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📖 How to Use ChessMem
ChessMem helps you memorize chess openings the right way — through active recall, structured repetition, and master-verified opening trees.
🎯 Getting Started
- Select an Opening: Click any opening in the sidebar to automatically cycle through its main lines
- Expand Variations: Click ▶ to reveal sub-variations and side lines
- Create a Favorites List: Save openings and variations for quick access
- Learn Common Chess Traps: Study tactical ideas embedded in opening lines
- Choose Your Color: The ♔ / ♚ icon shows the recommended side to practice based on the opening type
- Click the icon at any time to switch sides
📚 Collections
Collections group suggested openings into coherent learning paths, helping you build a complete and consistent repertoire.
We recommend mastering one primary opening for White, and reliable responses to both 1.e4 and 1.d4 as Black.
Style Collections:
- 🛡️ Solid — London, Caro-Kann, Slav
- ⚔️ Aggressive — Italian, Sicilian, King's Indian
- 👑 Classical — Ruy Lopez, Queen's Gambit, Petrov
- 🎨 Creative — English, Pirc, Modern, Dutch
Foundational Series:
- 🎯 Foundational 1, 2, 3 — A progressive learning path from core ideas to advanced lines
ℹ️ Click the ? icon next to any collection to view its description.
🎮 Practice Mode
Practice Mode is built around active recall. You must play the correct move from memory, just as you would in a real game.
- Select an opening or specific variation
- Play the correct moves directly on the board
- Green = correct move, Red = incorrect
- Use Next to cycle through all variations in order
- Your score and completion percentage update as you practice
- Practice Depth: Use the dropdown to limit how many moves you practice (5–15). Start shallow and gradually increase depth as you build confidence.
🗂️ Navigating Variations
- Buckets (Tabs): Large openings are grouped into systems such as Advance, Exchange, or Classical
- Expand / Collapse: ▶ expands sub-variations, ▼ collapses them
- 👁️ Hide Lines: Temporarily remove variations you don't want to practice
- ⭐ Favorite: Save any opening or variation
- ♔ / ♚ Color Toggle: Switch which side you practice at any time
📊 What's Included
- 162 curated openings
- 7,700+ positions with deeply nested variation trees
- 31 tactical traps commonly arising from openings
- Up to 15 moves deep per line, fully validated
- Progress tracking with completion percentages
- Local storage — favorites saved in your browser (no account required)
🏆 Masters Database
All opening lines are verified against the Lichess Masters Database, featuring over-the-board games from titled players.
- 160,000+ cached positions from master games
- Average player rating: ~2400
♟️ Happy learning — start with one opening and build your repertoire move by move with ChessMem.