The Chess Middlegame I course, crafted by Grandmaster Alexander Kalinin, serves as an essential guide for players looking to enhance their understanding of middlegame strategies. This course delves into the intricacies and methods of the middlegame, focusing on typical plans and techniques in various popular openings. These include the Scotch, Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Caro-Kann, French, English, Dutch, Slav, Catalan, Nimzo-Indian, King's Indian, Grünfeld, and Benko Gambit. Additionally, the course covers detailed material on typical pawn structures, such as the Karlsbad and Hedgehog setups, ensuring a comprehensive learning experience.

Part of the renowned Chess King Learn series (available at https://learn.chessking.com/), this course is one of many designed to cater to players at different skill levels, from beginners to professionals. The series encompasses a broad range of topics including tactics, strategy, openings, middlegame, and endgame, offering a structured path to chess mastery.

The course employs a unique teaching method where the program acts as a personal coach. It presents tasks for the student to solve and provides assistance when needed, including hints, explanations, and refutations of common mistakes. This interactive approach is complemented by a theoretical section that uses real game examples to illustrate game methods at various stages. The theory is presented interactively, allowing students to not only read the lessons but also to make moves on the board, thus reinforcing their understanding through practical application.

The program boasts numerous advantages:

• High-quality examples, rigorously checked for accuracy.
• Requirement for students to enter key moves as directed by the instructor.
• Tasks of varying complexity and objectives.
• Immediate hints for errors and refutations of typical mistakes.
• The ability to play out any position against the computer.
• Interactive theoretical lessons and a well-organized table of contents.
• Monitoring of the player's ELO rating throughout the learning process.
• A flexible test mode and the option to bookmark favorite exercises.
• Adaptation for larger tablet screens and no need for an internet connection.
• The possibility to sync progress across multiple devices via a free Chess King account.

A free portion of the course is available, allowing users to experience the program's functionality before committing to further topics. This free section includes fully operational lessons on the Scotch game, Ruy Lopez defense, Caro-Kann defense, French defense, Sicilian defense, English opening, Dutch defense, and several other key openings and structures.

The latest update to version 3.3.2, released on July 29, 2024, introduces several enhancements:

• A training mode based on Spaced Repetition, which integrates erroneous exercises with new ones to optimize learning.
• The ability to launch tests on bookmarked exercises.
• A daily goal feature for puzzles to help maintain and improve skills.
• A daily streak tracker to encourage consistent practice.
• Various fixes and improvements to enhance the overall user experience.

This comprehensive and interactive approach makes the Chess Middlegame I course an invaluable resource for any chess player looking to deepen their understanding and improve their game.