CT-ART, 3.0 vs 4.0 vs 5.0 vs 6.0 vs. the apps

Hi everyone,

Wanted to buy  the Ct-ART but was a bit confused.

can someone one please explain the major difference between the different versions. Do they contain the SAME thing but each time something slightly new is ADDED.

Secondly, the apps found on the apple App Store by Chessking... are they the same thing. They seem to be a bit more pricey but have a lot more things on offer. I was just wondering, do they offer the same things/ tactic problems as the CT-ART cds do!?

 

Thanks so much

Did anyone answer this?  I also am confused.  The apps are great, but seem overlapping.

good question 

Convekta dvds have many equivalent ChessKing apps, but with different names for many of them. The key is to look at their verbal descriptions of each course in Convekta, specifically, the number of lessons and problems they describe, and find the equivalent in Chess King. It is quite time consuming and irritating.

I made this list a couple years ago, so I don’t know how accurate it is... do your own research, this is for entertainment purposes only, was made in a factory with nuts, dairy, and soy (kind of true, actually), purchase these programs at your own risk, don’t come crying to me later, etc...

CT-Art 5.0 consists of 3 programs:
CT-Art for Beginners;
CT-Art Mating Combinations; and
CT-Art 4.0.

CT-Art 6.0 consists of 5 programs:
The 3 programs in CT 5.0;
Chess Tactics for Beginners; and
Elementary Chess Combinations.

Here is a list of equivalents for Convekta (dvd) and Chess King (app) ...

Elementary Chess Combinations dvd = Elementary Chess Combinations I app

Chess Combinations for Club Players dvd = Elementary Chess Combinations II app

Chess Tactics Art for Beginners dvd = Chess Tactics Art 1400-1600 app

Chess Tactics for Club and Intermediate Players dvd = Chess Tactics Art app

Chess Tactics for Intermediate Players dvd = Manual of Chess Combinations II app

Advanced Defense dvd = Mate Escape app

Complete Chess Course dvd = Advanced Chess School dvd = Chess Strategy for Beginners app

Attack on the King I dvd = Mate in 2 app

Attack on the King II dvd = Mate 3-4 app

Chess Guide for Club Players dvd = Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol. I app

Chess Guide for Intermediate Players dvd = Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol. II app

Chess Strategy 3.0 dvd = Chess Strategy app

Encyclopedia of Opening Blunders II dvd = Chess Opening Blunders app

Chess Endgame Training dvd = Chess Endgame: Beginners-Club app

Most of the remaining Chess King apps have an equivalently-named dvd from Convekta (such as their Chess Tactics in the [whatever opening] courses, Encyclopedia of Middlegame courses, the many courses on named players, Opening Lab, Opening Instructor, etc)

It irritates the f— out of me that they don’t streamline or re-name their many overlapping / redundant products so that the DVD’s and equivalent apps have the same (no doubt for profit).

Thanks Danny. Good explanation   

This a great explanation.  That said -- at this point I'm less interested in any of the DVD, and more in which set of IOS / Android ChessKing Apps form a good core curriculum. I currently have 

1. Chess Tactics for Beginners (for my younger kid) - corresponds to Ivashenko Vol 1

2. CT Art 4.0 - really like the structure

3. From Beginner to Club - also good  tactics

4. Total Chess Endings

What do others find most useful to own?

Is Chessable working on a proper tablet interface?

I use CT Art 4 on my iPhone and it’s a lot of fun. it has over 2000 tactics and you can play without internet connection.

The Chess King apps have a suggested rating range for each app. Some are pretty wide. One can simply pick the high end of the rating range to represent each particular app, and then go through the apps in that order. Going through them in this manner, you will basically being doing mostly tactics apps until about 1800. After that, there is good balance of everything, but hardcore strategy and courses on the particular players would be at 2400. CT Art would be at 2300 I think, but there are plenty of tactics apps at a lower level. They even have 3 apps for the Encyclopedia of Chess Combinations by the Informant folks (top levels for these apps are at 2000, 2200, and 2400, respectively).

By ordering the apps in this manner, you are going in the order that many higher-level folks and trainers seem to recommend (heavy tactics with a bit of everything else until one is a strong club player), then getting more balanced coverage of chess topics, then finally heavy strategy and study of famous GM’s at the highest levels.

Even better, you can do the above as well as the same for the chess lessons on this site (in other words, doing all the lessons across all of the courses at a particular rating level or doing the courses in an order based on the highest rated problem in the course).