Chess.com is arguably the most popular chess site in the world. And it caters to the needs of everyone, right from your amateur next door to the world champion!
Creating an account for simply playing games is free, but Chess.com has many other features to offer as well. The premium membership is one of its key highlights.
For any player who wants to improve their game and train holistically, opting for the Chess.com Premium is definitely worth it!
On chess.com, Premium simply means a paid membership.
And there are 3 types of such memberships: Gold, Platinum, and Diamond – the last one containing the most number of features.
But I know you must be wondering –-“What are these additional tools and how are they of use to me?”
In this article, you’ll not only discover the useful features but also learn how you can squeeze the maximum juice out of it.
I will also compare all the memberships and in the end, I’ll share the verdict on which is the best membership for you, depending on your skill level and your improvement goal.
Table of Contents
What does Chess.com Premium give you?
Here is a simple yet detailed list of the features that chess.com premium membership offers –
- Unlimited Game Reviews (plus explanation for diamond membership)
By using this option, you get an in-depth review of the quality of your game. You can find out your mistakes, and your brilliancies and work on the game accordingly.
For people with the Diamond membership, this feature also gives an explanation for every move played which is a great tool to further your understanding!
- 25 puzzles / unlimited puzzles per day (depending on your membership)
Solving puzzles is a great way to improve your tactical abilities. Almost every chess coach or a strong player will tell you. In chess.com, every time you solve a problem, your ‘puzzle-solving rating’ increases. As a result, you are given a tougher problem as you gain more ratings.
Mind you, you could also lose rating points for every wrong answer. This way, you can keep a track of your tactical strength!
- 5 puzzle rush / unlimited puzzle rush per day (depending on your membership)
Puzzle rush is a unique feature invented by Chess.com. There are 3 modes available here – a 3-minute session, a 5-minute session, or a survival mode.
The main idea here is to solve as many problems as you can within your chosen time limit. If you give 3 wrong answers, your sessions end immediately.
Many players use the Puzzle Rush to enhance their accuracy and pace of solving tactics!
- 3 / 5 / Unlimited lessons per week
Chess.com is not just a playing platform but also a learning one. The lessons here will make understanding chess simpler for you!
Lessons are available for extreme beginners to complete professionals. Chess.com has a great library of such lectures.
You can choose your preferred part of the game to learn – Openings, Middlegames or Endgames. The explanation that comes on the panel on the right gives some great information and insights!
- Endgame Training
Endgames are a very important part of chess, even if they are considered ‘boring’ by many! Even the social media team of Chess.com posted a meme about it.
However, if you do it right, they can be really fun to learn! Chess.com offers great endgame puzzles for players of all levels. You can even choose the themes you want to practice that day, right from checkmates to imbalanced endgames.
- Opening Explorer
Learning openings is crucial as it can give you great positions at the beginning of the game itself. Having a strong opening repertoire helps you stay flexible and unpredictable.
Chess.com’s opening explorer shows you how accurately you played a particular opening. It also gives you the option to check out games of masters on the same line, along with the important data.
In the past, getting access to such a huge database was only possible through specific chess software. It was only open to the professionals. But Chess.com today has made it accessible to everyone.
- Unlocking bots at all levels to play against
Chess.com offers 67 different bot personalities for you to play against. They range from beginner to advanced level so that you can play against any bot you prefer.
The bots even include players like Hikaru Nakamura, and Vishwanathan Anand as well as streamers like Alexandra Botez.
For many, playing against such stalwarts of the game is an achievement in itself. But you could at least get some satisfaction by playing against their clones.
The Chess.com team has done a marvelous job of matching the strength of these bots with their real-life counterparts.
Instead of just playing against an engine (and losing most of the games!), here you can actually try to beat the computer and have fun!
- No advertisements
Let’s face it: Nobody likes advertisements. They disturb the normal viewing experience. And even though the advertisements on the free basic account aren’t that intruding, you can get rid of them completely once you subscribe to the Premium Membership!
In this way, Chess.com Premium offers you a variety of options to improve your game. It encourages self-learning. So even if you don’t have a coach, using their platform in the right way can help you improve your game.
Chess.com Free Account vs Chess.com Premium Account
Let’s take a look at the things you’ll miss out on if you don’t subscribe to the premium membership.
Here is a quick overview of all the features each membership offers:
| Features | Free Account | Premium Account |
| Puzzles per day | 3 | 25 / unlimited |
| Puzzle rush per day | 1 | 5 / unlimited |
| Game Review per day | 1 | unlimited |
| Endgame puzzles per day | 1 in each section | unlimited |
| Advertisements | Yes | No |
| Opening Explorer Depth | Up to 4 | Unlimited |
| Lessons per week | 1 | 3 / 5 / unlimited |
| Play against bots | Up to 14 | All 67 |
Now let’s compare their free and paid membership plans, one by one.
Is Chess.com Gold membership worth it?
If you’re a chess enthusiast who wants to engage in some puzzle solving along with a few lessons throughout the week, go ahead with this membership! It is a good way for you to get some additional learning without putting in a lot of extra hours.
Also if you have less time to spend on chess but still want to take baby steps to improve, this might be a good membership to have.
You can solve 25 puzzles per day, 5 puzzle rush per day, and 3 lessons per week among many other features are unlocked when you buy the Gold membership.
On the other hand, there are also some ‘social benefits’ like creating your own club and flaunting your style with custom flair icons.
Below is the list of everything Gold membership offers.
Is Chess.com Platinum Membership worth it?
If you are a serious chess player, looking to improve your game by solving a lot of puzzles, analyzing your games in-depth, and learning new openings, the Platinum membership will suit you the best!
You get access to unlimited puzzles per day, unlimited game reviews, unlimited puzzle rush, and puzzle battles per day. It’s a step above the Gold membership.
Here you also get access to the Puzzle battle feature. In this, you can engage in a tactics battle against other players.
Explore the additional aspects of this subscription and get to work with some excellent resources!
Is Chess.com Diamond Membership worth it?
The diamond membership is undoubtedly the best option for professional chess players who are actively seeking useful and unlimited resources. It’s the top-tier package offered by Chess.com.
What sets this membership apart from others is the video lessons it offers. This includes lessons created by some of the World’s finest Grandmasters.
The key highlights of the diamond membership are unlimited game reviews with explanations for every move, unlimited puzzle rush, and puzzle battle, insights feature to see your games’ statistics, unlimited lessons per week, and more!
In short, it’s the perfect combination for you to touch upon all the areas of learning in chess, without leaving any stone unturned! If you wish to significantly improve your game by engaging in a lot of self-study, then this is the membership to opt for!
Chess.com Gold vs Chess.com Platinum vs Chess.com Diamond
Here I have compiled the features of all the three premium memberships which will give you a good comparative overview.
| Features | Chess.com Gold | Chess.com Platinum | Chess.com Diamond |
| Game Review | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited + explanation for the move |
| Puzzles | 25 per day | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Puzzle Rush | 5 per day | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Lessons | 3 per week | 5 per week | Unlimited |
| Insights | No | No | Yes |
| Video Library | No access | No access | Unlimited access |
| Max Analysis | No | No | Yes |
| Cost | $29 per year | $49 per year | $99 per year |
Which Chess.com Premium Membership should you buy?
After going through the above descriptions, are you confused with respect to which membership will suit you the most?
Don’t worry. I will do my best to suggest to you the membership that will suit you the most.
- If you are someone who wants to improve your tactics but doesn’t want to engage in video lessons or analyze your games deeply, the Gold Membership will suit you the best!
25 puzzles and 5 puzzle rush per day will give you just the right amount of tactical training. You will mainly be paying for only that feature that you are targeting to learn the most!
- If learning via lessons interests you but you don’t have a lot of time to spend on it throughout the week, the Platinum Membership is a great option for you!
That’s because you can access a good 5 lessons per week and can study them at a time convenient to you. Along with that, the unlimited puzzles and puzzle rush will keep your tactics sharp as well! All in all, a great deal that suits your requirements!
- If you are a professional chess player who plays in a lot of tournaments and constantly works on their game, the Diamond Membership will be a great boost to your preparation!
The subscription offers unlimited puzzles, unlimited lessons per week, access to a huge video library, game reviews with explanations for every move, a deep analysis feature, and much more.
It offers the best Chess.com has to give!
What is the cost of the three Premium Memberships?
As per the chess.com website, their yearly and monthly charges are as follows –
| Duration | Chess.com Gold | Chess.com Platinum | Chess.com Diamond |
| Monthly | $5 | $7 | $14 |
| Yearly | $29 | $49 | $99 |
Although these are their standard charges, I would definitely recommend that you visit their website once to check their latest prices, offers or discounts!
Can you get the premium membership for free?
If you are a titled player, chess.com gifts you a lifetime Diamond membership for free! Yes, you heard that right! All you have to do is apply to their titled players support page and they will verify your account.
Another way of getting a free premium account is by receiving it as a gift! Anyone can give a membership to another by simply paying for it.
You could also participate in Chess.com’s special tournaments, where the prizes are often distributed in the form of memberships.
Sometimes, chess.com also holds giveaways on their social media pages. You should be alert for such contests as they often gift the premium accounts to the winners!
Can I Pay Monthly for Chess.com Membership?
You can pay for the monthly Chess.com membership. However, the pricing for any monthly membership is greater than that of a yearly one.
In fact, you could get up to 4 months’ worth of membership free if you decide to subscribe annually.
Conclusion
I hope that this article has helped you choose the right membership.
To summarize, if you want to work on your tactics and don’t have enough time to spend on chess, the gold membership should be enough.
If you want to work on your tactics and learn via the lessons but are pressed for time, the Platinum membership is worth the dime.
If you aspire to be a professional and want to train like one, the Diamond membership is what you should go for.
