How I Conduct the First Chess Lesson?

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Generally, the first lesson is super important for the coach as well as the student. The first lesson can show multiple skills of the coach, including teaching and communication skills. The communication skills of the student also matter a lot. I have seen some students who do not show any enthusiasm, and then the coach loses all the positive vibes.

This is a guide to help you understand what a class generally looks like. This is my way of teaching and taking the first class, and everyone may have a different approach based on rating, language, age, and cultural background.

Asking basic details before the class

I ask for all the basic details, such as name, age, FIDE ID, national ID, and most importantly, goals in chess. Then I decide whether to accept the student for the first class. Fortunately, I am in a position where I can choose which students to accept. I generally prefer students who are actively playing and working towards their ambitions.

Start of the lesson

It generally starts with basic greetings, and then I have a fixed set of questions. Asking several different questions immediately helps me understand the interest of the student in chess. The questions also differ according to location, rating, and several other factors.

Trying to understand more about the life of the student also helps if they are an adult. Adults have a lot of things going on in their minds, and if they share how life is going at the moment, it really helps me understand more about them.

The following are some of the questions.

  1. How much do you like chess on a scale of 1 to 10?
  2. What are your short-term and long-term goals in chess? I expect a detailed answer.
  3. What is your weekly availability for chess practice? This helps me assign homework.
  4. How would you rate your opening, middlegame, and endgame skills?
  5. What will change after gaining 150–200 rating points? Sometimes students freeze when they get this question. They are unable to answer it. It is a very odd question, right? But it helps students think for themselves.
  6. Is your mindset okay?
  7. Is there any parental pressure? This is mostly for Indian students.

All of these questions basically help me plan future goals. I generally note down all the answers somewhere. I find Google Notes very helpful in this case.

Chess Work

I get enquiries from 1400–2300 rated players, but I generally prefer the 1500–2000 FIDE rating bracket. Obviously, I cannot ask the same questions to 1500 and 2000 rated players.

The following are some topics I cover in the first class.

  1. Fortress: I always start with fortresses. I have seen that many people do not understand chess fortresses, and I have around 10–12 positions based on them. It instantly helps them and adds to their knowledge. I do this for everyone, as I have noticed that even 1900–2000 rated players are not confident about those positions.
  2. Endgames: To estimate their strength, I think the best way is to ask them about some basic to advanced endgame positions. Some examples are pawn endgames based on opposition, rook versus one pawn, and rook versus two pawns with an a-file pawn. There is also a nice KN versus N position where many players fail. I generally expect only an evaluation from them, and in some cases, I ask for the full answer.
  3. Positions based on logic and thinking outside the box: Something like playing 1.a3 and delivering checkmate in five moves, or finding a stalemate. This is to understand the creative thinking of a player. Rating is not the criterion for these types of puzzles. Sometimes a 1500 rated player solves a position much faster than a 2000 rated player. These positions are based more on creativity.
  4. Showing a game: I have three games to show, and I show one of them. All three are really famous games, and most students know at least one of them. One time, a student knew all three games, and then I had to show one of my own games. Showing games helps me understand their decision-making. With experience, I have added some metrics and points to this, which give me a very general idea of where they are making mistakes.
  5. Calculation: Generally, we do not have time to reach this point. But if I still have time, or if I decide to skip any of the above points, I have five very forcing chess combinations that lead to mate. Some of them are really tough, and two are comparatively easy.

After doing most of these and asking some final questions, I generally ask if the student has any questions before we wrap up. Most of them do not come up with any questions.

In class two, I generally do game analysis. Personally, I feel it takes four to five classes to understand a student fully and build a coach-student relationship.

A mistake in charging fees

Some students are willing to pay in advance for 10–20 classes if they are getting discounts, and accepting that was one of my biggest mistakes in the past. Sometimes, you like the approach of a student, but then they do not do the assigned homework.

The student basically plays chess just because their parents are forcing them, and that is where you cannot do anything. You have already taken the payment, so it becomes a very awkward situation. It is better to take payment for individual classes for the first four to five classes, and later you can adjust the amount.

I hope this article helps you understand what a chess class looks like.

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