Chess Openings Trainer

I think I have a good solution for this question but I would love to hear from you all.

The concept is perfect practice makes perfect. Perfect practice to me is to play moves played by top players. So, I download the opening pgn's on https://www.pgnmentor.com/files.html. In general, all pgn's include games played at top tournaments, which is a perfect tool to practice openings.

First step, I create "play like Grandmaster" training in Lucas Chess with initial move is 4th and play as winner. Then, I play the opening up to move 15th or until I castle and develop all pieces. Then, I start over with another game. On average, 1 move takes 2-3 seconds and 1 game takes no more than 45s so in 30 minutes, I can go through as many as 30-35 games. This gives me a general picture of popular choices in top tournament. 

Next step, I load the same pgn in ChessHero to generate random positions from move 4th-15th, which is not supported in Lucas chess. This step is to test:

a. My memory

b. My pattern recognizing

c. My theoretical move (evaluated by Stockfish)

This is my opening training routine. After a week of practice one specific variation, I am ready to read the book to understand the concept behind each move. The idea in this step is borrowed from 365Chess's opening trainer, which is only available for premium member. However, their trainer include also amateurs' games.

 If you have chessbase like I do, of course you can customize your PGN file to be more specific.

memchess is cool already all the openings included, training via spaced repetition

I did try memchess but the moves played are, based on my observation, the highest percentage moves. This is not a reliable training tool to me

The ChessBase website has an opening training feature. See link. http://help.chessbase.com/apps/en/index.html?opening_training.htm

i only tried the french exchange and some anti-sicilians with memchess and checked them with the explorer seemed legit to me

Chessbase is also cool but not so intuitive definitly watch their tutorial videos before you do stuff, or some of your lines may be lost - kinda also dont like that the trainer is tree-based and not line -based

Chess tempo's opening training is useless if you're gonna use your own pgn files for training because there is no way to import them from a specific, user defined folder.

Basically those websites requires you to input your own repertoire. With that being said, my method is better for amateurs because all we have to do is collecting tournament and memorizing their moves. Unless you want to spend 100 hours on preparing your own repertoire...

This is quite demonstrably untrue.  My entire repertoire there is made up of my own personally created pgn files, imported from a specific folder I chose on my computer.

You simply click new repertoire and you get this dialog:

Click the giant yellow pgn upload button and you can select your pgn from whatever folder you want on your computer.  It could not be easier.

When I click on the yellow button I have an option to upload pgn either from contacts, camera or camcorder. Needless to say, this is totaly useless for me as I, for some reason, can't manualy search for the destination folder.

Ok, Ive just tried this on my pc and ipmorting pgn worked fine, but the program doesnt play out all the variations to the end. I think people who made Fritz did a much better job with their opening training function.

What do you mean "doesn't play out all the variations to the end?"  You mean when you train it doesn't give you all the moves at once?  It's not supposed to.  It uses spaced repetition, a theory of learning with a lot of scientific backup.  It gives you a little at a time and then has you repeat it until it's sure you know it well enough, then reduces the frequency you see it.  It adds a little more of your repertoire to show you each time.  It does this better than any other trainer in my opinion.

what i did not like about chessbase is that you dont know if you are already through with your repertoire a display shiwing the %tage of your progress is missing

@PhillipTheTank thanks for your answer. I was not aware of that. Anyways, everything seem to be working fine now.

Spaced repetition is also used in tactics training in Lucas Chess.

Lucas Chess does a simulation of spaced repetition, but not a very good one.  It approximates it by re-ordering the deck when you miss a problem, basically.  Real spaced repetition schedules the positions with a clock and a calendar.  In other words, it is based on real time, not just whenever you get around to it. 

Lucas Chess also handles the opening by the entire line instead of each position being handled on its own.  The latter is far superior.  If you miss move 16 in a line, the whole line is failed and you have to redo every move in the line again.  While this seems like it would just help, it is very demotivating and unnecessary.  If I miss move 16 in a line on chesstempo, if I've done the first 15 moves enough, chesstempo's UI will literally make the first 15 moves for me, then ask me to do move 16.  And it won't do it immediately after you just failed it, which is another annoying thing Lucas Chess does.

While I appreciate that Lucas Chess does approximate it, and it's better than nothing, Chess Tempo's implementation is far better in every single way.

"... A typical way of choosing an opening repertoire is to copy the openings used by a player one admires. ... However, what is good at world-championship level is not always the best choice at lower levels of play, and it is often a good idea to choose a 'model' who is nearer your own playing strength. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)

"There is no such thing as a 'best opening.' Each player should choose an opening that attracts him. Some players are looking for a gambit as White, others for Black gambits. Many players that are starting out (or have bad memories) want to avoid mainstream systems, others want dynamic openings, and others want calm positional pathways. It’s all about personal taste and personal need.

For example, if you feel you’re poor at tactics you can choose a quiet positional opening (trying to hide from your weakness and just play chess), or seek more dynamic openings that engender lots of tactics and sacrifices (this might lead to more losses but, over time, will improve your tactical skills and make you stronger)." - IM Jeremy Silman (January 28, 2016)

https://www.chess.com/article/view/opening-questions-and-a-dream-mate

Sounds like some sort of attempted mass memorization project. I do not remember seeing much in the way of claims of success with that kind of approach. Most of the time, one faces a position with no knowledge of a specific move indicated in a book. One has to accept that as part of chess, and think of opening knowledge as a sometimes helpful aid.

"... there will come a time, whether on move two or move twenty, when your knowledge of theory runs out and you have to decide what to do on your own. ... sometimes you will leave theory first, sometimes your opponent. ... It happens in every well-contested GM game at some point, usually a very significant point. ..." - IM John Cox (2006)

Another option is to consult a book that suggests options (suitable for an amateur) and makes some attempt to explain them instead of presenting a mass of stuff to attempt to memorize.

Part of the problem is that, much of the time, there is no right or wrong for moves. Also, for many people, it is not a good idea to try to memorize a bunch of moves without explanation of what is going on.

"... I feel that the main reasons to buy an opening book are to give a good overview of the opening, and to explain general plans and ideas. ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... If the book contains illustrative games, it is worth playing these over first ..." - GM John Nunn (2006)
"... the average player only needs to know a limited amount about the openings he plays. Providing he understands the main aims of the opening, a few typical plans and a handful of basic variations, that is enough. ..." - FM Steve Giddins (2008)
"... For inexperienced players, I think the model that bases opening discussions on more or less complete games that are fully annotated, though with a main focus on the opening and early middlegame, is the ideal. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2010)
"... Everyman Chess has started a new series aimed at those who want to understand the basics of an opening, i.e., the not-yet-so-strong players. ... I imagine [there] will be a long series based on the premise of bringing the basic ideas of an opening to the reader through plenty of introductory text, game annotations, hints, plans and much more. ..." - FM Carsten Hansen (2002)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627055734/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen38.pdf
"The way I suggest you study this book is to play through the main games once, relatively quickly, and then start playing the variation in actual games. Playing an opening in real games is of vital importance - without this kind of live practice it is impossible to get a 'feel' for the kind of game it leads to. There is time enough later for involvement with the details, after playing your games it is good to look up the line." - GM Nigel Davies (2005)
"... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf

"... Memory is too valuable to be stocked with trifles. Of my fifty-seven years I have applied at least thirty to forgetting most of what I had learned or read, and since I succeeded in this I have acquired a certain ease and cheer which I should never again like to be without. If need be, I can increase my skill in Chess, if need be I can do that of which I have no idea at present. I have stored little in my memory, but I can apply that little, and it is of good use in many and varied emergencies. I keep it in order, but resist every attempt to increase its dead weight. ..." — Emanuel Lasker, Lasker’s Manual of Chess

A somewhat experienced player knows how to respond to a lot of the stuff that can be expected from the inexperienced player. The sometimes quick reactions of the somewhat experienced can easily cause the inexperienced to jump to the conclusion that the opponent has spent a lot of time, memorizing, but it is more likely that the quick reactions are the result of some of that experience.

About 32 days ago, someone started a thread with a post that said (in part), "... here's what I want the app to do. I look at a chessboard, and I type in 'Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch Defense' (for example) and I make a move for White. The app goes 'Yes, you got the first move right.' I then move for Black and the app again tells me whether I got it right or not. If I mess up, then it corrects me and offers to back up to the beginning of the play for another go. …"

About 20 days ago, the same person wrote, "After tinkering for a bit, I've come to realize that ... is pretty much exactly what I was initially looking for. …"

About 18 days ago, the person wrote, "... One nice mental thing that's happening for me in learning some very basic openings repertoire at ... is that I'm seeing myself develop a 'need.' That 'need' is, that I don't WANT to make a move unless I know WHY the move is motivated. When I get to that point in the recall of a line that distinguishes my present line from the previous ones, I find myself going, 'Now wait, I really shouldn't do (move X) because it looks like my (piece Y) is threatened but not well enough covered, so maybe (move Z) would be better, but wait, I recall that (his move Q) would counter that, so...'. Etc.. It's an internal dialog of REASONING rather than memorizing. …"