When I first heard of Chess Tempo, I thought it was one of those chess apps that would be ridden with ads and other distractions.
However, after trying the free version of the mobile app and website, I realized that my perception of the app was wrong.
So, what is Chess Tempo all about?
Join me as I do a review of the features of this site.
Features Of Chess Tempo
Chess Book Store and Library
Chess Tempo has a bookstore and library that allows you to buy and read chess books on the platform.
The store has a wide selection of chess books, and you can organize your library for interactive training.
You can also create your own chess book or material with this feature.
Overall, this is a great way to personalize your learning.
Training
The training offers puzzles that cut across tactics, opening, endgame, positional motives, and more.
The puzzles on Chess Tempo are designed for players of different levels, making it easy for everyone to find something challenging and beneficial.
Problem Search
In addition to training puzzles, the platform allows you to search for chess problems based on your rating and the type of problem you’re interested in.
It also depends on what you’re training for. You can also share problems in the Chess Tempo forum.
Gameplay
ChessTempo allows you to play games and save them for later review.
It also allows you to search for other players but there is no tournament feature in its gameplay.
You either join a created game or create one yourself but this usually takes some time before you find a match.
Statistics and Performance Tracking
This feature tracks your gameplay, tactical execution, endgame progress, and overall playing performance.
You can see your progress daily, track your growth in understanding chess books and repertoires, and even celebrate your in-app achievements.
The activity statistics give you a clear picture of how you’re improving over time.
Leaderboards
I believe we all love leaderboards.
ChessTempo knows this and so they provide leaderboards for each category on their platform.
This adds an exciting competitive element to your chess training and playing.
Resources and PGN Viewer
ChessTempo resource feature includes widgets and pgn viewer.
Chess Tempo widgets allow you to embed Chess Tempo functionality directly into your own web pages.
While the PGN allows you to upload your games on Chess Tempo for analysis.
Forums
There are two forums on ChessTempo.
One is for general player discussion and community interaction, which is great for learning from and engaging with other chess players.
The other forum is dedicated to support, where you can get help and advice on issues relating to the Chess Tempo app.
Pricing
Free plan: $0/year
- You get engine analysis and auto-annotations for rated games, 2 endgame problems daily, and the ability to create opening repertoires with up to 20,000 positions.
- You also get to track tactical motif performance, review a 100-problem history, and explore openings 10 moves deep.
- There’s access to unlimited tactics with over 110,000 problems and the option to solve problems by specific themes, plus unlimited online gameplay and a comprehensive game database.
Silver plan: $3/month or $20/year
- Gives you access 1 chess engine thread for 12 hours daily, tackles 20 endgame problems, and creates larger opening repertoires with up to 25,000 positions.
- You also get a 10,000-problem history, unlimited opening explorer depth, bulk download of 100 PGN games, and the ability to create custom problem sets.
- Additional benefits include a problem rating distribution graph, daily activity calendar, viewing problem PGN, seeing your common mistakes, personal tags, FIDE rating estimates, and some extra database features.
Gold Plan: $4/month or $35/year
- With the Gold plan, you can analyze 2 positions simultaneously with cloud engines, solve unlimited endgame problems daily, and create opening repertoires of up to 40,000 positions.
- You get access to 50,000+ problem history, bulk download of 1000 PGN games, and personal tactical problems from your games with detailed engine analysis features.
Diamond Plan: $9/month or $79/year
- This plan gives you access to 8 engine threads for a total of 96 hours daily and the ability to create opening repertoires with up to 60,000 positions.
- You can request bulk engine analysis for 5000 positions daily from chess tempo cloud engines.
- This membership plan offers the greatest support for ongoing ChessTempo development and provides the most comprehensive and advanced features on the platform.
Conclusion
Overall, ChessTempo has a user-friendly chess platform.
It is very okay for new players and seasoned players who want to improve their game or learn new strategies as it helps you track your overall learning progress.
Chess Tempo is also perfect for you if you love to create and solve chess puzzles as they have a lot of top-notch puzzles and answers.
Chess Tempo could be a good alternative to Chess.com but I feel having a tournament section + a more interactive UI will put it in a better competitive position against a platform like Chess.com.