Let’s create the best Chess Improvement site on the Web, at ChessFlow.org

[Geordie Derraugh]

Hi all, we’ve finally gotten our openings move trainer to a half decent place (I hope). Thanks everyone who was an early beta tester and course author, it helped us immensely .

We’re working on improving our onboarding but in the mean time I made a quick tutorial vid on how to use our openings trainer (still a work in progress). Would love to get some feedback especially on the openings platform. Thank you!

[Geordie Derraugh]

Hi all,

We've been heads down working hard the last few months to get the site to a good place. Kicking off a big marketing push soon.
Happy to take on a few more beta testers as well, so if you'd like free access to the site, let me know.

Our team has expanded considerably. Reach out if you're interested in working with us or if you have any questions or suggestions.

www.chessflow.org

www.chessflow.org/team

[Geordie Derraugh]

This Tuesday we’ll be throwing a “hard launch” party, for ChessFlow 8pm at Left Field Brewery, Pub Chess Liberty in Toronto to kick off a marketing push. Some live puzzle contests and giveaways, hope to see some of you there!

[Geordie Derraugh]

Happy Holidays all! A quick update on what we've been up to at ChessFlow. Over the past months, we’ve been hard at work improving the core functionality of the site while adding new features and rapidly expanding our selection of opening courses.

Available Courses

WHITE

• Dismantling the Sicilian – NM Theo Slade
• Four Pawns Attack vs Alekhine– CM Gasan Guliev
• Qe2 vs Sicilian Najdorf – CM Bintang Rasyid
• Scotch Gambit / Gambito Escocés – FM Andres Palu
• Squashing the Grünfeld – NM Theo Slade
• The Italian Opening – IM Arthur de Winter
• Creative h3-Solution against Scandinavian defence – CM Gasan Guliev

BLACK

• The Ferocious French! – IM Mike Ivanov
• The Provocative Gurgenidze – IM Mark Plotkin
• The Anti-London Blueprint – CM Adriano Nunes Cavalcante
• 1.e4 e5 for Black – IM Arthur de Winter
• The Sveshnikov for Black – FM Jonas Hilwerda
• The Qa5 Scandinavian – IM Alejandro Alvarado

30+ additional courses are currently in progress

WHITE OPENINGS

• d4 lifetime repertoire
• Ruy Lopez
• Italian
• English
• London
• Catalan
• Scotch
• Qd3 vs Najdorf
• Smith-Morra Gambit
• Delayed Alapin
• Torre Attack
• Koltanowski Attack
• Bishop’s Opening

BLACK OPENINGS

• Scandinavian Qd6
• Taimanov
• Full repertoire vs d4
• Petroff
• Caro-Kann
• Sicilian Dragon
• Richer Rauzer Sicilian
• Najdorf
• Nimzo-Indian
• Queen’s Gambit Accepted
• Semi-Slav
• Benoni
• Philidor
• Jaenisch Gambit
• Belgrade Gambit
• Elephant Gambit
• 4 Knights Sicilian (Spanish)
• Black vs English

Any more Openings you’d like to see covered?

Timeline

All courses are currently FREE. Starting January 4, opening courses will require purchase. Testing the first few sessions of each chapter will remain free.
We’re looking for beta testers

• Continued FREE access to the courses after Jan 4
• Early access to new courses and features before publication
• A direct channel to influence platform direction through feedback

Platform updates

• Adaptive Openings Trainer now orders lines by popularity
• Full course read mode added
• Calculation training platform coming very soon

Regards,
The ChessFlow team

[Geordie Derraugh]

Under two days to go in the contest and already have 119 participants!

[Geordie Derraugh]

We’ve launched a championship over the next week for the main puzzles feature on our platform. The idea is you just click the destination square. It sticks to easier puzzles so it goes a lot faster.
The feedback we’ve gotten is that once you get used to it, it’s more fun than puzzle rush. Giving away 1000 usd in prizes thanks to our sponsor, Nova Marketing Group, and including a random draw of 100usd for anyone who tries it out. It’s getting pretty competitive already, Check it out! https://chessflow.org/onetouch

[Hans Jung]

I experienced the flow in all my major blindfold simuls. I didnt know how blessed I was - I should have done more - but they were hard to organise - hard to setup - required a lot of support from the rank and file players. I only occasionally experienced it during tournament games and many times in nature. Just thinking about it makes me want to do a blindfold simul again.

[Vlad Drkulec]

I have experienced flow the most often in blindfold chess - especially simultaneous blindfold exhibitions.

I have had flow experiences in chess a few times, in karate and aikido dojos and a few times where there were violent confrontations or the threat of violence. The durations of the experiences varied from seconds to minutes to many, many hours in the case of one particular chess game.

[Geordie Derraugh]

I wrote a blog post on the origins of ChessFlow, where I joke near the end that it's something else that inspired the name :p
https://lichess.org/@/geordie_coach/...oworg/e8Pews5V

But yes, that was the main reason, but there's lots of other great metaphors like getting the rating points flowing, flow of knowledge, and even the move tree concept which is one of our main novel features is basically a flow chart since it only flows in one direction!

[Hans Jung]

I have experienced flow the most often in blindfold chess - especially simultaneous blindfold exhibitions.

[Bob Armstrong]

I think of "flow" as when I have just been "in the zone"! (All too rarely in my 60 years of competitive chess - sigh).

Bob

[Vlad Drkulec]

I like the name of your website invoking the idea of flow, which is something that I have been interested in for a little more than fifty years after experiencing it firsthand a few times.

[Geordie Derraugh]

Thanks Hans and Bob! Hans, the look and feel I owe to my CTO Stephen since I don’t have a great eye for that stuff haha. I’ve been liking it too as a user!
But always room to improve, if anyone has UX or design expertise and they’d be open to helping out we’d love to connect :)

[Bob Armstrong]

Good luck Geordie!

Bob

[Hans Jung]

Sure like the look and feel of your site. Nice to see a new Canadian platform. I'm not much for improvement these days but I will send a couple of students to explore what you have to offer.