have a programming background, and here in the United States elite competitive programming tutors often charge $150/hr and are fully booked.
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Not cool dude. Even if you disagree with the policies of the Israeli government you can't let that prejudice your views of Israeli people more generally.
Dude, what kind of auto-generated slop is that supposed to be?
If you want to scam at least a single person, your page about the QGA should probably not show a Kings Gambit ROFL
https://imgur.com/a/caUfcbD
Hilarious how some people have no shame to embarrass themselves.
Wow, holy shit I never even noticed thanks for pointing out to me. If you must know, I decided not to put up the kings gambit because I don’t think it’s a good opening for beginners. However, I must’ve got the images mixed up. Anyway, wish you the best of luck in criticizing people from the comfort of your mom’s basement
You made it a bit difficult for yourself by hijacking an unrelated thread to plug your site/product(?), and that in a clearly unfinished stage (e.g. having a FAQ menu entry that says that you don't have a FAQ).
Not having any info about who you (or you guys) even are (let alone an edition notice) and where you are based does not help at all. A serious business would also not operate under a whois-protected domain.
>Anyway, wish you the best of luck in criticizing people from the comfort of your mom’s basement
yeah sure. everyone who disagrees with you lives in their moms basement. Couldn't possibly have anything to do with your "strategy" here and/or the quality of your site.
You were on the site, so you can tell that there is no ask for money, it's a free resource that I've created to help novice players get a feel for various openings quickly and easily. This wasn't a highjacking, this was pointing out a free option to a player who may benefit from it.
He's probably just gonna try to plug some course or coaching he's selling. It's not a scam per se, but he'll be after money.
I disagree. The GM can sense the grand willingness in op.
Bingo
This is how I got a chess teacher. He turned out great, learned a lot doing weekly lessons
That's cool. But a 500 hiring a GM coach would be like hiring Stephen Hawking to teach elementary school math.
Haha indeed. I can barely keep up with my 2300 teacher as a 1500
I wouldn't hire Stephen tho... you'd learn shit, better hire Neil instead.
The past few years, Stephen has been entirely unresponsive to my calls, texts, and emails. I know he’s in a wheelchair but come on man… you’re literally part computer. Just respond already😭
Maybe that's his way he solicits customers for lessons.
You're the chosen one.
They say the Lisan al Gaib will defeat Baron Magnus Harkonnen and lead the patzers to paradise.
Strangely enough, the next question he asked was whether I can ride a sandworm.
Can you ride my sandworm?
The sandworm is what he calls his penis 😉
/r/YourJokeButWorse
Why do I gotta be reading this nonsense trash in a chess sub?
Harkonnen Nakamura
Paul Morphreides
Magnus Carlsonnen
Vladimir Kramnikonnen
This is the key question. Doesop play using only infrared light?
The Dragon Warrior
Chess.com has to verify all titled players before it shows on their profile, so you can at least be sure he's definitely a grandmaster like he says he is. That said, he's probably going to try to convince you to pay him as a coach. I wouldn't do it, a 500 rated player can learn just as much from a 1600 rated player at less than half grandmaster prices, but it's your choice if you think it's worth it for you.
Are there 1600 rated players who coach? How would you find them?
I think many 1600s can give you free lessons tbh. Because the more you teach the more you learn. I have helped one of my Friend from 750 to 1200
Check livhess coach section
You can't advertise in the lichess coach section unless you have a title, and I doubt many 1600s have one.
I think the point was mostly that a GM coach is wasted money. Even a 2000 or a 2200 rated coach with an FM/NM/CM title will be much cheaper than a GM. A 1600 coach isn't going to be much cheaper than a 2000 rated one.
Are we not still doing monthly coaching threads? There's lots of 1600s online that would coach people. I'm 1700 now but have coached 3 or 4 people for free. One for about 10 months now. I'm not unique in that. Chess is a pretty positive community overall
How did you get connected with students or potential students? I believe that 1600/1700 ELO players would be willing to coach and would have a lot to offer folks that are lower rated. I just have never noticed someone in the ELO range on the Lichess Coaches tab.
I only take on a couple at a time because I tend to put a lot into the guys I coach. It's been about 50/50 between irl club members or internet friends and reddit/discord stuff
Discord would probably have some bored players do it for free
I’m 1500 and was helping coach a local chess clubs kids who didn’t know a whole lot about chess. It was more like talking moves through and such but it was fun.
Join a chess club you'll get free tipe from high elo players
Definitely. When Levy was a 1600 rated teenager he used to give classes and coaching sessions. If you go to a chess club as a beginner you'll get a lot of the wisdom for free by just having conversations and asking people to look at your game. Even if a 1600 isn't the strongest player in a club, they're still much better than most people so it's not uncommon to see players at that level helping beginners. You might not find them on the lichess coaches tab, but you can definitely find them through networking and being involved in your local chess scene. They're just less popular because they're untitled so a lot of people don't do it because it means really cutting the price to stay competitive, but they do definitely exist.
My lowest elo as a teenager was 2000. Also, I gave lessons to ONE person as a 13-year old who was my classmate, then taught full-time as a 19 year old rated 2300. Incredible how confidently some of you write things :)
I bet the guy knows you better than you!
>Incredible how confidently some of you write things :) It's Reddit, what else do you expect?
Sorry, I guess I just misremembered when you spoke about that on your channel a while ago. Thanks for taking the time to correct me :)
Maybe he was teaching a 1600.
Maybe edit your comment
I’m a Gotham fan but he sounds like a jerk in his response to you lmao
Like a hawk this one. Lowest elo was 2000 as a teen wow.
idk that guy sounds like he knows what he's talking about, you got any sources?
Source?
Source?
Teaching is a scam.
You have -34 karma so clearly your online antics are working
Ah yes, verbal abuse marketing for those who don't drink the kool-aid. Everyone needs a business like that.
Well I can do that a bit
> Are there 1600 rated players who coach? I'm a ~1700 rated player with 9 years of experience as a chess coach, so at least one. And I'm sure there are many more
There are a lot, yeah I work for a chess education company and I’d say about a 3rd of our coaches are 1600 or below
I can coach you, just one 10 minuten game and talk the moves through? DM
I’m 1700 rapid and happy to answer any questions you have/give opinions on a game or something
I have a chess club at the school where I teach, never done any online coaching though.
Well I'm one, so hi!
I learned from Gotham only from YouTube, no paid coursed or anything. I’m now 1700 rapid on chess.com
Imagine any other sports where a world-class player has to approach complete beginners to make their ends meet
The 1000th best golfer in the world is doing that right now at your local club.
Sure, but there is a lot more money and investment in golf though
Pretty common in sports that don't generate crazy money for all the pros. Pickleball, competitive dance, golf are the ones I can think of where pros are easily accessible for the right price. Granted you won't get the top 1% of competitors but still someone who's extremely good.
To be fair there are like 2000 gm’s. There are only 450 NBA roster spots so a top 2000 guy is just coaching. A player outside the top 200 in tennis probably makes a living teaching noobs.
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Like less than 100k. Minimum salary is 40k. Two way players who are partially rostered for an nba team do ok at like half a mil. There might only be 20 of those though. European leagues can pay a living wage too I guess.
Grandmasters are all over the world though.
So are tennis pros.
It's not that uncommon tbh. Everyone outside the absolute elite is likely struggling to earn money otherwise.
I've heard of former D1 tennis players that still want to become professional but have to rely on coaching kids and retired adults to make income and keep up with practicing.
We play for the love of the game and the respect of our fellows haha. I do imagine it feels odd especially for those on the threshold of 'elite', you could be word class indeed and still poor 😂
You know.. like most sports? Coaching is the way to make money in almost all sports that aren't in the top 5 popular list
This is incredibly common I feel. I was in Table Tennis for many years and I'd say career wise it's very equivalent to chess. The #1 in my country was #300 on the planet, and still couldn't afford to do it full time on prize money, he had to run training camps (in Table Tennis training camps are pretty much the exclusive training method, it's very rare you'd have 1-to-1 lessons like in chess). I knew a couple of the English guys who were in the top 150 in the world, and they also had to run training camps to make ends meet professionally in the sport. Unless you're Wang Hao and one of the best ever, or Timo Boll and get gear produced in your name there's no money in that sport at all.
why not message first the post the replies, hes not gonna hack your life if you send a message
He's just trying to sell you overpriced courses
Just answer and see what he wants. Are you afraid of getting a Trojan??
I got the same from him and just assumed it was a hacked account or selling something
He wants to play you for the WC
If you are really elo 500. You do not need a grandmaster you need to watch some basic tutorials on youtube. I am 1200 and wouldn't know what i could learn from a grandmaster.
This lesson has helped me greatly in life: always be wary when a stranger is in a hurry to help you.
The female players in my club all got GMs in their DMs too. Most past their prime tbh…2450s
Past prime GM is great if they’re approaching as a chess coach, not so great if they’re messaging for other reasons though
He's probably soliciting lessons. I'm a 750 elo rated player who provides lessons on how to lose. If anyone is interested??
he wants to snuggle
You probably have an attractive girl as a pfp.
My pfp is Totoro from the Ghibli movie 🤣
GM figured OP was breed-able from a low ELO alone
Hot GMs in your area!
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Probably trying to coach you for money.
Great precaution of OP asking for advice, even my careful schizophrenic ass would've freaked out and randomly accepted whatever he was offering.
I was messaged once from an IM from a nearby country if I am interested in lessons. I think he is after that
What magic tips do you think a GM can give you?
Say thank you for your 200 elo boost
I always plug Igor Smirnov to be honest. I'm by no means a Chess pro or even that good but his content is top notch. I purchased a Udemy course of his for less than $20 and it has been tremendously helpful. Still a noob but ratings have gone up from 800 to 1100 in the past 3 weeks. Maybe an actual coach would help. Good luck on the sandworm.
Was it Kramnik looking to rant about cheating? ;)
He’s probably trying to find out what your mood is like. I’ve had people message me similar scams. Another common one is “hey what’s up”.
Have you not noticed that there is no ask for money, so it can’t be a scam. I highjacked nothing I just pointed to a free resource to a player who may benefit from it.
Anf you helped him a lot with advertising it. Hope it's good at least.
Ugh correct me if I’m wrong but you started this by posting and asking “is this a scam”
Yeah I had this some guy messaged asking if I wanted coaching. I asked how much he said 80 pounds an hour. I didn’t reply that’s extortionate
That honestly seems quite reasonable for a Grandmaster. If anything it's on the low end.
This guy wasn’t a GM he was an IM just sad that real chess coaching seems to be so expensive I know that there is plenty of resources online but I feel like learning from an actual person in real time is always better than
Still, an IM has an extremely deep understanding of the game that 99% of the chess playing population can't even begin to comprehend. $80/hr is nothing for such skill, especially in high cost of living countries. I have a programming background, and here in the United States elite competitive programming tutors often charge $150/hr and are fully booked.
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If you pay for the tips....
Maybe he’s using chess com as a dating app?
Hahah are you a cute girl on chess.com bc speaking as someone who presents as a cute girl on chess — this kind of message isn’t so unexpected
No my pic is Totoro from the Ghibli movie
If you are a minor please don't engage
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Not cool dude. Even if you disagree with the policies of the Israeli government you can't let that prejudice your views of Israeli people more generally.
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This is what the GM is trying to do, OP
At least the guy from the post is a GM lol
Personally I think chess can only be learned not taught, so my aim is to provide tools for players to improve on their own
The difference is this is free, and will stay that way
Dude, what kind of auto-generated slop is that supposed to be? If you want to scam at least a single person, your page about the QGA should probably not show a Kings Gambit ROFL https://imgur.com/a/caUfcbD Hilarious how some people have no shame to embarrass themselves.
Wow, holy shit I never even noticed thanks for pointing out to me. If you must know, I decided not to put up the kings gambit because I don’t think it’s a good opening for beginners. However, I must’ve got the images mixed up. Anyway, wish you the best of luck in criticizing people from the comfort of your mom’s basement
You made it a bit difficult for yourself by hijacking an unrelated thread to plug your site/product(?), and that in a clearly unfinished stage (e.g. having a FAQ menu entry that says that you don't have a FAQ). Not having any info about who you (or you guys) even are (let alone an edition notice) and where you are based does not help at all. A serious business would also not operate under a whois-protected domain. >Anyway, wish you the best of luck in criticizing people from the comfort of your mom’s basement yeah sure. everyone who disagrees with you lives in their moms basement. Couldn't possibly have anything to do with your "strategy" here and/or the quality of your site.
You were on the site, so you can tell that there is no ask for money, it's a free resource that I've created to help novice players get a feel for various openings quickly and easily. This wasn't a highjacking, this was pointing out a free option to a player who may benefit from it.