Answers.Body: <p>what is regular opening(are you going to study 1.E4 C5 2. Na3 because Magnus Carlsen played it)? and any app that supports opening book (chessbase, arena, chessmaster, etc) will play whatever you set in the book. also if you are 1600 - you should study chess, learn strategy, position evaluation and there will be enough opening information for you how to start game if you just read trough good book of 400-600 chess miniatures - they very well show and emphasize what are bad moves in opening that lead to quick loss and also you will learn what are good moves and approach in the opening. At your level opening is not the problem definitely! (My highest ELO was 2650 and I never studied openings explicitly - I always got them as side effect from the other studies)</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-09T10:18:25.670Z
Answers.Text: Thanks for your comment. I understand your point. However, I would still like to play some games against the computer, where there is a reasonable chance that the situation might actually be on the board in my regular games. I know lots of great resources on the opening, but that's another story.
Answers.UserDisplayName: SQL_M
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-09T10:20:07.340Z
Answers.Text: And by regular I mean openings that are often played, not some grandmaster novelty that appeared in a few games.
Answers.UserDisplayName: SQL_M
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-09T12:23:22.690Z
Answers.Text: as I wrote - any descent app has opening book and its settings - I mentioned few, but there are many more
Answers.UserDisplayName: Drako
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-09T12:26:28.830Z
Answers.Text: Sorry, I Misunderstood that part. I am not familiar with opening book as a feature in a chess App. I will try chessmaster. Thanks!
Answers.UserDisplayName: SQL_M
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-09T12:30:14.663Z
Answers.Text: some apps even mobile let you set position and play against engine - so you can make desired first moves and play both colors with engine from same position - that would make sense in learning, but still - I strongly advice - focus on chess and not opening learning at your current level, and do openings when you reach at least 2000-2200
Answers.UserDisplayName: Drako
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-09T12:34:09.360Z
Answers.Text: Ok, I will do that. But bear in mind, a 2200 rating is something that most people will never reach. I know lots of people that have dedicated a lot of time and effort and never get beyond 1600. The fact that you reached 2650 may have clouded your view of the chess world.  ;)
Answers.UserDisplayName: SQL_M
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-09T13:07:34.043Z
Answers.Text: reasons why people doesn't reach 2200 can be very different-rating is heavily based on sport characteristics-one can easy have understanding of 2600 but rating 2000-that's what btw happens to older people-they loose rating even believe me their understanding is much higher then before :) You need competitive spirit to reach even 2200, good concentration while playing and determination to win, etc. but if just move pieces for fun and don't workout each move in a game; if you don't care of time management, if you don't try to squeeze maximum out of any position - that's where you loose rating
Answers.UserDisplayName: Drako
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-09T13:09:08.850Z
Answers.Text: so in short - rating does not show your understanding but your sport abilities, level of competitiveness
Answers.UserDisplayName: Drako
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-11T19:05:22.673Z
Answers.Text: We have to agree that without understanding no high rating is possible, however
Answers.UserDisplayName: A. N. Other
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-09T10:06:52.373Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-10-09T10:06:52.373Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Drako
Answers.Body: <p>In the chess.com app, you can play in human-vs-human mode and at any time replace one of the human players by a computer. This way, you can play the first moves yourself, for the two players, and then once the opening position you want is achieved, you switch one of the players to a computer, and it will do its best for there.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-10T12:54:44.033Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-10-10T12:54:44.033Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Pedro A
Answers.Body: <p>From my experience Chess Genius (for Android and iOS) plays rather mainstream openings, if that's the meaning of your question.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-10-11T18:40:13.920Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-10-11T18:40:13.920Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: A. N. Other
Body: <p>I play chess regularly, about 1600 rated. Sometimes I want to play chess on my phone (Android). The chess app I use, Chess free, is strong enough. However, it does not play regular openings, so when I am preparing for a regular match, it is quite useless.</p>
  
  <p>Does anyone know any good apps that play regular openings and are otherwise also decent overall?</p>
  
  <p>It's kind of a broad question, but I thought it's worth a shot here,</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-10-09T12:05:35.173Z
Comments.Text: If your phone can handle large apk of Alien Chess and you have time to learn such a big program, you might enjoy it later. Many functions for opening training including playing against opening book, strategy info for every book position etc...
Comments.UserDisplayName: hoacin
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-10-21T04:43:08.050Z
Comments.Text: Play Magnus apo will simulate fairly well the experience of playing a human player at different levels. If your OTB reading (not chess.com!) is 1600, you should try playing the virtual Magnus at 9-10 years old in the app.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Gregory Klopper
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-10-21T04:51:51.283Z
Comments.Text: But... Having said that... You should really focus on understanding WHY each move is played the way they're played and what's the reason placing pieces there. Sometimes it's very obvious - pawn grabs center, knight attacks pawn, knight defends, etc... Other times - not so much. E.g. 4...Qc7 in Taimanov Sicilian gees against many opening principles, but it's a GREAT move. Not the best, but very strong. Since you never know what will be played against you, you should spend less time memorizing exact lines and variations, and a lot more time understanding roles and value of pieces in their places
Comments.UserDisplayName: Gregory Klopper
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-10-21T04:58:14.623Z
Comments.Text: ...example: given a choice, is knight on c3 or knight on f3 more valuable on a particular opening? When do you trade bishop for the knight on, say, c3 after pawn to a3, when do maintain pin, and when do leave? When are flanks life valuable than center? Etc etc etc... I often play Grab attack and Borg defence (opposite of Grob). Both are definitely losing openings! I play them to practice recognizing any and all positional (dis)advantages and fight for turning a losing position into strong advantage. I win quite a bit. Because my opponents expect a "regular opening". Don't be that guy.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Gregory Klopper
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-10-22T08:36:39.553Z
Comments.Text: Thanks @GregoryKlopper. Funny, the things you mention are exactly things I struggle with. When does a knight belong on D2 and when on C3. Such things are not always explained when studying chess openings. You can see and practice the moves, but I still need to learn more about the reasoning behind it.
Comments.UserDisplayName: SQL_M
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-10-23T17:47:48.230Z
Comments.Text: Good coach can explain why the pieces are better where they are in a given position. Also, definitely buy and read "How to reassess your chess, 4th ed." by IM Silman, and pick an opening, and just play 200 10- or 15-min games with it, with in-depth computer analysis after every one. Dig bother analysing the whole game, just first 15 moves. Strive to play first 15 moves without any inaccuracies. Only good or excellent moves. It will take about 200 games over the course of maybe 6 months, but you'll get there. I recommend to start with English for white and Benoni & Taimanov Sicilian for black.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Gregory Klopper
Tags: <opening><computer-chess>
Title: Which chess app plays regular openings
ThreadText: # Which chess app plays regular openings
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-09)
  
  I play chess regularly, about 1600 rated. Sometimes I want to play chess on my phone (Android). The chess app I use, Chess free, is strong enough. However, it does not play regular openings, so when I am preparing for a regular match, it is quite useless.
  
  Does anyone know any good apps that play regular openings and are otherwise also decent overall?
  
  It's kind of a broad question, but I thought it's worth a shot here,
  
  **Tags:** opening, computer-chess
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: If your phone can handle large apk of Alien Chess and you have time to learn such a big program, you might enjoy it later. Many functions for opening training including playing against opening book, strategy info for every book position etc...  
  > **username_2**: Play Magnus apo will simulate fairly well the experience of playing a human player at different levels. If your OTB reading (not chess.com!) is 1600, you should try playing the virtual Magnus at 9-10 years old in the app.  
  > **username_2**: But... Having said that... You should really focus on understanding WHY each move is played the way they're played and what's the reason placing pieces there. Sometimes it's very obvious - pawn grabs center, knight attacks pawn, knight defends, etc... username_4 times - not so much. E.g. 4...Qc7 in Taimanov Sicilian gees against many opening principles, but it's a GREAT move. Not the best, but very strong. Since you never know what will be played against you, you should spend less time memorizing exact lines and variations, and a lot more time understanding roles and value of pieces in their places  
  > **username_2**: ...example: given a choice, is knight on c3 or knight on f3 more valuable on a particular opening? When do you trade bishop for the knight on, say, c3 after pawn to a3, when do maintain pin, and when do leave? When are flanks life valuable than center? Etc etc etc... I often play Grab attack and Borg defence (opposite of Grob). Both are definitely losing openings! I play them to practice recognizing any and all positional (dis)advantages and fight for turning a losing position into strong advantage. I win quite a bit. Because my opponents expect a "regular opening". Don't be that guy.  
  > **username_0**: Thanks @username_2. Funny, the things you mention are exactly things I struggle with. When does a knight belong on D2 and when on C3. Such things are not always explained when studying chess openings. You can see and practice the moves, but I still need to learn more about the reasoning behind it.  
  > **username_2**: Good coach can explain why the pieces are better where they are in a given position. Also, definitely buy and read "How to reassess your chess, 4th ed." by IM Silman, and pick an opening, and just play 200 10- or 15-min games with it, with in-depth computer analysis after every one. Dig bother analysing the whole game, just first 15 moves. Strive to play first 15 moves without any inaccuracies. Only good or excellent moves. It will take about 200 games over the course of maybe 6 months, but you'll get there. I recommend to start with English for white and Benoni & Taimanov Sicilian for black.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 3 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2018-10-09. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
  
  what is regular opening(are you going to study 1.E4 C5 2. Na3 because Magnus Carlsen played it)? and any app that supports opening book (chessbase, arena, chessmaster, etc) will play whatever you set in the book. also if you are 1600 - you should study chess, learn strategy, position evaluation and there will be enough opening information for you how to start game if you just read trough good book of 400-600 chess miniatures - they very well show and emphasize what are bad moves in opening that lead to quick loss and also you will learn what are good moves and approach in the opening. At your level opening is not the problem definitely! (My highest ELO was 2650 and I never studied openings explicitly - I always got them as side effect from the username_4 studies)
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Thanks for your comment. I understand your point. However, I would still like to play some games against the computer, where there is a reasonable chance that the situation might actually be on the board in my regular games. I know lots of great resources on the opening, but that's another story.  
  > **username_0**: And by regular I mean openings that are often played, not some grandmaster novelty that appeared in a few games.  
  > **username_3**: as I wrote - any descent app has opening book and its settings - I mentioned few, but there are many more  
  > **username_0**: Sorry, I Misunderstood that part. I am not familiar with opening book as a feature in a chess App. I will try chessmaster. Thanks!  
  > **username_3**: some apps even mobile let you set position and play against engine - so you can make desired first moves and play both colors with engine from same position - that would make sense in learning, but still - I strongly advice - focus on chess and not opening learning at your current level, and do openings when you reach at least 2000-2200  
  > **username_0**: Ok, I will do that. But bear in mind, a 2200 rating is something that most people will never reach. I know lots of people that have dedicated a lot of time and effort and never get beyond 1600. The fact that you reached 2650 may have clouded your view of the chess world.  ;)  
  > **username_3**: reasons why people doesn't reach 2200 can be very different-rating is heavily based on sport characteristics-one can easy have understanding of 2600 but rating 2000-that's what btw happens to older people-they loose rating even believe me their understanding is much higher then before :) You need competitive spirit to reach even 2200, good concentration while playing and determination to win, etc. but if just move pieces for fun and don't workout each move in a game; if you don't care of time management, if you don't try to squeeze maximum out of any position - that's where you loose rating  
  > **username_3**: so in short - rating does not show your understanding but your sport abilities, level of competitiveness  
  > **username_4**: We have to agree that without understanding no high rating is possible, however  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_5 on 2018-10-10. Score: 0
  
  In the chess.com app, you can play in human-vs-human mode and at any time replace one of the human players by a computer. This way, you can play the first moves yourself, for the two players, and then once the opening position you want is achieved, you switch one of the players to a computer, and it will do its best for there.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2018-10-11. Score: 0
  
  From my experience Chess Genius (for Android and iOS) plays rather mainstream openings, if that's the meaning of your question.
  
  
  ---
  
  