Answers.Body: <p>The process of &quot;learning&quot; (and this is not limited to chess but is true for any skill) is twofold: you need to acquire new knowledge/abilities and you need supervision so that what you do (learn/understand/...) is corrected. It is quite easy to &quot;perfect&quot; the wrong things and without qualified supervision you will never know why some things don't work as they are supposed to do.</p>
  <p>Especially when acquiring a new skill (and with a rating of 350 you are pretty new to chess) you need that supervision and feedback the most.</p>
  <p>So, the answer to your question is an enthusiastic &quot;yes&quot;! Go for a coach, a tutor or whatever you call it - someone with a rating of at least 1800-2000 to explain the first steps to you. Reading books, playing online, doing puzzles and so on will all help, but they don't give you the feedback of what you have done right and what wrong.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-26T03:39:34.567Z
Answers.Text: Almost agree. A caveat is that a coach's rating doesn't warrant the coaching skills.
Answers.UserDisplayName: user58697
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-26T05:49:25.467Z
Answers.Text: @user58697: true, but he has to have a minimum qualification chesswise to even take advantage of any teaching skills he might have.
Answers.UserDisplayName: bakunin
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Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-23T20:42:13.910Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2024-09-23T20:42:13.910Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: bakunin
Answers.Body: <p>If you are 350 elo you need to learn first how the pieces cooperate with each other(e.g why is Q+N much stronger than Q+B or why is R+B much stronger than R+N).You need to learn about pins,skewers ,x-ray attacks,in-between moves etc.By learning these things you can go to around 1k elo.THEN tutoring and practising would be really helpful to help you grow to 2k elo level.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-24T05:03:37.583Z
Answers.Text: I wouldn't say that Q+N is much stronger than Q+B or R+B than R+N - both of these are highly position dependant (especially in the first case king safety is much more important than which minor piece you have) and not at all that important at 350, 1000 or even 2000. What he needs is just not hanging pieces and elementary tactics. Tutoring will help him get correct thinking process already now.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Matija Sirk
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Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-24T17:40:10.160Z
Answers.Text: There are a lot more tactics with Q+N than with Q+B tho.And a R coordinates much better with the B than the N.There is a reason why Q vs R+B the side with R and B can draw the game while Q vs R+N it is almost always lost for the side with R+N.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Root Groves
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Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-25T11:25:16.517Z
Answers.Text: And c-pawn on the 7th can often draw against queen, while rook cannot - this doesn't mean that saying "c-pawn is stronger than rook" is meaningful. I agree that coordination matters - but you simply cannot discuss it without looking at a concrete position. In some positions rook and knight coordinate well, in some they don't. If Q+B (or R+B) is better than Q+N (or R+N) in majority of positions is different question and one that doesn't matter at all until one undestands what makes one stronger in some position than the other - but I doubt that I would find that all that useful at 350 Elo.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Matija Sirk
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-25T13:10:49.753Z
Answers.Text: It's not actually true that Q+N is stronger than Q+B. John Watson refuted it in "Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy"
Answers.UserDisplayName: David
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-30T23:20:53.497Z
Answers.Text: You sound like you think 350 elo is *very* low. Sure, it's certainly not an impressive figure, but that doesn't mean OP (or anyone with 350 elo, for that matter) doesn't even know how chess pieces interact.
Answers.UserDisplayName: ChessRookie007
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Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-23T20:05:58.790Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2024-09-23T20:10:55.287Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2024-09-23T20:10:55.287Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Root Groves
Body: <p>I am new to chess and so I don’t really have much knowledge in the game yet. What happened at my club is that their budget went from $250 to $750 and so the members thought about getting chess tutoring with that extra money. Would it really be worth it for a 350 elo beginner like me to already get tutoring or would it be best to decline the tutoring in favor of self study? I don’t want to feel like I am wasting the club’s money on something I don’t even need.</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-09-23T13:57:18.120Z
Comments.Text: Please try rewording your question to be less opinion based. Opinion based questions are not allowed.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-09-24T17:35:36.710Z
Comments.Text: Ask your fellow club members what they think?
Comments.UserDisplayName: RemcoGerlich
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2024-09-30T23:17:40.777Z
Comments.Text: The money part is up to you and the other club members. We cannot possibly give any advice on that. As for training or not,  personally my experience is that generally the more games you play the better you are. There's not that much in tutoring or not.
Comments.UserDisplayName: ChessRookie007
Tags: <learning><beginner><training>
Title: Should I get chess tutoring at my chess club?
ThreadText: # Should I get chess tutoring at my chess club?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2024-09-23)
  
  I am new to chess and so I don’t really have much knowledge in the game yet. What happened at my club is that their budget went from $250 to $750 and so the members thought about getting chess tutoring with that extra money. Would it really be worth it for a 350 elo beginner like me to already get tutoring or would it be best to decline the tutoring in favor of self study? I don’t want to feel like I am wasting the club’s money on something I don’t even need.
  
  **Tags:** learning, beginner, training
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Please try rewording your question to be less opinion based. Opinion based questions are not allowed.  
  > **username_2**: Ask your fellow club members what they think?  
  > **username_3**: The money part is up to you and the other club members. We cannot possibly give any advice on that. As for training or not,  personally my experience is that generally the more games you play the better you are. There's not that much in tutoring or not.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2024-09-23. Score: 2
  
  The process of "learning" (and this is not limited to chess but is true for any skill) is twofold: you need to acquire new knowledge/abilities and you need supervision so that what you do (learn/understand/...) is corrected. It is quite easy to "perfect" the wrong things and without qualified supervision you will never know why some things don't work as they are supposed to do.
  
  Especially when acquiring a new skill (and with a rating of 350 you are pretty new to chess) you need that supervision and feedback the most.
  
  So, the answer to your question is an enthusiastic "yes"! Go for a coach, a tutor or whatever you call it - someone with a rating of at least 1800-2000 to explain the first steps to you. Reading books, playing online, doing puzzles and so on will all help, but they don't give you the feedback of what you have done right and what wrong.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_5**: Almost agree. A caveat is that a coach's rating doesn't warrant the coaching skills.  
  > **username_4**: @username_5: true, but he has to have a minimum qualification chesswise to even take advantage of any teaching skills he might have.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_6 on 2024-09-23. Score: -1
  
  If you are 350 elo you need to learn first how the pieces cooperate with each other(e.g why is Q+N much stronger than Q+B or why is R+B much stronger than R+N).You need to learn about pins,skewers ,x-ray attacks,in-between moves etc.By learning these things you can go to around 1k elo.THEN tutoring and practising would be really helpful to help you grow to 2k elo level.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_7**: I wouldn't say that Q+N is much stronger than Q+B or R+B than R+N - both of these are highly position dependant (especially in the first case king safety is much more important than which minor piece you have) and not at all that important at 350, 1000 or even 2000. What he needs is just not hanging pieces and elementary tactics. Tutoring will help him get correct thinking process already now.  
  > **username_6**: There are a lot more tactics with Q+N than with Q+B tho.And a R coordinates much better with the B than the N.There is a reason why Q vs R+B the side with R and B can draw the game while Q vs R+N it is almost always lost for the side with R+N.  
  > **username_7**: And c-pawn on the 7th can often draw against queen, while rook cannot - this doesn't mean that saying "c-pawn is stronger than rook" is meaningful. I agree that coordination matters - but you simply cannot discuss it without looking at a concrete position. In some positions rook and knight coordinate well, in some they don't. If Q+B (or R+B) is better than Q+N (or R+N) in majority of positions is different question and one that doesn't matter at all until one undestands what makes one stronger in some position than the other - but I doubt that I would find that all that useful at 350 Elo.  
  > **username_8**: It's not actually true that Q+N is stronger than Q+B. John Watson refuted it in "Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy"  
  > **username_3**: You sound like you think 350 elo is *very* low. Sure, it's certainly not an impressive figure, but that doesn't mean OP (or anyone with 350 elo, for that matter) doesn't even know how chess pieces interact.  
  
  ---
  
  