Scientifically Curated Training Deck for Chess Tactical Mastery for Anki featuring:
- 12674 puzzles curated from complete Lichess database using advanced thematic sampling algorithms
- Each 100 ELO range containing ~1200 puzzles
- ≥98.4% coverage over all themes available in each 100 ELO range
- Pedagogical quality for systematic chess improvement.
- 500+ opening variations across 13+ major families
- Color-balanced training with separate analysis for white openings and black defenses
- Mainline vs. variant ratio to ensure theoretical soundness
The deck is available in the following languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, and English.
This project is the result of many hours of work, passion, and coffee ☕. If you find it useful, it saves you time, or you simply appreciate the effort, your support would be a tremendous encouragement.
If you'd like to help me continue to maintain and improve this project, please consider making a donation. Every contribution, big or small, is greatly appreciated and allows me to dedicate more time to developing quality tools.
Click the icon above to donate! 🙏
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support! 🙏
- Table of contents
- Features
- 🎯 About This Deck
- 🧠 Training Philosophy: Why Visualization Matters
- 🔬 Training Methodologies
- 🔬 Interface Design and Scientific Foundations
- 🔬 Advanced Selection Method by Thematic Sampling
- 🏰 Chess Opening Deck Generator & Analyzer
- 🚀 Installation (the easy way)
- 🚀 Installation (the complete way)
- 🎁 Usage & Training Tips
- 🏆 Transform Your Chess Vision
| Solarized theme, dark interface | |
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| Solarized theme, light interface | |
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| Front | Back |
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| Green and Paper-sand themes | |
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| Front | Front |
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This tactical deck has been designed as a versatile and scientifically optimized training tool that adapts to several chess learning approaches. Unlike traditional puzzle platforms that focus on immediate gratification, this deck emphasizes deep learning through visualization and pattern recognition mastery.
The only way to use puzzles and transpose them into real games is to learn to calculate, visualize the move tree, and quickly recognize attack and defense patterns. Doing puzzles on platforms, whatever they are, brings very little except immediate dopamine. It's pleasant to move pieces and see a green light indicating you found the expected solution, but you don't absorb the positions, you don't really learn to visualize.
What I offer here is radical, in the sense that it attacks the root of the problems: visualization. No coordinates, no piece movement, no indication arrows—only the board and your brain. Here you will need to think, learn to read coordinates, anticipate, all in a modern and clean interface. It will be difficult at first, both because of the coordinates and the moves to visualize, but you will quickly see improvements by doing ~20 new puzzles per day. And by doing I mean really try to visualize and find moves (e.g. "OK, in this position, I think next best moves are Nf7 Rh7+ Kxh7").
Each range (~1200 puzzles) allows you to apply the famous Woodpecker method: solve the same set multiple times in accelerated cycles to develop automatic recognition of tactical patterns. This approach transforms conscious thinking into unconscious reflexes, drastically increasing calculation speed in games. [1]
Use Anki's spaced repetition system to optimize learning according to your current level. The carefully selected puzzles guarantee constant progress without excessive frustration. Research shows that spaced repetition improves long-term retention by 200-300% compared to traditional methods. [2], [3]
I strongly recommend using Anki for learning these puzzles, as it's specifically designed for spaced repetition and offers optimal scheduling algorithms, especially with the FSRS scheduling algorithm.
Available on multiple platforms:
- Desktop: https://apps.ankiweb.net/
- Mobile: iOS App Store, Google Play Store, F-Droid
- Web: https://ankiweb.net/ for synchronization
Thanks to detailed tags (themes and openings), you can create custom decks to work specifically on your weaknesses: forks, pins, discovered attacks, or specific defenses like the Sicilian or French. This targeted approach accelerates learning of specific patterns. Some specific filtered decks are ready to use for the example.
Minimalist Front Display 🎨 The interface shows only the essentials: the board and the side to move. This deliberate simplification eliminates visual distractions and forces concentration on pure analysis. Research in cognitive psychology shows that a simplified visual environment improves problem-solving performance. [4], [5] It uses the useful HTMLTTCHESS a javascript program that facilitates rendering of chessboards in HTML without the need of extra images.
No Piece Movement: A Founded Pedagogical Choice 🚫 The inability to move pieces forces development of "chess vision"—this crucial ability to visualize moves in your head. Studies show that strong players possess visualization capabilities 3-4 times superior to average players.
Progressive Disclosure 📊 Solution, themes, and analysis links appear only after your attempt, respecting optimal learning principles and the "progressive disclosure" methodology.
- Pattern Recognition & Cognitive Chunks 🧩: Based on Chase & Simon's (1973) "chunking" theory
- Cognitive Load Theory 🧠⚖️: Interface follows Sweller's principles to maximize mental resources
- Skill Transfer 🔄: Visualization training shows 35-50% transfer rate to actual game performance [6], [7], [8]
The script downloads the complete Lichess database (several million puzzles) and automatically processes it. This database contains all community-validated puzzles with their metadata: ELO rating, popularity, tactical themes, and associated openings.
Fundamental principle: Instead of simply taking the most popular puzzles (which would create redundancies), the script applies a maximum coverage algorithm by theme:
def sample_by_themes(tranche, target_per_theme=20, popularity_threshold=90):Selection steps:
- Theme identification: Extract all tactical themes (fork, pin, discovered attack, etc.)
- Quality filtering: Priority selection of puzzles with Popularity ≥ 90%
- Balanced distribution: Maximum 20 puzzles per theme to avoid overrepresentation
- Intelligent complement: Add puzzles with lower popularity for rare themes
If thematic sampling produces fewer than 700 puzzles, the script automatically completes with the most popular remaining puzzles, guaranteeing sufficient volume for intensive training while preserving diversity.
Crucial point: Lichess puzzles show the position before the opponent's move. The script automatically applies this first move to present the real position to solve, then converts remaining moves to readable notation (SAN).
This method produces decks that:
- Maximize pattern diversity (>98% thematic coverage)
- Prioritize pedagogical quality (community-validated puzzles)
- Avoid redundancies while guaranteeing learning through repetition
- Adapt to level (increasing complexity by ELO ranges)
Let’s introduce the Chess Opening Deck Generator & Analyzer - the perfect companion to tactical puzzle decks! This powerful new module allows you to create, analyze, and optimize your personalized opening repertoire directly with your json repertoire.
The analyzer generates professional-quality reports that show you exactly where your opening knowledge stands. Here's a sample of what you'll see: Opening Report made with the opening json file
- 500+ opening variations across 15+ major families
- Color-balanced training with separate analysis for white openings and black defenses
- Mainline vs. variant ratio to ensure theoretical soundness
- Star-based coverage evaluation for each opening family
- Interactive ASCII board previews of critical positions
- Balance meters showing white/black distribution at a glance
- Depth distribution analysis to identify superficial coverage
- Targeted recommendations based on your specific gaps
- Progression goals tailored to your current level
- Critical position identification for focused study
- Thematic analysis to strengthen specific aspects of your repertoire
Creating your personalized opening deck is incredibly simple:
- Prepare your opening repertoire in JSON format (use our comprehensive template)
- Run the generator with just 3 lines of code:
generator = OpeningDeckGenerator()
generator.add_from_popular_openings(your_openings_data)
generator.generate_csv('my_openings.csv')Ready to master your openings? The same scientific principles that power the tactical deck now extend to opening preparation! Combine both for complete chess mastery from move 1 to checkmate. 🏆♟️
- Visit the shared deck: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/894523279
- Download the apkg file
- Go to File → Import
- Select the apkg file
- Choose "Update existing deck" when prompted and choose whether you want to import schedules
- You are ready! ✅
- Open Anki and go to Tools → Add-ons
- Click Get Add-ons... and enter this code:
1788670778CrowdAnki - Click OK and restart Anki
- The CrowdAnki plugin is now installed! 🎉
- Visit the repository: https://github.com/SKOHscripts/Optimized-Chess-Puzzles
- In the Releases section, download the ZIP archive corresponding to the version of the deck you want to use.
- Extract the ZIP file to your computer
- Locate the deck folder containing the JSON file and media folder
- Open Anki and go to File → CrowdAnki: Import from disk
- Browse to the extracted deck folder (containing the
.jsonfile) - Select the folder and click OK
- CrowdAnki will import the deck with all media files 📚
If you already have the deck and want to update it:
- Go to File → CrowdAnki: Import from disk
- Select the updated deck folder
- Choose "Update existing deck" when prompted
- Your progress will be preserved while new cards are added! ✅
The deck is now available in your Anki collection, organized by ELO ranges with optimized spaced repetition intervals. Each card includes:
- FEN Position: Real position to analyze (after preprocessing)
- Moves_SAN: Move sequence in readable notation
- Tactical themes and opening tags to display
- Unified Tags: Merged themes + openings for easy filtering
- Direct links to Lichess and Chess.com for deeper analysis
- Metadata: Rating, popularity for progress tracking
- Diplay theme used for the card (available themes are theme-solarized, theme-paper-sand and nothing for default theme)
This project thus transforms a raw database of millions of puzzles into custom training sets, optimized for systematic progression and lasting memorization of tactical patterns essential at each level! 🚀♟️
The deck includes a special section for errors and traps encountered in your games. After analyzing your games:
- Identify critical positions where you made mistakes
- Click "Share FEN position" on your analysis platform
- Create a new card with the position and correct moves
- Add context and use specific tags for easy review
Use Anki's filtering system to focus on specific weaknesses:
- Filter by tactical themes (fork, pin, skewer, etc.)
- Filter by opening systems (Sicilian, French, etc.)
- Create custom study sessions based on your needs
This deck combines the best modern pedagogical practices:
- ✅ Spaced repetition for memory anchoring
- ✅ Forced visualization to develop intuition
- ✅ Thematic diversity for generalization
- ✅ Cognitively optimized interface for concentration
Start your journey to tactical mastery today! I hope you improve, that this deck is useful to you, and that you enjoy playing it. 🚀♟️
- Based on: Lichess community database
- Optimization: Spaced repetition algorithms
- Coverage: >98% thematic coverage per ELO range
- Quality: 90%+ community approval rating
- Volume: ~1200 puzzles per ELO range
License: MIT | Contributing: Pull requests welcome | Issues: Report here