IM Levy Rozman (GothamChess) – Middlegame Masterclass Index Review

Middlegame Masterclass Review: The Verdict in 60 Seconds

This is the longest GothamChess course in the store and the least flashy one. Where the Tactics Masterclass hands you patterns, this course hands you decisions: when to simplify, when to stall, when to trade, which squares to aim at. The structure is solid — a short concept intro, then three to five studies per chapter, most of them from Rozman’s own blitz and over-the-board games — and the chapters keep pointing back to each other, so the material reads like one method rather than twelve separate topics.

Production gets the lowest mark. Many files are 540p, the delivery is unedited (a hissing radiator, a groaning puppy and a change of clothes between recording sessions all make it into the videos), and none of Chessly’s 50 studies, 32 quizzes and 169 drills come with the download. Depth earns an 8 because the course goes further than most intermediate material: defending with the clock in mind, colour complexes, manoeuvring in closed positions. To compare it with other strategy titles, start from our chess courses list.

Meet the Coach

Twenty years of games is the raw material of this course. In the last study of Chapter 12 Rozman explains why he prefers his own examples: he gets to show “games where I got demolished” as well as the ones he is proud of, and you get to sit in his chair at the moment the decision was made. That is why many studies begin with a pause and a question — who is better, and what would you play? — rather than with the answer.

How to Order the Course

Middlegame Masterclass Review: Where 9h 19m Goes

The product page lists every chapter and runtime. For this Middlegame Masterclass review we regrouped the twelve chapters by the stage of thinking they train — from diagnosing a position to exploiting its structure — and added up the real minutes. Almost half the course is about structure and special positions, which is unusual for a course pitched at club players.

Watched in this order, every later chapter answers a question raised by an earlier one. The thinking loop Rozman builds across the course looks like this:

A Worked Example: Converting an Extra Rook Without Drama

Planning is easiest to judge where the stakes are clearest, so for this Middlegame Masterclass review we followed the first study of Chapter 5, Converting Winning Positions — a chapter Rozman says was requested by many viewers. The position comes from a subscriber game. Black has just captured on d4, believing only the knight is attacked.

1. Spot the capture. White plays Qxc8: the queen takes a rook because the bishop protects it and only Black’s queen can recapture. After the trades, White is a rook for a knight up.
2. Do not get stuck there. Rozman borrows a line from his boxing coach — after the punch, bring the hand back. In chess terms, the queen should not sit on c8 admiring the material.
3. Trade queens before grabbing pawns. Taking a pawn with the queen is fine too, he admits, but the queen is the one piece that can create counterplay against an open king in two or three moves. White exchanges queens first and collects the pawn afterwards.
4. Do the chess maths. White has two rooks and two bishops against a rook-and-minor-piece army, six pawns to five: a three-point edge. The target is a rook-versus-knight ending, reached by trading rooks and bishops.
5. Use everything, then push. White steps out of a knight fork, answers …Rc8 by taking on a7 — the most forcing move — brings the second rook over and walks the outside passed a-pawn up the board, forcing more trades on the way.

None of these moves is spectacular, and that is the point. The study turns “convert the win” from a slogan into a three-part plan — remove counterplay, simplify toward an ending you understand, then use the passed pawn — and that plan transfers to almost any position where you are clearly ahead.

Second Example: A Plan When Nothing Is Forcing

Chapter 10 shows the opposite kind of plan: the pawns are locked and there is nothing to calculate. The first study is a blitz game between Hikaru Nakamura and Eric Hansen from a Queen’s Gambit Declined structure. Nakamura starts with a4 and a5 to push Black’s knight back, but does not rush a6, because Black could answer by sealing the queenside for good. Instead he uses an entry square that only became available after the pawn advance, then builds slowly: f3 to prepare e4, Qc3 to hold the centre, rooks doubled on the e-file.

Black, with no pawn break of his own, can only wait. Rozman’s summary of the position is the chapter in four words — “in a closed position, knights rule” — and the practical rule behind it is just as short: the side that owns the pawn break is the side that gets to make the plan. It is the most useful idea in this Middlegame Masterclass review for players who hate quiet positions.

The Index, Turned Into Five Planning Paths

The full chapter-by-chapter file index is on the course page. Nine hours is a lot to watch in one go, so instead of a single long list we split the real runtimes into five paths, each aimed at a specific problem in your games. Together the five paths cover all 60 videos exactly once; at about 20 minutes a day, the complete course takes four weeks.

Test Yourself: Five Middlegame Questions

A fair Middlegame Masterclass review should help you decide whether the course is pitched at your level. These five questions come from the chapter intros and studies. If they feel easy, the course will mostly refine what you know; if not, they are exactly what it teaches. Tap each one to check your answer.

Middlegame Masterclass Review: Strengths and Gaps

Chapters that talk to each other

Rozman links topics all the time. The closed-positions intro sends you back to pawn breaks from Chapter 7, the planning chapter depends on the evaluation checklist from Chapter 1, and the weaknesses intro ends by tying attacking, trading and defending together. The weaknesses chapter also makes a point many courses skip: weak squares are harder to spot than loose pieces, because nobody is looking at them.

Defence with a clock

The defending intro calls the chapter “probably the least exciting” but one of the most important, and then adds something few courses mention: time. In a rapid game, a passive but quick defence can leave you with minutes in hand while your opponent searches for the perfect attack — and when the mistake comes, your counterplay arrives with a clock advantage built in. Rozman even suggests training it yourself with a 90-second limit on a defensive position.

Where the course stops

The download is video only, so you will need your own board for the many “pause and think” moments. Examples are mostly blitz, which keeps them relatable but not always precise. The course also stops before the endgame: once your conversions reach the last phase, the GothamChess 50 Endgames Masterclass is the natural companion. For a planning course with a different voice, look at IM Mat Kolosowski’s Planning Masterclass, and for classical strategy at GM Johan Hellsten’s Mastering Chess Strategy.

After This Middlegame Masterclass Review: Which Course Next?

The store carries several strategy and planning courses that solve different problems. Use this table to match the course to your games; every product link opens the page with the full file list.

FAQ

Is this Middlegame Masterclass review based on the real course?

Yes. We timed all 60 videos, read the full transcripts and checked the course facts against the official Chessly page.

How long does it take to finish?

The videos run 9h 19m. As our Middlegame Masterclass review plan shows, at about 20 minutes a day the whole course takes four weeks; a single planning path from our table takes one to two weeks.

What level is it for?

Chessly pitches it at 800–2200. Players who still lose most games to simple forks and loose pieces will get more from the Tactics Masterclass first, then come back for the planning chapters.

How is the course delivered?

Digital files. Crypto payment only. Fast delivery is handled manually after payment confirmation. Download links remain available for 7 days; save your files locally.