Chess.com University Courses Review (1200-1500 Courses)

Chess.com University no longer exists under that name: the school now trades as Chess University, run by Chess University LLC according to its terms, and it says it was "originally known as Chess.com University". Its old 1200-1500 course, Chess 012, was not among the four products on its student portal when we read it, so do not buy on the strength of the 2014 listing. The school's stated policy is that purchases are nonrefundable, so we would exhaust free options first.

ChessCourseFinder has not joined any affiliate program, so links here earn nothing today. Read our affiliate disclosure.

Test depth: Public information only. Nobody at ChessCourseFinder has taken this course. This page is based on a 2014 Chess.com article, Chess University's own About page, student portal and policy pages read on 8 November 2026, and one student blog from 2013. Its main store's product list refused a re-check with a rate-limit error, so we give no product counts or prices from it. It is a record of what is published, not a recommendation to buy. How we review explains the limits.

This review has no star score. Fit, price and limits are set out instead, and how reviews are made is public.

Who runs it now

Chess University and Chess.com are not the same operator, and that matters if you are searching under the old name. Its About page says the school was originally known as Chess.com University and that "From 2016, then-Chess.com University President Kairav Joshi continued to build" the academy "now known as Chess University". It gives no date or terms for any separation from Chess.com, and we read nothing on the school's pages about whether Chess.com has any role today.

The terms of service say the site is "operated by Chess University LLC" and governed by the laws of Washington State. The About page names Joshi as President and CEO, with Dalton Perrine as Director of Instruction, Arne Jochens as Director of Content and Ryan Murphy as Director of Analysis. It claims a community of over 100,000 learners and over 50,000 players taught live. Those are the school's own statements, and we have not checked them. Because the terms name Chess University LLC as operator, do not assume Chess.com stands behind anything bought there.

The school shows more than one storefront, which can look like a discrepancy: its main store at chessuniversity.com, and a student portal at courses.chessuniversity.com, which listed four products on 8 November 2026 (Chess Openings 101: Introduction to the Benoni Defense, Dynamic Play with Keres, Fundamental Chess Training (0-899 Elo) and Intro To Chess Crash Course). We could not re-read the main store's list, so the portal may not show everything on sale.

Do not confuse any of this with what Chess.com sells today. Its membership lessons are covered in our Chess.com Premium review, and its separate Courses product on Chess.com Lessons vs Chessable.

What the 2014 listing described

The numbered 1200-1500 course is documented only in the past. The Chess.com article, last updated 1 November 2014, describes "Chess 012: Strategy and Tactics for 1200-1500 ELO Players", one of a set of courses the article says were designed and taught by Kairav Joshi (username GeniusKJ). Our Chess 012 review audits that syllabus, so here is only the part that bears on provider status. As the 2014 article describes it:

• Price: $87.00 (2014, USD). Sibling courses were listed at $89 (Chess 013, openings), $92 (Chess 014, endgames) and $95 (Chess 024).
• Contents: four written lectures, over 5.5 hours of recorded video, a 30-day schedule, four assignments with optional feedback and a final exam, with Silman's The Amateur's Mind bought separately.
• Format: independent study, with 10 to 15 percent of instruction live. Payment was by PayPal link, and checks or money orders by mail were also accepted.
• Membership: Chess.com Diamond was required for Chess 012 at the time.
• Refunds: none were stated.

None of this is a current offer, and the article is twelve years old. The only student account we found is a Chess.com blog by Chess4Him, shown as updated on 8 September 2013. It describes a month of video, study, lessons and live sessions taught by Joshi, shares no syllabus and voices no criticism. It does not name a course number and links to a post about Chess 013, so it may not concern Chess 012.

What it sells today for 1200-1500 players

We could not establish what Chess University sells today for 1200-1500 players. The student portal's four products include one tagged for beginners (Fundamental Chess Training, 0-899 Elo) and none that states a 1200-1500 range in the listing we read. The main store's product list, which the school's pages suggest holds more, refused our re-check with a rate-limit error, so we give no product counts, level-filter figures, discounts or prices from it. We also could not read lengths or syllabi for any product. If a store page shows a struck-through "was" price, treat it as the seller's marketing figure and not what the product normally costs.

Refunds: read this before paying

The store's refund policy is one sentence: "Unless otherwise noticed for a specific product or services, all purchases are nonrefundable." That is the opposite of the 30-day or 14-day windows on some alternatives, so check the product page for any exception. A price cut does not reduce this risk, because the money is still gone if the course does not fit.

How to decide if you are rated 1200-1500

The sensible order for this rating range runs from free to paid.

1. Name the weakness first. Look at your last ten slow games and note where each was decided. Coaches commonly advise that players at this level lose most often to tactical oversights, which is received wisdom rather than measured data.
2. Use free practice for tactics. Lichess Practice covers the standard patterns at no cost (see below).
3. Only then look at a paid strategy product. This is where a school catalogue may have something free sites do not structure as neatly, though we could not confirm which Chess University products suit 1200-1500.
4. Before buying from Chess University, ask in writing for the running time, the syllabus, whether exercises exist, and whether any exception to the no-refund policy applies.
5. Compare with a seller that publishes those details. See the better-documented options below.

What the seller's pages do not tell you

• What became of Chess 012. Nothing we read says whether it was withdrawn, renamed or absorbed into another product.
• Which rating system its level labels use. The portal labels, such as "0-899 Elo", name no rating organisation.
• How the two storefronts relate in practice, and whether a purchase on one appears on the other.
• What happens to older students. We saw no statement on whether buyers from the Chess.com University era keep access.
• Whether the Diamond requirement survives anywhere. We saw no mention of it on the current site, which is not proof that it has gone.

Who should skip this

• Anyone who needs a refund route. The store's stated default is no refunds.
• Anyone looking for Chess 012 specifically. We did not find it among the portal products, and you should not pay for that name without written confirmation of what you will receive.
• Anyone who wants published hours and a syllabus before paying. We could not read them here.
• Anyone assuming a Chess.com connection. The school's terms name Chess University LLC as operator, and we found no statement of a current Chess.com role.

The free resource that covers similar ground

Tactics are part of what the 2014 course is described as covering, and Lichess offers Practice sections on fundamental and advanced tactics, and its About page says it is "100% free"; see Lichess studies and practice. That is not a strategy course and we have not compared it with the old curriculum. Chess University's portal lists an "Intro To Chess Crash Course", which we understand to be free but which is aimed below 900 Elo, so it is not the same ground.

Better-documented options

• Chess.com's own lessons library is described in our Chess.com Premium and Lessons review.
• A catalogue with stated rating ranges, such as the one on ChessMood's course page, where each course lists a range and running time as of 8 November 2026. Those ranges are ChessMood's own and the pages we read do not say which rating system they use. Price and commitment are discussed in our ChessMood review.
• Chessable's drilling courses, covered in our Chessable review.
• The textbook. The Amateur's Mind was the required text for Chess 012. We have not read it and give no price for it, but it remains the one named piece of the old course you can identify.