Remote Chess Academy Review: Courses by GM Igor Smirnov

Remote Chess Academy (RCA) sells video courses by GM Igor Smirnov, and its terms give a 15-day refund on single courses but none on bundles. That window is shorter than the month or more RCA says a serious study of one course takes, so plan your first two weeks before buying. Evidence on the teaching itself is thin, and we found no independent test of the courses, so treat this as a buying checklist more than a verdict.

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 published documentation, pricing and reports: RCA's own site, chess-teacher.com, including its terms and knowledge base, plus reseller and search listings and forum threads, all read on 8 November 2026. remotechessacademy.com did not resolve for our tools, and thechessworld.com blocks automated fetches, so facts from that store are search-listing level. 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 is behind Remote Chess Academy

RCA is GM Igor Smirnov's online training business. Wikipedia) describes him as a Ukrainian grandmaster (title 2008, peak rating 2505 in January 2009) who moved from professional play to teaching after 2009 and founded RCA, and says its YouTube channel passed 970,000 subscribers in late August 2026. RCA's homepage claims "65000+ students", which is a seller claim we cannot check. RCA's courses are the subject here.

RCA's terms describe its products as video files, charge in US dollars, name Chess Online PTE. LTD. as the provider of course content, and say Paddle.com processes purchases made through Paddle Checkout as merchant of record, handling billing and refund requests for those orders.

RCA's refund terms, and what they mean in practice

RCA has a refund policy, but it is narrower than a blanket money-back guarantee. The Terms and Conditions, read on 8 November 2026, display the dates 10 March 2024 and 15 October 2026 without saying what each means, and say:

• A refund must be requested within 15 calendar days of purchase, weekends and holidays included.
• It applies to individual products only. Bundled products, such as "GM Igor Smirnov's Super Pack", are excluded.
• It is available only if you are "not satisfied with the chess-related content of the course", and only once per product. Part payments are not refundable.
• You warrant that you can play the files, understand English, know the basic rules and have enough bandwidth to download. Failing those conditions rules out a refund.
• Your request must give your full name, the full course title, the exact date and method of payment, and your reason. RCA may refuse future sales to someone who has requested a refund, "especially when it suspects fraud".

RCA's knowledge base explains that earlier refund terms were looser and were tightened after what it describes as repeat refund requests. Note the terms' location: the version on chess-teacher.com contained no refund text when we read it, while the subdomain linked from the knowledge base did. A sales page for one title was reported in a search summary as offering 30 days, which conflicts with 15, so go by what your own checkout page shows and save a copy.

Fifteen days against RCA's own study estimate

RCA's study-time answer says a serious study of one course "should take at least one month (4 weeks)" and may take 8 to 12 weeks. Fifteen days is 54% of the 28-day minimum (calculated), so you must decide before you could finish the course. A workable plan, in our opinion rather than RCA's advice:

1. Days 1-2: confirm the files play and the level suits you. A failure to play the files can count against you.
2. Days 3-10: study the first third of the course and attempt any practical tasks that come with it.
3. Days 11-13: ask whether you have learned anything you can apply in your games. If not, write your request giving the course-content reason.
4. Day 14 at the latest: send it, leaving a day of margin.

"3 Steps to 2000 ELO": what the launch post says

The most detailed page we could read about this course is a launch post on chess-teacher.com, a site that states RCA runs it and owns the copyright. It is an announcement rather than a current sales page, so read its prices as history.

• Authors: GM Igor Smirnov with RCA guest coach Maximiliano Perez, IM, listed at 2451 Elo (Argentina). The post says Perez works with players aiming to go from 1500 to 2200, which describes the coach and not the course.
• Structure: three steps, from foundation and identifying roadblocks to more advanced ideas, then five practical tasks covering 50+ games. Hours are not stated.
• Level: the post describes a guide to reaching "an ELO rating of 2000 points". It gives no starting range and names no rating system, so any band is our reading of the title.
• Dates: launched 12 November 2021; post last updated 31 July 2025.
• Price: the post advertised a 50% discount "saving about $65", a bonus course and a combo for $89, all valid till 17 November. Those offers were tied to the launch, so they are not a current price. On those figures the 2021 list price would have been about $130.
• Guarantee: the footer lists a "Lowest price guarantee", covered below.

The current price could not be read, because no prices appeared in the shop page text our tools received.

How the course stacks up against what a 2000 goal needs

A general course that promises 2000 should show how it covers the whole game. Coaches commonly list tactics and calculation, positional play, endgames, opening principles and analysis of your own games; that is received wisdom, not a measured result. Set against the launch post:

Reseller and search-listing level facts

Other sellers show details that RCA's own pages did not give us, and some conflict.

Check which seller you are buying from, because the 15-day term above is RCA's own and may not apply elsewhere. RCA's best-price answer says that if you find a cheaper price within 48 hours of purchase, it will refund the difference and add a discount on your next purchase. That is a price promise, not a refund for dissatisfaction.

Should you buy a bundle?

Start with one course, because bundles are excluded from the refund. A January 2024 forum poster was weighing a $97 course against a $497 "SuperPack", which is about 5.1 times the price (calculated; prices as quoted by the poster, unverified). An Improving Chess article, which shows no date in the text we read, described a $997 pack of 17 courses and e-books, about $58.65 a course (calculated), and carries a notice that it may earn affiliate commission.

Even if the per-course price is lower, a bundle removes your one exit. RCA's estimate of 4 to 12 weeks a course also means 17 courses would take at least 68 weeks of serious study (calculated at 4 weeks each), more than a year. One forum replier said they had paid for online courses and never used them; that is one anecdote, but the arithmetic points the same way.

What people say, and how far to trust it

• A Chess.com forum thread has a 2017 poster calling the marketing "circus style copywriting" and the courses "a little expensive". Two later posters (2018, 2019) said they studied Calculate Till Mate and reported rating gains. Those are anecdotes, not evidence.
• In the January 2024 thread above, replies were generic, such as pointing to free resources and noting that Smirnov also has a Udemy course. Nobody assessed course quality.
• The Improving Chess article praises the teaching and recommends starting with the free courses before paying. It says most of his courses are aimed at intermediate players. It is a positive opinion on a site that may earn commission, not a test.
• Complaint-site listings about RCA exist in search results. We did not open them and do not rely on them.

What the seller's pages do not tell you

• The current price of "3 Steps to 2000". The only figures we could read are launch offers from 2021, and a search listing elsewhere shows $129.00.
• Where the course sits by level. The seller's own guide to choosing a course by rating, written by Smirnov and dated 25 June 2026, lists bands of 0-900, 1000-1500 and 1800+ and gives no prices, so it names no band for 1500-1800.
• How long it is. Hours are not stated in the launch post. Calculate Till Mate has conflicting lengths across sellers.
• What the five practical tasks involve. The post says they cover 50+ games but not what you do in them.
• Which terms apply to which checkout. The refund terms mention Paddle Checkout handling refund requests for those orders, so find out who to contact before you need to.

Who might consider it

• A player who has already seen Smirnov teach, likes his approach and wants structured material towards 2000. No level is given, so confirm that it fits you.
• Someone buying a single course who can give it real time in the first two weeks.

Who should skip this

• You want a long or unconditional guarantee. Fifteen days on content grounds is the limit we could read, and a bundle has no refund at all.
• You want a hard syllabus. The launch post names no chapters or hours.
• You want to compare value across sellers. One RCA title has a clear length and price, and conflicting figures surround another.
• You have no time in the next two weeks. Do not start the refund clock until you do.

For a documented alternative, ChessMood publishes its plans on its pricing page, and we compare the two on ChessMood vs Remote Chess Academy. Our ChessMood review has the detail, and 3 Steps to 2000 Elo has its own course page.

The free resources that cover similar ground

You can sample the teaching before spending anything. RCA's homepage offers free training and a regularly updated blog of lessons, the launch post embeds a free video lesson, and the Improving Chess article names a free course called "How to Analyze Your Games" (article undated; confirm it is still offered). Lichess offers free practice sections and user-made studies on tactics, endgames and openings; see Lichess studies and practice and free vs paid chess training. We cannot compare their content with a course we have not seen.

What to check before paying

1. Confirm the price and currency on the seller's own checkout, and whether a "discount" is a standing price.
2. Check whether you are buying from RCA and whether the 15-day term applies to your order.
3. Find the total running time and the number of lessons.
4. Check the date the course was last updated.
5. Check whether you are buying a download or streaming access.
6. If bundles are offered, remember that they are excluded from refunds, and price each course separately first.