Courses (751)

Life of a Tournament Player  Discounted 

When Emanuel Lasker wrote that "chess is a fight," he wasn't referring to the board alone. The psychological dimension—managing losses, navigating fatigue, choosing when to press or consolidate—has always separated strong players from champions. Yet while opening theory evolves daily, tournament psychology remains chess's least systematized frontier.

GM José Martínez Alcántara (Jospem) and GM Pier Luigi Basso address this gap with Life of a Tournament Player, a course that dissects competitive reality through the prism of the Fujairah Global Chess Championship 2025—a GM-only event where José scored 6.5/9 and finished sharing 2nd place.

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5h and 19min PGN Download Interactive Tests Video Content

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Queen's Gambit Declined - Carlsbad with ...Be6 

Carlsbad-with-Be6-142e12738e

GM Luca Moroni and GM Pier Luigi Basso have built their course around a simple premise: the Carlsbad doesn't have to be a theoretical maze. While mainstream theory drowns players in endless c6 variations, this system offers something rare—a practical, fighting repertoire that's easier to learn and delivers better winning chances. The authors noticed that after Caruana's lead, players like Andreikin and Bartel began adopting the line, yet it remains almost completely unknown. That gap between emerging practice and established theory is exactly where this course lives.

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2h and 48min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content

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Scandinavian Defense for Black - The Revolutionized 3...Qd6 

In the 3...Qd6 Scandinavian Defense, the move 5...Nc6 was dismissed for decades as dubious—a theoretical footnote that strong players avoided. White's straightforward 6.Nb5 followed by 7.d5 was considered the final word, a refutation so clear that the line vanished from serious practice. Then GM Nikolas Theodorou looked closer. What he discovered wasn't just a defensive resource—it was a complete paradigm shift. The supposedly flawed 5...Nc6, coupled with the stunning 8...Na6, has transformed this Scandinavian variation from a niche system into a legitimate fighting weapon that Abdusattorov, Dubov, and other elite players are now deploying with success.

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2h and 46min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content

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Preventing and Creating Counterplay  Discounted 

Tigran Petrosian, the ninth World Champion, built his reputation on prophylactic mastery—neutralizing opponent ideas before they materialized. Yet even Petrosian understood what many players miss: the strongest defense often involves creating threats of your own. GM Ioannis Papaioannou's Preventing and Creating Counterplay explores this duality, examining how the interplay between suppression and initiative determines the outcome of complex positions.

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6h PGN Download Interactive Tests Video Content

Deep Preparation - Sicilian Four Knights with ...Bc5 

In 2019, two grandmasters quietly planted a theoretical seed that would reshape the Four Knights Sicilian landscape. GM Pier Luigi Basso became the first to demonstrate 12...Ne7—a paradoxical knight retreat that transforms a cramped position into dynamic counterplay, and GM Alexey Dreev soon followed. What began as an experiment in uncharted territory has now exploded in popularity, aided by modern engine analysis that validated their human intuition. This course reveals the full architecture of that breakthrough.

Sequence:  Deep Preparation  »

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3h and 24min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content

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1.d4 According to Lucas van Foreest - Fight the Ragozin 

For years, 1.d4 players have struggled against one of Black’s most trusted defenses — the Ragozin. Solid, flexible, and endlessly playable, it’s been a favorite of Carlsen, Aronian, Gukesh, and Firouzja. But now, the tide turns. In 1.d4 According to Lucas Van Foreest – Fight the Ragozin, GMs Lucas Van Foreest and Pier Luigi Basso present a complete and modern system built around the critical 6.Bg5, the line that puts Black’s entire setup under both strategic and tactical pressure.

Sequence:  1.d4 According to Lucas Van Foreest  »

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3h and 15min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content

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Sicilian Najdorf - Deep Understanding  Discounted 

What if mastering the Najdorf wasn’t about memorizing endless variations, but about understanding the structures that define them?
In Sicilian Najdorf – Deep Understanding, GM Ioannis Papaioannou addresses one of the greatest challenges in modern chess: players enter the sharpest opening in the game without truly grasping the strategic imbalances, material patterns, and long-term plans that make it work.

Sequence:  Najdorf for Black  »

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10.5h PGN Download Video Content

The Albin Countergambit - A Revolutionary Approach for Black 

When Adolph Albin first played 2...e5 against the Queen’s Gambit in 1893, he introduced an opening that embodied risk, creativity, and defiance. For more than a century, theory dismissed his idea as a relic of the romantic era—until now. In The Albin Countergambit, GM Baadur Jobava and GM Pier Luigi Basso reveal the discovery that brings this opening back to life: the spectacular and deeply underestimated move 5.a3 g6!!.

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2h and 41min PGN Download Memory Booster Interactive Tests Video Content

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Dreev University - Rook Endgames - Part 2 

More than half of all rook endgames at master level finish with the wrong result. Wins become draws. Draws slip into losses. Not because of blunders, but because of systematic misunderstanding. While modern players dedicate hundreds of hours to opening preparation, the phase that decides more games than any debut—the rook endgame—remains dangerously undertrained. Dreev University – Rook Endgames – Part 2 addresses this gap with surgical precision, transforming theoretical knowledge into practical winning technique.

Sequence:  Dreev University  »

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3h and 1min PGN Download Interactive Tests Video Content

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Candidate Moves and Long Calculations  Discounted 

In chess, true tactical mastery is not about finding flashy combinations — it’s about developing the thinking process that leads to them.
In his new course, Candidate Moves and Long Calculations, GM Swapnil Dhopade reveals how to structure your calculation, organize your thoughts, and identify the critical moments that separate masters from club players.

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6h PGN Download Interactive Tests Video Content