TalkChess.com

I think about flashcards that I would like to ask me to show the opponent moves I have a reply to.

For example in the opening repetoire for white I would like to have questions when black to move after 1.e4 when I need to reply
1...e5 2.Nf3 1...c5 2.Nf3 1...e6 2.d4 1...c6 2.d4 1...d6 2.d4 1...g6 2.d4 1...Nf6 2.e5 1...Nc6 2.Nf3 1...d5 2.exd5

The order is not important but basically I need to show that I know exactly what are all the replies that I have in my repertoire for white.

I think this is easier to do with a polyglot book as follows. Create a white repertoire book and practice with it as follows. Similarly do with a black repertoire book.

• Make a book white.bin with a collection of games in your white repertoire

• Make a book black.bin with general games (e.g., GM games, but not just in your repertoire)

• Merge the books into one book, say mywhite.bin

• Configure scid vs pc to use mywhite.bin

• Play UCI engine (using any engine, it does not matter), and choose white for yourself. Now if you try to make a move that is not in your white repertoire, it will say something like "the move is not in the book, do you want to play it?"

• You can also play from the black side (with scid vs pc still configured to use mywhite.bin), in which case you are practicing against your white repertoire.

It would be good if scid vs pc also announced when the engine deviated from the book (i.e., you now do not have a response from your repertoire), and if this happened early, you would know that you had some gaps in the repertoire at early stage.

or simply, a Lichess study as this person suggests

https://listudy.org/en/blog/anki-chess

(personally i still think flashcards are useful because of repetitions
and statistics etc, but i personally i would only use them for more
difficult puzzles or possibly sharp and deep opening lines)

I need step by step instuctions what to do and I also do not understand if there is a tool that allow me to do what I want.

I would like to be able to add pgn to the repertoire but also to add only one position and first thing that I want is to be able to add a position as a question and variants as reply.

repertoire for white should have a set of questions that I need to show that I can reply all of them correctly to prove that I memorize my repertoire.

I will demonstrate it for 1.e4 repertoire
Question 1:give all lines in the repertoire after 1.e4(the question may include only one diagram when white started 1.e4 and I need to give lines of 2 plies that I remember and I prefer to show them on the board but if not possible writing the lines is also acceptable)

Correct solution is
1)c5 2.Nf3
2)e5 2.Nf3
3)e6 2.d4
4)c6 2.d4
5)d5 2.exd5
6)d6 2.d4
7)g6 2.d4
8)Nf6 2.e5
9)b6 2.d4
10)Nc6 2.Nf3

I know that if black play a different move I am out of the repertoire.


Question 2: give all lines of 2 plies after 1.e4 g6 2.d4(of course the question does not include words but only a diagram)

correct reply 2...Bg7 3.Nc3 or 2...d6 3.Nc3 and no more lines.

By giving all the lines I show not only that I remember what to do against every move of the oopnent in the repertoire but also that I know for sure that I am out of the repertoire if my opponent does not play 2....Bg7 or 2...d6


Of course I may do my repertoire bigger and add 2...e6 3.h4 and in this case the correct reply is going to include 3 variants in reply to question 2.

In my example in case my repertoire has no replies for black after 1.e4 g6 2.d4 the reply to question 2 can be simply that it is the end of the line in the repertoire(or maybe it is better in that case to include it already in the reply to question 1 when I replace 7)1...g6 2.d4 by 7)1...g6 2.d4 end of the line.

demonstrate it for 1.e4 repertoire:
give all lines in the repertoire after 1.e4(the question may include only one diagram when white started 1.e4 and I need to give lines of 2 plies that I remember

that's basically what i used to do in my head (*), having looked at the 'best' moves
in the Bookbuilder book, and then building up my memory base/repertoire,
while playing blitz (or rapid) games online, and adapting on the basis of the
result(s) and the post mortem analysis.

It seems you are asking for a simple tool which can do such things easily for you,
well in my experience building chess software is never easy, but someone might like
to pick it up and give it a try with AI help, making programming easier nowadays;
meanwhile like i said, i could write a little 'quickstart' for Bookbuilder use with
such a method (and possibly writing down (**) the final repertoire), but that's all

(*) nowadays my focus has changed (if i make time for chess) to tactics and/or
endgame. With chess.com analysis it appears my opening play is relatively strongest
(not surprising after 30 yrs in this field) and i don't need to memorize as deep as
eg Kasparov did because my opponents (and I) are not at GM level.
(**) which i've basically already done in my book (at lulu or kindle at amazon)

jefk wrote: ↑Thu Apr 10, 2025 10:55 am

demonstrate it for 1.e4 repertoire:
give all lines in the repertoire after 1.e4(the question may include only one diagram when white started 1.e4 and I need to give lines of 2 plies that I remember

that's basically what i used to do in my head (*), having looked at the 'best' moves
in the Bookbuilder book, and then building up my memory base/repertoire,
while playing blitz (or rapid) games online, and adapting on the basis of the
result(s) and the post mortem analysis.

It seems you are asking for a simple tool which can do such things easily for you,
well in my experience building chess software is never easy, but someone might like
to pick it up and give it a try with AI help, making programming easier nowadays;
meanwhile like i said, i could write a little 'quickstart' for Bookbuilder use with
such a method (and possibly writing down (**) the final repertoire), but that's all

(*) nowadays my focus has changed (if i make time for chess) to tactics and/or
endgame. With chess.com analysis it appears my opening play is relatively strongest
(not surprising after 30 yrs in this field) and i don't need to memorize as deep as
eg Kasparov did because my opponents (and I) are not at GM level.
(**) which i've basically already done in my book (at lulu or kindle at amazon)

I also think memorizing of opening lines is a relative advantage relative to my opponnets in lichess and maybe I need to make repertoire of my game mistakes when my tatget is simply to play a good move in everyone of them in less than 3 seconds but I also do not know a tool for effective training that repeat asking me about the same positions again and again.

well in the later Fritz and CB programs (eg 15+) there also are opening repertoire functions;
while i have the latest versions (19 resp 18), i haven't looked at these functions (yet (*)).
But it's probably a lot easier to use than Chess Position Trainer (or even flashcards
with Anki, maybe); once you defined the repertoire, i presume.

(*) maybe i should have a look...

There is a mobile version of chessbase https://shop.chessbase.com/en/products/ ... 5OH0EFN840

Looks to be free but may need a chessbase account?

probably need a chessbase account.

And if you have one, then there's nowadays a webb app 'opening trainer';
which may be the sort of tool Uri B suggested (or desired).
https://openings.chessbase.com/
you best can first setup your own repertoire, otherwise it's just
using the live book. Here's the help file
https://help.chessbase.com/apps/en/inde ... rainer.htm

So far i've only set- up a rudimentary repertoire for White for myself, but i
like the way the opening drill option is working, with variation, thus
if you do it a few times you're likely to get other moves (by Black);
and in the process you can modify/improve your own repertoire as well.
Similar for Black of course, if you setup first your repertoire.

Interesting discussion! Personally, I find it more comfortable to use a visual aid rather than relying on another screen or software during my games—it's less distracting and more intuitive.

In my experience, studying openings visually using clear opening trees significantly improves memorization and overall understanding. Rather than memorizing countless variations, decision trees help instantly grasp essential starter chess moves and strategic ideas.

I even created some chess opening posters based on this visual learning method, incorporating Lichess popularity data and win-rate stats. It's been a game changer, especially for beginners and intermediate players building their opening repertoire.

If you're curious to see how visual opening trees look in practice, check them out here: https://mychessposters.com. I'd love to hear your thoughts or experiences with similar approaches!