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These are real experiences shared by our users — each highlighting a unique way of using the Chessboard Magic Repertoire Builder to study, train, and refine their openings. Whether you’re just getting started or already deep into building your repertoire system, these stories show how different approaches, tools, and workflows come together to support meaningful improvement.
Focused Repertoire Building and Daily Integration
This story was shared by a dedicated user who focuses on refining their preferred openings through daily practical play and structured study.
Their primary workflow centers on working with the Repertoire Builder on a MacBook Pro, guided by games played every day — whether at the chess club, against bots (Chessiverse, Noctie), or online on Lichess. They have created over 30 opening repertoires within the Builder to study openings using both the local Stockfish engine and several databases (Masters DB, Lichess DB, ChessDB, and TCEC). Using the flexible layout on a high-resolution display allows them to view multiple analytics cards simultaneously for a complete overview.
Most repertoires were imported from existing PGNs originally managed in other tools. Because each PGN covered a broad opening, the Extract → Repertoire from Move function was invaluable for generating precise, smaller repertoires focused on specific variations. They transfer important variations from opening courses into these repertoires, annotate key moves, and even add refutations to demonstrate why certain moves fail. Critical branching points or key positions with multiple responses are inserted via the preview board for reference. The user avoids redundancies, ensuring each repertoire remains clean, targeted, and efficient.
Regularly, they import online and OTB games (especially classical and tournament games) into the Library. The Repertoire Match card is then used to see which opening repertoire the game aligns with, identify deviations, and quickly jump to the corresponding repertoire for updates and refinements.
Beyond repertoire work, they study from Chessable, ChessMood, and ForwardChess courses, scanning interesting exercises with the Chessvision browser extension and importing them as FENs into the Library. These positions are saved as analyses and tagged for quick retrieval. When solving them, they hide any analytics cards that could reveal hints and focus purely on the chessboard.
For active training, they regularly use the Candidate Move Trainer and Solitaire tool to strengthen calculation, recall, and decision-making under realistic conditions.
Building Confidence Through the Repertoire Wizard
This story comes from a newer user who recently began exploring the world of repertoire building and wanted a structured yet approachable way to get started.
They began their journey with the Repertoire Wizard, which quickly generated the core opening lines for their chosen repertoire. From there, they expanded and refined these foundations using Stockfish, the Lichess Database, and the Masters Database — extending their coverage to the first 20 moves of each variation. This formed the initial framework of their personal repertoire.
Next, they used the Reference Tree to import their own online games. By comparing these games against their repertoire, they could easily identify moves that appeared frequently in their play but were missing from their preparation. This became the start of a continuous improvement cycle — playing games, importing them, and expanding their repertoire with practical variations seen in real play.
Their goal was clear: to confidently reach a known position within the first 20 moves — one where the plans and ideas are familiar and well understood. As they continued studying, they began adding comments, annotations, and evaluations to capture key ideas and avoid move paths rarely seen at their level.
Over time, this process became both productive and enjoyable. When not playing, they use Repertoire Training to walk through their lines for reinforcement, and the Spaced Trainer to revisit challenging or frequently missed positions presented as puzzles. This steady rhythm of study, play, and refinement has turned repertoire building into a rewarding and engaging habit.
Changing a Habit: Playing Everything, Mastering None
This is the story of the developer behind the Repertoire Builder — a project born from both frustration and fascination with the game of chess.
He learned the game later in life, driven by a desire to find an activity he could share and teach his child — something that involved focus, long-term planning, short-term opportunism, positional evaluation, and the balance between playing slow and fast. Chess seemed to embody all of these qualities, offering both intellectual depth and emotional challenge. He also believes that chess skills are useful life skills — teaching patience, discipline, adaptability, and the ability to make better decisions under pressure.
He has now been playing and studying chess for about four years. At first, he played purely for enjoyment — switching between openings depending on his mood. While this free-form approach was entertaining, it often led to terrible positions straight out of the opening. Some games were practically lost within the first ten moves, forcing him to fight uphill battles from the start.
Before creating the Repertoire Builder, he recognized the need to change this habit — to move from improvisation toward structure by cementing reliable opening lines and focusing on mastering a few solid systems. He has always felt that his calculation and tactical vision are strong; what he lacked was a consistently playable position to start from.
Now that the Repertoire Builder is fully developed and feature-rich, he uses a combination of the Repertoire Wizard to jumpstart new repertoires and a range of Analytics Cards — including Stockfish, Lichess Database, Masters Database, ChessDB, and the newly introduced TCEC and Correspondence Databases — to refine and deepen his preparation.
His core repertoire set currently includes:
- ◦ Caro-Kann Defense — 8 repertoires
- ◦ King’s Indian Defense — 6 repertoires
- ◦ Stonewall Attack — 2 repertoires
- ◦ London System — 4 repertoires
- ◦ English Opening — 5 repertoires
- ◦ Miscellaneous & Pet Openings — King’s Gambit, Alekhine Defense
He draws inspiration from books, courses, and YouTube videos to annotate his lines and better understand the underlying plans and strategies. From time to time — especially when not developing new platform features — he imports his Lichess games into the Reference Tree to identify missing moves or underperforming openings. The Opening Priorities and Time Usage Analysis cards also help highlight weaker areas, guiding where to focus study and refinement.
Recently, he has begun building move trees based on top players — since the platform allows importing any username or PGN file. Comparing his Caro-Kann repertoire to those of Alireza Firouzja and David Howell has provided valuable insight into how elite players handle key positions and has inspired improvements in his own lines.
A generally fast player, he often tests new variations using the Practice Module with Lichess Settings to simulate real play against similarly rated opponents — but without having to wait for the opponent to make a move. After each practice session, he sends the games to the Library, adds annotations, and merges the findings back into his repertoire — maintaining a continuous feedback loop that blends study, practice, and improvement.
For fun and variety, he enjoys exploring the Guess the Opening and Play the Opening Puzzles, as well as the full suite of Trainers — including the Repertoire Trainer, Position Trainer, Weakness Trainer, and Spaced Trainer — to keep his learning dynamic and engaging.