How Chesspertise Was Born

A Chess Training App for Serious Players and Coaches

F. Poderico

12/14/20252 min read

I’m an adult chess player, and I returned to competitive chess about two years ago. Like many club and tournament players, I built a serious training routine: working with a chess coach, playing regular tournaments, analysing my games, and studying openings and endgames.

At first, this approach worked. But over time, I realised that playing more games and having a coach was not enough. Improving at chess requires efficient study, good tools, and the ability to understand your own strengths and weaknesses.

That’s when I started looking for better chess training software.

The Problem With Existing Chess Tools

I tried several well-known chess databases and training tools. Some had excellent game collections, especially older classical games. Others were extremely powerful and widely used by strong players.

However, I kept running into the same problems:

  • Interfaces that felt complex and unintuitive

  • Too many windows, dialogs, and pages opening at once

  • A steep learning curve that distracted from actual chess study

  • Tools designed around databases, not around the player

I often spent more time managing software than analysing games or improving my understanding. The tools were strong, but the user experience wasn’t designed for club and tournament players.

I wanted a powerful chess database — but one that was simple, fast, and enjoyable to use.

The Idea Behind Chesspertise

At some point, it became clear: the tool I wanted simply didn’t exist.

So I decided to build it.

Chesspertise was born from a simple idea:
create a chess training app designed for serious players who want to improve, and for coaches who want to work more effectively with their students.

Not a beginner app.
Not an overly technical professional tool.
But a practical, intuitive training platform focused on real improvement.

What Chesspertise Is Designed to Do

From the beginning, Chesspertise was built around how players and coaches actually work. The goals were clear:

  • A simple, fast chess database for practical use

  • An intuitive interface that stays out of the way

  • Progress tracking across FIDE, national ratings, Lichess, and Chess.com

  • A powerful but easy-to-use game editor

  • The ability to play and train against the app

  • Visual opening trees that are easy to understand

  • The ability to train directly against your opening repertoire

  • Integrated tactical training

  • Structured endgame training

  • Tools to prepare against specific opponents

  • Progress tracking with reminders and notifications

  • Coach–student features, including homework assignments and review

  • Playing against engines that simulate real players, not just raw strength

Step by step, almost all of these features are now implemented.

What’s Next

Chesspertise is currently just weeks away from beta testing.

In this blog, I’ll introduce features one at a time, explain the thinking behind them, and share how Chesspertise is evolving into a complete chess improvement platform for club players, tournament players, and coaches.

If you’re serious about improving your chess — or helping others improve — you’re exactly who Chesspertise was built for.

Contact

Email

info@chesspertise.app

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