The right English Opening course depends on which side you are on. If you play 1.c4 as White, the best-documented option we found is Mihail Marin's two-volume "English Love" on ChessBase (7h 13m plus 6h 37m listed; both volumes' contents are on the page). If you are Black and want an answer to 1.c4, the best-documented paid course is ChessMood's "Counter the English Opening", but ChessMood lists it at 1800 to 2600, so it is aimed at stronger players than many readers of this site.
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Test depth: Public information only. Nobody at ChessCourseFinder has taken any of these courses. Facts below come from seller pages read on 8 November 2026 or from search listings, labelled as such.
How we picked and ranked these
The decision on this page is a side, not a vendor. We separate White repertoires from Black answers, then rank within each by how much line detail the page shows, then by price and date. We counted 26 distinct paid English Opening courses, 16 page-read and 3 of those ChessBase "60 Minutes" micro-courses. Counts for Chessable, Modern Chess and TheChessWorld are lower bounds.
Do you need an English Opening course at your level?
Rarely below about 1600, on our judgement rather than measured evidence. The English is flexible and can transpose to Sicilian-type, Queen's Gambit, Slav or Catalan structures, so a course helps most if it also teaches those structures. Under 1400, coaches commonly suggest studying a few master games with 1.c4 rather than buying a course, which is received wisdom, not a measured result. From the 1600s a course may pay if you want a complete White system. For Black, you may already have a reply to 1.c4 that fits the defence you play, in which case no separate course is needed. Free route: Lichess has no paid tier, so you can keep your own English lines in a Lichess study, and it is worth checking the free Chessable courses for a English title before paying for one.
Theory load at club level
For White, low to moderate by common coaching convention: the English tends to be fought on structure and plans. But the opening hides a branching problem. Black can answer 1.c4 with 1...e5, 1...c5, 1...Nf6, 1...e6, 1...c6 or a Dutch or Indian set-up, and a complete White repertoire must handle each. For Black, the burden is the reverse: you choose one structure and learn it. ChessMood's free lesson titles include "Why 2...g6 is the most flexible move?", but its page does not say which reply to 1.c4 the course is built on.
Coverage matrix: White repertoires
"Listed" means the seller page names the line. "Not stated" means the page gives no chapter detail.
| Black reply to 1.c4 | Marin, English Love Vol. 1 and 2 | Williams, English Opening Vol. 1 | Davies, The English Opening |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1...e5 (Reversed Sicilian, Four Knights) | Listed (Vol. 1: 2...Nc6, 2...d6, 2...Nf6 Reversed Dragon and ...Bc5 lines) | Listed (Four Knights with 4.d4, early ...f5, early ...g6, 2...Bb4) | Not stated |
| 1...c5 (Symmetrical) | Listed (Vol. 2, including a "Reversed Maroczy" section) | Not listed in Vol. 1 | Not stated |
| 1...Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 (Mikenas-Carls) | Not named | Listed | Not stated |
| 1...e6 and 1...c6 | Listed (Vol. 2: QGD, QGA and Slav set-ups) | Listed for 1...e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e3 | Not stated |
| Dutch and Indian set-ups | Listed (Vol. 1: "1...f5/Nf6, Dutch and Indian setups") | Not listed | Not stated |
Coverage matrix: Black answers to the English
| Reply or sub-line | ChessMood, Counter the English | ChessBase (Pert, Bologan, Ris, Pelletier) | Modern Chess (Stella and Basso) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section titles listed | Yes, see below | Not stated on listing pages we read | Not stated |
ChessMood's page lists these section titles: 5.Nf3, 5.e3 with Nge2, 5.a3, Double Fianchetto, the Botvinnik System with 5.e4, 4.e3 with a d4 plan, Model Games, and an Advanced section on 12...Nb6. Its free introduction includes lesson titles on "Why 2...g6 is the most flexible move?" and "The philosophy of e5 move". We could not open product pages for the ChessBase Black courses, so we do not say what they cover beyond their titles: Nicholas Pert's is titled as a repertoire versus the English with 1...e5, Victor Bologan's is "English 1.c4 e5 for Black", and Robert Ris's is a Black repertoire against 1.Nf3 and 1.c4.
The best-documented English Opening courses
Prices are listed prices as of 8 November 2026. Confirm on the seller's page before paying.
| Course | Side | Author | Seller | Price | Date | Evidence | Honest limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marin's English Love, Vol. 1 and 2 | White | Mihail Marin | ChessBase | EUR 54.90 for both (listed EUR 59.80) | Mar 2019 | Page-read | 7h 13m plus 6h 37m. About EUR 3.97 per listed hour (calculated). Level on the page: Advanced, tournament player, professional. Delivery list also shows a generic "approx. 4-8 hrs". |
| The English Opening, Vol. 1 | White | Simon Williams | ChessBase | EUR 29.90 | Jul 2015 | Page-read | 6h 21m. The contents list shows 22 numbered games and 12 test positions, while the description says "over 50 essential games", so the page conflicts with itself. We did not open Vol. 2. |
| Counter the English Opening | Black | GM Hovhannes Gabuzyan (as shown on page) | ChessMood | USD 200 course-only (page shows "$", no currency code) or inside a subscription | No date stated | Page-read | 4h 2m, 80 episodes, 9 free lessons. Seller range 1800 to 2600, rating system not named. About USD 49.59 per listed hour at the course-only price (calculated). |
| Meeting the English: A Dynamic Repertoire for Black | Black | GM Andrea Stella, GM Pier Luigi Basso | Modern Chess | Not shown | 30 Oct 2026 | Page-read (Modern Chess listing) | 4h 31m, "Platinum" tier label; what the tier unlocks was not checked. |
| A Complete Black Repertoire against 1.Nf3 and 1.c4 | Black | Robert Ris | ChessBase | EUR 29.90 | Not shown | Listing page (ChessBase English listing) | Chapters not stated. |
| The Classical English | White | GM Danyyil Dvirnyy (per snippet) | Chessable | USD 34.99, no video (snippet) | 4 Sep 2023 (snippet) | Search listing, 8 Nov 2026; we could not open the product page directly | The snippet shows 4.6 from 116 users. Price may be stale. |
ChessMood's separate "Rock 'n' Rolling with Black" (listed 1500 to 2600, 9h 55m, USD 150 course-only) includes a 10-episode English Opening section among its Sicilian, Benko and Maroczy sections, so it is a broader, lower-priced course that includes some English material (the page does not say which side or reply the section teaches). See our ChessMood review and pricing page for plan costs, or look at ChessMood's courses directly. TheChessWorld lists English Opening courses by IM Maksim Schekachikhin and IM David Fitzsimons in search results only, with no price or contents.
Who should skip a course for the English
Skip it if you are under about 1400 (a coaching convention, not a measured result), if you already have a 1.d4 system you like, or if you want one defence that handles everything (see complete Black repertoire courses). If your aim is low theory as White, read low-theory repertoire courses first, and for full White sets see complete White repertoire courses. The English also leads into Catalan-type positions, covered on the Catalan page.
What the seller's pages do not tell you
- ChessMood's only English course is for Black and begins at 1800. There is no ChessMood course for playing the English as White in the catalogue we read. If you were hoping a subscription covers both sides, this one does not.
- Marin's two volumes cover different Black replies: Vol. 1 is 1...e5 and Dutch or Indian set-ups, and Vol. 2 is 1...c5, 1...c6 and 1...e6. Buying only one leaves the other volume's replies uncovered.
- Williams's Vol. 1 page does not list the symmetrical 1...c5 or Dutch lines, so you cannot tell from its page whether Vol. 2 does.
- Price per listed hour runs from about 4 EUR (Marin) to about 50 USD (ChessMood course-only price), a gap of more than tenfold even before currency differences, though a ChessMood subscription spreads its cost over many courses.
See how to choose a chess course, the price-per-hour calculator, the ChessBase FritzTrainer review, the Modern Chess review and all opening pages.
Original test pending
We have not run an original test of any English Opening course. A real test would read sample lessons, check which of Black's replies each White course explains with plans and which only lists, and test whether the stated levels match the material.