Hi Everyone!
So I'm sure most of you are aware that lichess.org has a nice feature that showcases coaches on their website, so people can get in touch easily if they'd like to get lessons and elevate their game.
I like the concept of this, but I believe it can be massively improved.
I remember in the past, anyone with a FIDE profile could sign up to be a lichess.org coach, and coaches could get reviews too. I do remember, however, that the reviews feature got removed since there were cases of coaches fabricating their reviews to boost their visibility on the platform. I also understand that there must've been an over-saturation of coaches at that time too, so I can understand why lichess would want to limit the coaches list to titled players only.
However, I don't see why the list should be limited to players with "player titles" as opposed to including those with "coaching titles" too?
To clarify, what I mean is for lichess to include coaches that may be untitled as players, but have official coaching titles such as FIDE Senior Trainer (FST), FIDE Trainer (FT), FIDE Instructor (FI), or National Instructor (NI).
The requirements for these titles are not easy to attain. Coaches need to complete a training seminar and pass the resulting exam, have specific coaching experience (number of years coaching, achievements of students etc.), and also have a minimum rating (FST needs 2450, FT need 2300, FI needs 2000, and NI needs 1700).
So why should we introduce these coaching titles as acceptable lichess.org coaches?
To me, coaching in chess is far more than just the ability to play good chess. Coaching requires experience, the ability to teach well, and the ability to inspire a student to reach new heights.
For myself, I am a FIDE Instructor, with an ELO of 2002 (at the time of getting passing my FIDE Trainer seminar). I have 7 years of experience coaching, and my best students are now playing stronger than I am (for instance, I have a 13 year old student who is playing at 2700 online!).
So my point is that there are experienced coaches that don't get an opportunity to spread their knowledge and skills, just because they don't have a "player title", which to me as a coach, is not a requirement to raise the game of many of the players that are looking for coaching!
Aside from introducing the coaching titles to the list of coaches on lichess, I'd also hope that the "filters" for the coaches can be improved? Currently, there is "Last Login, Lichess Rating, and Alphabetical" in order to filter the coaches - which isn't very helpful to find the coach that's best for you?
Perhaps filters could include "filter by title", "filter by FIDE rating", "filter by hourly rate" - which would also encourage coaches to be upfront about their rates.
Thank you for taking the time to read my proposal, and let me know what you guys think! If you're in support of this post, do leave an upvote to encourage lichess to consider making these changes!
Cheers,
Michael
So I'm sure most of you are aware that lichess.org has a nice feature that showcases coaches on their website, so people can get in touch easily if they'd like to get lessons and elevate their game.
I like the concept of this, but I believe it can be massively improved.
I remember in the past, anyone with a FIDE profile could sign up to be a lichess.org coach, and coaches could get reviews too. I do remember, however, that the reviews feature got removed since there were cases of coaches fabricating their reviews to boost their visibility on the platform. I also understand that there must've been an over-saturation of coaches at that time too, so I can understand why lichess would want to limit the coaches list to titled players only.
However, I don't see why the list should be limited to players with "player titles" as opposed to including those with "coaching titles" too?
To clarify, what I mean is for lichess to include coaches that may be untitled as players, but have official coaching titles such as FIDE Senior Trainer (FST), FIDE Trainer (FT), FIDE Instructor (FI), or National Instructor (NI).
The requirements for these titles are not easy to attain. Coaches need to complete a training seminar and pass the resulting exam, have specific coaching experience (number of years coaching, achievements of students etc.), and also have a minimum rating (FST needs 2450, FT need 2300, FI needs 2000, and NI needs 1700).
So why should we introduce these coaching titles as acceptable lichess.org coaches?
To me, coaching in chess is far more than just the ability to play good chess. Coaching requires experience, the ability to teach well, and the ability to inspire a student to reach new heights.
For myself, I am a FIDE Instructor, with an ELO of 2002 (at the time of getting passing my FIDE Trainer seminar). I have 7 years of experience coaching, and my best students are now playing stronger than I am (for instance, I have a 13 year old student who is playing at 2700 online!).
So my point is that there are experienced coaches that don't get an opportunity to spread their knowledge and skills, just because they don't have a "player title", which to me as a coach, is not a requirement to raise the game of many of the players that are looking for coaching!
Aside from introducing the coaching titles to the list of coaches on lichess, I'd also hope that the "filters" for the coaches can be improved? Currently, there is "Last Login, Lichess Rating, and Alphabetical" in order to filter the coaches - which isn't very helpful to find the coach that's best for you?
Perhaps filters could include "filter by title", "filter by FIDE rating", "filter by hourly rate" - which would also encourage coaches to be upfront about their rates.
Thank you for taking the time to read my proposal, and let me know what you guys think! If you're in support of this post, do leave an upvote to encourage lichess to consider making these changes!
Cheers,
Michael