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As a National Master offering private chess lessons to individuals in the United States, what are the normal hourly rates?

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    Supply and demand ;-) (I.e. better rephrase your question to "what are customary rates" lest it may get taked down for "opinion" - and even those rates vary to circumstances. The school where I train beginners gives me about 20$ per hour, the price being fixed by the school.)
    – Hauke Reddmann
    Mar 30 at 7:42
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    Your results as a chess player says very little about your ability as a chess coach. If you're unexperienced as a coach you probably want to start at lower rates than someone with decades of experience. But for reference, if you're thinking about online sessions, you may want to take a look at the Lichess coaches section to get a hint on what the market looks like. Either way, the only objectively right answer is "whatever the student is willing to pay".
    – David
    Mar 30 at 9:48
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    I once paid $80 per hour for a well known coach and author who was a National Master in the United States.
    – Michael West
    Mar 30 at 13:14
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    there is a lot of competition from online (e.g. lichess ) FIDE-titled trainers located in low-income countries offering lessons for hourly wages starting from as low as 5-10$ /h. You can check what rates titled trainers demand in high-income countries there (spoiler: huge variance).
    – Hauptideal
    Mar 30 at 22:13

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It seems that a good answer to your question is that the fee depends on the instructor.

In my perspective, fees for chess lessons are between $0 and $500 per hour. Instructors who charge $0 are volunteers who love to do something good for humankind and do NOT need the money. Instructors who charge $500 are teachers in high demand, have a big number of customers, and have access to very rich people.

Some instructors charge $5 because they live in countries with low living costs. Moreover, they are from non-English speaking countries. Additionally, if they charge $5 per hour because they do not have too many customers. A more common fee for online instructors from non-English speaking countries is $15-25.

Instructors who live in the United States usually charge $50-100 per hour. This has a lot of sense because in some areas of the United States if you work in the fast-food industry, you start with $17 per hour. A good guess is that to make a living in the USA as a chess instructor, you need to charge $100 per hour and have enough customers who have the financial resources, and the willingness to consider lessons from that instructor a good investment. Only people with an excellent income can afford to pay $100 per hour. That is the reason why books and videos are so popular as an alternative, or as a complement, to chess tutoring that is expensive.

Lichess.org and chess.com have a section for instructors. You can find several names there. Also, if you are looking for someone in your area, look into craiglist.org. In addition to that, there are many websites that offer teaching services, just Google it.

Something interesting is that a national master and even a instructor without a chess title can charge the same or more than a grand master. The logic behind this is that a grand master will play better but not necessarily will be a better instructor. One excellent example is Steve Giddins, who is not a grandmaster, but he is a formidable writer and lecturer. One of his former students is grandmaster Matthew Sadler. Steve Giddins is a FIDE master.

Good luck in your chess journey!

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    500 dollars per hour for chess board class is too much exageration..
    – ShadYantra
    Apr 1 at 3:25
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    @ShadYantra if you were an elite player in the past it's probably not.
    – David
    Apr 1 at 9:04
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    Probably, IMs can pay 500 dollars per hour to GMs. For majority of people like me, even 50 dollars per hour is too much.
    – ShadYantra
    Apr 1 at 19:25
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    @ShadYantra: Maybe, maybe not; it probably depends on where you are and how much in demand you are. Someone like Pandolfini may be able to command that much. And I'm with you on being able afford $50 per hour. While otherwise I make enough money, being a dad with a mortgage, car payment, and tuition bills doesn't leave a lot of money for hobbies.
    – GreenMatt
    Jun 14 at 21:38
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    Yes. Chess has become career in India and trainer become clueless in their lives at their post 40s
    – ShadYantra
    Jun 15 at 17:58

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