What are the best free tools to learn chess openings? For looking up what players really play, the Lichess opening explorer. For drilling lines you have chosen, a spaced-repetition trainer. For learning why each move is right, with no sign-up, our Opening Trainer and Trap Lab. They do different jobs, and most players need two.
We build one of these tools, so we have tried to be fair. Where we could not confirm a detail about another product, we say so.
Which tool for which job
| Job | Tool | Free? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| See what players actually play | Lichess opening explorer | Yes | Checking a position against millions of games |
| Study a line with notes | Lichess studies | Yes | Saving and sharing your own repertoire |
| Memorise a line with spaced repetition | Chessable | Some free content; check current pricing before you rely on it | Drilling a long repertoire |
| Practise offline | Chess Forge and other open-source trainers | Yes | Players who want files on their own computer |
| Learn the reasons, one short line at a time | LWSed Opening Trainer | Yes, no sign-up | Beginners and club players under 1800 |
| Learn the traps and how to stop them | LWSed Trap Lab | Yes, no sign-up | Anyone who keeps falling for the same trick |
What each tool does
Lichess opening explorer and studies
The explorer shows the moves played in a position, how often, and how each scored. It is the right tool for questions like "what do players at my rating play against 1.d4?" You decide what to learn. It does not teach you or test you. Studies let you write your own lines with comments.
Chessable (spaced repetition)
Chessable is built for memorising move orders, and the drilling method it popularised, repeating a line at growing intervals, is sound. We have not checked its current free content or prices, so look before you start. Memorising has a limit: at 1000–1399, it takes 117,524 different five-move lines to cover half of all games, so learn ideas as well as moves.
Open-source and offline trainers
Chess Forge is a free, open-source desktop application for training. We list it because free and offline matters to some families. We have not tested it.
LWSed Opening Trainer
11 openings, 86 lines, each to about move 10. Every line was built from 400,000 real Lichess games and checked with Stockfish 18, with a note on every move. Four modes: watch, practise, recall, and drill all. When you play a good move that is not the line's move, it says so and does not count a slip. Zen mode shows one line once, asks for it from memory, and brings it back after 1, 3 and 7 days. No sign-up. Open the Opening Trainer.
LWSed Trap Lab
45 traps and gambits, 88 rounds. For each trap you stop it as the victim, then spring it as the trapper. The tool scored every legal move in each position with Stockfish 18, so whatever you play, it knows what happens next and says why in one sentence. Open the Trap Lab.
What our tools do not do
- No rating numbers. Play on has Level 1 to 8 with no rating, because nobody rated has played them yet.
- Lines stop at about move 10. For depth, use the explorer.
- No accounts yet. Progress is kept on your device.
- Opening notes are checked against the board, but some repeat.
A simple setup
- Pick 8 moves for each colour with the explorer.
- Learn them with the reasons in the Opening Trainer.
- Drill on day 1, 3 and 7.
- Check your games for the places you left your notes, with Check my game or the free analysis on Lichess.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free chess opening trainer? It depends on the job. The Lichess opening explorer is the best free way to see what players play; for learning lines with the reasons and no sign-up, our Opening Trainer is built for that.
Is there a free way to practise chess traps? Yes. The LWSed Trap Lab has 45 traps and gambits, free, with no sign-up.
Can I learn openings without paying? Yes. The explorer, studies and our trainers are free.
Want a coach to choose the right lines for your child's level? Book a free 30-minute trial class with our FIDE-rated coaches.
