thanks for the informations guys.

I have Build up your chess vol 2 which is mighty intresting. It does demand some dedication and to be honest: it is my impression that the 1500- 1800 label should be 1600-1900.

Anyway I am considering buying vol 1 to work on during commute. Vol 2 is too hard for me to work through without a board.

Boost up your chess 1 is great. It's in the same format as the other books in the series: a short lesson with excellent examples, followed by 12 test positions.

It's harder in german because my german is awful. I'll will have to work through the book again when it arrives in english.

Chapter 1 - tactics - windmill
Chapter 2 - strategy - (skipped)
Chapter 3 - tactics - weak back rank

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You misread the tread.

Aagaard writes, "In gerenal I would recommend anyone wanting to work with these books, to go through them all."

Shaw writes, "Your question about which order to read them is interesting, but I am not sure there is a single correct answer. Chess knowledge is often specific, so the order you read the books may not be critical. For example, someone who reads Volume 2 of the first series (the “Beyond the Basics” level) will probably still learn a lot from Volume 1 of the second series (the “Fundamentals” level)."

Silman's review says there will be three books total. This is incorrect. There will be 9.

the layout of the english books is better than the german books, but the content is the same.

Today i got the german version of U1500, book 2. It's the same difficulty as Build up your chess the fundamentals 1. Which is a relief, Beyond the basics 2 was too tough.

Thanks for the link and info, Jesse.

I agree that for the right kind of person (someone self-motivated who wants a workbook of challenging problems pitched at the right level, with excellent explanatory answers) these books are super.  Luckily I am that kind of person too.  Working through volumes 1 and (half of) 2 has definitely helped with my ability to concentrate on difficult positions, and is a perfect example of Rowson's "edge of your comfort zone" principle.

It is a little odd that the translations are coming out in a weird order.  From looking at the German page mentioned in the Quality Chess thread (http://jussupow.de/22982.html) it looks like it is intended that you should read the all the low-rating ones first, then all the middle-rating ones, etc (for example, the chapter numbering of the second U1500 book picks up where the first one left off).  Maybe they wanted to release a selection of levels at the start to increase the size of the audience.

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according to the guys at quality chess, the ratings are not to be taken too seriously. see link in next post.

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quickly skim over these chapters and move on to the next chapter.

i worked through book 1. took me 6 months. My rating was 1450. It was, by far, the best book i've read for improving my play. a workbook, a perfect book for me. My rating jumped 350 points.

then, i started the under 1800 book, Build up your chess Beyond the basics 2. It was frustrating. I put it down.

took a look at the german version of the second under 1500 book - it is scheduled for english publication November 15th 2009 and will be titled "Boost your Chess 1".

looks great.

I'm gonna wait for it to come out.

I'm still in Vol 1 actually; I bought the second Volume on a whim and to look at the Petroff section.  I find plenty of the exercises in Vol 1 hard enough, but I'm not a club player and have no rating so can make no guess at the relevance of the estimated rating ranges Yusupov gives, I'm afraid. But yes, there are lots of easy positions in Vol 1 but some that I find very taxing. 

Thanks for that, Alias. Well, in looking at the Petroff (using his Vol 2) I see that there are similarities and some transpostions to the QGA from that opening, so in some ways perhaps they make a nice pairing. I understand Silman's point about these choices, though; was just curious to see if there was going to be a pattern in the openings themselves rather than a suggestion regarding methods of repertoire construction. Book 2 is difficult enough for me, anyway, so I won't be buying the third one anytime soon....  

Well, maybe nobody has a copy yet, then....

in Vol 2 there was a nice little introduction to the Petroff for black and Vol 3 seems to have a section on something against 1d4.  Just wondered what he was suggesting - QGD would be my guess but if anyone knows.....?