Chess Lessons

Instruction - Training - Mentoring - All ages and levels - 09 Nov 2009

"I WOULD BE HONORED TO BE YOUR INSTRUCTOR!" - HUNDREDS OF SATISFIED CUSTOMERS!

I usually have availability if you have flexibility - in the US/Canada, e-mail me your phone #: I will call to answer questions and/or schedule.

Who:                            NM Dan Heisman; FIDE 2285; Dan is a full-time chess instructor and author
What:                           Chess Lessons
Where:                         Live (Wynnewood) or phone/internet. 
                                             For US/Canada, I phone; we use an ICC board; I can offer you a free deal to join!
Contact Information:   610-649-0750; E-mail; Other contact info for Dan H
Address:                       1359 Garden Rd. Wynnewood, PA 19096
When:                          6 days per week: Any but Tues. Evening: Mon, Wed, Thur, sometimes others - see below
Fee:                                    Money back guarantee. Latest rates; I call students in US/Canada FREE; Also: Top Junior Program. 

Minimum Info Required:    Student's name, contact info (phone and/or e-mail) plus phone call to verify identify (I can call in US/Canada)

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"Phillytutor" on the Internet Chess Club - It's easy - I call you and we share a board

NOTE: For your first on-line lesson you do not have to be an ICC member; get a free trial membership and log on at www.chessclub.com and I will call and help. 

Non-members: consider this offer:  I will buy you an ICC membership for your first year if you do the following:

• Non ICC member Adults: Pay for 4 regular lessons (no refund) and I will buy your first year membership, worth $60!
• Non ICC member Juniors: (a full-time student, OR you are <22 years) - Pay for 2 lessons and I will buy your first year membership

Follow this link for an introductory guide to the Internet Chess Club

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Instructor - for those who wish to learn - I take any student, young or old, experienced or new, so long as they are willing to take their time and play some slow chess.

Trainer - for those that need aid to get to the highest levels (Some of my students have been stronger than I!)

Mentor - for those that just wish to stop by occasionally and receive support/advice of any type

If you have a particular question that cannot wait until the next lesson, please email me the question or your phone number, or call 610-649-0750

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SCHEDULE - I teach 6 days per week! It is my full-time job

Instructing is my full-time job, so lesson times are available:

Many of my lesson times are scheduled for one hour, because that is what most of my customers request. Unless I have someone else scheduled exactly as their session ends, I often go longer than the scheduled time at no extra cost to finish what we are doing. I try not to just cut my student off abruptly, although sometimes that is necessary. Because I often give customers more than an hour, I hope you don't mind if I take a quick message if my other line rings (my other phone line has no answering machine) - thanks!

I HAVE UNLIMITED LONG DISTANCE PHONE SERVICE AND I CALL YOU FOR LESSONS IN CONTINENTAL US AND CANADA! - I should be able to call students, saving those customers additional costs. Because I use the first line, I may have to take a quick break if the 2nd line rings to take a message, so please excuse me! 

If interested in lessons and/or want to learn more, e-mail me your phone # and a time to call!

  See Howard Stern's chess interview in the NY Times.

  My Chessville writeup on why you might wish to consider me to be your coach.

 "...you have students drinking freely from your fountain of knowledge."
        - one of my adult students.  I like that!

  "Chess has been the thing that has brought (my son) out of his shell!" - the mother of one of my students.  Makes it all feel worthwhile..

   Everyone should consider having a mental hobby. Studies continually show they help the brain, especially as one ages. So if not chess, take up backgammon, bridge, crossword puzzle solving (see the Zig-Zag puzzle on the Main Chess Page), cryptograms, or something. Lots of older people jog or play golf or tennis. They also need a mental hobby to keep their brain active.

   I have taken two young students to rating 2300 by age 13; I think there is a good chance I could have brought them up Grandmasters if they had continued regular tournaments and lessons with me, but I can't blame them for wanting to become a PhD economist and a professional musician!   :)

John Collins was Bobby Fischer's coach in Brooklyn when Bobby was young.
Another of John's famous students was US Chess Hall of Famer IM Donald Byrne.
Professor Byrne was Dan's coach when Dan was in college.
So if you take lessons from Dan, your coach's coach's coach will be Bobby Fischer's coach! Of course, I do not endorse Fischer's views about 9/11, etc...

A list of Student Champions of all ages. Adult Kevin (Scott) Kerns won the 2002 New Mexico State Championship. This was a BIG Upset - he was rated 1650 and 3 masters played! Dozens of my younger students have made the USCF Top-100 for their age group and many adults have gained 100's of rating points on USCF, ICC, or their favorite server. It is also now public knowledge that I have been radio personality Howard Stern's chess coach since August 2006.

The only prerequisites for lessons with Dan 

You are willing to play slow games against humans (playing some fast games to practice openings also is necessary) and will try to take your time on each move - when there is a decision of any type - to think about and apply the ideas you have learned. Not only will you play better, but we will have instructive things to discuss each game! For the same reason, you should be willing to record your remaining time (in minutes) after each move in Over-the-board games so we can review your time management.

General Info:

Dan's Chess Teacher's Credo. Sign on my den wall, where I give my live lessons: "If you are not having fun, you are in the wrong place!"

Dan's Chess Teaching Philosophy (for new adult students and parents)

Think of me as your guide as to what you need to do, and not someone dictating information. In his insightful book Chess for Zebras GM Rowson writes "Many players 'work' on their chess as if they were working on an academic subject, but improving your chess is more like improving your driving, or improving your play on a musical instrument, than it is like preparing for an exam. Such improvement can therefore be directed and supervised, but not directly 'taught'."

You do not have to do lessons "all out"; if you want to take lessons with me it is not all or nothing. I am glad to give lessons for fun with less expectation for improvement. For example, although slow games are the best practice, if you don't want to play slow games (or do repetitive basic tactic problems or ...), just let me know and that's fine. You might want to read my Lessons should be fun article. If you don't raise this issue, I will assume you want to improve as much as possible and will suggest homework, regular slow practice, etc. and assume you want to do it. There are three lesson modes (or some combination):

• Teach me right - I am going to take long-term lessons and want to get rid of all my bad habits, do homework, learn to do it right, etc.
• Just have fun - No homework, just a bunch of lessons and do whatever is fun and I will learn by osmosis. This way improvement is (much) slower, but that is just fine.
• A Few Tips - I don't want a lot of lessons - just 3 or 4. I don't expect miracles - I just want a few tips about what I am doing wrong and what I should do to get better.

...I usually start with review of some of your games and listen to you analyze puzzles.

  A general lesson philosophy is that I try to help you learn how to "add positives" (learn new patterns like tactics/opening/endgames and principles) on your own while helping you "subtract negatives" (identify and minimize/eliminate misconceptions and bad habits) during lessons. This most efficiently uses your lesson time.

  Most of my lessons for non-beginners consist of going over your slow games (that indicates the "personalized plan" of what you need), but I also have instructive puzzles and a variety of standard lessons, if your games (or you) indicate that is what you need.  Lessons are based on your current needs; usually these are reviewed verbally during lessons (at the start of lessons I do questions and at the end I sometimes review homework assignments, etc.), but if requested I can supply a written current lesson plan via e-mail. Standard lessons might include:

  Thinking Process (deGroot, etc.) Exercises
  Endgames: King & pawn vs. King; Lucena & Philidor (Rook); Queen vs. Pawn on 7th; "Going to Sleep in the Endgame"; K& 2 pawns vs. K and 1 pawn.
  Tactical Motif Overview, Counting
  Positional Overview
  Openings: Common Opening Traps, Break Moves

  Opening Tabiyas (standard sequences): Closed Ruy Lopez; Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav Attack; King's Indian, etc.
  Mobility and Piece Value (from my book Elements of Positional Evaluation)
  Evaluation Quiz/Positions

  See also my ICC Instructional Videos (full videos available for ICC members; others get a preview)

  Novice Nooks about my teaching:

  Finding A Good Instructor

  The Four Homeworks

  The Improvement Feedback Loop

  Getting the Edge

  The Three Show Stoppers - This one is especially important for players rated under 1600

  The Mind Reading Fish

  Some students find parts of the more challenging lessons frustrating because lessons often push you on the edge of what you don't know! That is to be expected. When you are playing, you are usually keeping within your capabilities and that is comfortable but, during a lesson, a good instructor pushes you to expand those capabilities. When doing so you are right on the edge of what you can and cannot do, and that can sometimes be momentarily uncomfortable. But that is normal and if you are learning, consider it as a good experience. Overall, your lessons should be fun and challenging!

  Students: Never do a homework (that I or other instructors) assign that is not fun! In the long run you won't improve as much as if you practice exercises that are fun. Don't be afraid to tell your instructor if an assignment is not fun!

Rate Dan (and/or read reviews about me) on the Instructor Review Page. Note: When you write a review, please try to be honest and balanced. Use the same name/handle you used for your lessons. State what you like best and any aspects of which you think others may need to be aware. It would be nice to get all 5's, but that just would not make the results realistic or believable. They are meant to help you and others!

Dan's Posters of "The Big Five of Instruction" and "Top Guidelines"

Anyone taking lessons should review my Chess Guidelines page and if more ambitious, my Chess Cafe articles including my Novice Nook columns. In particular my non-personalized suggestions are in "An Improvement Plan"

Please bring 1-2 recent slow games to each lesson

	These games do not have to be played since the previous lesson, but at least fresh enough to reflect your practice of our recent lessons.
	If you record the game, play it over at least once quickly before the lesson to check your notation.
	ICC members should put games in your library. Type "help libraries" (or click this link!) to find out how.  Here is a quick overview on how to put a PGN file into the ICC library using ICC's Blitzin program:

1. Pull-down the menu “Game” and go to “Open PGN”

2. Find the PGN file on your hard drive and double left-click on it to open it.

3. Left click on the game you want to upload to the library and then right-click and select “Upload to library”. It’s done!

 

To put an OTB game into your library using ICC's Blizin program:

1. At the top of the page use pull down menu "Game" and then choose "Match" to create a match against yourself (your ICC handle). Set the time control to the actual one in the OTB game, e.g. 90 5 for a 90 minute game with a five second increment or time delay.

2. Using your mouse, enter the game as if playing against yourself. 

3. At the end type:  
Libkeepexam WhitePlayersName BlackPlayersName Result 
...where “result” is “=” for draw, “+” for White win, “-“ for White loss and hit the "enter" key.

e.g. if Fred Brown plays Tom Smith and Tom wins, type "libkeepexam Fred_Brown Tom_Smith -"

	To print out an ICC game with the times for each move: Locate the game in your history or library file and then right-click on the game and choose "smoves". That places the game with times in your main console window. Then select the moves and copy and paste into a program that can print.
	If possible, please do not send me any games prior to the lesson. I assure you that I get just about as much out of it going over it with you "in real time" as I do studying it beforehand, and you likely benefit more. If you do have to send a game, don't e-mail me an attachment. Much better is to just select the text and copy and paste into the e-mail message. That will save me a lot of time! This also avoids the touchy subject of paying me for time you cannot track.
	If you have a problem which was exhibited in several games, e.g. "I keep getting a cramped position" or "I have all my pieces out but I don't know what to do", etc. then please bring to your lesson 3-4 recent games that you feel exemplify that problem. I can look for patterns and suggest solutions.

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.

To check out your tactical prowess, you can take my Tactics Quiz (read directions carefully...) or, more ambitiously, do the interactive Chess Tactics Server and let me know how you did! Besides reading my Novice Nooks, you can also visit the excellent training websites: World Chess Academy and/or Exeter (England) Chess Club

Remind me of any homework you have completed or with which you need help. For many players, this usually includes reading Novice Nook articles, working on tactics, reading a game collection book, etc.

Write down any questions you have and ask me at the start of the lesson.

The Four Homework Assignments

Most of my students are assigned four types of homework:

	1. Play as many slow games (60 5 or slower = sixty+ minutes for the game with a five second time delay/increment) as possible, augmented with some 2 5 speed games to practice openings and time management. Always look up your openings after the game to see where you could improve next time.
	2. Do tactical (or other) problems appropriate to your level, like John Bain's Chess Tactics for Students (for more information on all homework books and how to obtain them, see my Book Recommendations page)
	3. Read as many annotated master game books as possible, starting with instructional books like Logical Chess Move by Move and Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played both by Chernev, etc. Read them quickly (20-40 minutes max for each game) and go to the next game, and then the next book.
	4. Read "talky" chess stuff like Novice Nooks, Pawn Power in Chess, Amateur's Mind, etc. appropriate to your level.

As you finish each book or assignment, let me know and we will work together to identify the next one in that type.

lessons are with adults...):

  Guide to Adult Chess Lessons - Very Helpful!

List of ICC Students who will play slow (30 5 or slower) games on ICC

  The Buy-In!
  Recommended Books
  Articles Page (lots to read here if you wish)
  Links to all of my award-winning Novice Nook Columns at Chess Cafe

All adults who come in person or communicate by phone during lessons will be given the critical "deGroot" think out loud exercise to test their thought process within the first few lessons. Here is what student Mike Rosensaft had to say about this in-depth exercise:

"I can actually point to the exercise as a time when my chess thinking became a lot more ordered and deliberate. One of the biggest lessons in chess to learn is time management. You have to have a thinking process that efficiently considers your alternatives. The de Groot exercise really helps you to improve that thinking process. Being able to identify tactics or knowing how to win a king and pawn endgame are both essential lessons in chess. The de Groot exercise, however, is not just a lesson to memorize or a pattern to recognize, but helps you better develop an entire way to think about chess."

Another adult student wrote:

Dan,

Thanks for the lesson. The check went out in today's mail. You really did a great job of helping me get a better understanding of how I am actually playing chess. At best, I've been playing "Hope Chess." It was like getting a bucket of ice water dumped on me. I thought I was playing "real chess." I thought I was playing slow, looking for the best move, trying to identify checks, captures and threats. In one short lesson you proved to me that I really wasn't doing any of those things very well. Do other new students of yours have simular false perceptions of themselves?

Thanks again. I look forward to our next lesson. In the mean time I will work on those things we talked about."

To become a scholastic chess student, it makes sense that a student should be willing to 1) play regularly in scholastic (or open) tournaments AND 2) try to play slow on each move and use what was learned in lessons to attempt to find the best move. Otherwise it would be like trying to give batting lessons to someone who does not wish to play in Little League! The good news is that scholastic clubs and tournaments are for everyone and not just the "good" kids so anyone can take lessons so long as they are willing to do this "practice". If you can't make a lot of tournaments, that is fine, but you need to play regular slow games of some type.

 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) of parents (Tons of good links, info!) - Parents should read this.

Top Junior Instructional Program for serious scholastic players

Progressing Through Chess
Levels of Interest in Chess

Articles on Chess Development:

  Read and print out articles from my Articles page; e.g. Guide to Philadelphia Scholastic Tournaments, Top Tips for Everyone, Guide to Team Tournaments, etc. or my award-winning Novice Nook column
Recommended Books, such as Chess Tactics for Students
 US Chess Federation's List of Recommended Articles on the Benefits of Chess
Chess Doesn't Have to Be Your #1 Hobby (But it helps!)
Guide to Chess Lessons and Fun
 Guide to Chess Homework - "Would you pay for Violin lessons and then not practice?"

Lesson Fee Page- Includes best way to pay, discounts, Top Junior Program, senior citizen rates, etc.

Compare my fee to the cost of taking music lessons from a nationally-known music instructor!
Money back guarantee if not satisfied - must notify me at the end of the lesson.

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My cancellation policy is on my fee page, but one note: If you have to cancel on less than 24 hours notice and are in the continental US or can call inexpensively, please call 610-649-0750, leaving a message if possible (you can also e-mail but, if only doing one, please call first).  Sometime I don't check my e-mail before a lesson, and arrange my schedule to be home for a lesson which has been cancelled without knowing about it! It is only after a student does not show up that I check my e-mail to see if I missed something.

Address: 1359 Garden Rd., Wynnewood, PA 19096 -
    Phone: Call for questions or to set up lessons: (610) 649-0750 or (610)-649-5833
                To take an ICC Lesson if you decide to call: (610) 649-0750
Click here for Directions for getting to Dan's house for lessons
Map for getting to Dan's House
E-mail Dan

Main Chess Page