Jochen Schwarz, a club player from Bremen, has spent the past ten years working through FritzTrainer courses as a central part of his chess hobby. After studying over one hundred of these courses, he has identified several that particularly impressed him and now offers his recommendations to other players seeking quality training material.

Schwarz returned to competitive chess in 2016 following a break from the game and turned to FritzTrainer courses to rebuild his knowledge. He values the combination of video instruction, databases, and interactive exercises that these courses provide. The courses he favours share a common strength: they emphasize understanding the tactical and strategic ideas behind openings rather than simply memorizing variations.

Among his recommendations are the PowerPlay volumes by Grandmaster Daniel King, which provide comprehensive Black repertoires against 1.d4 systems. Schwarz praises the didactic quality of these courses and the careful selection of variations. King's PowerPlay 23 covers the Queen's Gambit Declined, volume 24 addresses the Catalan, and volume 25 focuses on queen's pawn openings without c4.

Schwarz also highlights courses by IM Lorin D'Costa, describing them as a hidden gem for players learning new openings. D'Costa's approach, sometimes presented alongside Nick Murphy, focuses on fundamental ideas explained through illustrative games and exercises rather than overwhelming students with theoretical depth.

Swiss Grandmaster Yannick Pelletier is another author Schwarz recommends highly for explaining complex opening theory to beginners. Pelletier's Classical Guide to the French Defence provides a clear introduction to that opening, while his Anti-London System course offers practical knowledge against a setup that gained popularity in recent years.