Jonathan Whitcomb, an active member of the Harman Center Chess Club in West Valley, and the Sandy Senior Center Chess Club (both in Utah), is the developer of the NIP system of chess instruction (nearly-identical positions) and the author of the book Beat That Kid in Chess. This new chess book may be the first such publication that systematically uses the NIP method of instruction.
Jonathan Whitcomb, chess tutor in the Salt Lake Valley
This chess coach (who lives in Murray) is now offering private and group lessons in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah, with no travel charges to the central communities of the valley. Your lesson can be in your home or in a library near your home, yet he recommends coming to his home, where he and his wife live in Murray. But if you prefer to have lessons in your own home, tutoring-service locations include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following cities:
- Murray
- Belmont Heights
- Cottonwood Heights
- Taylorsville
- Holladay
- Kearns
- Midvalle
- West Jordan
For other communities further away from Murray, a small travel charge may be added to the standard fee of $25 per lesson.
Length of the lesson
For most students (children, teenagers, or adults), a lesson will be for one hour. With some younger children, however, it may be advisable to have a shorter lesson, suitable to the attention span of those youngsters. The tutor, Jonathan Whitcomb, is open to discussing it with a parent or guardian, when the student is very young.
Chess tournament in Salt Lake City, early 2016 (Whitcomb was a photographer)
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What’s Included in a Tutoring Session?
It depends on the needs of the chess student. At least some of the following can be expected in one or more of your chess lessons:
- Puzzle solving, according to the skills of the student
- Questions and answers — both directions: student/tutor and also tutor/student
- Chess game between the student and the tutor
- Analyzing one or more games previously played by the student
- Analyzing games played by grandmasters, according to the needs of the student
- Analyzing games played by ordinary chess players, possibly even beginners
- Demonstrations by the tutor, including tactical awareness and tactical motifs
- Instruction in modern chess notation, according to need
- Help in preparing for a particular opponent
- Opening theory and possibly specific lines of openings
- Middle game play, including tactics and strategy
- End game: examples and theory
- Preparation for a tournament
Other educational methods may be used or incorporated in the above, including the use of nearly-identical positions (NIP), which can greatly help in developing tactical abilities.
Call Jonathan Whitcomb at the number below or contact him by email, and feel free to ask questions about the royal game or about chess lessons.
Chess coach Jonathan Whitcomb demonstrates how to win a chess end game
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Chess Tutor in Central Salt Lake Valley
[Whitcomb] published the book Beat That Kid in Chess . . . probably the first chess book ever written (for the “raw” beginner) in which the new NIP system of chess instruction is taught systematically: nearly-identical positions.
Utah Chess Championship for Children
The state elementary school chess championship was held at the University of Utah, on Saturday, March 12, 2016 [fifth and sixth grade results]
Chess Coach (and misc) in Idaho
Where to play in Idaho (ICA)
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