Five Hidden Gems On Chessable
Over the years, Chessable has grown into a huge library of chess content, with several publications per week covering openings, strategy, tactics, endgames, and everything in between. While some courses become instant favorites within the community, others can easily fly under the radar despite offering tremendous value. Sometimes that is because the author is not yet a household name, and sometimes it is simply because the title or opening name does not immediately catch a player's attention.
As one of Chessable's Publishing Managers, I have had a front-row seat to this for the past five years. During that time, I was involved in creating hundreds of courses and had the privilege of collaborating with many great, talented authors. Chess is my passion first and my profession second.
For this article, I want to focus on just five hidden gems in our catalogue. Choosing just five was almost an impossible task, and I could have easily created a list with a dozen more hidden gems. Still, I hope this article will serve as inspiration for those of you who want to study something different than the typical suspects. I can promise you that you’ll learn about some really cool courses if you keep reading!
1. The Rebellious Czech Defense by CM Markus Müller
This won't be the only time in this list that I recommend an opening course that goes completely against the mainstream. I have a soft spot for authors who are courageous enough to create courses on their pet openings, especially when these openings are often considered dubious. The Rebellious Czech Defense by CM Markus Müller is a prime example of how such a course can work wonderfully.
The Czech Defense (1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6) has never been considered the most fashionable opening. If you turn on the engine, you’ll immediately know why: Stockfish gives +1 as its baseline evaluation in all kinds of variations.
Markus is very honest about that. He does not pretend that the engine loves every position or sugarcoat his way into equal-looking positions. Instead, he explains why the engine evaluations are often tricky to prove in practice. A position that shows +1 on the screen can still be very unpleasant for White to play. The course is full of examples where White players go for the critical lines, knowing the first 3-4 moves of a supposed refutation, just to end up being worse after the first 2-3 natural moves that they played by themselves.
And Markus really practices what he preaches. The Czech Defense is his main weapon in all time controls, including classical chess, so he is recommending something he trusts himself, rather than a repertoire he only researched for a course. He is also very active in the Chessable comments, regularly answering questions and sharing examples from his own games.
The course itself is also remarkably complete. Markus even covers plenty of sidelines starting as early as move two, which I always appreciate. And there is another nice bonus: because many 1.d4 players respond to 1...d6 with 2.e4, you will often reach your Czech Defense setup against both 1.e4 and 1.d4. If you are looking for an offbeat opening backed by someone who genuinely knows every corner of it, this is an easy recommendation from me.
2. Black is Back: Blumenfeld Gambit by ACupOfGreenTea & presented by IM Andras Toth
Just like my previous pick, this is another course that feels like a genuine passion project. You only have to look at the word count of well over 300,000 words to realize how much work went into it. Black is Back: Blumenfeld Gambit is another perfect example of a great opening course that's slightly off-beat.
Consider me biased, because I always loved the Blumenfeld Gambit. It was one of my favorite openings as a teenager, and I still think it's one of the most fascinating ways to meet 1.d4. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5!?, Black immediately creates an unbalanced fight and gets exactly the kind of dynamic positions that many players are looking for.
If you are thinking now that this is such a specific move sequence that you might rarely get yourself on the board, the author addresses this point himself. The scope of the course goes well beyond the Blumenfeld itself. “ACupOfGreenTea” (the author prefers to stay anonymous) also covers all kinds of White alternatives on moves three and four, really making sure that this course builds a significant part of your Black repertoire. Don’t take my word for it: The course won Chessable's “Create Your Own Course” contest in 2024, so it convinced many of our team members.
Check out this beautiful model game in the Blumenfeld:
And then there is IM Andras Toth. Winning the “Create Your Own Course” contest was based on the non-video part alone. But then it was also decided that the content would be presented by Andras, and having Andras present material takes the entertainment factor to yet another level—his enthusiasm is contagious. If you enjoy dynamic chess and presenters with personality, this course is a lot of fun from start to finish.
3. The Ambitious Berlin Defense
Enough offbeat openings for now. Let's talk about one of the biggest heavyweights in opening theory: the Berlin Defense.
I have worked with both NM Elijah Logozar and IM Yuriy Krykun on several Chessable projects over the years, and I still remember the first time Elijah showed me this course. We were actually discussing something completely different when he casually mentioned, "By the way, I also have my Berlin course almost ready." A few minutes later, I was looking at what would become one of the most impressive opening courses I have seen on the platform.
What immediately stood out was the amount of research behind it. Elijah and Yuriy did not just build a repertoire from their own experience. They went through an enormous number of other sources, collected ideas from all over the place, and distilled them into a course that feels incredibly comprehensive.
The best example is the opening chapter. Before you even get to the repertoire itself, you are greeted by a massive strategy section with 74(!) variations covering typical endgames, recurring plans, important structures, and all kinds of positional nuances. I honestly cannot think of another opening course that puts this much emphasis on teaching how to play the resulting positions.
If your image of the Berlin is a sterile drawing weapon because so many elite games end peacefully, this course does a great job of challenging that perception. The strategy chapters alone show how many winning opportunities Black can create by knowing some typical plans and having a good understanding of the resulting positions.
And when it comes to the repertoire itself, the title is no coincidence. The authors consistently choose the most ambitious paths, looking for practical winning chances instead of settling for safe equality. For anyone who wants to play the Berlin as more than just a drawing weapon, this course is an outstanding resource. See how even a drawn-looking ending can be completely winning for Black:
4. The Practical Philidor: A Complete Fighting Repertoire
After recommending the Czech Defense, the Blumenfeld Gambit, and the Berlin, maybe it's time for something in between.
If you're looking for an opening that is less mainstream than the Berlin but not nearly as unconventional as the Czech Defense, I can warmly recommend The Practical Philidor. The Philidor Defense has never been one of the most popular choices at the very top, but in recent years even several world-class players have dusted it off from time to time, showing that it is certainly more than just a surprise weapon. The biggest reason why I picked this course, however, is not the opening itself. It's Luke Calhoun's teaching style.
Luke has a real talent for explaining strategic concepts, and the Philidor's closed and flexible pawn structures give him plenty of opportunities to do exactly that. Almost every chapter goes beyond move orders and concrete variations and instead focuses on the plans, ideas, and long-term understanding that make the opening work.
The second aspect I particularly enjoyed is the clear didactic philosophy behind the course. Luke constantly distinguishes between lines that every Philidor player should know and variations that are only likely to appear against stronger opposition. In other words, he really embraces the "practical" part of the title. You learn what is relevant for your level without being overwhelmed by countless sidelines that you may never encounter.
And if you enjoy this approach, there is even more good news. Together with The Practical Old Indian: A Complete Fighting Repertoire, which follows the same philosophy, you can build an Black repertoire against both 1.e4 and 1.d4 that each emphasizes positional understanding and strategic ideas over memorizing endless variations.
5. Don't Panic: A Chess Master's Guide to Calculation
Looking at this list, you might realize that all of my recommendations so far have been opening courses. I have to admit, I am an opening geek myself.
Still, I did not want to end this article without mentioning one of my favorite non-opening courses on Chessable: Don't Panic: A Chess Master's Guide to Calculation by FM Martin Kreuzer.
If you are an ambitious player who enjoys solving challenging positions, the exercises alone make this course worth your time. Many of them require deep and precise calculation, but they always feel like positions you could realistically encounter in a game rather than artificial studies designed to trick you.
What really elevates the course, though, is everything around the exercises. Martin selected examples from the games of 17 historic chess players, so while you improve your calculation, you also pick up plenty of chess history along the way. Combined with his humorous writing style, that makes the course consistently entertaining instead of feeling like a long tactical workout.
And perhaps that is the common theme that connects several courses in this list: passion. You can tell that Martin genuinely cared about this project. The written course already stands perfectly well on its own, but he still went the extra mile and recorded around 50 hours of video content to accompany it. That level of dedication is hard not to appreciate.
If you are looking for a course that improves your calculation while also teaching you something about the game's rich history, this is one I can wholeheartedly recommend. See if you can find White's forced checkmate in the position below:
Do you have any favorite Chessable courses? Let us know in the comments.
