Garry Kasparov MasterClass Review 2024: Is It Worth Your Money?

Have you ever dreamed of learning chess from a true master? I sure did! That’s why I checked out Garry Kasparov’s MasterClass. It’s like sitting down with the chess legend himself.

Kasparov, a name synonymous with chess genius, teaches not just the moves but also the strategies and thinking behind them.

His lessons are more than just chess; they’re about life, decision-making, and learning from mistakes. And guess what? You don’t have to be a chess whiz to get it. His teaching is clear and simple, perfect for beginners and advanced players alike.

This review dives into what makes his class special, how it’s helped me think differently about chess, and why it might be just the thing you’re looking for.

Whether you’re a casual player or aspiring to be a grandmaster, this MasterClass has something for everyone. Let’s explore why Garry Kasparov’s lessons are a game-changer.

Garry Kasparov MasterClass Reddit

📚 Feature	🔍 Details
🎓 Course Name	Garry Kasparov MasterClass
👨‍🏫 Instructor(s)	Garry Kasparov
⏱️ Class Length	29 video lessons (7 hours 20 minutes)
🎲 Category	Sports & Gaming
🎯 Who is this Course for	Chess enthusiasts of all levels
⏳ Time Duration	7 hours 20 minutes
⭐ Rating	8.5 out of 10
💵 Pricing	$180
🌟 Overall Experience	Garry Kasparov’s MasterClass is a fantastic journey into chess. It’s ideal for all skill levels, offering deep insights and practical strategies, and taught by a chess legend.

About Garry Kasparov

Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a great master of Russian chess, a former world chess champion, writer, and political activist, considered by many to be the best chess player of all time.

From 1986 until his retirement in 2005, Kasparov was number one in the world for 225 of the 228 months.

He lost a match against IBM Deep Blue Supercomputer, not an attack at Kasparov but an important shot at machine learning in 1996.

He spends most of his time defending western democracy worldwide if he does not a tutor and plays chess.

His peak score of 2851 in 1999 was the highest ever recorded before passing Magnus Carlsen in 2013.

Kasparov has also recorded consecutive victories in professional tournaments and an Oscar for chess.

Kasparov became the youngest and undisputed world chess champion in 1985 at the age of 22, beating the then-champion Anatoly Karpov.

Let’s enter the Garry Kasparov Chess Masterclass.

After a short introductory video, an 18-minute video on high-level ideas follows, in which Kasparov discusses the difference between tactics and strategy and the importance of repetition for pattern recognition.

Chess is indeed a hundred-year-old sports activity that has inspired numerous books about theory, best play, superiorities, and inferior colors of chess. A lot of classical antiquity goes into deciphering those attack lines whenever you study chess.

Learn some ideas on time and awareness that your opponent also has projects, make your opponent difficult moves, and solve on the basis of a table.

Several political maneuvers prevented Kasparov from playing Korchnoi, who lost the match. Korchnoi solved the problem by allowing the replay of the match in London and the previously scheduled match between Vasily Smyslov and Zoltán Ribli.

The Kasparov Korchnoi evening was organized by Raymond Keene at the last minute. Kasparov lost the first match but won the match 7: 4 (four wins, one defeat).

In January 1984, Kasparov became number one in the world with a FIDE score of 2710.

He became the youngest number one in the world, a record that lasted 12 years until Vladimir Kramnik defeated him in January. 1996: The register is currently in the hands of Magnus Carlsen.

Garry Kasparov Chess Masterclass Course Structure

After a short introductory video, an 18-minute video on high-level ideas follows, in which Kasparov discusses the difference between tactics and strategy and the importance of repetition for pattern recognition.

Learn Some ideas on time and awareness that your opponent also has projects, make your opponent difficult moves, and solve on the basis of a table.

Tactical Lessons

He starts the lesson with a series of videos on tactical points. Each video is about 10-20 minutes, and sometimes he has multiple videos on a given topic:

1. Double attacks (2 videos)
2. Skewers
3. Discovered Attacks
4. Pins
5. Deflection/Attraction
6. Interference
7. Overload
8. Winning Trades

Each of these topics comes with a pdf with additional positions to look at that illustrate the ideas.

EndGames

Then he has 3 videos on Endgames, totaling about 50 minutes collectively:

1. Reti, Shouldering, Opposition, Zugswang, Stalemate

2. Pawn endings, Rook endings, Q vs P, Role of King

3. Endgame Paradoxes, Domination, Bishop + Knight, Mistakes

These each come with the corresponding pdf as well.

Openings

Then there a 3 videos on openings:

1. How Garry started his opening prep and what he did to grow his repertoire. (14m)

2. How to play against openings you know. Is there universal opening advice? (20m)

3. Opening analysis and new ideas in openings. (11m)

Simul Game And Analysis

Next is a video of a 30m simul vs. players rated 1266, 1515, and 2103. The video is 53 minutes long. Then there are three videos in which he spends about 6-9 minutes going through the games with each of those players. The pdf attached to these lessons doesn’t appear to contribute any meaningful content.

Case Studies

Next up are 2 videos, about 20m each that are case studies.

1. Case Study: Opening – Garry analyzes his opening vs. Anand in 1995

2. Case Study: Endgame – Focus on pawn endgames

Miscellaneous Lessons

Lastly, there are a collection of assorted videos:

1. Garry’s Journey (14m)
2. How to Analyze (6m)
3. Computers and Chess (9m)
4. Mental Toughness (17m)
5. Closing (2m)
6. Bonus – Secret Novelty (7m)

As an amateur player who taught intermittently for a few months and watched many chess online content, I found that everything we said so far was pretty straightforward.

The videos in the sections explain the concept in a very simple way so that you can understand it and immediately proceed with further examples.

I have seen concrete examples of how a knight can support a pawn’s hairpin diagonally or indirectly to the right behind the pawn (because the knight can move the two pieces back to the arrow), one of whom caught the pawn.

I felt that they had some time limit and Garry wanted to go as low as possible in that limited time and he only had a short time to go far.

The attached PDF files were similar and had only about 5 positions to explain the idea, where 2 positions were obvious, 2 moderate, and 1 is fairly complex.

Garry’s comments were revealing, but they lacked the repetition of positions to strengthen them. In a lesson with my coach on a subject, we could talk for about an hour about a tactical idea, and then I get over 20 posts to reinforce that idea so that it works after the lesson.

These videos look like a very abbreviated form of it, making them easy to complete in pieces of about 30m, but they offer less overall content than I would like.

How Kasparov’s Masterclass Works

Kasparov examines many different tactical elements in succession: pens, double attacks, spikes, etc.

When Kasparov configures the elements on the board in front of him, the screen is split and a complete table is displayed on the right side of the screen.

Show a 2D version of the board and move. In front of each section is a simple graphic with music that gives the production an elegant look.

Each section follows a familiar theme. Kasparov explains a simple position to illustrate the tactics and then moves on to more complex positions, including examples of his career games or other famous games.

Each section concludes with a composite study intended as a “challenge” for the student to take a break before Kasparov explains the solution.

The tactical department takes the first three hours of the course, after which Kasparov advances at the end of the game.

Kasparov only spends about 45 minutes at the end of the project, trying to demonstrate how precise the finale must be by showing seemingly simple finishes with many twists.

Pay special attention to the concepts of the position of king and king who sets aside his opposition to a peasant.

Then Kasparov goes to the opening.

This section is primarily of a philosophical nature, with his examples showing more of the psychological thinking behind the overtures and his openness in his play than winning against Karpov in his 1987 championship game, and he even mentions that this does not break his Berlin Krammnik defense, cost him the championship title, but after the game, he easily struck the famous Berlin Wall.

The first part lasted 45 minutes, and at this point, the master class seems to have left no content.

For the next hour, Kasparov offers three players of different strengths a prize: an expert, a class player, and a player who is higher than the beginner.

Kasparov walks between the three tables for 45 minutes, waving and thinking, while his opponents try to compete with the former champion.

The rhythm of the video not only slows down, but the boards are hard to see even at the top and side angles (there are no 2D boards on the side).

After the simulation, Kasparov checks the games with each of the players and then gives them some opening and closing lessons.

The lessons in the master class allow the presenter to interact with the participants, but in the case of chess, this seems artificial and a waste of time.

Simultaneous and group lessons lasted about an hour and 45 minutes, and the master class ended with Kasparov talking for about an hour about his chess career, post-retirement activities, computers, and other topics.

Some Pros & Cons Of This Masterclass:

Pros

1. The modules width- Garry includes basics, openings, skewers, sticks, endgames, and strategies. He covered everything possible in this class and literally left nothing. 
2. The extent of understanding- Garry’s chess grip is so terribly powerful and instinctual. Nevertheless, he can still express his ideas effectively so that the spectator is never confused. 
3. The theory- As he discusses the match, Garry highlights his theory of chess. He immerses himself in the craft of the play and encourages you to create your unique style.
4. The practice- Garry illustrates how the concept works in reality by emphasizing chess problems and concurrently playing three games. His way of dissecting the gameplay was a stunner watch.

Cons

1. No real-time opportunity to train- That’s more of a critique of MasterClass, but there is no method for practicing your latest learnings against a program or a teammate. It is primarily an activity of solo training.
2. No direct conversation with Garry- Like other MasterClass lessons, Garry has not done questions or mentoring programs where the master interacts with students directly through an online mode. Rather, it is a one-way experience.
3. Chess is complex- Chess is a difficult and complex game. It is kind of an unusual depiction of war. Conversations can change rapidly from philosophical to the lines of theoretical thinking, which are usually hard for early learners to examine. 

Mobile Apps: Access Garry Kasparov MasterClass on the go

Access your Masterclass lessons anywhere on the go by downloading the Masterclass app for your iOS or Android device for free from the App Store and Play Store. Save lessons as favorites, adjust the playback speed, and watch them anytime you want to.

• Download Masterclass app (App Store)
• Download Masterclass app (Play Store)

For whom this masterclass is for and for whom it’s not

 The chess player who wishes to understand about tactics to bring their competitor off track is invited to this Master Class, and for participant who likes to know the importance of “inaction heroes,” and how to enhance their individual design instead of imitating another.

This is for people who want to play with a degree of understanding.

 In that sense, it makes you realize more than just how the elements move, how the pieces strike, and how to check the king, etc. This course isn’t about someone who doesn’t think rationally.

Garry discusses how an exchange will work at expense of your piece, only if you can use this kind of exchange tactfully. A bad trade is as bad as stopping cautious swaps. He implies that you must think it through.

You need to think about whether or why you should avoid this piece.

Reasons Why I Loved Garry Masterclass

I was shocked to see how Garry Kasparov used his case studies to dissect sports.

I knew he understood chess at such a deep level, but I was shocked to see how he would play the game instinctively, casually mentioning which lines were the best moves to play.

I really can’t get over how many moves he can think of ahead.

I really liked how he described tactics as “what to do when there is something to do” (I’m going to butcher this) and strategy as “what to do when there is nothing to do.” That applies to all facets of life.

From beginning to closing, he shows you the basics of the game and highlights valuable techniques and strategies while inspiring you to find your own style of play.

It is interesting to hear him describe the game, as well as bring into practice his theoretical approach.

Beyond that, it’s nice to see him conduct each game autopsy so you can learn from them. He’s a world-class player and teacher and both are illustrated by his master class.

There are a great breadth and depth of knowledge, and lots of stuff to keep you busy for hours.

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FAQs on Garry Kasparov MasterClass Review

✅Is Garry Kasparov MasterClass good?

Yes, Garry Kasparov is quite great. It is easy to understand his videos as they are clear and high quality.

🔢 What is Garry Kasparov IQ?

Some source states that Garry Kasparov has an IQ between 185 and 190. He was also nominated in the list of ten smartest people in the world by the American organization Super Scholar

👍Is MasterClass worth?

If you are looking forward to learning from Creative professionals at a pace that suits you.

🔢How many master classes are there?

There are 50 classes and 1000 lessons.

Conclusion:

It’s not a big sum that you have to spend on a hobby that makes you happy, it comes with a regular plan of $90 which is not something huge. Bodybuilders easily drop that amount of protein powder in a week. Audiophiles will spend this on a vinyl tour.

I think if you’ve never had formal chess training, these videos could be very useful to you, giving you lots of ideas. For the Masterclass audience, “People who want to learn new skills arbitrarily,” I think it’s pretty well done.

If you’re an experienced chess student, you might get something valuable that you can fill in here and there.

I hope you like Garry Kasparov MasterClass Review 2024, and let me know if you have been part of Garry Kasparov MasterClass. How is your experience? Please share in the comments below!