How to find a chess coach as an adult

Start with three answers

Prices on this page were read on the pages named in the table on that day. The author, George Li, is an International Master (FIDE profile) and coaches adults and juniors online.

A coach cannot be judged until you know what you want. Write three answers before you contact anyone.

1. Your goal. Climb a rating band, play a first tournament, fix an opening, learn endgames or play for fun with fewer blunders. Each calls for a different kind of coach.
2. Your time. Count the hours a week you can spend on chess outside a lesson. Most adults have between two and five. That number decides how many lessons you can use.
3. Your budget. Decide a monthly amount you will not regret. A monthly lesson and a weekly lesson are different budgets, and either can be right.

With those, every coach you talk to can be compared on the same terms.

What adults need that children do not

Adults differ from junior students in ways that change what a good coach does.

• Efficiency. Adults have less time, so lessons must point study at the largest problem. A coach who sets six topics at once is a poor fit.
• Games over theory. Adults often know more chess facts than they use. The gain comes from fixing the moments in your games where you drop points.
• Habits. Adults have settled habits, such as playing fast or avoiding certain positions, and a coach needs to name them gently and persistently.
• Their own pace. An adult may travel, work late or take a month off, so a plan must bend without breaking.
• Questions. Adults want to know why. A coach who explains reasons, not just moves, teaches faster.

Where to look

Directories, marketplaces and academies all list coaches who teach adults. The page on where to find a chess coach compares them. In short, a directory such as the Lichess coach list or the Chess.com coach list shows titled players, a marketplace shows prices and reviews, and an academy matches you to a coach.

Search for coaches who say they teach adults, and read how they describe lessons. A coach whose page talks only about children or beginners may not fit an adult rated 1600.

What it costs

Prices vary by an order of magnitude. Each row was read on the page it came from on November 11, 2026.

The cost guide lists 13 providers and 23 prices with the day each price was read.

How to test a coach in one lesson

Book one lesson with each of your three coaches. Treat it as a test and judge it on four points.

1. Did the coach ask about your games before teaching? A coach who starts talking before looking is not diagnosing.
2. Did you leave with a short list of priorities? Two or three items, in order, are enough.
3. Could you explain the main idea to someone else? If not, you were an audience.
4. Did you get a written plan? It should arrive within a few days and say what to do before the next lesson.

Then choose by what you got, not by the price.

Your first month

A simple month works for most adults.

• Week 1. Play four slower games and save them. Send or bring the three worst to the first lesson.
• Week 2. Do the homework from the written plan. Do not add new material.
• Week 3. Play four more games and note whether the problem the coach named shows up again.
• Week 4. A second lesson reviews what changed. Decide on the cadence for the next month.

The page on how often to take lessons has the cadence for each goal and the monthly cost.

Mistakes adults make when they hire a coach

Five mistakes cost adults the most time and money.

• Buying a package before a first lesson. A package pays off only if the coach suits you, and you cannot know that in advance.
• Choosing by title alone. A title shows playing strength. It does not show that the coach can explain an idea to an adult who has a job and a few hours a week.
• Hiring more lessons than you can use. A weekly lesson with no time for the homework wastes most of the hour.
• Hiding the games you dislike. The games you lost badly are the ones a coach needs most.
• Judging progress by one tournament. Results swing from weekend to weekend. Look at three months of games.

Lessons with George Li

Lessons here are one-on-one, online and 60 minutes. A first lesson is an ordinary single lesson, and it ends with a written study plan.