Learning with MoveTrainer vs a Video Series

I’m an enthusiastic adult amateur who discovered chess a few years ago. At my relatively low rating level I expect that looking at opening theory will have close to no impact on my chess ability, yet I find the topic highly enjoyable, discovering approaches each player has to fight for or against the center, get active piece play and create interesting middle game imbalances. What I’m wondering is at my level (I float in the mid 1500s in blitz) to easily assimilate opening ideas do you find using Chessable’s MoveTrainer more useful than, say, a chess24 video series? In a video series you can cover more ground in less time but it seems you are far less likely to remember specific sequences than you are in MoveTrainer. On the other hand, MoveTrainer seems to reward memorizing specific lines more than a general understanding of the structures and middle games you get into, and 1. It’s difficult and time consuming to cover a lot of ground in MoveTrainer without getting way behind in the review prompts 2. I am unlikely to see the specific lines I train in MoveTrainer in games and 3. I often forget the lines anyway, since I suspect my understanding of the structures I’m aiming for is subpar. Example: I’ve almost exclusively played IM Sielecki’s KIS 1.e4 repertoire as long as I’ve played chess above an online 1100 level. I look at a site like openingtree and see I score very high in his Scotch 4N lines that I’ve played most of my chess life. However, going further down the lines I see that my score is highly inflated by most players taking twice on d4 which contradicts basic opening principles and gives Black a very tough game (which is 1 out of 122 lines on the Scotch 4N in KIS 1e4) or falling for the center fork trick which also gives White a good game by simple means. However, my scores in mainlines are still good but not far above my predicted performance. This leads me to believe that I’d be far better off playing more critical (and principled) main lines and getting an overview of them (in something like a video series, which is very enjoyable to watch) while applying good chess principles trying to control the center, develop actively, and get my king to safety (simple stuff). What do you think? Do you find MoveTrainer improves your opening understanding? Do you think it’s a tool far more useful for Class A and above players? I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.

I believe it is true that Titled players became so without using Chessable. I imagine there are people who do not need or seriously benefit from move trainer training.

maybe you are looking at chessable's move trainer the wrong way. Its true that you are memorizing the moves, but you should do beyond that. You should think of it as "mastering the pattern". imho, the move trainer works perfectly with endgames. You may memorize the moves but its the pattern that you should be "memorizing". Try the courses "100 endgames you must know" and "checkmate patterns manual" I have a chessable account as well and i do have the course "keep it simple 1 d4". Mastering 1100 plus lines or variations is too much. I'd rather finish the yusupov courses first, then the tactics antenna , improve your chess tactics, dvoretsky endgame manual then i'll proceed with sielecki's course. for openings courses, i suggest GM Colovic's courses. They are very easy to understand

Chessable move trainer is a good tool. I am using it to build my repertoire and also got the KIS 1.e4 from IM Sielecki.  I also practice the moves physically on a chess board repeating the moves the old fashion way. Dont stop there, analyze the moves, watch the videos that come along with the course. Play against other players with the learned repertoire and keep on analyzing the games and adjusting. With that you will improve your opening game.