Yusupov's Chess Series

Are these series of books worth it? I would like to hear from players that have used it themselves.

Why don't you list the books?

It is the Boost your Chess, Build up your Chess, and Chess Evolution series, 9 books. If one does not know what it is then he or she cannot give an opinion so I did not feel it necessary.

I think they are outstanding. Only you can determine if they are worth it or not. For you that is. Cheers, John C.

It's an excellent book series.  I bought the second and third sets for my sons.  The younger one is a Class A player, the older one just made NM.  Highly recommended.

I have the first book, and like it. How familiar are you with how the books work? Basically, he goes through examples of the lesson in a real game, then at the end of the chapter he gives a test to see how much you learned and understand. One thing I like is it teaches a little of everything, not just one topic. I am almost through the book, and haven't passed all the tests, and I have heard that even the lowest book is for higher rated platers than me.

I am just starting the series, which is highly recommended, although expensive.  The books do not appear to be very thick, but they are 250+ pages each (thin but good paper) and packed with information.  Yusupov insists that you study only with a board, not a computer GUI, and the test questions are quite challenging.  It will take a lot of self-discipline to get through them, but as a "complete" chess course, it's regarded by most as perhaps the best.

I am working through the first book. It is very difficult, but I highly recommend it.

I heard somewhere, I believe in a forum but not on here, that it is a three year course meaning each book would take 4 months to complete. Did anyone else hear this and is this the way to go?..... by the way, thanks for the responses

It's my understanding that Yusupov uses the books in his private classes which is why he wrote them.  I have the first 6 of the 9, and if you use them as Yusupov intends, it will take you a lot of time to work through the exercises.  Instructional text is incorporated in several examples for each chapter and then the text material is used as a basis for test questions.  The answers to the test questions are often more detailed than the instructions preceding them.  It will take you a LOT of time to work through them.  4 months per book wouldn't surprise me.

There is a lot of information packed on each page in these books, which vary as I mentioned above, from around 250 to 300 pages each.  It may take 2-3 pages for the instructional narration and examples for each theme or chapter, then perhaps 12 test positions taking up only 2 pages, followed by several pages of answers.  If you spend the time intended by Yusupov, write down ALL your candidate moves, observations and ideas, it will take you perhaps an hour on each test question - some more, some less.  This is serious stuff IF you take it seriously and do the work as Yusupov intends.

I started his first book in January and am just now on final test.

It's certainly one of the very best 'global' training tools available these days. Only thing is that it requires you to actually work

I've listed other interesting options in this blog article.

It's all based on how much time you put into it.  I'm lucky enough to have a flexible lunch break, and can usually knock one of them out during lunch during the work week, I usually do that about 4 days per week, then I can do 2 or so per week in the evening, and maybe an additional 1 or 2 on the weekend.

So if I keep this pace up, it won't take me nearly three years (there are a total of 216 lessons).  But I am only being tenacious because doing the exercises is really fun, and I have the free time.  There is no reason to rush it.

I'm only on the first book so I can't review the whole series, but I went ahead and bought all of the books and have skimmed through them.  I am very happy with the purchase though and am already seeing progress.