If you click on Opening Training in the left navigation you get to the Opening Training Module, which is the heart of the program and let you train your personal repertoire.



The ribbon of the Training Module offers many options, which let you customize your training environment. The most important one can be found on the group page Selection. You can learn new positions, recall already trained positions or go in a systematic way through your opening to name a few.

First select the opening, which you want to train if it is not selected by default. In this example we want to learn the “Closed Sicilian” opening. In the knowledge window to the right side you can see that 100% of all positions are not trained yet.

Then, please select the Complete Line on the group page Mode. The Complete Line mode will train you in a more connected way in the meaning that you always begin with the start position and then play a complete line like a game. There is also the Filter mode, which starts with the position the program identified for training. The Filter mode is only available for new and scheduled positions. The advantage of the filter mode is that you are not playing the same positions again and again, but focus on the matching training positions. Also you avoid memorizing concrete move orders instead of recognizing positions. The disadvantage is that these positions are not connected and thus it doesn’t feel like playing a game. For some players new openings are easier to learn if they play complete lines as they get quicker familiar with it. At the end it is a matter of taste and it is good to know that you have the choice. Please note that you can also get a kind of best of both modes if you choose Complete Line and Start with first matching position.

If you select the Complete Line mode you can choose to let the program demo the line first before you have to play it.

It is recommended to try out the different training modes and options to get a feeling for them. Please check the comprehensive tooltips, which are available for almost every command of the ribbon.

Now, click on the Start button to start the training session. You are asked to play a move. Please play e4 now.



The program indicates that the move you’ve played (e4) was correct by a green light. Furthermore the Learned Positions bar has been increase by one.

In the ribbon you can see some commands to mark a position, which you can later inspect in the Repertoire Module after you’ve finished your training session. Also, if you have absolutely no clue, which is the right candidate move you can use the Show Move command although the position will be then considered as not learned/recalled.

During the training session the program will continue to test you in positions of your opening. If you didn’t play the correct candidate move, which you have defined in the Repertoire Module, you will have to repeat the position. By default the program will accept for your side only the first ranked candidate move. With each failed attempt you will get a better hint from the program to find the right candidate move. If you still don’t play the right move the program will show you the right one and then moves on to the next position. You will be trained in the position later again.

The program will systematically go through your complete opening and play every candidate move which you defined for the opposite color. In our example this means it will play 2… Nc6 and 2… d6 (but not the other replies by Black as no White move has been defined yet). This way you don’t miss to train any position of your opening. Of course this is only true in respect to all candidate moves your opening contains. It is up to you to ensure you cover all important candidate moves for your opponent (and the variation depth).

Once you have trained your opening and no further positions are available you have to switch the Selection. Newly learned positions are scheduled for the next day. That means you can’t train these positions by selecting Only Scheduled unless they are scheduled. However, you could use Only Learned, which will train you in already learned positions regardless of the scheduled recall date. All different selection types are explained in the manual (6.2 Position (Tabiya) Selection).

If you want to check when your next positions are scheduled you can use the Scheduler, which can be found on Training group page of the ribbon:



Please check manual (6.1.1 How the Training works section) for further details about the training methodology of Chess Position Trainer.



After each training session your training scores of the respective openings are updated to reflect your current knowledge of the opening. If you go to the Repertoire Module you can see in the Repertoire Explorer that your score of the “Closed Sicilian” is now 100%
Another way to check your opening knowledge is to go to the Statistic Module and then selecting the Opening Knowledge statistic.