Chess Exerciser

I purchased the game as soon as it was available, and I have to admit, it took me some time to figure out how it worked best for me. Before, my tactical skills were very poor, but thanks to this game, I quickly made some noticeable progress. Being able to train my tactics pattern per pattern really helped me a lot with that. The differences between each level of difficulty makes it easy to slowly understand the more complex puzzles, especially since they introduced the possibility to analyze any puzzle you play. You quickly see where your thinking went wrong. Graphically, the first version of the game was not attractive, but the second version changed all of that. I like the purple colour and I like it now that I can customize the board the way I like. Overall, the second version is a big step forward in many aspects. And the possibility of using databases makes it very convenient. Some other positive points: For an early access game, there is no loading time and it is very stable, I never really encountered any problem with it.

Not sure if Dev still working on it or not, but in current state, I don't think it offers anything novel free clients don't have. It support external engine and pgn database system, but I don't think you can actually export your game to these databases (?) It's a neat little program for training specific tactics pattern recognition in quite brute-force manner. I wouldn't recommend it to casual or pro players, but to serious enthusiasts who struggle to make an inroad into Chess. Puzzles are structured like grade school so scholar-alike might find comfort in learning in this style. Then again, the lack of live analysis means you will have to figure out the correct move on your own. Remember, you can never go wrong with LiChess or LucasChess.

To the dev team: Keep up the good work! This game really can be a great support for anyone looking to challenge and progress in chess.

I played some of the exercises. At the end of a series the player is told how many they got right but, at least from what I saw no indication was given about which exact positions were solved incorrectly. The openings practice seems to be undeveloped; I always got a popup saying I had arrived at the end of the line, even in very well known openings like the Ruy Lopez and Sicilian Defenses. In general the program could be improved by giving more feedback to the users. The program has potential but it is not as developed as it needs to be at this time so that it will appeal to a wider audience of Chess players. I want to add a comment on one thing I really like, the ability to focus on specific tactics in the puzzles exercises. The added quick test was an excellent addition. The tactical practice is my favorite part of the program. It is possible to change the font size, but the font on the exit window remains small. I am confident this program will eventually live up to its potential; it is still in active development. This program could benefit by being able to save progress to the Steam cloud. One improvement would be being able to pass individual tactics to go up a level in that tactic. Most players are not equally strong in all tactics.