Chessable
Spaced-repetition chess courses from elite authors, built on a MoveTrainer that remembers what you've forgotten.
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Our take
Chessable is what got me to actually retain an opening repertoire rather than re-learning it every tournament. The SRS is the moat — no other opening trainer I've tried matches the long-term retention. The economics have shifted though: the January 2025 changes made PRO close to mandatory (free users lost most course sampling), while PRO itself got more valuable with unlimited content access and stacking discounts. If you're going to commit, take the annual PRO plan and buy courses during a sale. If you just want to drill your own lines without a catalogue, look at Listudy or Chessbook instead.
Chessable turns chess courses into interactive flashcards. Authors publish a repertoire as a tree of positions with commentary; Chessable then drills you through the variations using spaced repetition, surfacing the lines you’re forgetting and retiring ones you’ve mastered.
The site was acquired by Play Magnus (now Chess.com) in 2021, which accelerated the catalogue but also tightened the monetisation screws. A January 2025 restructuring restricted free access to course material while making PRO ($11.99/month, $74.99/year) the all-access pass: unlimited course content plus a minimum 30% discount on purchases. Chessable content now also surfaces inside Chess.com as “Courses”.
Pros
- The MoveTrainer spaced-repetition algorithm genuinely works for opening memorisation
- Course catalogue by elite GMs including Caruana, Giri, and Naroditsky
- PRO ($11.99/mo) now includes unlimited access to course content plus a minimum 30% discount on purchases
Cons
- Courses are sold individually and add up fast; a serious repertoire can cost hundreds
- The 2025 restructuring gutted the free tier — "Short & Sweet" sampling is far more restricted than it used to be
- The mobile app still lags the web app on newer features
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