Beginner Chess Mastery (Next Level Chess) Review

On paper this is a reasonably priced, clearly scoped beginner course: GM Noel Studer's 95 lessons for players below 1200 on Chess.com, at $97 one-time as of 8 November 2026, with a 14-day refund window. Its curriculum is published section by section, and that shows both its strength (a long section on using each piece) and the thing to check (only 8 of the 95 lessons are labelled tactics). Players above 1200 and anyone happy to start free should probably skip it.

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Test depth: Public information only. Nobody at ChessCourseFinder has taken this course. This page is based on the seller's pages read on 8 November 2026. 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.

What the seller says it contains

The Next Level Chess page publishes the full section list, with 95 lessons and 13.5 hours of video (both the sales page and the Next Level Chess page say 13.5). We added up the section counts and they total 95. The grouping below is ours and the counts are the seller's.

The shares count lessons, not minutes, because no lesson lengths are published. Calculated from the listed totals, the average lesson is about 8.5 minutes (810 minutes over 95 lessons). The sales copy promises help with hanging pieces, forks, pins and skewers, a simple repertoire for both colours, and how to think during a game. These are the seller's claims, and no outcome data is shown. Asked how fast results come, the seller's FAQ says "I will not promise you a number".

Syllabus check for a sub-1200 player

Most of what a beginner needs is listed, but the balance deserves a look. Coaches commonly say that players at this level lose most games to dropped pieces and missed simple tactics, which is received wisdom rather than measured data. The seller's copy promises help spotting hanging pieces. Set against that:

• Covered by name: the rules, each piece's use, opening principles, simple tactics, common mates, promoting a pawn, basic endgame mates, reviewing your own games.
• Heavier than you might expect: opening repertoire bonuses are 20 of 95 lessons (21.1%), even though the page tells beginners "You do not need to memorize opening theory". Tactics is 8 lessons (8.4%). Lesson length could offset that, and we cannot tell.
• Not a named section: "hanging pieces" appears in the sales copy but not as a curriculum heading, so check where it is actually taught.
• Not stated: whether there are exercises or puzzles at all. Common coaching advice is that watching alone does not build board vision, so if the course turns out to be watch-only, pair it with free puzzles from day one.

We saw section titles and lesson counts but no individual lesson titles, so we cannot say which forks, pins or mates appear, or how they are taught.

Level

The seller draws a clear line. The page says the course is for players below 1200 on Chess.com "or roughly 1400 Lichess", including complete beginners, and that the seven rules lessons can be skipped. For players above 1200 its FAQ says "If you expect a lot of novelty, then No" and that it is a good fit only if you want to firm up fundamentals and accept a lot of repetition; the sales page points them to the seller's Simplified Chess Improvement System instead. The "roughly 1400 Lichess" equivalence is on the sales page only. Use the rating as a guide and not a guarantee. Our under-1000 and 1000-1400 pages cover what to work on at each stage.

Price and refund

The price is $97 in one payment with lifetime access and, per the page, all future updates; we saw no sale price, and the page shows only "$" as the currency. Calculated from the listed figures, $97 is about $7.19 per listed hour and $1.02 per lesson. Listed hours are not study time.

The refund policy allows refunds within 14 days of purchase, with no refunds after 14 days and "No exceptions", and says the seller reserves the right to evaluate requests. The course sales page instead promises a full refund within 14 days, "No questions asked". These two statements differ in tone, so read both before buying. The contact address printed on the refund policy is spelled "nextelvelchess", which looks like a typing error, while the Next Level Chess course page gives a hello@ address at nextlevelchess.blog. Use that address and keep a copy of your message.

Using the 14-day window realistically

Fourteen days is enough for a fair test if you plan it. Calculated from the listed totals, watching everything in 14 days would take about 58 minutes a day (13.5 hours over 14 days), or roughly seven lessons a day, so a full viewing is not a realistic way to judge it. A shorter test works better:

1. Before buying, note your Chess.com rapid rating and how many pieces you hung in your last five games.
2. Days 1-3: if you know the rules, skip section 0 and watch the bishop and knight sections.
3. Days 4-7: watch the 8 tactics lessons and see whether they include anything you must solve yourself.
4. Days 8-10: play slow games and analyse one using the 3-lesson analysis bonus.
5. Day 11 at the latest: decide. That leaves time to send a request before day 14.

Who it suits, and who should skip it

It may suit an adult below 1200 who wants one teacher's sequence and a short exit window. Skip it if:

• you are above 1200 and want new material;
• you mostly want puzzles, since the published curriculum shows lessons and no puzzle count;
• you would be content with free material for a few months, which costs nothing to try first.

The seller's other courses are covered in our Next Level Chess review.

The free resource covering similar ground

Lichess Practice is free and has sections named Piece Checkmates I-II, Checkmate Patterns I-IV, The Pin, The Skewer and The Fork, which overlap sections 2.1 and 2.2 of the course. See Lichess studies and practice. A sensible cheap test is to complete The Pin, The Skewer and The Fork first; if you can do those comfortably, the course's tactics block may be review for you. What Lichess does not give you is a single teacher's sequence of 95 lessons.

Alternatives

The comparisons on either side of this price are worth knowing, and prices are as of 8 November 2026. Chess University lists Fundamental Chess Training (0-899 Elo) at $150, a narrower stated range at a higher price. Reviews of ChessMood BlunderProof and Tactic Ninja cover courses with wide listed ranges that start at 800 (BlunderProof 800-2700, Tactic Ninja 800-2200); both cost far more standalone ($300 and $600) and are not rules-to-1200 courses.

What the seller's pages do not tell you

• A publication date: none was shown (the page promises "all future updates" but gives no update history). A March 2024 launch is our inference from a promotion dated 24 March 2024, not a fact.
• The currency of the $97 price, lesson lengths and a lesson-by-lesson list.
• Whether exercises exist, and how many.
• Any independent review. We found none of this course; a review of the same author's Next Level Training course exists but was written after a free review copy, and an IM's promotion carried an affiliate code, so neither is independent evidence for this one. The testimonials on the sales page are chosen by the seller.