An interactive chess opening trainer
Step through 14 essential openings move-by-move with strategic narrative, what each move develops vs concedes, and quotes from Steinitz, Capablanca, Lasker, Kasparov & Carlsen. Then practice live against Stockfish — with adjustable strength and surprise sidelines so you learn to adapt, not just memorise.
Step through the main line move-by-move. Every move shows what it develops (opens, frees, threatens) and what it concedes (weakens, commits to) — the trade-off, not just the move.
Optional historical context per opening + per-move quotes from the masters.
Play your chosen opening live against Stockfish. The engine stays in book for the first few moves so you actually get to play the line you picked. After that, with Vary in book on, it occasionally picks a sideline — so you have to recognise and adapt.
Adjustable engine strength (0–20) and think time. Hint button shows the next book move.
Where it matters, the lesson includes a quote: Steinitz on opening the centre, Capablanca on the f7 square, Tarrasch on knights before bishops, Kasparov on the Najdorf race.
Public-domain primary sources where possible; modern attributions paraphrased from interviews.
Each opening links out to its most famous games — Capablanca–Bernstein 1911, Fischer–Spassky 1972, Kasparov–Karpov 1990, Carlsen–Caruana 2018 — on chessgames.com so you can replay them with annotations.
Two to three signature games per opening.
Covering both colours — from 1.e4 e5 classical battles to hyper-modern Indian setups.
"I have seen many a chess master, but never the equal of Capablanca." — Emanuel Lasker, on the player whose signature games are in the trainer
Pick an opening, walk the line, then go head-to-head with the engine.
Start training →