I tried chessable.com. It is easy to use and very convenient, I agree. However, it is merely pattern recognition and repetition. For advanced players and experts like you IMBacon, it is excellent because you understand the theories. All you need is a tool that helps you memorize the lines you prepared. For amateurs like me, analyzing skill is more important than knowing 15-move long variations. There are always pros and cons in every training method. And in this case, I don't use chessable for opening. However, I do use it to practice 100 Endgames You Must Know.
A Beautiful Way to Study Opening with Spaced Repetition
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I honestly think even that is too much detail for opening study for most levels. I have used Flash cards to help with openings, but it was a very different idea in mind.
When I was learning the Scotch, I created a small set of cards that covered the main Black replies. For instance, I would have a card that looked like this:
And then I'd have to remember the basic plan here: Nb3 to hit the Bishop, then Qe2, Be3/Bg5 depending on what Black does, then 0-0-0 and prepare for an attack in the center or the Kingside.
Or another example:
Here I notice that Black has brought his Queen out early to attack my pawn, and I remember that the plan is to develop quickly, even at the cost of the e4-pawn. So Nc3 and Be2, and a key motif to remember is Ndb5, which treatens a fork on c7.
I'm not memorizing individual moves. Rather, I'm memorizing the plans. What should I be doing when Black does X? What are my plans? What is Black's plan? You only need a few cards to have your opening mapped out. My entire Scotch repertoire fit on about 20 cards, and half of that was spent on some lines in the Mieses variation, which is complex and needed extra work ... and I think I've played one of those positions once, in a blitz game, where Black immediately blundered. So all that detailed study hasn't even helped.
Anyway, if you want to study openings at your level, I would suggest to focus on opening principles and general plans, not move by move study.
SmithyQ wrote:
I honestly think even that is too much detail for opening study for most levels. I have used Flash cards to help with openings, but it was a very different idea in mind.
When I was learning the Scotch, I created a small set of cards that covered the main Black replies. For instance, I would have a card that looked like this:
And then I'd have to remember the basic plan here: Nb3 to hit the Bishop, then Qe2, Be3/Bg5 depending on what Black does, then 0-0-0 and prepare for an attack in the center or the Kingside.
Or another example:
Here I notice that Black has brought his Queen out early to attack my pawn, and I remember that the plan is to develop quickly, even at the cost of the e4-pawn. So Nc3 and Be2, and a key motif to remember is Ndb5, which treatens a fork on c7.
I'm not memorizing individual moves. Rather, I'm memorizing the plans. What should I be doing when Black does X? What are my plans? What is Black's plan? You only need a few cards to have your opening mapped out. My entire Scotch repertoire fit on about 20 cards, and half of that was spent on some lines in the Mieses variation, which is complex and needed extra work ... and I think I've played one of those positions once, in a blitz game, where Black immediately blundered. So all that detailed study hasn't even helped.
Anyway, if you want to study openings at your level, I would suggest to focus on opening principles and general plans, not move by move study.
Very nice idea!
http://www.chesspositiontrainer.com is my spaced repetition choice for windows PC / Laptop / Tablet. It works offline, that's important for me when travelling.
It automatically detects different move orders for one final position and one can train whole variations or single positions.
My method reduces workload of learning openings, including transposition and move order headache. It is because of the fact that we DO NOT memorize the annotation but we analyze the diagram instead. When memorizing the annotation, the confusion of move order and transposition come into play. However, when analyzing ONE SINGLE diagram that arise from 10 different move order, the next principled move is the same. As the matter of fact, our brain works exactly the way we train it. If we study accordingly to the annotation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6..., then when the move order changes, we have problems.
My method is based on two advises on opening study.
1. Some IM have suggested that we should study opening by not playing it from the beginning. Instead, we should have a partner set up his opening repertoire up to a certain move and play from there.
2. When we study opening, we must avoid the habit of automatic response. My method will fix this bad habit easier and with less effort.
Using a flashcard app/website that support spaced repetition to create a set of opening repertoire move by move, we reduce the workload. How? When I test with the variations from Bologan's Weapons for Black in Open Games, there are 2 duplicate sets of diagram and response. This means that if we follow the hard way of learning move order, we have to study the extra one
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4
Bb6 9. Be3 O-O 10. Nc3 (D) 10...Bg4
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4
Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 (D) 10... Bg4
However, when we study with flashcards, there will be only ONE set of diagram and response. Here is one example. Without annotation, without playing from the beginning, this method satisfies the two advises above.
Have fun studying chess guys