| Chess videos on the Internet - part IV |
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| Written by Sciurus | |
| Thursday, 09 August 2007 | |
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This is the 4th part of the mini-series on web sites focusing more-or-less on chess videos. It seems that new chess video sites are born almost every week. The number of chess video sites/blogs is certainly not growing quite as fast as the number of chess blogs but then it also takes much more effort to create a video than to write a couple of lines. Any series on chess video sites would not be complete without mentioning the big one: Chesslecture.com. In contrast to the sites I mentioned before, Chesslecture.com requires a paid subscription. For currently $12.95 per month subscribers get unlimited access to all videos the site has to offer. As with all pay sites there is one big question: Why should I spend money for a subscription when I can watch tons of free chess videos? Does Chesslecture.com offer something special? From a certain perspective, they offer even less because you are not allowed to save the videos on your computer and access is restricted with digital restrictions management (DRM) to people using the operating system of a certain monopolist (I could rant about that for the rest of the post and longer but let's try to get back to chess). This is particularly unfortunate for everybody who has a portable video player - wouldn't it be nice to watch a chess video on the plane? (like with everything DRM there are of course ways to get around that, but that is probably highly illegal, depending on where you live). Fortunately, this site has quite a lot to offer when it comes to the content. As of today, there are 522 videos available with new ones being produced every weekday. Unfortunately, Chesslecture.com has a quite strange marketing philosophy. It seems to be almost impossible to find out more about their content without paying for at least one month. Would it be so hard to make the site's index accessible for free? Anyway, after a tip from fellow blogger Atomicpatzer who told me that there is a series of videos on the Qd6 Scandinavian to be had, I decided to get the wallet out and check it out. After watching more than a dozen of their videos I can honestly say that the quality of the content is very good. Most of the videos are produced by International Masters and they clearly make an effort to explain things carefully. There are videos available for almost everybody - from beginners to advanced players and from specific Sicilian variations to well-annotated endgames. Note that there is probably a free chess video on all of this (and more) somewhere on the Internet. However, for people who have precious little time to sift through hundreds of youtube videos to find a a few good chess videos, paying a monthly fee might be worthwhile. If you are somebody who learns best from audiovisual media and can spare some money, then I recommend to give Chesslecture.com a try.
Read more about chess video sites on the Internet: Comments (15)
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written by Dan, August 12, 2007
Sounds good... I just watched the sample video... Its very tempting to join you in your discovery of video instruction on the internet... I'm very fiscally conservative. I have to make sure that my $ is being well spent.
You make a good point about "gaining an illusion of understanding" this is the easy pattern to fall into. I have an article on my site about "Chess Elements" and in the introduction I give the four steps to mastery... It is easy to watch videos and recognize what you are seeing when you are playing it. It takes more knowledge to recognize it and be able to explain it to a beginner etc... I, like you, wish to gain mastery over the subject matter and practice is an absolute must. If we were to spend 30 min a day watching video and not attempt to apply what we are learning, we might as well be giving be spending our $12 a month on coffee or scones, because like coffee or scones, when we are done, we would have nothing to show for our money spent, except for a satisfying taste in our mouth! =D Cheers! ...
written by Dan, August 12, 2007
Sciurus, check out this post, though you may have to be a member of RHP to read it, but I'm directing others to your site to see you articles on Chess Videos on the internet.
RHP forum post hope you don't mind...  ...
written by Dan, August 12, 2007
just checked, you don't have to be a member
 sorry for spamming you comment sections, but these are great articles! ...
written by likesforests, August 14, 2007
Dan, to stretch your dollars the farthest, sign up for one month and then watch all the videos related to what you're practicing. Eg, there's a 7-part series on pawn endings and a 5-part series on rook endings. I've been doing "continual membership" for the Latte-factor... it's fun listening to GMs discuss interesting positions. Besides, my office serves free lattes so I don't have to spend money on those anymore.
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written by Dan, August 15, 2007
HA! =D good point... I'm getting closer and closer to signing up. Very good idea Likesforests! Thnanks!
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written by Atomic Patzer, August 15, 2007
Sciurus,
ChessLecture now has a very good video on how to play against the Scandinavian! OH OH! I hope I don't have to find something else. I use these videos to supplement my book studies. And to pick up some ideas in the openings. Sometimes I have to play them over and take notes. I was looking for a defense against 1.d4 and watched the three videos on the Chigorin to help me decide. ...
written by likesforests, August 15, 2007
Oops. That's supposed to be "ChessLecture.com on Rook Endgames".
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written by Sciurus, August 15, 2007
Atomicpatzer:
I gotta watch that one, thanks. But I am not worried - there are tons of anti-Sicilians but the Sicilian is still a decent defense so why shouldn't the  Scandinavian defense survive an anti-Scandinavian? ...
written by Armand Rousso, August 29, 2007
I think practice make perfect. Watching the video is fine but practicing is definitely better.
Armand Rousso http://chess.armandrousso.biz/ Write comment
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 29 August 2007 ) |
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Play chess in style - 
I am currently a subscriber to Chess Ninja's Whit Belt and Black Belt newsletters, but as of late, Mig's energies are elsewhere and the service is crap, not to mention the newsletters are WAY too sporadic to be worth the fee. Now this is more expensive, $7 more expensive, but I learn better with videos. I can sit down for an hour study session and get 10x more use out of a video than I can out of endlessly annotated games by Mig's friends. Safe to say I should look into something like this... What I want to know Sciurus is this. If you have the time and money. Could you see this being a viable option for a learning chess player? It seems that you are giving your stamp of approval. Maybe I should look into this rather than filling Mig's pockets. You have my interest piqued... I'll let you know how it turns out! =D Keep your articles coming!