New Chess Repertoire Builder

I started combining my passion for programming and chess in October 2023, which led to the creation of 36 different items—ranging from games to tools and resources—on Chessboard Magic. While I enjoyed building these, my ultimate goal was always to develop advanced applications that would truly benefit the chess community.
As 2024 came to an end, I began brainstorming ideas for my first full-fledged chess application. I wanted to create something powerful, practical, and engaging—something that could genuinely help chess players improve. After careful planning, in January 2025, I officially started working on what would become my Chess Repertoire Builder, and today, I am happy to announce the Alpha release of my FREE Repertoire Builder!

Start Building Your Repertoire Today!
https://chessboardmagic.com/repertoirebuilder

Note: For the Alpha Release, 500 spots will be available., and based on usage and costs, more spots will be made available at the end of April and May.

Key Features of the Repertoire Builder (Alpha Release!)

This initial release includes a powerful set of features designed to help chess players build, refine, and train their opening repertoires with ease. Whether you’re just starting to develop an opening strategy or looking to optimize an existing repertoire, this tool aims to give you everything you need.

Repertoire Builder – Simple, Yet Powerful

Managing your openings has never been easier. Create and organize multiple repertoires, whether for specific colors, tournament prep, or training different styles of play. Add moves with a simple click, include comments and annotations, and structure your repertoire in a clear, intuitive format. The move list allows for easy navigation, so you can quickly review and edit lines as your understanding grows.

Import Your Games and Studies

Instead of manually inputting your openings, you can import existing repertoires and games seamlessly. Whether you have a PGN file, want to paste a PGN, or pull your lines directly from a Lichess Study, the platform makes it easy to integrate and build upon your previous work.

Repertoire Templates – Kickstart Your Openings

Don’t know where to start? Choose from hundreds of pre-built repertoire templates, covering a wide range of openings from classical mainlines to aggressive gambits. These templates provide a solid foundation, allowing you to expand and customize your repertoire to fit your personal style.

Repertoire Wizard – Quickly Generate a Repertoire

Sometimes, you have a specific position or opening idea in mind but don’t know how to build around it. The Repertoire Wizard allows you to set up any position on the board and instantly generate an opening structure from that point forward. Whether you’re looking to expand an existing opening or experiment with new positions, this tool gives you a head start.

Stockfish-Powered Move Suggestions

Not sure which move to play? Use Stockfish, one of the strongest chess engines in the world, to evaluate positions and explore move options. This feature helps you identify strong candidate moves, compare different variations, and gain insights into engine-approved opening play—all within the repertoire builder.

Master Games Database – Learn From the Best

Studying the games of top players is one of the best ways to improve. With direct access to a Masters Database, you can quickly view historical and modern games played by grandmasters in your chosen openings. See which moves are most commonly played at the highest levels, understand key ideas, and integrate professional-level strategies into your repertoire.

Full Repertoire Analysis – Evaluate Every Line

With just a click, you can run Stockfish analysis on your entire repertoire, checking every move for accuracy and identifying weaknesses. This feature allows you to optimize your opening lines, ensuring that your preparation is backed by sound evaluations and free of major tactical flaws.

Trainer Mode – Learn and Perfect Your Openings

Building a repertoire is only half the battle—you need to commit it to memory. The Trainer Mode helps you actively reinforce your knowledge through two interactive training methods:

• Position Trainer: A position is randomly selected from your repertoire, and you must play the correct move. This helps reinforce your understanding of key positions.
• Repertoire Trainer: Play through your repertoire move by move while the system plays your expected opponent's responses. This ensures you can confidently recall your lines in real games.

Game Import & Analysis – Track Your Performance

Understanding how your openings hold up in real games is crucial for improvement. You can import your own games from PGN files, pasted PGN text, or directly from Lichess and Chess.com. This allows you to analyze your past games within the same interface, making it easier to track mistakes, find improvements, and refine your repertoire accordingly.

Automatic Repertoire Match – See Where You Deviate

One of the most powerful features is the ability to automatically match your imported games against your repertoire. This shows you exactly where you followed your preparation and where you played something different. By reviewing these deviations, you can spot trends in your mistakes, reinforce your study habits, and refine your repertoire to better match your actual play.

Export PGN – Full Control Over Your Data

You are never tied to the platform. At any time, you can export your entire repertoire as a PGN file and use it wherever you want—whether for analysis in another tool, sharing with a coach, or importing into another chess platform. Your repertoire is yours to manage, and you always have full control over your data.

This alpha release is just the beginning. I’ll be actively improving and expanding the platform based on community feedback. Whether you're a club player, tournament competitor, or serious chess enthusiast, this tool is designed to help take your opening preparation to the next level.

Free Tier & Future Plans

I am launching the Alpha release with a free tier that includes the following limits:

• 10 Repertoires
• 2,000 Moves
• 100 Imported Games

These limits are in place as I assess usage patterns and server costs. My goal is to keep the tool free for as many as possible, and I will evaluate these limits over time. As the platform grows, I am planning to introduce a higher-limit paid service to help cover operational costs while ensuring the tool remains accessible to everyone.

Disclaimer

This is an Alpha release, meaning the platform is still in its early stages of development. While I will do my best to ensure stability, there may be changes, updates, and improvements along the way—hopefully without breaking anything, but please keep this in mind as you use the tool.
I truly appreciate your patience and feedback during this phase. Your insights will help shape the future of the Repertoire Builder and ensure it becomes a powerful tool for the chess community.

In Progress

These features are currently in progress and focused on making the Repertoire Builder faster, smarter, and easier to use — helping you build and train more effectively than ever.

Spaced Trainer for your Repertoire

A smarter training system using spaced repetition to help you internalize your lines more effectively over time. Rather than brute-force memorization, this method ensures you practice the right lines at the right time, boosting long-term retention and performance over the board.

Search Functionality

I believe the ability to search within your repertoire will be a powerful addition. Whether you're looking for a specific line, move, or variation, being able to instantly jump to that point would greatly improve navigation and workflow — especially as repertoires grow in size. I am still exploring the best approach to implement this effectively and am definitely open to suggestions.

Build From Here

I plan to integrate the Repertoire Wizard directly into the Moves Card. This means you'll be able to click on any move and ask the app to generate a move tree from that position using Stockfish. It will make building deep and logical repertoires much faster without needing to manually consult the engine each time.

Offline Mode

I also want to support offline editing. This will allow you to work on your repertoire without needing an internet connection, and the app will automatically sync your changes once you’re back online — keeping everything seamless and uninterrupted.

Mobile Support

Currently, the Repertoire Builder is designed for desktop use. Once I feel the core functionality is stable, I will begin optimizing the interface and interactions for mobile devices so you can build, view, and train on the go.

Increased Limits

Since this is a non-profit project, I want to strike the right balance between fair access and sustainable costs. I will continue monitoring usage and server load to ensure that limits are reasonable and that paid tiers (if introduced) remain affordable and inclusive.

Increased Templates

At the moment, the template selection is limited. I want to offer a much wider range of repertoire templates for different styles, openings, and levels of experience. This should make it easier for new users to get started and explore openings they may not be familiar with.

Annotated Templates

I aim to provide detailed commentary and insights for each line in selected templates. These annotations will explain why certain moves are played and help users understand the ideas behind the lines. While I am not a titled player, I will do my best to provide value, and I would love to feature community-contributed annotations as well.

Repertoire Sharing

The current flag icons are just placeholders. My goal is to allow users to publish their repertoires, making them publicly accessible and sharable. Others will be able to view, copy, and import these repertoires into their own workspace — even without an account — enabling community-driven learning.

Integrate Chessboard Magic Games

I am working to bring over additional tools like User Scout and Opponent Prep into the builder experience. The goal is to create a complete ecosystem where you can prepare, train, and explore all in one place — making it more than just a repertoire app.

Localisation

The rest of Chessboard Magic already supports 12 different languages, and I want the Repertoire Builder to reflect that same global accessibility. Multilingual support will allow players from all backgrounds to learn and train in their preferred language.

I hope you find this tool useful, and I’m excited to see how it helps you improve your opening preparation. After a short break, I’ll be gearing up to work on the next release, bringing even more features and improvements based on your feedback.
Your thoughts, suggestions, and ideas are incredibly valuable to me! If you have any feedback or feature requests, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out on Discord, drop a comment on this blog, or send me a DM.

Thank you for your support, and happy studying!

Kind Regards,
Toan Hoang