A chess opening trainer with spaced repetition, and a rival that plays like a human

Memorising lines is only half of it. Chess Coach drills the moves of your repertoire until they stick, tells you when a line is due for review, and then lets you play that same line against Maia, a network trained on real club games, so it goes wrong the way people go wrong.

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The Opening Trainer in Chess Coach: a repertoire of openings for White and for Black, each with a star rating and a due-for-review marker

Why openings slip out of your head

You learn a line, you do not see it on the board for three weeks, and when it finally appears you are on your own by move six. Reading the same line again does not fix that. Recalling it, at the moment you are about to forget it, does.

That is spaced repetition: each line comes back after a gap that grows every time you get it right and shrinks when you miss it.

How the trainer works

  1. Build your repertoire. Choose the openings you actually play, as White and as Black.
  2. Play the moves, not the theory. The trainer sets up the position and you play your move on the board. If you do not know it, it shows you, and the line comes back sooner.
  3. Earn the stars. Each opening in your repertoire has three stars and a marker that tells you when it is due for review, so you always know what to practise today.
  4. Then play it for real. In the Opening Lab you play the same line against Maia and carry it into the middlegame. You choose the level: each one plays like a human of that rating.
A training position in the Giuoco Piano, with a green arrow showing the move to play and the candidate moves listed below
A position from the Italian Game. You play the move on the board; the trainer keeps track of how well you know it.

Why practise against Maia

A normal engine answers your opening with the best move every time, which is not what happens at your club. Maia was trained to predict the moves real players make at a given rating, so it plays the replies you will actually face, including the mistakes you should know how to punish.

What is free

The Italian Game is free, in full and from both sides, so you can try the whole cycle before deciding. Every other opening, in the trainer and in the Opening Lab, is Premium.

Questions

What is the best way to learn chess openings?
Learn a small repertoire you will really play, understand the plans behind it, drill the moves with spaced repetition, and then play the lines in real games or against a human-like opponent. Knowing the moves without playing them is what makes lines fall apart at move eight.
Which opening should a beginner learn?
The Italian Game is a good first opening with White: it develops quickly and teaches the ideas every opening shares. That is also why it is the free opening in Chess Coach.
What is spaced repetition in chess?
A way of reviewing: each line comes back after a gap that grows when you remember it and shrinks when you do not, so your practice time goes to the lines you are about to forget.
Does it work on iPhone and Android?
Yes, on iPhone, iPad and Android, and your repertoire follows you across devices when you sign in.

Keep training

AI chess coachFind out what went wrong in your own games. Essential endgamesThe 100 to know, and a way to practise them. The Woodpecker methodThe same set, faster every cycle, until you see it at a glance.
Your next game

Take the coach with you

Start free on iPhone, iPad or Android. No ads, and no subscription needed to play, analyse or take the first course.

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Sign in and your games, ratings and progress follow you to the other device.

The Chess Coach home screen on an iPhone: puzzle, streak and storm ratings, and the cards for playing, learning and the Practice Lab

The home screen, on an iPhone. Same app on Android and iPad.