Chess Drills

Tired of reviewing your lines over and over again and then forgetting them anyway during a game?
This app is for you then.
It comes with a few preloaded variations which make it possible to try it out immediately.
However the most important feature is the ability to load your own opening repertoire into the app.
You can create a PGN file with multiple variations (for example using lichess study feature), put it on your device and load.
The app will make you play through the lines in the random order.
It will keep track of the number of mistakes and perfect attempts.
If you get stuck, the "hint" button will show the next expected move.
How it works:
You load a drill set (just a standard PGN file with variations you need to memorize)
The app parses PGN and builds a list of all the possible variations
The app makes you play through those variations in the random order
The app registers individual mistakes and the number of variations completed without any error (perfect attempts)
The hint button is available to show the next move that is expected from you in the current variation (note - this will increase the mistake counter)
If your PGN contains graphical annotations after the final move in a variation (%csl and %cal keywords), arrows and circles indicating further plans in a position will be rendered upon completing the drill
After you play through all the drills in a set, the summary is displayed showing the number of individual mistakes and perfect attempts
Even if you're not familiar with the repertoire you want to learn, you can still use the app and play through the PGN using the hint feature extensively.
After a few playthroughs you will find yourself using hints less and less, and finally you will get that fantastic 0 mistake score.
Tips:
Try out the app with built in PGNs.
I have included two short "demo" drill sets that can be loaded immediately from the app without having your own custom PGN.
Keep your PGNs focused.
For example, if you are learning The Slav, make a separate PGN for The Geller Gambit.
This will make sure your drill set contains between 5 and 20 drills.
More than 20 drills in a set might be too much to play through repeatedly in a finite amount of time.
I like my drill sets to contain between 8 and 16 drills.
Make sure your variations in the PGN end with your move (move of the side you want to train).
The app uses this info for board orientation, so if some of the drills in a set will end with white and some with black, the board will flip between the drills.
This might be something you want, but most of the time you will train a particular opening for one side at a time.
A great way to make your own PGNs is to use the "study" feature on the lichess web page.
You can make a study "private" by setting it as "unlisted".
After creating a study and filling it with moves, you can export it (or the individual chapters) to a PGN file.
Then put it on your phone somehow (email to yourself, usb cable, etc.) and load in Chess Drills app.
Have fun and memorize your openings with pace!

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