Chesstempo
Reddit take
AI summary of the Reddit excerpts below — not a quote
Chesstempo is widely considered the 'gold standard' for chess tactics and a powerful tool for serious players to build custom opening repertoires. While its user interface is often criticized as dated or 'dreadful,' its technical features—such as mixed problem sets, deep customization of opening lines, and a high-quality endgame trainer—make it a top choice for those prioritizing training depth over aesthetics.
Pros
- Highly customizable opening trainer allowing users to set individual depth for each line
- Tactics are considered the 'gold standard' with unique 'mixed' problem sets that include drawing moves
- Valuable community comments and thoughtful discussions attached to specific puzzle positions
- Robust endgame training with theory, practice, and benchmark modes
- Excellent for importing and managing large PGN files for repertoire maintenance
Cons
- User interface is frequently described as dated, clunky, or 'dreadful'
- Less effective for users who want to 'memorize a premade repertoire' compared to competitors like Chessable
- The platform can feel less intuitive for training lines depending on personal preference
Caveats
- While excellent for drilling, some users note it cannot replace deep strategic study for complex variations
- The platform requires more manual effort to 'craft' a repertoire rather than consuming pre-packaged content
Best for
- Tournament and serious chess players
- Users who want to build and drill a highly specific, custom opening repertoire
- Advanced tactics training beyond simple 'find the win' puzzles
- Endgame practice and theory
Avoid if
- You prioritize a modern, sleek, or highly gamified user experience
- You prefer purchasing pre-made opening courses over building your own from databases
This summary uses balanced time weighting with about a 6-month half-life. The evidence is older (median age ~402 days) and primarily sourced from r/TournamentChess, which reflects the perspectives of more dedicated or competitive players.
Sentiment
43 positive (81%) · 8 mixed (15%) · 2 negative (4%)
Trust + time weighted score: +79% · raw score 77%
What redditors said (10 of 53)
If you're going to use it to train openings or build opening repertoires, then I would suggest, Chesstempo, or Chessable, or Chessbook, or any number of other much much better tools.
The only thing holding chesstempo back, imho, is the dreadful UI. Other than that, it's easily the best website for tactics, openings, etc., personally
You’re not missing anything. Chesstempo is far and away the best
To my mind, the gold membership at Chesstempo is the best value in chess training hands down. Endgame training has three modes: theory, practice and benchmark. They place the emphasis on different aspects of the training.
You might also be interested in the “mixed” problem sets on http://www.Chesstempo.com, which include problems where the goal is to find the only move that doesn’t lose, in addition to the familiar problems where the goal is to find the only move that wins. Not knowing for sure whether the solution is winning or drawing adds an interesting twist to the exercise.
Chesstempo is awesome! ... Chesstempo is a tremendous resource and I'm a gold member myself. It's the most complete chess training resource I've used.
For spaced repition I have used Chesstempo for spaced repition for a while and it will take something major for me to change.
For now, I only play blitz(3+0) & rapid(10+0) backed up with chess.c*m reviews and chesstempo puzzles.
The main preparation 1 month out would be solving hard exercises ideally on a physical board from a puzzle book. Failing that, use chesstempo.
And chesstempo + mixed master games at hard for calculation.
Compare
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