Chess.com University Presents Chess 013: Opening Proficiency for 1200 - 1500 ELO Players!

Chess.com University's

Chess 012: Strategy and Tactics for 1200 - 1500 ELO Players concluded last week. This course was taught like an online college class and turned out to be Chess.com University's best-selling course till date.

The course attempted at covering everything 1200 - 1500 ELO Players need to know in order to take their chess to the next level. With a proper balance of content-based homework, practice-based homework, and class lessons, I believe I designed the most thorough course ever offered by Chess.com University.

Upon popular demand by the students, I will teach two more classes this year:

Chess 013: Opening Proficiency for 1200 - 1500 ELO Players

Chess 014: Endgame Technique for 1200 - 1500 ELO Players

The purpose of this news post is to officially announce:

Chess 013: Opening Proficiency for 1200 - 1500 ELO Players!

Note that this course follows the "class format" meaning it will be like an online college class:

- Syllabus

- Video Lectures + Written Notes

- Class Textbook

- Assignments with Feedback

- Full use of Chess.com Diamond Membership Features

- Final Exam

Opening Proficiency for 1200 - 1500 ELO Players Class Overview:

 
This is a thorough class covering everything players between 1200 and 1500 ELO must know about the opening. Key topics include: opening principles, development, initiative, open positions, semi-open positions, closed positions, isolated queen pawns, opening tactics, and basic opening strategy.

The goal will be to become proficient at applying opening principles in order to reach acceptable middlegame positions, even in openings you may have never seen before. Additionally, we will overview various openings to learn more about the key plans.

This is not an opening repertoire course. We aren't going to be memorizing deep variations. The purpose of this class will be to master the basics of the openings and be able to apply them in various situations.

Yes, I will teach some openings too. Our coverage of White will mostly be based on 1.e4 but there will also be brief overview of other options such as 1.d4 and 1.c4. As Black, we will learn one system against 1.e4 and one system against 1.d4.

Like my previous class, this class is designed to train students, not just teach content. I want you to improve your thinking abilities as well! I always introduce relatively advanced concepts using simple examples. This class will be beneficial for those even outside the 1200 - 1500 ELO rating range. A more appropriate range would be 1200 - 1600 ELO. Also note that chess.com correspondence chess ratings tend to be highly inflated. Message me if you are interested, but believe this class may be too basic or too advanced for you. I will give you my honest opinion.

What is included in Chess 013: Opening Proficiency for 1200 - 1500 Players?

- Pretest

- 20-Minute Live Orientation and Introduction

- Four 1-Hour Live Chess Lessons

- A 10-Minute One-On-One Lesson Through Skype

- Three Written Lectures

- Four Class Assignments with Feedback

- Organized Study Plan Using Chess.com Resources

- Posttest

- 1 Month Chess.com Diamond Membership

There will be a class textbook. I am still in the process of designing this course and have not decided which book to use. The book is not included in the tuition. The chess books I am currently comparing are inexpensive so this shouldn't cause any problems.

Schedule:

Class is scheduled to start on Saturday, September 14th, 2013 with a live orientation session and brief introduction to the class. The first live lecture will not be taught until September 21st so I will allow students to register for this class up until the 21st.

The class will be spread out over 6 weeks. The previous class I taught was too time-consuming for the students and should have been spread out. This is why I will keep the same amount of workload, but spread it out over 6 weeks that way everybody is able to keep up.

Most live lessons will be taught on Saturdays at varying times to satisfy various time zones. I want every student to be able to attend at least half of the sessions live. All live lectures will be video recorded so even if you cannot attend, you will be able to watch the recording and email me any questions.

Unlike in Chess.com University seminars, only about 10% to 15% of the class instruction will be live for this chess class. This way students from any time zone with any kind of schedule may take this class! This class is extremely flexible and learner-friendly. Students may even join the class late and still have access to all of the material covered!

Chess classes allow students to simply relax and stop thinking about what they should do to improve at the game. We do all of the organizational work for you!

For those of you who truly want to improve at chess but get lazy after a while, classes would be the perfect solution as if you get lazy after paying for a class, you would just waste money and that would wake you up again and force you to study! :-)

Tuition:

Tuition is $103/person for non-diamond members.

Tuition is $89/person for diamond members but this means you do not get the 1-month diamond membership.

Registration:

In order to purchase Chess 013: Opening Proficiency for 1200 - 1500 Players, go to the following website:

http://www.aplustutoringamerica.com/Chess.html

Scroll down and click on the 2nd PayPal button. It will ask you for $89.00.

If you are not a diamond member, you may either purchase a 1-month membership directly from chess.com on the first day of class or you can send me $14 and I can apply it towards your account.

Please note that while the Chess 013 class is 6-weeks long, the 1-month membership will only last 4 weeks. This is okay because we will only need the diamond membership features during the first 4 weeks of class.

Discounts:

You qualify for a $5.00 discount if you have taken any of my opening seminars in the past.

Chess.com University needs more students. This is why I would like to ask you to recommend Chess.com University seminars and classes to friends, relatives, and strangers! For each NEW student you bring in to Chess 013, you will get a $20.00 discount. A new student is defined as someone who has never taken any seminars or classes offered by Chess.com University.

All you have to do to receive this discount is ask the person you referred to message me and mention your username. Discounts will be processed as partial refunds after the person you referred purchases Chess 013. So whether or not you plan on referring students to this class, please register for the class as soon as possible if you plan on taking it! Again, remember, you can only receive the discount if the person you recommend Chess 013 to ends up registering.

Again, all discounts will be processed as partial refunds meaning everybody will go through the same registration process and pay the full amount initially.

The class will be delivered entirely online using chess.com, livestream, and email. There will be a class group on chess.com which I will use to post announcements or start discussions. Students may interact with each other through the groups as well.

Remember, all live broadcasts will be recorded and available for download by all the students!

If you have further questions, you may message Kairav Joshi or comment on this news post.