Given a limit of roughly 1-2 hours per day and 5 days per week, how much could I improve using the resources given by Diamond membership on chess.com as compared with having a free memership?

Members with Diamond memberships should probably have the optimal answers. ;D

EDIT: revised question in Post #7 - the wording didn't come out right here.

Anybody? *Crickets chirping*

You get to listen to Roman. I just like listening to the guy talk, his personality. It has a timeless cold war quality to it. Ah, that's not quite the right analogy, but as close as I can get.  However, being just a noob chess player, I really can't fully appreciate his analysis. Doc, you should be able to follow him just fine.

      unlimited tactics practices, and unlimited access to the excellent video library, along with unlimited access to the proven chess training tool called   Chess Mentor   would give you an improved perspective of chess and improvement to your skills, no matter what level you are at today.

    of course, giving up live chess chattering/nattering - much ado about nothing - would also go along with spending your time more productively in studies and learning.

5.6%

See here Doc.

Maybe I should rephrase my question. =D

How much will Diamond membership benefit a person (with 5-10 hours per week) in terms of playing strength and rating? Thanks!

Not sure what you're looking for in terms of an answer, Doc.  Unless erik has commissioned studies on the effectiveness of his product, no one's going to be able to say, "Your rating will increase 10 points per week!"  Formal lessons and practice are typically considered positive influences on the development of a skill, but your individual mileage will vary.

Look at the feature list.  You get a limited-functionality version of Tactics Trainer already; you can also usually see a freebie video or Chess Mentor lesson to get a sense of how those work.  And then decide for yourself -- do you think these tools would be useful for your personal approach to chess?  You're the only one who can say.

I downgraded from diamond to gold, and I think I'm none the worse for it.  I agree that chess mentor is not worth a lot, and the videos at best will give you a few ideas.  I'm pretty sure that tactics trainer is the best learning tool on the site, and 25 a day is all you really need.  Computer workout is also not too bad, especially for the endgame.  

When it comes to learning strategy, books are still the best thing.  Agree?

Really? It's garbage? It seems pretty cool to me, though I have only done it a few times. I plan on getting a diamond membership for the videos and chess mentor, but now I'm hearing it sucks? I just don't get how it's terrible as to me it looks like playing out positions that you would expect to find in how to reasses your chess and knowing why your moves aren't as good. But then I only did a few lessons, but could you elaborate on what makes it bad?

Anyways, Diamond seems pretty awesome (it wasn't before as videos weren't even here) but gold to me isn't really worth paying for, as it doesn't have the big things.

And banjoman, I highly doubt tactics trainer is better than the chess videos (which from the demos seem to be pure gold), just get a puzzle book.

sorry Kupov, I took someone else's word for it. I haven't used it at all myself.

(chess mentor, that is).

But the videos are great.

and I really like reviewing the tactics.  has helped my board vision tremendously.

I have to say, I disagree about chess mentor being "horrible". Now, it's much harder to use than watching videos (which is also great) but if you pretend you're in a game when you do these, it's excellent to know why your plan or execution of the plan was inaccurate (which in those silman lessons for anyone below master is unavoidable as otherwise you would play just like the GM or IM in the game!) and it's very enlightening. It's basically me trying to execute what I've learned in books and get excellent feedback on how I do.

Also, it's great for tactics. There are many courses that involve tricky tactics or attacks, and it's much better to play them out in chess mentor than a book for example because you don't have to set up any pieces and every move is like a puzzle, as if you're playing as Alekhine or whatever. It does take patience, but when used right it seems to have incredible potential. I have got many wrong answers on the advanced lessons, but you can't expect to play like a GM even with hints! To me it really feels alot like getting a lesson from a chess coach (or mentor as in the name!).

"When it comes to learning strategy, books are still the best thing.  Agree?"

I've read tons of books, that helped me immensly. But for me, chess mentor is the next step as well as advanced videos and the fact that I don't have to think much for them!