Premium level Membership questions

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Avatar of LukeM2018

I have been playing chess seriously for a few years now on other sites and recently started at my first chess club, I just made this new account on chess.com today, and I am serious about long term improvement of my game. I'm considering going for the 1 year Premium membership here but there are some things I need to know about the resources on this site first before I go through with it. The chess mentor, videos, lessons here I have no point of reference with so I don't know how to value their effectiveness. Basically I just don't know that much about these areas or many of the other resources that you get with premium membership. Are there resources like videos on pretty much any opening I would like to play, Master games in basically any opening for me to look through. I just don't really know exactly what is on offer which is why I am on the fence about paying the £75.00 for the 1 year premium membership. If anyone can give me a breakdown of the things I get with premium membership and actually explain in plain English what the experience with each resource is like I would really appreciate that, as I will be able to make this decision much more easily. Thanks

Avatar of baddogno

Video quality is pretty good here, unlike Youtube which can be hit or miss.  There are also several multi part treatments of various subjects.  At least 2 good breakdowns of the French defense by GMs for instance, both 6 or 8 lessons long.  Still, videos aren't my main reason for premium, it's the ChessMentor or "Lessons" as they are now known.  At my age I may not be learning much but I find doing them quite entertaining.  Most of the authors really make an effort to anticipate common wrong answers and have pretty good explanations ready for what's what.  I think the most practically useful courses are the ones specializing in each tactical motif.  Sure, forks and pins, but how about interference?  Silman has a very large and difficult course on middle game decisions.   Anyway that's my take on it. Here's a link to the free Chess Mentor courses.  See if they whet your appetite for more....

https://www.chess.com/blog/webmaster/free-chess-mentor-courses

Avatar of MitSud
Personally I find the videos the most helpful, they’re usually done pretty professionally, and having masters giving you lessons is always helpful.