This blog is a post by Pavel Lint, a Developer at Chessable.

I love the Chessable app!

That is why I spend my time developing it, otherwise I would definitely be the next world chess champion and also a supermodel scientist rockstar.

I will share with you my passion and my perspective on the app, and why I believe it to be a great tool. 

Let’s start by imagining others: people who’ve never used the app and are not going to. This allows me to make my points clearer and pay tribute to Jean-Paul Sartre at the same time. Please take no offense, others; it will only be a few minutes.

So: compared to others, how does the Chessable app give you an edge in your chess career?

Learn when others don't

It is without a doubt very productive to have an uninterrupted 3-hour private session with a titled chess coach; but who can afford that? I know zero adults that have three hours at their disposal during a weekday, and kids these days are busier than adults.

You have to be flexible to somehow shove your hobby into a packed schedule of responsibilities. That gets much easier if your hobby remains meaningful with 5-, 8-, 14-minute time investments. This is where the mobile app helps, allowing you to quickly review a few lines while others just dissolve those awkwardly short time periods into nothingness, like the wreaths of cigarette smoke of monsieur Sartre.

Not only can you learn during those short breaks, it is first-class material for building a habit. If you’ve read Atomic Habits by James Clear, you know that it’s best for your habits to be, well, atomic. Three-hour training sessions can never become a habit; 5 minutes on your phone very well can. Using the phone allows for a wider range of habit triggers: “right after I wake up”, “before going to bed”, “during the lunch break”. (I imply your phone is always near you if you’ve successfully made it to 2024).

You might start studying when others don’t if you receive an in-app notification that your streak is about to break. Some Chessable members care about streaks, some don’t. Regardless of that, you’re more likely to do something if there’s a reminder of it.

Additionally, I’ve heard some users report that it’s easier for them to focus on their phone rather than on the computer. Those must be the folks that always have 315 browser tabs open, God bless them.

Learning more often, especially when others don’t, is a sure way to more victories.

Learn where others can't

At times you just can’t access your computer and the Internet. Hopefully you are on a twelve-hour long flight to a tropical paradise with your beloved partner asleep on your shoulder, and you are thinking how to kill an hour or two. Or you might find yourself stuck on the subway on your 80-minute commute to work. Those very polar situations can both be alleviated with the Chessable app and its Offline Mode. The courses and the videos are available for download and later usage without network access. 

By the way, if you experience an unstable Internet connection, like somewhere on a train, put your phone on airplane mode to switch the app to work offline.

There are certain places where you could bring your computer to study chess but that just might not be the best, like a shower for example, or a toilet, a community pool, a restaurant, a movie theater, a tourist bus or a national dog show. It is perfectly fine to be on your phone though; smartphones are now water-proof anyway.

Learning where others can’t and wouldn’t think of is another way to accrue knowledge and get ahead. Others can’t study under water. We can.

Discover opportunities others miss

'Do you fight for knowledge as a lion fights for its food?’ Nietzsche asks his readers. The answer is no, probably not. Nobody does. It is still your responsibility, however, to find which learning tools and techniques work best for you specifically. So it’s a good idea to try new ones. 

At the same time mobile games like 3-in-a-row are downloaded by millions of people. I have no intention to judge the mindless activity designed to provide some rest, but couldn’t it be improved just a little bit? What if you solve chess puzzles that are slightly below your level? Then you still have the relaxing effect of a mobile game while maintaining some educational value of memorizing chess patterns. If you spend the time on your phone anyway, why not “procrastinate like a GM” as my teammate Owen Stanley elegantly put it?

But even my colleagues at Chessable miss the opportunity to enjoy the app on their iPads. I don’t really understand why, it makes a lot of sense at that screen size. I think this is the only way I still use my old iPad.

I am sure you will discover other opportunities that I’ve missed, and that will give you an advantage when we’ll meet in a blitz game. You are always welcome to share your findings on the Chessable forum.

Conclusion

I believe using all these ways to study will eventually make a difference between winning and losing an important tournament game, improving your rating and hitting a wall, sustaining a hobby and giving it up.

I know the app made a difference for me. Though it’s hard to stay objective after we’ve spent hours together both on the subway and on the airplane, at the chess club and in the shower.

Thank you for reading this and for using Chessable.