If You Can- Get A Membership

Over a month ago, a friend of mine was kind enough to gift me a 1 month Diamond membership. Previously, I had never seriously considered investing in any membership, but I must say, overall,
I’m quite happy with the service I have been provided in that time, and may choose to buy another subscription. I’m writing this post to share how this membership has benefitted my progression as a chess player, and how it has eased my struggles.

1. Puzzles

There are many sites that provide puzzles. In past, I used chesstempo.com, which was suggested to me by a member here. (Shoutout to @NervesofButter!) Overall chesstempo puzzles were good, but had little effect overall on my pattern and tactical recognition. A major factor for me is that the chess.com puzzles are on the same site that I play on. This familiarity and convenience is a big plus. With the diamond membership, you receive unlimited puzzles. My puzzle rating is still low in relation to my live chess ratings, but I have seen an increase in my pattern recognition and tactical vision. Being able to just relax and solve puzzles when I came online was extremely convenient.

2. Unlimited Analysis

Finally, I didn’t have to make a difficult decision about which game I wanted to use the analysis tool for. This is definitely a great feature. I was able to discover and explore tactical ideas using this feature and quickly find my areas of improvement. Of course, one must analyze without the engine as well, but this feature is just great! All different memberships have unlimited analysis. Definitely worth consideration.

3. Lessons

Yes, I know the lessons are very elementary and don’t help to secure information in the best way. But for beginners, these might be something that contribute to a simple, basic understanding of the game. I went over some lessons out of curiosity and saw my pattern recognition come in to play once again. I recognized a position I had seen before in a famous game by Petrosian. Sometimes it’s good to get back to the basics.



So overall, if you can afford a membership, even the one with less puzzles and lessons, I would strongly recommend it. A membership can greatly contribute to your overall improvement as a chess player.

so how much dough is chess.com paying you for this post

Don’t worry this isn’t a paid ad…I just thought I’d share my experience lol

lol i know, i feel like platinum is the most bang for its buck, because the lessons are rather lackluster.

Agreed. That’s why I have plat haha

Makes sense to me

I also had a friend who gave me diamond for a month and I enjoyed it well. though I would like to see how platinum compares to diamond 

Platinum is probably the best for its money in my opinion

Well, it is kind of pricey to be honest. But if I were to choose one, I would pick platinum.

I know some wealthier people who are still quite conscious about spending choices. It’s always wise to count the cost.

Sure some people would go for it. I personally wouldn’t though

Too much competition there

its not worth putting that much effort for a membership 

I agree and that’s why I upgraded from gold to platinum this year.

Tactics was a major weakness in my game and being able to do unlimited rated puzzles instead of the allowable 25 per day was huge value for me because it accelerated my tactical skills and board vision very quickly. I also like to keep everything under one roof and track my progress on one app.

I also use the Explorer which is a database of master games, it’s a great feature to explore and study middle game plans, ideas and strategies within my repertoire. Middle game planning was expressed by my NM coach at the time so here I am.

I also save master games and mine in a library for reviews when I have down time.

Of course the unlimited analysis is convenient and quick for doing engine preps before a tournament.

Well worth it for me and I get to support a website that I am on all the time.

 

I'm glad having a membership is something you enjoy. I would never pay for membership to any website because of negative experiences. Forum trolls, racists, immaturity. Too many people hide behind their internet name and think they can say anything to anyone with no consequences. And, for the most part, there are no consequences. If there were more moderators on the chess.com forums and they did more policing of the forums, I might consider getting a membership. As things are, there is no reason to.

I kind of lost interest in Chess along with doing puzzles and the lessons as well.  Most probably here to chat with some people like @Jalex13 and post entertainment posts and troll a bit 😜.

Yeah diamond memberships is really good, there was one time when a chess.com staff kindly give me diamond membership for 15 days. Making daily tournament is also a good feature that can be used with membership only.

I hope I have a title at least cm, so I can have an endless membership

Someone gave me over a year of gold membership but got banned rip

oh

@Antonin1957 I can see why you feel that way. There are a lot of bad experiences on this website. I’m considering becoming a moderator- we only have about 2 that really do much, and it’s certainly not enough.