I'm making rapid progress!

Yes I believe they will. In the preface to his Build Up Your Chess series he says the workbooks are taken from his Chess Tiger University program.

Apparently nine books are going to be published in all.

It is possible that this ICS course may make it to book form in a few years time, although to be honest, far from being disappointed I'd probably buy the books too as little collectables!

The ICS - Yusupov connections have become very interesting.

I was looking at the Quality-Books website and it's clear that the Yusupov books are going to be translated shortly after they appear in the original German. The last German books are scheduled to come out in 2010.

Yusupov's Chess Tiger U program started as an Internet correspondence course with biweekly installments (similar to ICS!). It was divided in three rating classes:
<1300, <1500, and <2100. This is the material that got gathered together for the Yusupov books, called the "Tigersprung" series in German. Although the ratings might not correspond strictly to reality, there are some materials in the Fundamentals series that are pretty advanced.

http://www.jussupow.de/22982.html

The scheme for the books is a little complicated but basically the first series is out - and called "Build your chess". In each series the Fundamentals Volume = <1300. Then the "Beyond the Basics" Volume =<1500, and "Mastery" will =< 2100. The next series of 3 will be called "Boost your Chess" and the last series of 3 will be called "Evolution". Each will have a Fundamentals, Beyond, and Mastery volume.

It sounds like a great plan for a chess series, in the style of Dvoretsky, except for mere mortal human players like us. It will fill a need in America where we have practically no systematic chess instruction to speak about. And as a book series it markets very well to the Do It Yourself crowds, and the How-to crowds.

So who knows? With the ICS program, we might also be looking at a growing trend, and the materials for a new series in the future.

It seems that at the present, Yusupov is working on a net-course for >2100 players, and giving seminars to higher rated players.

That's great news. Maybe Yusupov's >2100 courses will be a good place to continue after finishing ICS classes.

In the last month I've had the good luck to play in some larger tournaments in my area. I'm very pleased with results.

One month ago I lost 3 games all against higher rated players, but I did manage to win one against a higher rated player. All the games were well fought, and I felt I understood the positions a little better.

Two weeks ago I did better, winning 3, 1 draw, 1 loss. My rating has gone up about 100 points in those two events.

This weekend I played six rounds, winning 4, 1 draw, 1 loss. The ratings were closer together, so it's a good sign that I should be moving up a bit in the world.

I noticed myself hearing mental notes from ICS course.
And I also heard notes from Dan Heisman's Novice Nook columns which I've been reviewing.

So there's no magic pill, but all this chess reading is helping.

BobbyBlunder's comments are very illuminating. Having suffered the extreme tedium of the de la Maza method, and recognising that ultimately it is quite hollow, I really believe that this course is the way to go. But, at the end of the day, I see it as a combination of two factors: (1) a change in thought process (which is going to take a lot of time and necessitate playing a lot of serious OTB games and not only study); (2) a sound strategic knowledge, on which one can build for the future. The key is the change in thought process. Which is no different to learning a new language. Can you speak fluent French after two months? I didn't think so...

I would refer you to my post on "Tazar - A Coach's Experience" which I think (based on investigation) derives from the ICS in the first instance, on the matter of ratings. I think inevitably ratings go down when you are assimilating new material, learning new opening systems, and, most importantly, a new way of thinking about the game. But the foundations are there, and it's crucial to keep at it.

I like that he advises people to not get dependent on the computer. When I see beginners sucking from the computer teat, my heart sinks. If it gets to the point where you don't even want to do a postmortem with your opponent (as it did with me) because I could just check with a computer, then it has become Stage III disease.

Stages of Chess Computer Crutch Disease (CCCD):
Stage 0: Don't use one
Stage I: Quick blundercheck after I think on my own and do postmortem with opponent and coach.
Stage II: Quick check after I think about it briefly, maybe I talk to my opponent for a minute.
Stage III: Just leave the tournament without discussing any aspects of the game with my opponent. Don't talk to a coach, don't think about the game. Just plug it into the computer so it can tell me the truth.
Stage IV: Don't think on my own, don't talk to other people, don't play in tournaments, just lock into an incest loop with Fritz and Rybka. The computer is the only one I trust. Rybka is my precious.