Apps and websites to improve my chess game

January 1, 2014 10:16 AM

Help me get better at chess!

I'm looking for apps and websites that will help me learn to be a better player (not books).

- I tried Chesstempo, but the icons are so small and I can't really figure out the interface. Is there anything like it with a better interface?
- I've heard good things about Majestic Chess but want something that's a website or app, not a full video game.
- In particular, I'm bad at the endgame (mostly because I never get to the endgame with any decent player!).

I use an iPhone and Mac.

posted by 3491again to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

There's a settings button (looks like a wrench) on the upper left corner of the board at chesstempo. You can change the size of the icons and the fonts in there. You can resize the board itself by dragging the lower right corner.

I like that website a lot and it does have an endgame mode, so my recommendation would be to give that another chance. Feel free to memail me if you have any other questions about the interface, maybe I can help.
posted by cali59 at 10:28 AM on January 1, 2014

I have Shredder on iOS and like the tactical puzzles it offers. Also, CT-ART (link) is good, but ugly and windows only, and since I'm mostly on OSX I haven't used it as much lately.
posted by monocultured at 10:34 AM on January 1, 2014

Play against people, and vocalize possible reasons who is kicking whose ass. You'll pick up patterns. Also, there are chess games on YouTube with fantastic commentary. Watch those. Finally, just stick with it and make chess a thing you try and get better at over time.
posted by oceanjesse at 11:47 AM on January 1, 2014

I use the chess.com app to play some endgame problems in their tactics trainer. The app and website can much more although some fees may apply.
posted by KMB at 12:52 PM on January 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

I love chess.com. It's fantastic.
posted by colin_l at 2:57 PM on January 1, 2014

jrobichess.com has 11 new tactical problems every weekday. Do those every day and pretty soon you'll find yourself actually getting to the endgame. But it'll be most helpful to play lots of real games against people. Play a bunch of blitz games on chess.com, pick one or two openings and stick to them as far as you can until you've learned to avoid their pitfalls.
posted by zeri at 7:34 PM on January 1, 2014

Third the vote for chess.com!
posted by way_out_west at 8:34 PM on January 1, 2014

Tactics training is the best way to improve at chess, and Chess Tempo really is by far the best tactics trainer out there (the problems are higher quality than those of chess.com and the maintainer of the site is constantly improving it). I firmly believe that its UI is excellent so I would be happy (as would cali59, I see) to help you figure out how to use it best over MeMail.
posted by dfan at 10:17 AM on January 3, 2014