Tactics Masterclass: Pattern by Pattern, Game by Game

Chessly sells this course with one bold line: “Since chess is 99% tactics, this is the must-have of Chessly courses.” Behind the slogan is a simple structure. Each chapter opens with a short video that defines the motif on a near-empty board, then three or four studies show it in complete game positions — Rozman’s own online and over-the-board games, games sent in by subscribers and Chessly editors, and classics from Lasker to Carlsen. In his welcome video Rozman says the goal is to make beginner and intermediate players spot these patterns “much faster”, including “the most common patterns associated with each type of tactic for every individual piece.”

The Tactics Masterclass is not a puzzle book on video. Rozman keeps asking what can and cannot move, which threats are real and which only look real, and how a tactic you never play can still decide the game because the threat alone forces your opponent’s hand. Later chapters mix several motifs inside one game, so the course moves from single patterns to full combinations. It is one of the GothamChess titles in our Levy Rozman (GothamChess) collection.

What the Tactics Masterclass Actually Teaches

Every piece can fork — even the king

Chapter 1 begins with the knight, whose forks Rozman calls “some of the most venomous” because they come at strange angles that are easy to miss with low time on the clock. The point he drills is the alarm bell: the moment your opponent puts a queen on a square a knight can reach with check, you should already be looking. He also shows the false fork — when the attacked piece is defended and the “double attack” wins nothing. The four studies include his own Ponziani game against an Indonesian FM and a Fantasy Caro-Kann game against a 2700-rated online opponent.

Pins, discoveries and the windmill

The pin chapter separates absolute from relative pins and shows how to pile pressure on a pinned piece until it drops — including the “staring contest” between two identical pieces that are technically pinned but never in danger. The discovered-attack chapter runs from a 1700-vs-1850 subscriber game with the Rousseau Gambit to a loss of Rozman’s own against GM Andrei Gorovets, Svidler–Khismatullin from the 2015 Russian Superfinal, and the most famous discovered check of all: the windmill from Torre–Lasker, 1925.

Decoys, overloading and removing the defender

Rozman explains deflection and attraction as a “magnet effect”: you pull a piece onto a square or away from a duty, then strike. Tal’s 1974 simul game against a Scandinavian Defence and a 1971 correspondence game illustrate it. The removing-the-defender chapter adds overloading — a piece asked to guard two things at once — through Wesley So against David Navarro at Tata Steel 2011 and Kramnik’s win over Anand at the 2007 World Blitz Championship.

From single tricks to attacks, sacrifices and saves

The second half of the Tactics Masterclass is about using tactics in context. The checkmate chapter treats mating patterns as an attacking skill — it opens with the h-file assault in Liu Wenzhe–Donner, the “Chinese Immortal” from the 1978 Olympiad. Forced draws cover perpetual check, stalemate tricks and a repetition against Gata Kamsky. In-between moves include Kasparov–Kramnik 1994 and a Capablanca desperado from Moscow 1935. The sacrifice chapter sets out the conditions a Greek gift needs before you play it, and then replays a game where the attacking chance was there but never taken, so you learn not to miss it.

That idea runs through the whole course: puzzles start where the hard work has already been done, so Rozman keeps showing how the winning position was built. The last two chapters close the loop. “Subscriber Tactics” reviews games between players rated roughly 500, 800 and 1000 — kindly, with no roasting — and “Hybrid Tactics” shows four or five motifs inside one game. Once the patterns feel automatic, the Middlegame Masterclass is the natural next GothamChess step.

Tactics Masterclass: Course Index

Who Should Take the Tactics Masterclass

• Beginners who know the rules and keep losing pieces to forks and pins they did not see coming.
• Improving players up to about 1600 who solve puzzles online but miss the same ideas in their own games.
• Fast time-control players who want the knight-fork and back-rank alarm bells to ring automatically.
• GothamChess viewers who like his teaching style and want the structured, no-roasting version of it.

It is not the right fit for strong club players who need deep calculation training rather than pattern recognition — IM Robert Ris’s Calculation Training suits them better. Players who are brand new to chess should start with the GothamChess Beginner Bootcamp.

FAQ

Is the Tactics Masterclass suitable for complete beginners?

If you know how the pieces move, yes. Every chapter starts with a short definition video before the game studies, and Chessly rates the course from 0 to 1600 Elo. Absolute newcomers will get more from a beginner course first.

How is it different from the Middlegame Masterclass?

The Tactics Masterclass trains short-term patterns: how material is won or a king is mated. The Middlegame Masterclass covers evaluation, planning, trades and defence, and is pitched at 800–2200. Most players benefit from tactics first.

What files do I get, and how is it delivered?

51 MP4 videos in 13 chapter folders (4.10 GB). Digital files. Crypto payment only. Fast delivery is handled manually after payment confirmation. Download links remain available for 7 days; save your files locally.