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I am developing an opening repertoire for white based on d4 and c4. I think this is going all right, but what I am looking for is a chess program that can exercise my repertoire knowledge.

Essentially, I want to be able to enter variations, and let the program test me on responses from black (to put it more clearly, I want the program to "play" black according to the variations that have been entered). When I make a mistake, it must notify me of that fact and show me what the "correct" move at the time was.

Importantly, this program should be accessible on Android or IOS, as I often have this need when commuting. Obviously it would be great if it was free, but I'm willing to pay for it as well.

Do anyone know of a chess program that will allow me to do this? Just to be clear, I'm not looking for chess playing software (I already use Shredder and DroidFish and they are great), but a tool for exercising pre-recorded opening variations. I did have a look around, but except for a promising looking Windows-based commercial tool, I can't find any apps that explicitly do this (it may be possible that some existing chess apps include this functionality but does not advertise it very well).

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    One partial solution is Asim Pereira's iChess (available on both Android and iOS). It is more of a tactics trainer where you can enter your own custom PGNs but in principle, you could hack up a PGN with FEN start positions representing key positions in your repertoire and have it quiz yourself from there.
    – shivsky
    Oct 16, 2013 at 14:18
  • Cheers, that app looks great, will certainly give it a go, even if only for the positional puzzles.
    – firtydank
    Oct 16, 2013 at 14:35
  • Very closely related: Is there a free online chess repertoire tool? Jan 20, 2022 at 13:51
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    @SecretAgentMan If question A is asked before question B then B can be a duplicate of A but not vice versa.
    – Brian Towers
    Jan 20, 2022 at 14:26
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    @SecretAgentMan I don't think these questions are dupes since I actually prefer an offline tool for use when my mobile signal is bad.
    – firtydank
    Jan 21, 2022 at 6:57

6 Answers 6

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Chess Position Trainer is really great! I use it very day and love it a lot.

Still, there is no IOS version yet.

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    Thanks Phil. Yes, this is the Windows-based tool I mentioned. My problem is that the only time I have to do chess study is on my daily trainly commute. It would be awesome if they could develop an app for it.
    – firtydank
    Oct 16, 2013 at 14:26
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Chess Repertoire Manager is what you are looking for. In its latest release version 1.3.19 you are able to play chess games with the chess engine adjusted to your playing strength and with your selected particular opening. It is a free Android app. Check it out here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ayelmarc.chessorm

Though if you prefer the premium version, you can check it out here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ayelmarc.chessormpro

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Give a try to Chess Repertoire app, it works with Android and iOS and allows you to test your openings. Level 1 of each opening is completely free.

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    This is a cool app, but is it possible for me to enter my own repertoire (not one from the shop)?
    – firtydank
    Jul 2, 2014 at 18:32
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Chess Opening Trainer for iOS by Arnel Domingo looks a bit like what you are describing. In the video, he inputs new variations, and points to a train mode which keeps track of your hits, and retests positions you had trouble with. The interface looks a bit like Bookup/Chess Openings Wizard with its openings tree.

https://youtu.be/UsQscB_P6XM

I've had problems saving games in SCID on the Go for Android. It says "experimental" on the Save menu item, but I wasn't even able to save a few inputted moves. iChess might be useful, but I think you'd have to create separate games for each line in your repertoire. Chess PGN Master Pro (Android) also has a 'guess the move' feature, and allows you to edit and save games on the fly. Both iChess and PGN Master seem to follow the main line, and ignore sidelines when testing. The good thing about Bookup, Chess Openings Wizard and Chess Position Trainer is that they can randomly choose lines to test you on I believe. I'm not sure about Chess Opening Trainer, but it looks promising.

On Windows, I understand the free program Lucas chess now has an opening training mode.

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I use Chess Repertoire Trainer for Android. There are free and paid versions, where the free version has ads and limits the number of openings you can add, and the paid version costs about $5 USD.

You create your opening manually or by importing PGN files. Then you train by playing "your" side (where the repertoire can only have one "correct" move for each position), while the app picks a move from the repertoire for the "opponent" (where the repertoire can have multiple moves per position). You can ask it to pick randomly, systematically, or with emphasis on positions that you've gotten wrong before.

A very important feature for me is that the app works offline, because I often use it on a subway train with no internet access.

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I created a web application to help build and memorize chess repertoires.

It is completely free and you can use it from any device.

The app is still in development so everything is far from perfect, but I still wanted to share it because it can be useful to you as the key features (build & train) are functional.

Feel free to try here https://chess-repertoire-companion.com

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