Frequently Asked Questions

Chessadence is an all-in-one chess improvement platform. It combines spaced-repetition opening training (using the FSRS algorithm), unlimited free puzzles with rating tracking, Stockfish-powered game analysis, AI coaching personas, and a Spotify Wrapped–style review of your chess year — all in one place. The core platform is completely free.

Chessable focuses primarily on paid opening courses using the MoveTrainer™ system. Chessadence offers a full-featured spaced-repetition opening trainer for free, plus puzzles, game analysis, AI coaching, and community course creation — things Chessable doesn't include. We also use the FSRS algorithm (the same one behind Anki's latest scheduler), which research shows outperforms older spaced-repetition approaches for long-term retention.

Chess.com and Lichess are primarily playing platforms. Chessadence is a training platform. We don't host games — instead, we import your games from those sites and help you improve. Our free tier includes features other platforms put behind a paywall (unlimited game analysis, unlimited puzzles), while adding things neither platform offers: FSRS-powered opening repertoire training, AI coach personalities, and personalized puzzle generation from your own games.

Yes. The entire core platform — courses, puzzles, game analysis, spaced repetition, explorer, leaderboard, Chess Wrapped, and AI coaching — is completely free with no daily limits. Chessadence Pro ($3.99/month) adds deeper analytics: Pro Wrapped with 12+ deep stats, unlimited game-history import, puzzles mined from your own games, 11 exclusive puzzle categories, and premium themes.

Yes. Cancel anytime from Settings — billing is handled securely through Stripe, and your subscription stops at the end of the current billing period. You keep Pro access until then. No cancellation fees, no retention hoops.

Chessadence stands on open chess technology, with thanks: the Stockfish engine (GPLv3, running locally in your browser — source at github.com/official-stockfish/Stockfish), the chessground board and the cburnett piece set by Colin M. L. Burnett (CC BY-SA) from the Lichess project, openings from the lichess-org/chess-openings dataset, tactics from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0), master-game statistics from the Lichess opening explorer, and opening explanations partly adapted from Wikibooks' Chess Opening Theory (CC BY-SA, attributed inline). Chessadence is an independent project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Chess.com or Lichess.

When you enroll in a course, Chessadence breaks each opening variation into individual lines. It uses the FSRS algorithm to schedule each line for review at the optimal moment — right before you'd forget it. Lines you struggle with come back sooner; lines you know well space out to days or weeks apart. Over time, your entire repertoire moves into long-term memory with minimal daily effort.

They cover the same opening at increasing depth. Beginner courses teach just the essential main lines a few moves deep — the fastest way to a playable repertoire. Intermediate adds more variations and greater depth for the replies you'll face most often. Advanced is the full tree: every notable branch, played out deeply for serious preparation. Start at the level that matches your comfort and move up as lines stick.

Absolutely. Click "Create Custom Course" on the Courses page. You can build a repertoire from scratch on an interactive board, import a PGN, or fork and modify an existing course. You can keep it private or publish it for the community. Community courses can be upvoted and enrolled in by other players.

Your streak increases each day you complete a review session or solve puzzles. If you miss a day, your current streak resets to 0, but your longest streak is preserved on your public profile. Maintaining streaks also contributes to your XP and leaderboard position.

We use the Glicko-2 rating system (the same one Lichess uses). Each puzzle has its own rating, and when you solve or fail a puzzle, both your rating and uncertainty are updated. You'll be matched with puzzles near your level. Using a hint forfeits the rating gain for that puzzle. Your puzzle rating is displayed on your profile and the leaderboard.

It's a Pro puzzle category featuring positions where the correct move involves a genuine material sacrifice — giving up a piece or more — that Stockfish confirms is still the best move. These are the brilliant "!!" moves that define beautiful chess. We've pre-analyzed thousands of puzzles to curate this collection.

A Pro feature that mines your imported games for positions where you or your opponent missed a winning tactic. Instead of generic puzzles, you're drilling the exact blind spots from your real games — the positions where improvement matters most. Puzzle solutions are verified by Stockfish to ensure accuracy.

Go to Settings and link your Chess.com and/or Lichess username. Chessadence will import your recent games automatically. Free users get their 200 most recent games; Pro users can import their entire library. You can also analyze any game by pasting a PGN into the Explorer.

No — courses, spaced-repetition training, puzzles, and the analysis board all work without one. You'll only need a Chess.com or Lichess account if you want Chess Wrapped or game review of your own games: we import directly from either site using just your username, so you never share a password.

We run Stockfish locally in your browser — no server required, no limits, no paywall. Every move is evaluated and classified (brilliant, great, good, inaccuracy, mistake, blunder) with an interactive evaluation chart. You also get an accuracy score and can step through the engine's suggested improvements.

Inspired by Spotify Wrapped, it's an animated summary of your chess year built from your imported games. The free version shows your personality archetype and key stats. Pro Wrapped adds 12+ deep analytics: your rating journey, go-to openings, signature move, checkmate stats, rivalries, activity heatmap, results by color and time control, and more.

You can choose from five distinct coaching personalities that give you feedback during puzzles and training: Coach AI (balanced and encouraging), The Grandmaster (precise and technical), The Hustler (trash-talking and cocky), The Prodigy (excitable and meme-heavy), and The Streamer (hype-driven and entertaining). Every persona has its own real voice, so your coach actually talks to you. Switch anytime in Settings.

Yes. All five personas have their own distinct voice, so feedback during puzzles and training is genuinely spoken — The Grandmaster sounds nothing like The Hustler. If you'd rather train in silence, you can mute the coach anytime from the coach bubble.

Yes. Navigate to Settings and choose from 12 board themes. Seven are free — Classic, Wood, Dark, Blue, Sunset, Terminal, and Purple — and Pro adds five more: Nordic Aurora, Backrooms, Void Protocol, Deep Archive, and Blood Moon. Your preference is saved and applies across all pages — the drill trainer, explorer, and game analysis.

Absolutely. Head to Settings and pick from 10 website themes. Five are free — Light, Dark, Kawaii, Brutalist, and Terminal — and Pro adds five more: Nordic Aurora, Backrooms, Void Protocol, Deep Archive, and Blood Moon. Each Pro site theme has a matching board theme you can pair it with for a fully coordinated look.