Opening Workout

The Opening Workout is the core training feature of ChessMovio. It uses spaced repetition to help you memorize opening lines from your imported sources, testing you on the correct moves from each position until they become second nature.

How It Works

The Opening Workout presents you with board positions from your opening repertoire. Your job is to play the correct move on the board. Correct answers advance you through the line, while wrong answers are tracked so you can focus on weak spots in future sessions.

The system uses a spaced repetition algorithm similar to Anki: moves you get right are scheduled further into the future, while moves you struggle with come back more frequently.

Setting Up a Workout

Before starting a workout session, you configure three things:

1. Sources -- Select which imported PGN sources to train from. You can pick one or several sources to combine lines into a single session.
2. Anchors -- Choose the starting positions (anchors) for your training. These are key branching points in your repertoire where lines diverge.
3. Color -- Pick whether you are training as White or Black. The workout will only test you on moves for the selected color.

The workout setup screen where you select sources, anchors, and color

The Active Workout

Once setup is complete, the workout enters its active phase:

• The board displays a position from one of your selected lines.
• You play the move you believe is correct by dragging the piece or tapping the squares.
• Correct move: The board advances to the next position in the line. If the opponent has a reply, it is played automatically, and you are prompted for your next move.
• Wrong move: The move is rejected, and the correct move is shown. The position is marked for extra review in future sessions.

You continue through positions until all lines for the current anchor are complete, then move on to the next anchor.

The active workout phase -- play the correct move on the board

Tip: Take your time on each position. The goal is accuracy, not speed. Getting moves right the first time builds stronger retention than rushing and making mistakes.

Results and Progress

After completing all positions, ChessMovio shows your results in two stages:

1. Per-anchor results -- For each anchor position, you see the accuracy percentage and how many moves you got right versus wrong.
2. Session summary -- A final overview showing your overall accuracy across all anchors in the session.

Results screen showing accuracy per anchor and the overall session summary

These results feed into the spaced repetition scheduler. Positions you answered correctly will appear less often, while missed positions will come back sooner.

Resetting Training Data

If you want to start fresh -- perhaps after updating your repertoire significantly -- you can reset your training statistics. This clears all scheduling data and move statistics, so every position is treated as new again.

Tip: Resetting is useful after a major repertoire change, but avoid doing it too often. The spaced repetition algorithm needs several sessions to calibrate to your strengths and weaknesses.

Tips for Effective Training

• Train regularly in short sessions rather than one long session. Spaced repetition works best with daily practice of 10-15 minutes.
• Start with a small number of sources and expand as you master them. Trying to learn too many lines at once reduces retention.
• Review your per-anchor results to identify which parts of your repertoire need the most attention.
• Combine with the Openings tab to review the full tree context of lines you are struggling with.