Next Level Chess (Noel Studer) Courses Review

Next Level Chess sells three different things from GM Noel Studer: a $97 beginner course for players under about 1200, a $397 system that teaches adults how to train, and a weekly test membership for 1000-2000 players. Pick by rating and by whether you need chess content or a training method. Refund rules differ sharply between them, and Studer has stated that he earns commission from ChessMood, a site his own course points students to.

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 review is based on Next Level Chess's sales and refund pages, read on 8 November 2026, and on attributed third-party opinions. 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, and a commercial tie to know about

Next Level Chess is run by GM Noel Studer, described on the site as the youngest Swiss Grandmaster at 20 and on a podcast page as a two-time Swiss champion turned trainer. He is also connected to ChessMood in three ways we could confirm:

• He says he is an affiliate. In an undated article on his site, The Best Chess Training Website, he names ChessMood as his favourite and writes: "I am an affiliate of ChessMood, so I will earn a provision if you sign up through my link." He discloses this, and calls its founder a friend.
• He is on its coach list. Studer appears among the coaches on ChessMood's homepage as of 8 November 2026.
• His paid course points there. The curriculum of The Simplified Chess Improvement System lists "Video Courses - ChessMood" as one of "The Three Possible Resource Systems", alongside The Steps Method book series and picking your own resources. A 2023 review also noted affiliate links to ChessMood in the older version of the course, and said Studer points out that such paid resources are not mandatory.

None of this means the advice is wrong, and the disclosure is more than many sellers offer. It does mean his recommendation of ChessMood is not neutral, and that the same applies to our own mention of ChessMood below. We read no comparison of the two by an independent party.

The product range at a glance

The three lines answer different questions. Prices are as of 8 November 2026, shown as "$" unless stated, and per-hour figures are calculated from listed numbers.

Other products are listed too. A free e-book and newsletter are offered, and the Real Chess Training pages offer a free sample test by email.

Courses are sold through several sites, including a Teachable-style course site and a ThriveCart checkout, and Real Chess Training Intermediate uses Thinkific accounts, so expect separate logins.

Which one to pick

The overlaps between 1000 and 1500 are where buyers can get it wrong.

• Under 1000 or still learning the rules: Beginner Chess Mastery is the only one of the three aimed at you. Try the free options below first.
• 1000 to about 1200: three products overlap. If you still lose pieces to simple tactics, the beginner course or free tactics practice makes more sense than a course on how to plan training, in our view.
• 1200 to 1500, you want thinking practice without much cost: Real Chess Training Intermediate is designed for this, and its free test costs nothing to try.
• Any level from 1000, you study at least 5 hours a week and do not know what to work on: that is the problem the $397 system describes. It does not replace chess content, which is why it points you to outside resources.
• Fewer than 5 hours a week: the system's page says it is not for you.

Beginner Chess Mastery in brief

The sales page lists rules, getting a good position, tactics (8 lessons), common beginner mates (4), simplifying and promoting, plus bonuses covering a 1.e4 repertoire for White (8 lessons) and openings for Black (12). The sales page says "Everything you need to reach 1200 on Chesscom", and Studer's own blog calls the course "Reach 1200 Elo". For players already above 1200, the FAQ says that if you expect a lot of novelty the answer is no, and that it suits you only if you want the fundamentals right and accept a lot of repetition. Our Beginner Chess Mastery page audits the curriculum section by section and sets out a 14-day test plan.

One useful comparison with the author's own advice: in the article mentioned above, Studer writes that an amateur's opening training should not take more than 30% of training time. In this course, the opening bonuses are 20 of 95 lessons (21.1%), or 28 of 95 (29.5%) if the eight lessons on opening principles and strategy are included. Those are lesson counts, calculated by us, and lesson lengths are not published, so they do not show time.

The Simplified Chess Improvement System

This is a course on how to train and not a course in chess content, and that is the first thing to be clear about. Its course page lists 25 sections. Part 1 is a 21-lesson guided week and Part 2 is 18 lessons on building a personal plan. After that come modules on focus, tactical vision (12 lessons), game analysis (5), a "good enough" repertoire (11), endgames (6), strategy (7), time management (15), practical decisions (10) and three bonus modules, one of them "Mostly for 2100+ FIDE; or very serious improvers".

Calculated from the listed figures:

• $397 over 17 hours is about $23.35 per listed hour, more than three times Beginner Chess Mastery's $7.19. The price is for the method, so hours are a limited guide.
• 192 lessons over 17 hours averages about 5.3 minutes each.
• The payment plan costs more. Six payments of $69 total $414, which is $17 or about 4.3% above paying once.
• The 14-day guarantee is tight. Watching all 17 hours in 14 days would take about 73 minutes a day. Part 1 is a 7-day guided course, so that part at least fits inside the window.

There is a discrepancy to note. The curriculum header says 17 hours of video, while other passages on the course page say "more than 13 hours", "10+ hours of content" and "~10 hours". The page's "1,300+ students" and its testimonials are the seller's claims, and we do not repeat its rating anecdotes.

Is this the old Next Level Training?

Apparently so. The Perpetual Chess Podcast page for episode 427 (25 March 2025) calls it "His re-launched improvement system (previously Next Level Training)". That page is not neutral either: its link carries a referral tag and offers a discount code. Next Level Training still appears on the courses list, and a search listing showed it at $297 with 70 lessons and about 9.5 hours, so it is worth asking whether both are still sold and whether an earlier buyer gets the update.

Real Chess Training

The membership is a weekly workout rather than a course. The Advanced page describes six positions each Monday, solved in 45 minutes without hints, followed by a solution video; the Intermediate page describes six positions with 30 minutes of thinking time. On the Advanced prices, twelve months at $25 is $300, so the $199 yearly plan saves $101 and breaks even after eight monthly payments (calculated).

Refunds are the catch: both pages answer "Can I get a refund?" with no, and point you to the free test or a monthly plan. You can cancel at any time. On Advanced, tests you received stay accessible after cancelling. On Intermediate, the page says you lose access to the mini-course and your previous tests once the paid period ends. So the two tiers differ on what you keep, and that is worth reading before you choose.

Refunds: the wording differs on the beginner course

For Beginner Chess Mastery, the sitewide refund policy page says you can ask within 14 days of purchase, states "No refunds will be issued after 14 days. No exceptions.", and adds that requests are evaluated at the instructor's discretion. The course sales page says a full refund within 14 days, "no questions asked". The window is the same, but "discretion" and "no questions asked" are not the same promise. Ask in writing which applies, and keep the sales page text.

What the seller's pages do not tell you

• The two refund promises differ on the beginner course, and neither page mentions the other.
• The System's length is given several ways, as 17 hours, "more than 13 hours", "10+ hours" and "~10 hours".
• Real Chess Training Intermediate's price did not appear in the page text we could read, so check it in a browser.
• The beginner course has no stated date. If it launched in March 2024, as the timing of one promotion suggests, the material is over two years old, but that rests on our inference.
• How long each beginner lesson is. 13.5 hours over 95 lessons averages about 8.5 minutes (calculated). Watching it all inside the 14-day window would take about 58 minutes of video a day, before any exercises.
• The rating label. "Reach 1200 Elo" names no rating system, while the sales page headline names Chess.com.

What others say

• A Substack review by Benjamin Portheault (25 March 2023) covers Next Level Training, the older version of the system. It praised the game-analysis method and the printable PDFs, criticised the "How to Study Anything" section as repeating popular non-fiction advice, and could not vouch for the Discord, which it had not checked. It gave a price point of $300 and about 10 hours of video. The reviewer disclosed that Studer gave a free review copy.
• A commenter on that post, who said they had used the course since the previous December and did not know Studer, wrote that it "can't replace a coach" but gives a blueprint. That is one person's view.
• A Chess.com blog by IM Attila Turzo (24 March 2024) promotes the beginner course. Its course link carries an affiliate code and a discount code, it calls Studer a friend and it has no explicit affiliate disclosure, so we do not use it as an independent review.
• We found no independent review of Beginner Chess Mastery itself.

Who should skip this

• You already play above 1200 and are looking at the beginner course. Its FAQ warns that you should expect little novelty.
• You want a refund window longer than two weeks. ChessMood's refund policy and Chess.com's membership refund article both give 30 days for a first subscription, each with its own conditions.
• You want any refund on a membership. Real Chess Training offers none.
• You study under 5 hours a week and are considering the $397 system. The seller rules you out.
• You want chess content rather than advice on training. The System tells you how to use resources and expects you to bring them.

For a subscription catalogue with a rating range starting at zero, ChessMood lists "The Rise of Champions" at 0 to 1500 and 15h 3m on its course catalogue as of 8 November 2026 (ChessMood's own range; the pages we read do not say which rating system it uses); see our ChessMood review, and bear in mind the affiliation above. For a drilling approach, see Chessable.

The free resources that cover similar ground

Lichess offers Learn, a free introduction for people who know little about chess, and Practice sections on checkmates and tactics, with no paid tier. Chess.com's free Basic tier includes limited puzzles and games. Studer's own free e-book, newsletter and Real Chess Training sample test are free ways to see whether his teaching suits you. See free vs paid chess training. We have not compared their teaching with a Studer course.

Before you pay

1. Decide whether you need chess content or a training plan.
2. Confirm you fit the stated rating range and weekly hours.
3. Try the free test or e-book.
4. Screenshot the sales page and refund page.
5. Put the 14th day in your calendar, or start monthly on a membership.
6. Check the currency at checkout.