COACHING | sabinafoisor

Dear Visitors,

I am a Woman Grandmaster with two International Master norms (currently FIDE 2369, USCF 2421). I have represented the United States at four consecutive chess Olympiads (2010-2016) and three World Team Chess Championship (2013, 2015, 2017). My most prestigious achievements as a chess player is winning the 2017 US Women's Chess Championship while my most notable international achievement happened in 2007 when I shared 5th place in the Women’s European Individual Chess Championship in Dresden, Germany and qualified for the 2008 World Women’s Chess Championship.

While a professional chess player, I have started to teach and coach chess players of different levels in the past few years. My coaching philosophy is based on sharing my experiences from the beginning of my chess career with every ups and downs until I reached my peak (which hopefully I can overpass). While still at the beginning, do not let yourself be fooled by my age. I am very dedicated and passionate about sharing my chess experiences with others, and that is mirrored in my teaching.

I am looking for students of all levels who are determined to improve. We will work on any or all aspects of your game that you wish to strengthen. I am using what I like to call the experiential learning method, term I borrowed from education, for starters. My idea, like many other coaches ideas is that one cannot improve unless he/she realizes what are his/her weaknesses and what common mistakes happen in their game. We are learning by doing mistakes, so I say go ahead make mistakes, get “punished” by your opponent, let’s analyze the games together, to see what happened and why it happened so that those ideas will remain in your mind for a long time. Additionally, I emphasize on won games as much as on lost games. Although we seem to remember more from lost games than we do from won ones, I am a strong believer that from winning games one can learn almost as much. How? It’s very simple. It is a common misconception that when we win, we played a great game. Maybe, there are big chances we might have played a wonderful game without making any mistakes. However, the chance that one has not stumbled is very little. I am focusing on every single one of your games to help you understand your common mistakes and following that I will create appropriate material for your needs to eliminate those mistakes. Plus, you get to be praised a little as well.

I do not intend to lecture you about why you should do this, or that, although sometimes it might seem as a lecture. My intention is to be your guide and helping you in your chess endeavors. I am focusing more on explaining you what seem to have gone wrong for you in a game. I also will help you to customize my general framework on how to work on eliminating mistakes from your play and how to improve your strengths.

In addition, once having reached a higher level in chess understanding I help you expanding your creativity in chess by giving you positions and puzzles that allow you to search for plans and moves that do not seem to be present at first glance.

I emphasize to my students that consistent practice is necessary to excel at chess; I provide equally consistent support as a teacher. Hence, I assign personalized homework after each lesson and give detailed feedback on students’ answers, sometimes giving extra guidance during the period between lessons. I am available for training games as well.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Sabina

WHAT PEOPLE SAY

Sabina is the only chess coach I've ever worked with, but if there are much better teachers out there I cannot imagine them.

Sabina took very little time to pinpoint my weaknesses and by the end of our first lesson she had spotted areas that needed improvement. She spends as much time outside of lessons working to better her student's chess as her students themselves, preparing homework, studies, solutions to problems and analyzing games as much, or often more, than her students need. She is an instructor that comes to every lesson prepared in the extreme and every lesson left me with a distinct impression that she had done her utmost to address a problem she had spotted in the previous week's lesson.

On a technical level Sabina has a very broad knowledge base. She can prepare opening repertoires for any play style and is extremely flexible in her teaching. As a cautious player I found she often directed her analysis and advice towards more solid, positional ideas in order to best suit the lesson to my style, but when she saw me missing attacking opportunities because of my fearful play I was immediately graced with a lesson on attacking play and aggressive chess that I believe has had a profound effect on my play to this day.

On a personal level Sabina is friendly, positive and patient. Even my worst results and blunders weren't enough to break her optimism and belief in my ability to improve. Her attitude left me comfortable throughout each lesson, no matter how long I struggled with the problems she set me.

During the course of ten lessons with her I improved by approximately 200 rating points and have maintained my new rating (on another server). I am convinced that when I have time for proper study again, when I will almost certainly be making use of her services again, I will improve even further. If you follow her instructions, study as she asks and give it your all you simply will improve.

— Jean Paul, South Africa