Chessable Review: Chess Journeys Tactics Workbook
Hey Impressive Chessers!
You’ve probably heard the idiom:
“A jack of all trades is a master of none.”
In modern times, this phrase often carries a negative connotation. While I may disagree that this should be seen as a bad thing in all aspects of life, in chess, it certainly should.
I bring this up because today's blog is going to be reviewing a new Chessable Course:
In this course, there are only six motifs, which are repeated throughout. You might think, "Only six new things?! That's not very much." But I hope you'll read on and see why I think less can be more.
1. NMChessToImpress was on the Chess Journeys Podcast!
2. Chessable Review of Chess Journeys Tactics Workbook - Turning Knowledge into Skill
3. Improve Your Chess by Asking Questions!
1. NMChessToImpress was on the Chess Journeys Podcast!
Am I too old to be a "your boy"? Very possibly, but what's written cannot be unwritten*. If you'd like to check out this podcast click --> here to listen on Spotify. In this podcast we talked about a few of my teaching/chess improvement philosophies including pressure, the 4 phases of a chessplayer, & embracing the draw, ftw (for the win). I think it's worth a listen for aspiring chess improvers, but I am incredibly biased 
Take me back to the Table of Contents
*Now this song (below) is going to be in my head all day 
2. Chessable Review of Chess Journeys Tactics Workbook - Turning Knowledge into Skill
In the podcast, it was brought to my attention that on Friday, March 14th, Chess Journeys was dropping their first Chessable course. I jumped at the chance to buy it at its introductory sale of 32% off. I thought it would be great material for some of my students and also I'd be supporting my old friend, Dr. Kevin Scull; a win-win!
What I didn't expect was that some of the problems were at least somewhat difficult for me and at the very least, fertile ground for testing my student's calculation skills. I've always believed that one of the biggest differences between masters and amateurs was the ability for the masters to visualize and calculate circles around the amateurs. Learning chess as a child helps a lot with developing calculation/visualization skills. Just as it's easier to learn new languages as a kid, it's easier to pick up chess's language--calculation/visualization and even pattern recognition--as a child. BUT, it's not impossible to learn and get better as an adult; it's just a lot harder.
A course like Chess Journeys Tactics Workbook is on the right track. Many courses or books try to cram in dozens of new topics, possibly because they are trying to justify their cost to the reader. It's much harder to sell a course or book that teaches you just a few new things (in this case, half a dozen) rather than 100 new concepts! But the thing is, if a book or course tries to teach 100 new concepts, then they have limited space to teach each new thing. This is where Chess Journeys Tactics Workbook really shines: by having just six clearly defined motifs, the reader is able to really hone in on those six concepts. There's a way better chance to identify a motif in a tournament game when you've mastered six instead of being a jack of all trades for 100 concepts.
Take me back to the Table of Contents
3. Improve Your Chess by Asking Questions!
Not to be that "back in my day" guy, but a lost art that I've noticed is the ability to ask questions and actually try to answer them ourselves.
I think the reason is pretty clear: the silicon gods (computers) can spit out an answer in a few seconds. Now luckily, they aren't very good at explaining their answers to amateurs, otherwise I'd be out of a job😅
For the amateur's sake, I still believe it's important to ask questions and try to answer them yourselves and only then, ask what the computer thinks. Let's take this next puzzle, from the Chess Journeys Chessable Course, as an example:
Puzzle #1 Answer & Questions That I Asked
In puzzle #2 I purposely left out all of the analysis I had done. What questions would you have asked? Leave a comment with your questions and I'll try to get back to you as fast as I can, but try to answer them yourselves first!
Take me back to the Table of Contents
If you’re looking for a course that will truly turn knowledge into skill, this workbook delivers. It’s structured, practical, and, most importantly, repetitive in a useful way. Instead of trying to learn everything at once, it hammers home the key motifs that will make a real difference in your games. Remember to ask questions AND try to answer them yourselves before you have the silicon gods, or even your coach, spit out the answer. As with any course, there were a few errors*, but honestly I think this is a happy side effect. This way you're forced to ask and answer your own questions.
*In a course with around 200 puzzles it would be incredible if there were no errors and see what I said above about the errors.
Final Rating: ♟️♟️♟️♟️♟️♟️♟️♟️♟️ (9/10)
A big thanks to Dr. Kevin Scull for having me on his podcast again! If you haven’t already, check out Chess Journeys - Tales of Adult Improvement and give this Chessable course a try. You can buy the course while it's still on sale here --> Chess Journeys - Tales of Adult Improvement and there's not much risk because there is a 30 day refund, if for some reason this course isn't for you. By the way, if you make it to the end of the course, you can find a puzzle that I attempted. Do you think I got it right?!
Let’s stop being jacks of all trades in chess and start mastering what truly matters! If we do this, ask questions and try to answer our own questions, we will surely...
…Stay Impressive!
NM Craig C.
linktr.ee/ChessToImpress
*Disclaimer* While I am old friends with Dr. Kevin Scull, I did pay the full (sale) price for this course and I was not paid in any way to appear on the Chess Journeys podcast or to write this blog review.
