We originally sent this out as an email to our members, but then thought we may as well put it on our blog: it is our staff picks for our own personal
A bit like the recommendations you get in book stores.
We’re the guys who’ve worked hard on these courses and we know them inside out – find out which ones have piqued our interest and why.
So, here goes:
1. Jabe’s choice
The Fundamentals – Build Up Your Chess 1
No surprise for me that someone went for this. Yusupov’s course is just great – and Jabe should know as he was deeply involved in adapting it for us. Here’s what he had to say: My pick is no other than Yusupov’s The Fundamentals: Build Up Your Chess 1. Aimed at players below 1500, the course attempts to give the student a rock-solid chess foundation using over 500 lessons on tactics, strategy, endgames, openings, positional play, and calculation. The variety ensures the student doesn’t get bored, while Yusupov’s selection of positions/exercises will make you a more well-rounded player.
2. Geert’s choice
Crush the London!
It was a close-run thing between this and the sharp Trompowsky course we released in January, but Logozar’s course edged it. Geert and I are both big fans of Logozar.My favorite so far is Crush the London! because I’ve really struggled to find a good way to play fun chess against the London set-up with Black and Logozar’s is the perfect ambitious and agressive approach to taking it down. Also, Logozar’s courses are just incredibly well done in the Chessable format. He IS truly the Mozart of Chessable.
William’s choice
Thematic Tactics: Endgame Checkmates
William didn’t read the brief and went for a course that was actually released last year, but he was so effusive I had to go with it. In fact, I had to cut his response down by about 70 per cent. Here is the nub:It’s more than just a collection of endgame tactics, the way the chapters are arranged by material you learn how to better coordinate your pieces too. The number of exercises and level of difficulty really makes it a fun course that you can complete in short amount of time – ideal for players of all levels.
As for me, my favourite course is easy: Mastering Pawn Endgames: Volume 1 by IM Ahmad Alkhatib, a guy I’d never heard of until I started learning his course. It’s really helped me nail my pawn endings and I can’t wait for IM Alkhatib’s second course to come (which it will soon).
One more thing, chess-site.com posted a really nice review of us – check it out here.
That’s all folks.
