Cliff notes: I wholeheartedly recommend Tautvydas Vedrickas as a chess coach. I've been taking lessons from Tautvydas for the last few months after a complete 5-year hiatus from chess. In terms of cold, hard results, my rating has gone from 1778 to 1819 over 12 rated games (some of which I played while I was quite sick). While I think it's a mistake to focus only on short-term rating fluctuations, I feel that kind of instant upward trajectory after not looking at a chessboard in 5 years is significant. In terms of coaching, he's been extremely helpful in several key ways, but what's stood out the most is that every interaction with him, and especially every lesson, is fun. That's not to say his lessons aren't challenging, because they are. We usually go over my games and he's good at finding mistakes I make. Even better, he makes sure to clearly point out recurring issues with my play from previous games. He does this without making it seem too stressful, overwhelming, or like improvement is hopeless. It's that balance of criticism and teaching, while still making it seem like I'm doing well, that works so well. Unless you are planning to become a chess professional (and very few people are), it seems the most important component to improvement is sticking with the things that help you get better. It's like going to the gym: Having a trainer who you look forward to having a lesson with is really important. It's the difference between making it to the gym and sitting at home watching TV and eating potato chips, ;). It's hard for me to tell how much Tautvydas has adjusted his style to complement my own (which tends to be disciplined if I'm sufficiently motivated). One thing he definitely does is make sure I'm not too hard on myself. Here is an example: Often we'll go over a game I thought I played solidly or where I thought I found a nice combination. He always finds not just improvements but significant mistakes I made (sometimes even "ruining" the nice combination I thought I found!). However, he doesn't just rip into my game the whole time (easy for someone several hundred rating points higher than yourself) but also focuses on what I did well, especially if he sees something that indicates I'm making progress from past lessons. In terms of communication, he speaks completely fluent English. Even when explaining complex concepts that are hard to describe in one's native language, he does a great job of discussing the point so that I can understand it well before moving on.

Cliff notes: I wholeheartedly recommend Tautvydas Vedrickas as a chess coach. I've been taking lessons from Tautvydas for the last few months after a complete 5-year hiatus from chess. In terms of cold, hard results, my rating has gone from 1778 to 1819 over 12 rated games (some of which I played while I was quite sick). While I think it's a mistake to focus only on short-term rating fluctuations, I feel that kind of instant upward trajectory after not looking at a chessboard in 5 years is significant. In terms of coaching, he's been extremely helpful in several key ways, but what's stood out the most is that every interaction with him, and especially every lesson, is fun. That's not to say his lessons aren't challenging, because they are. We usually go over my games and he's good at finding mistakes I make. Even better, he makes sure to clearly point out recurring issues with my play from previous games. He does this without making it seem too stressful, overwhelming, or like improvement is hopeless. It's that balance of criticism and teaching, while still making it seem like I'm doing well, that works so well. Unless you are planning to become a chess professional (and very few people are), it seems the most important component to improvement is sticking with the things that help you get better. It's like going to the gym: Having a trainer who you look forward to having a lesson with is really important. It's the difference between making it to the gym and sitting at home watching TV and eating potato chips, ;). It's hard for me to tell how much Tautvydas has adjusted his style to complement my own (which tends to be disciplined if I'm sufficiently motivated). One thing he definitely does is make sure I'm not too hard on myself. Here is an example: Often we'll go over a game I thought I played solidly or where I thought I found a nice combination. He always finds not just improvements but significant mistakes I made (sometimes even "ruining" the nice combination I thought I found!). However, he doesn't just rip into my game the whole time (easy for someone several hundred rating points higher than yourself) but also focuses on what I did well, especially if he sees something that indicates I'm making progress from past lessons. In terms of communication, he speaks completely fluent English. Even when explaining complex concepts that are hard to describe in one's native language, he does a great job of discussing the point so that I can understand it well before moving on.

Cliff notes: I wholeheartedly recommend Tautvydas Vedrickas as a chess coach. I've been taking lessons from Tautvydas for the last few months after a complete 5-year hiatus from chess. In terms of cold, hard results, my rating has gone from 1778 to 1819 over 12 rated games (some of which I played while I was quite sick). While I think it's a mistake to focus only on short-term rating fluctuations, I feel that kind of instant upward trajectory after not looking at a chessboard in 5 years is significant. In terms of coaching, he's been extremely helpful in several key ways, but what's stood out the most is that every interaction with him, and especially every lesson, is fun. That's not to say his lessons aren't challenging, because they are. We usually go over my games and he's good at finding mistakes I make. Even better, he makes sure to clearly point out recurring issues with my play from previous games. He does this without making it seem too stressful, overwhelming, or like improvement is hopeless. It's that balance of criticism and teaching, while still making it seem like I'm doing well, that works so well. Unless you are planning to become a chess professional (and very few people are), it seems the most important component to improvement is sticking with the things that help you get better. It's like going to the gym: Having a trainer who you look forward to having a lesson with is really important. It's the difference between making it to the gym and sitting at home watching TV and eating potato chips, ;). It's hard for me to tell how much Tautvydas has adjusted his style to complement my own (which tends to be disciplined if I'm sufficiently motivated). One thing he definitely does is make sure I'm not too hard on myself. Here is an example: Often we'll go over a game I thought I played solidly or where I thought I found a nice combination. He always finds not just improvements but significant mistakes I made (sometimes even "ruining" the nice combination I thought I found!). However, he doesn't just rip into my game the whole time (easy for someone several hundred rating points higher than yourself) but also focuses on what I did well, especially if he sees something that indicates I'm making progress from past lessons. In terms of communication, he speaks completely fluent English. Even when explaining complex concepts that are hard to describe in one's native language, he does a great job of discussing the point so that I can understand it well before moving on.