Chess.com University Announces Chess 024: Opening Repertoire for 1500-1800 ELO Players Part 1, Black

Dear Chess.com Members,

Now that Chess.com University's 1200-1500 level Chess 012, Chess 013, and Chess 014 courses have been taught live and are now available in independent study format, it is time for Chess.com University ot teach a course aimed at 1500-1800 ELO.

The initial announcement regarding our next course was posted two weeks ago but the details had yet to be worked out. This news post contains the details.

Chess 024: Opening Repertoire for 1500-1800 ELO Players: Black vs. 1.e4

This is Chess.com University's first course aimed at the 1500-1800 ELO level. Though anybody who is at least at the 1400 level and/or has taken Chess 013 will be prepared to take this course. Note that Chess.com ratings tend to be inflated compared to ELO.

Instructor: Kairav Joshi

Opening Repertoire for 1500-1800 ELO Players: Black vs. 1.e4 Class Overview:

Because the amount of material 1500-1800 players need to know greatly exceeds that of 1200-1500 players, it is not realistic to have one course covering a complete opening repertoire for both Black and White.

Chess 024 is a new course that gives students an opening repertoire vs. 1.e4. Because the focus is limited to the Black side of 1.e4, the course will be thorough. Opening coverage will be well-organized and easy for students to understand. The opening coverage will not be limited to just the mainlines; relevant variations and sidelines will be covered as needed.

Students will even receive PGN files containing all the important lines covered. This way students can easily review and even explore different continuations using a chess engine. While this class will teach an opening repertoire vs. 1.e4, not all the class content will be aimed at the repertoire itelf.

Other topics include:

(1) Applying Opening Principles

(2) Planning and Analyzing During the Opening

(3) Properly Using Chess Engines to Analyze Openings

(4) Using Databases and Other Resources

With that said, the focus of the class will be providing students a powerful opening repertoire against 1.e4 that increases their understanding of chess in general. Since I also want students to "learn-by-doing," there will be a class project for which students can choose a variation to study and further develop our repertoire. This way students can practice learning openings by themselves and get feedback on how well they're doing it!

Openings Covered:

Our weapon against 1.e4 will be Sicilian Defense (1...c5). While all the specific lines haven't been finalized yet, the Accelerated Dragon will be one of the key openings we study. Other important topics include playing against the Smith-Morra Gambit, Sicilian Grand Prix Attack, Closed Sicilian, Sicilian Alapin, Maroczy Bind, Wing Gambit and much more. Some of the systems covered in class closely follow the content provided in the class textbook (more about this below).

What is included in Chess 024?

- Syllabus: http://kairavacademy.com/2014/03/19/chess-024-opening-repertoire-for-1500-1800-elo-players-part-1-black-vs-1-e4-syllabus/

- 15-Minute Live Orientation and Introduction

- 5 Hours of Live Chess Lessons Spread Out Over 4 Sessions.

- Opening Variations and Summarized Notes Sent as PGN files.

- One or Two Written Lectures

- Two Class Assignments with Feedback

- One Opening Research Project with Feedback

- Organized Study Plan for Each Day of the Course(!) Using Several Resources Including Chess.com

- Final Exam

Class Textbook

The class textbook is Chess Openings for Black, Explained: A Complete Repertoire (Revised and Updated) by Lev Albert and Roman Dzindzichashvili. The book is not included in the tuition. Purchasing the class textbook is strongly recommended.

The book is available at my online Amazon bookstore:

http://astore.amazon.com/kairacad-20?node=1&page=3

There may be better priced copies available elsewhere such as www.ebay.com.

Schedule and Format:

*Class officially starts on Sunday, March 30th, 2014 with a live orientation session.*

All students will receive a video recording of this session so attending live is not required. The first live lecture will most likely be taught on Saturday, April 5th, 2014 around noon Pacific Time (PDT) but the time will not be finalized until after class begins.

The class will be spread out over 5 weeks. There will be 30 days in the study schedule.

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 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 course 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 relax and stop thinking about how 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 are the perfect solution. If you get lazy after paying for a class, you would end up wasting money and that would wake you up and force you to study! :-)

Jokes aside, Chess.com University's Chess 024 is designed to give you a repertoire vs. 1.e4 and prepare you to explore new openings yourself.

Chess.com Diamond Membership

One month of Chess.com Diamond Membership, starting on the first day of class, is required if you are not already a Diamond Member. Chess 024 will make full use of the Diamond Membership features.

Tuition:

Tuition is $95/person during the pre-registration period.

Pre-Registration:

In order to register for Chess 024, go to the following website:

http://kairavacademy.com/chess-com-university/

Click on the PayPal button for Chess 024. It will ask you for $95.00. You are able to pay using your PayPal balance or any credit/debit cards.

*Message me on Chess.com once you register that way I know which PayPal name and email address corresponds to which username on Chess.com.*

Chess.com University now accepts payments using Bitcoin! Message me if you would like to pay for the course using Bitcoin. A 10% processing fee will apply for Bitcoin payments as we have to convert the amount to USD.

Pre-registration ends on Thursday, March 27th, 2014 at midnight PDT. Please pre-register if you are interested in taking this course. Students may register after the pre-registration concludes but the tuition will increase. Please note that class is limited to the first 40 students so make sure you register before all the spots are taken.

Discounts:

Because Chess.com University wants to continue growing, there is a referral program in place. We want you to recommend Chess.com University courses to friends, relatives, and heck, even strangers! For each NEW student you bring in to Chess 024, 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 (GeniusKJ) and mention your username. Discounts will be processed as partial refunds after the person you referred purchases Chess 024. So whether or not you plan on referring students to this class, please register for the class as soon as possible. Again, remember, you can only receive the discount if the person you recommend Chess 024 to ends up registering.

Course Delivery:

This course will be taught online using Chess.com, Livestream, Dropbox, 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!

Not a member of Chess.com University? Click HERE to join today!

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