Day 25 Part 2 - Studying Openings with Chessable
Today I have studied openings with Chessable. Chessable is a POWERFUL training tool backed by science to help us understand how chess learning happens.
I studied an opening repertoire book named"Short & Sweet; The London System". In this opening book, the author explains the ideas, plans etc for both colors. Its not just about memorizing but also the understanding behind the moves.
The opening book I studied was divided into 5 different chapters:
Chapter 1 Introduction and 1...d5 without ...c5
The first chapter included an introduction "Line" and 2 opening lines. The intro line explained the general ideas and plans in the London System and the 2 other opening lines covered actual variations.
Chapter 2 1...d5 with ...c5
The second chapter covered 5 more new variations.
Chapter 3 Queen's Indian Setups
The third chapter covered 3 more new variations.
Chapter 4 ...g6 Setups
The fourth chapter covered 4 new variations.
Chapter 5 Benoni Setups
The fifth and final chapter of the opening book covered 3 new variations.
I have learned 5 different setups against The London System and 15 different variations. I have not only memorized the variations but also got an deeper understanding of the general ideas and plans.
Using The opening Repertoire Book.
To use a opening repertoire book, for example in my case: "Short & Sweet; The London System" you follow this process in in 5 different steps:
1. Open/click on the name of your opening book
2. Then a new screen appears with different chapters in the book. We start with clicking on chapter 01 Introduction and 1...d5 without ...c5.
3. Then we are presented with 3 lines, the first line is just the introduction and last 2 are actual variations.
4. Then we click the first line and get to the introduction, that only explains the general ideas and plans in the London System.
5. then we go back to step 3 and click the 2nd line to actually learn a variation. Then a popup screen will appear and then we click the "start learning" button.
After you pushed the button the following screen will appear:
We start by moving our pieces and as we do so the program will explain them for both sides. As we start our first move the program tells you the right moves and what to play against Blacks moves. After you repeated all the moves once, then it starts all over and then test you to see if you remember the correct order of moves. This is only an illustrative example of how simple Chessable can be used as a powerful tool the get better at chess fast and in a fun way! Also you get points for each correct move you remember, and after you are finished you also receive Rubies (currency at chessable).
The Science in Chessable
Spaced Repetition & Scheduling
Dopamine & Declarative Memory
Testing & Practice Effects
Imitation & Implicit Learning
Avoiding Labor-In-Vain & Explicit Learning
References & Suggested Reading
How Chessable Works
With Chessable, you follow this process to memorize (and learn) openings:
You enter (or upload a pgn) your opening moves into Chessable.
You then "learn" the moves as Chessable presents them to you.
Over time, depending on whether you remember the moves or not, it will present you specific positions based on their spaced repetition learning algorithm.
I have nothing but good words about Chessable, it makes learning chess more fun!
You can find the tool here: https://www.chessable.com
You can read more about this amazing and fun program by clicking on the photo below:
