During Christmas or Chessable sales, RCA sometimes bundles 2-3 of the older courses for free or "pay what you want." But "all 9" have never been simultaneously free. The Dangerous Path: Torrents and Pirate Sites If you type "GM Igor Smirnov ALL 9 Chess Courses free download" into Google, you will find links to Mega.nz, Pirate Bay, or obscure Russian trackers. However, a recurring whisper in chess forums, Reddit
Is there a legitimate way to access his entire library of nine flagship courses without paying the premium subscription? Is this a hoax, a limited-time promotion, or a misunderstood free trial? This in-depth article dissects exactly what those nine courses are, the true cost of grandmaster education, and the legal (and risky) paths to accessing this content. Before hunting for free files, you must understand the value of the target. GM Smirnov is not just a 2500+ FIDE-rated player; he is a dedicated chess coach. He famously argues that club players lose not because they lack talent, but because they focus on the wrong things (like memorizing 20 moves of the Italian Game). Is this a hoax, a limited-time promotion, or
GM Smirnov has uploaded hundreds of hours of content to the Remote Chess Academy YouTube channel. While not the full 9 structured courses, many of the core principles from courses like Positional Understanding and Tactics are explained in his 15-minute video lessons. You can build 70% of the knowledge for free—just without the workbooks and PGNs.
The students who succeed are not the ones who hoard 9 PDFs on a hard drive. The students who succeed are those who study one concept—like "prophylaxis" or "passed pawns"—for a week straight.
