THE NEW ICS WOOOOOOW! JAJAJ :D

HEY! hey! hee-e-e-e-ey! I don't want to alarm you guys but did you see how amazing the new ICS looks now? I just entered this morning and OHHH my goodness i was thrilled jajajajja , I liked it a lot, it's much modern jaja, besides that, now we are able to take the course we want withouth following an order.
Also I noticed that now they show the "What really matters" Course as Course 2 instead of 3 ... lol! jajajajajajaj, ok hope you like it too guys!

Looks great!

Now that I'm about to finish year three I guess I'm being demoted to year two... Still, I think that the new structure makes more sense.

jajaj yes it looks fantastic jajaj , and i also agree with you, the second year after the thirds makes more sense, at least that's what i thought after reading their descriptions jaja, I'm finishing year two. I would love if you could tell me about the year three and what can you say about it comparing it with the others thanks jaja.

Well, I meant the new year three... I'm just completed "Pawn Structures" and am about to start "What Really Counts".

Just now finished looking over their new pages. I think that they under-sell the videos in their "Why Videos are Free" page - I've found that the videos do a much better job of explaining positional factors than the pdf's. Together they present a complete package.

Ohhh jajaja so you are also in the old year 2 jajajaj, it was a good joke lol.
yeahh, well I actually like more their pdf's and i agree with them that the written lessons are better than the videos since they're more structured and the videos tend to lead to a disorganized thinking, the written lessons since year 1 are amazingly good, but yeah the videos complement well the lessons, that's true true true.

It does look a lot better :-)

PawnCustodian wrote:Well, I meant the new year three... I'm just completed "Pawn Structures" and am about to start "What Really Counts".

Just now finished looking over their new pages. I think that they under-sell the videos in their "Why Videos are Free" page - I've found that the videos do a much better job of explaining positional factors than the pdf's. Together they present a complete package.

I am still trying to find out exactly which course I should be takeing and reading something like this leaves me scratching my head: "Well, I meant the new year three...I'm just completed "Pawn Structures" and am about to start "What Really Counts".

So, you are on year three and only now covering 'pawn structures' and 'what really counts'?? These seem like topics one should encounter early in ones development. When I see remarks like this I take my finger off the 'subscribe' button!

They recently reorganized their course outlines. I can understand the confusion in what I said.

Year 1, the core course covers the essentials - you probably are already familiar with most of those concepts. The last several months where they exclusively cover calculation and postional judgement through exercises is where the real practice comes together. They have a test in month one that provides an example of the types of problem solving that the core course prepares you for, so you may want to just try month 1 and see if that's what you want.

Year 1 also has the option for the openings course. If you've never prepared a comprehensive opening repertoire this is worthwhile. The Grandmaster Repertoire Series of books by Quality Chess is a good representation of the type of preparation you will receive, especially the 1.d4 or English Opening volumes.

Year 2 Now known as "What Really Counts" is a collection of annotated games and various levels. The videos during year two are at a fairly advanced level, not really well described by the authors. They are not the elementary tactical motifs or endgame technique, but focus on more advanced tactical attacking techniques and endgame techinques (such as domination and schematical thinking). A good example of the type of video instruction you would see is Yermolinski's videos on the ICC called "What Every Russian Schoolboy Knows" which seem to mirror the depth of analysis.

Year 3 is annotated games played by elite and world champion players. Focusing various opening structures each month both the games and videos are pretty comprehensive study of twelve different opening systems.

I've gone through all of years 1&3 and the first couple of month of year 2 (because of the course reorganization). I'm not an active OTB player and exclusively played correspondence for the past year - I think the study helped me to quickly advance from no rating to qualify for the master class tournaments on the ICCF where I now compete.

Where do you get this 'Year 1, 2, 3" stuff?
I ask because I see the Core (GM) course is 1 year long according to the pdf on this page: http://www.chessmasterschool.com/best-chess-method.asp

I assume you are talking about the core course.

The core course is year 1 only. They offered subsequent years only after year 1 is completed. I didn't realize they don't mention the continuation options on their splash page...

PawnCustodian wrote:The core course is year 1 only. They offered subsequent years only after year 1 is completed. I didn't realize they don't mention the continuation options on their splash page...

And they don't mention the subsequent years. If Yr 1 is to give you everything need to be a strong player...what on Earth could subsequent years offer?

Yr 1 focus is on positional chess.

The other years focus on other things.

BorgQueen wrote:Yr 1 focus is on positional chess.

The other years focus on other things.

Like.... (?)
That's what I'm getting at. They don't mention subsequent years. I'm trying to find out exactly that consists of. I have the PDF of the 13 mo 'core course' program...can't find anything regarding subsequent years.

http://www.chessmasterschool.com/best-chess-method.asp

I dunno, I didn't opt for the additional years ;-)