The Yusupov Method: Fundamentals 1

Description

♟️ What is the Yusupov Method?

The Yusupov Method is the most comprehensive and best-structured chess training series available. Nine volumes across three levels — Build Up Your Chess, Boost Your Chess, and Chess Evolution — covering all aspects of the game systematically: tactics, strategy, endgames, and calculation. Each volume has 24 chapters, each following the same structure: a one-to-two-page lesson, deeply worked examples, and self-test exercises at the end, with a scoring system to track progress.

The series was designed by Yusupov and his trainer Mark Dvoretsky to prepare elite players, then adapted so that any dedicated player can benefit. Students who follow the method consistently have improved an average of 150 to 200 Elo points.

🎯 Who is this book for?

• Intermediate players who want to improve systematically and don’t know where to start
• Club players who have plateaued and need a structured method to keep developing
• Coaches looking for a complete, proven curriculum to work through with their students

📖 What’s inside

The book is organized into 24 chapters that rotate through tactics, strategy, and endgames in a balanced sequence:

• Tactics: two- and three-move combinations, discovered attacks, double checks, removing the defender, intermediate moves
• Strategy: center control, piece activity, open files, weak pawns, piece coordination
• Endgames: basic king-and-pawn endings, king activity, elementary rook endgames, the passed pawn
• Calculation: how to calculate variations systematically, the most frequent calculation errors

Each chapter ends with 10 to 15 self-test exercises. The scoring system lets you track exactly what level you’ve reached in each area and which topics need the most work.

📚 The structure: why it works

Most chess books go deep on one topic for several chapters in a row. The Yusupov Method does the opposite: it constantly alternates between themes. A tactical lesson is followed by a strategic one, then an endgame. That rotation is deliberate — it mirrors real game conditions, where you need to apply all three types of knowledge in the same position. The result is more integrated learning that’s more resistant to forgetting.

👤 About the author

Artur Yusupov (born 1960) was ranked number 3 in the world from 1986 to 1992, behind only Karpov and Kasparov. He won the World Championship Candidates tournament three times. A student of Mark Dvoretsky, he is widely considered one of the finest chess coaches in the world. This nine-volume series is his most important pedagogical work.

♟️ Why we recommend it at Chesscul

At Chesscul we recommend the Yusupov Method as the backbone of improvement for intermediate students. If a student follows the method consistently — one chapter per week — in nine months they’ll have covered all 24 chapters of the first volume and built a much stronger foundation across all three pillars of the game.

🔗 Recommended to pair with

• Build Up Your Chess 2: the second volume of the same series, picking up directly where this one ends.
• Build Up Your Chess 3: the third volume, completing the Build Up Your Chess level of the series.
• Train Your Chess with Yusupov: a more accessible introduction to Yusupov’s method, recommended for players who want to try his style before committing to the full series.