“I believe this MasterClass will be a success if I can inspire you to learn not just about the game of chess, but about other things. So what’s the big promise? Well, it’s not as straightforward as “you’ll improve your ranking by 200 points!” Instead, Kasparov elaborates a bit more: This is a MasterClass one continues to reference as they improve their game through practice and study. This is not a MasterClass that one simply binges all the way through (although I did and I’ll get to why that wasn’t the best idea below).

“This MasterClass is for anyone who likes the game of chess,” Kasparov begins, “who wants to improve his or her own chess game.”

This is the essential element that cannot be measured by any analysis or device, and I believe it’s at the heart of success in all things: the power of intuition and the ability to harness and use it like a master. Needless to say, I hoped to learn a lot about chess in this MasterClass from, quite literally, the world’s best. According to, Kasparov has 2,515 games on record, of which he’s only lost 200 - or just over 7%. Kasparov won the World Championship in 1985 at the age of 22, the youngest ever to do so. His peak rating was a 2851, the highest ever until it was broken in 2013. For 255 months, he was ranked the #1 chess player in the world. No, the real power comes from Kasparov teaching you how to learn chess.Įven if you’ve never played a game of chess in your life, chances are you’ve heard of Kasparov at least once. I soon realized that the true power of this MasterClass isn’t watching it end to end and hoping it’ll magically make you a better chess player. Prior to taking Garry Kasparov’s MasterClass, my ranking stood at 1112, or just below “novice.” Luckily, chess players are ranked by a standard ranking system. But before taking the course and seeing if it improved my game, I needed to establish a baseline. Then I saw MasterClass had a chess course, and I couldn’t resist.

I played it as a kid - not competitively, but enough to make me proficient at it. Before taking Garry Kasparov’s MasterClass on chess, I had some prior experience with the game. So much so that I began taking chess lessons online to improve my game. Like many people inspired by the success of Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, my love of chess was rekindled recently. In this review, we’ll see if the Garry Kasparov MasterClass on Chess lives up to its promises and delivers a course worthy of your time and money.

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