Chess publishing.com

Review of chess publishing.com

  Have been a member for years and find it far more worthwhile than buying opening books etc.

For those that do not know, the site is split into Twelve sections based on openings, each section managed by a top player, most are succesful authors of opening books, usually on the subjects of their section.

  Every month very well annotated games are published which usually feature powerful novelties and ideas. I find it invaluable for daily games. The best feature of all is the ability to download all the games, and as the site has been running for around Twenty years that gives access to thousands of very well anotated games. They can then be used as a database on chessbase or the free scid which is what I use to display the games.

They also have ebooks available for free download on each opening, which also reference the games which feature in the monthly updates. 

Relying on the explorer here for daily games often leads to trouble and the lack of any annotations mean you learn little as you play your daily games. Refering to the games at chess publishing actually teaches  you how to play the positions, and is a great way to improve quickly.    Most of the top players use the site, as do many chess authors and I suspect it is where many get the ideas for their books.

The big advantage over books is that theory is constantly evolving and books are soon outdated, and much of the stuff that appears on publishing has yet to even make it into books, making it perfect for daily games.

Some say it is expensive, however it is only the cost of a couple of books and most people do not need to subscribe for all sections.    Personally the flank opening section covers all my needs for white (English/Reti Nimzo Larsen etc).   While with black daring defences covers me against d4 (dutch/grunfeld). Two Sicilian sections for playing against e4 ( One on mainlines other on anti sicilans)    So I only really need Four, but do subscribe to Six.  There is one that covers all answers to e4 except e5 and as an occasional caro player I find that useful. There is also a dedicated French section, managed by the renowned French expert IM John Watson

I would say the site would be most useful for players over around 1700 who are looking to improve, or who just love openings. The best plan is probably to initially subscribe to One section, read the ebooks download the games, read the forum (which anyone can currently do for free) and see how you get on, other sections can be added at anytime.