Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf Game Reviews

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A wonderful idea. A very nice and classic looking chess set up, but the teaching is where this app really shines. The Dr Wolf character is polite, kind, and (at least for me) uses very good methods of teaching the moves and rules of the game. I especially enjoy how after playing a full game with him, he will go back and review the mistakes you made. Even more so that he will do this for multiple games. The only thing I dont like, and is my reason for a four instead of five star review, is the subscription system. I strongly dislike how many apps are switching to the subscription system as opposed to simply making and selling a product. I wont be subscribing for a game, but should there ever be a one time payment option to gain the lessons then I would very strongly consider paying that. However, I will still enjoy the free games with Dr Wolf as he is quite an enjoyable opponent. :)

Could be better.. Game recommends moves, often correcting moves I’ve made, but without explanation of why my move was bad or why the suggested move is better. Last night it suggested a move which would have allowed my pawn to be promoted, only to be immediately captured by my opponent’s rook. I found a better move which put his king in check, forcing his rook to move to block, followed by a another check, forcing his rook far enough away to allow my pawn to be promoted and not captured. Overall, I enjoy the app and find it helpful. I am an ‘advanced beginner’ hoping to improve my skills. Again, explanations of recommended moves would be helpful, perhaps even having the computer play through several moves from your error to demonstrate why it is a blunder, then return the board to a point immediately prior to the blunder.

Better Replays. This is a great teaching tool for sure. I’m learning stuff I’ve never known about on top of the fact that I haven’t played chess since I was an early teen. But watching you tube chess games this last month has inspired my desire to learn. What seems to be lacking for me in this tutorial is that I can’t back things up after checkmate. And during the Training I can’t back up or move forward to see where my blunder was if I were to move forward. I’ve found in playing the game here I’m making a move that the software is telling me it’s a bad move yet I continue anyway and find that I did exactly what I had planned to do and won. Although there may have been a better play but it didn’t fit my ultimate plane. If there were an option to click a button to show the better move or even moves that would help me a lot. I’m a very visual learner and that would be fantastic. I have a long way to go in learning this game and this software is great. I haven’t used any other software out there to know of anything different but here’s my 2 cents. Thank you again!!!

One of the best chess apps. I’ve learned a ton quickly from using this app. I went from knowing next to nothing to going up to being rated 500 in about two weeks. It’s like having a chess coach on your phone. Well worth paying $35. I want to give the app five stars but I gave it four for a reason. The app doesn’t have a way to practice an opening you’re working on when you want to. I would love it if the app gave me the ability to choose what opening you want Dr. Wolf to play. I wish I could, for example, have Dr. Wolf play queen pawn openings so I could work on that defense with black. It would be amazing if this app had an opening trainer. I would pay extra money if there was an add on with an opening trainer.

Actually Learning Chess. I don’t tend to write many reviews, but this app earned one! It is a great step-by-step learning tool for how to properly play chess, learn different strategies and thought processes, help you learn from your mistakes, and allow you to also just play some chess. You can also play with lessons happening as you play, or just play a normal game. And, you can choose which lessons to learn, so if you are familiar with the pieces but want to learn more strategy, you can get right to it! Explains clearly, gives you as many tries and you need, and helps you find improvements in your games.

“Expert” level not expert enough.. Dr. Wolf at expert level is no more than a version of the advanced level that makes almost just as many mistakes, albeit less embarrassing ones. When I launch a legitimate attack on “expert” Dr. Wolf, he often makes ridiculous blunders that beckons checkmate in less than 5 moves, leaving me feeling snubbed by the end. There are obviously somewhat educational purposes to his sudden weaknesses, but a difficulty level named as it is should be a platform where highly advanced players can feel consistently challenged. I believe having a more formidable opponent that can still act as a guide through more complicated variations retains more educational value than an opponent who plays with enticing inaccuracy. The latter is, after all, not an ideal role model for the more perceptive amateurs. Also, the concept of “strong moves” are based on very short-sighted standards, evaluating my moves just in light of incidental guiding principles and not the overall strategy of the game. Not expert teaching, I guess. If the nature of the app’s chess advice would be more refined and flexible, this app would become more competitive. And if learning opportunities and consistency of computer strength could be reconciled in an exceptional way, this app would become my favorite for chess.

Good game but there is some flaws. I’ve only been playing for about 15 minutes, when I got to what to do on the opening 11/33 I played a move then he responded and said I’m attacking 2 pieces though I could use the piece he attacked and defend the other one and if he took it would be a bad trade for him, so it’s not thinking what will be the best for me but overall it’s great for training it helps you a lot, though I would be considered a beginner but it’s beginner is so weak. It gives good tips good for training I’ll be using it for a while

Five stars with a caveat!. Overall this is the best app I’ve found to learn chess. The balance of constructive criticism to congratulation is encouraging and it keeps you wanting to learn more. My only complaint is that sometimes the hint button that shows you the best place to move makes no sense and there’s no explanation for why that move was suggested. One time it advised me to basically forfeit my last rook and my queen and then its next move was checkmate. Unless it was some greater lesson on listening to your own instincts, I can’t figure out why that was helpful! I would also love a button that shows pieces captured.

Absolutely love it! Make it stronger though.. This is one of the best chess apps I’ve ever seen! It offers valuable insights as you play and the whole experience leaves you feeling like you’re playing a real coach genuinely interested in helping you. My only complaint is that it’s too easy to beat even on the highest level. I’m rated around 1700 uscf and even the expert setting isn’t terribly challenging. PLEASE up the playing strength and I’d gladly dole out the monthly fee for lessons. This is exactly the kind of app I’ve been looking for.

Even with the “best moves” you lose. I am not a great chess player. I would like to be… so I paid for this app. $40 later, and when it’s working the problems, it’ll take a move that you made from one of the games that it’s decided was a blunder, and let you find the “best move”. “You have the game winning advantage here. Can you find the best move?”, it says. So you you find it, and it gives you the option to go to the next problem or “Play from here”….. and I lose. Every time. Now think about this… it takes a move from a game that *YOU WON* and turns the game to a loss. That doesn’t make sense…. Ok… so maybe I’m just missing something… so after a month of frustration, I decided to go from the “play from here” and take the hint for the best move for every turn to see what I’m missing…. Here’s the hint. Nothing. I am missing *nothing*. I take the hint for the best move all the way to a loss… 83 games in a row… but when I play on my own…. I win almost every single game. Biggest waste of $40 I have ever spent on a game…. Well… other than Candy Crush.

Cool concept AI needs work. I can tell a lot of hard work has gone into this and it seems like the devs are engaged in their community which I appreciate, hence my effort to write this review. This game is fun, educational, and designed well. I tried the free trial to check out the full scope of features and am admittedly a bit disappointed with some of the tips/game reviews. In several instances the computer suggested moves that were incorrect. For example it suggested a move with a rook to capture a pawn when there was an opportunity for the Q to end the game with a checkmate. Which of course would be the logical choice. I’ll definitely pay for this if they can sort out the Ai issues which I’m sure is no small feat.

Poetic & elaborate dialogue to conceal design approach issues. The drills are worth the subscription price, although I’ve never compared to other apps. The game coaching isn’t effective. Seems like they spent all their time developing film-quality dialogue and dialogue trees, but forgot critical basics like the forward button on game analysis. The excessive dialogue only gets in the way. I don’t need you to have a canned reply such as “back we go” or “as you wish” when I undo a move, yet have no way to re-do the move. And for all the dialogue, it will “coach” you to make a terrible move that causes you to lose the game. It’s like it assumes that you are 5 years old, and then assumes you are a grand master, randomly. Basically it uses the excessively poetic dialogue to cover up issues with core approaches and design philosophy.

Bot. This is a great app to learn on. The tutorial is fantastic and easy to pick up. The only issue is that after doing 30+ training moves on each piece, plus training maneuvers on how to properly flow through the game, the bot doesn’t follow any of those rules. I’m taught to engage the middle of the board, develops my knight’s and bishops, then castle. But instead of doing the same, the bot immediately checks me in three moves while I’m still trying to set up properly. Or how it teaches me that most pieces which are protected diagonally by another one of your pieces, it goes and takes my pieces like it just didn’t explain that it’s a bad move to do. There’s no consistency. No matter which color I start as, I always feel like I’m immediately behind trying to defend some ridiculous move the bot made while set to beginner. May I suggest that the beginner levels have some sort of pattern flow to them rather than just immediately attacking with the Queen? Thanks.

Great AI coach. In this app you play against an AI coach, Dr Wolf. Wolf will play close to your skill level so you have the satisfaction of being challenged without getting crushed. Love how you learn by playing full games rather than drills. I also like the training feature where you re-examine mistakes from your past games. My only complaint is sometimes the solution Dr Wolf has in mind doesn't really make sense. I think if Dr Wolf doesn't have a good explanation for the move then that position should be skipped. Thank you!

Wonderful teaching game, but.... This app is fantastic, but I feel I can’t give it 5 stars for two reasons. If a future update fixes these, then I’ll happily change my review. First, when asking for a hint on what to do, it doesn’t often say why we should move this piece there, and it isn’t always apparent (though he might explain why he moved a certain piece or congratulate you on finding an attacking or defensive position). The second is that the level difference between “Advanced” and “Expert” is astronomical. I can easily win against Dr. Wolf’s advanced-level games, but the expert level demolishes me every single time. I’m not suggesting to make the app easier; however, adding more levels after advanced and before expert would be a great addition. Being stuck at a level that I can beat over and over provides a steeper learning curve when the next one is near impossible for my skill level. I’m not sure if I’m the only one with this issue, but for my own personal benefit after buying the pro version (definitely recommend), I wish it had this feature. Note: I have not also tried out other teachers yet, was hoping to beat Dr. Wolf first.

Best chess training app. This chess app is amazing at making it feel like there is a person sitting down with you and walking you through every aspect of chess, from basic rules and principles, to advanced chess terms and strategies. This app is great for everyone, whether you don’t even know how chess pieces move, if you have been playing casually for a while and want to become better, or if you are competitive and looking to broaden your knowledge.

Pretty Darn Good. It’s a very well designed app. One very frustrating thing that happens a lot - in the middle of a game, I might need to lock my screen or switch to another app. When I go back to the app, I get either get frozen on the main screen, or it’s not frozen, but still on the main screen instead of continuing where I left off. This seems to happen most consistently in the “review mistakes” training. Not sure if it’s a memory issue or what, like the memory is clearing when you leave the app, but it’s a little annoying. Not enough to stop using the app, and definitely not enough to keep me from recommending it to amateur chess enthusiasts!!

Just ok not much learned. I’ve been playing chess on and off for over 20 years. I wanted a program to help get better. This app has coaches and games that are either too difficult to win or too easy. The feedback is ok on better moves to make, but the review of mistakes at the end can be confusing because they suggest moves that might not make sense and leave you wondering why. Plus, it doesn’t go into more advanced games and how to really get tactical in the game. I learned a few things but overall I’m still basically at the same level as before. As a computer, it is pretty good at chess but I feel like I’m playing the same way without learning how to improve. I played almost 400 games to try. So I won’t continue the subscription because the app leaves me frustrated and disappointed with very little progress or improvement. I’m going to try something else.

Incredible learning app but with one simple request.. This is by far the most clear, straight to the point, and accessible chess learning app. My only request is that when I tap the hint button, it usually poses a wonderful question that encourages me to figure it out. It would be great if the solution to the hint didn’t automatically pop up after a few seconds. I’m honestly trying to learn and when the answer pops up while I’m still figuring it out, it doesn’t let me learn it on my own. Perhaps only give the solution upon hitting the hint button a second time. Otherwise, this app is perfect.

Gives unreliable advice. I did learn some chess from Dr. Wolf. The idea of a tutor is excellent, but the execution could be improved. The biggest problem is that it gives unreliable advice, which is worse than no advice. For example, one feature allows you to review mistakes you made during the previous game. Often it will identify a mistake, then tell you that same move was the best move! If it is contradicting itself, then you have to suspect that it is giving you bad advice when it is less obvious. After initially posting a more negative review I was contacted by the developer, who said that I had identified a bug, and committing to fix it. I have revised the review to be less critical in expectation that it will be improved.

Almost as good as a live teacher. I’m a chess beginner and have been using this app at least once a day for about a month. I love that I have options: training on specific strategies, playing a game against Dr. West (who plays at my level,) and reviewing mistakes. You can also get hints, or take back a stupid move. Although “Dr. West” doesn’t speak out loud he makes plenty of comments which appear on the screen to reinforce what I am doing right or wrong. I highly recommend it.

Nice app just a few annoying little things.. I like the idea of this app. There is a few Things I would change. Like the “stalemate” feature. This could be something that I can turn on or off if I want to. Many times I’ve found myself frustrated that it would come up without me being able to turn it off. I would have to find another way to get the king and it’s annoying. I imagen if I play against a human he will just keep going until I checkmate his king. It felt annoying and made me Regret downloading the app at times. Other then that, I like it. I would of also liked that they put an actual voice in the text lessons and training. It gets boring to read, it would be nice to have it verbalized so I don’t have to read. After while it becomes a chore to read the lessons and I lost interest in engaging with it. That’s the only feedback I have with app. Other then that, I like it. If there is any upgrades in the future, it would be nice to also have more lessons and training with an actual voice. Maybe have courses within the app that are aside from the basic lessons and training to go more in-depth in becoming good with just knights, rooks and etc.

Great, couple improvements to suggest. Great app in general. Couple areas for improvement: he says some of the same things over and over. (“I see, you’re castling.” Etc.) It’s irritating. It would also be nice if it was somehow visually represented which pieces on each side have been captured, the way you can easily see that during a live game. But most of all, it would be great if the coach could point out MY specific weaknesses. Nothing would help me improve as much as that. I was delighted to see the update but it’s introduced a bug. It’s not recognizing me as a paid subscriber anymore and won’t coach. Can you fix?

Flawed Concept. This is nothing but a gimmick and a flawed concept. Playing a game against a handicapped engine is definitely fun, but the main function is supposed to be coaching, where the program utterly fails. You are shown moves from previous games that you get to play, but it does not provide you any means to properly determine why the suggestion was made. When you try to explore from the point of reference, The engine does not necessarily play the appropriate moves, and the recommendations are often confusing, while a refutation of other ideas is not provided. The situation is further confounded by the program's lack of basic functions to export games or positions as PGN, FEN, respectively. Do yourself a favor and get a chess graphical user interface that allows you to analyze games, enter variations, annotate the game, etc. If you want to improve your chess, you can own Chess Studio Pro by Giordano Vicoli for a fraction of the price you'd pay for one year of Dr. Wolf.

The Chess is Great!!. I’ve had this app for 3 weeks and have improved my chess skills, and had a ton of fun. All was going great until my screen locked up while using one of its great tutorials. Unable to get out of the freeze, I contacted the developer. I received a swift email response telling me that it might take a couple of days to get back with me. I then thought some more and emailed them asking if I were to cancel my subscription would they return the 11 months of my subscription that I purchased for 1 year. No quick response to that. I would recommend not purchasing an annual subscription, and going on monthly pay plan. Will keep you all informed on how this concludes.

Engine at Expert good. Coaching no good. I’ve had the free version on my phone for years now. I learned that the only level worth playing is the highest which I believe is “expert.” Every level below that is sloppy, makes bad moves and doesn’t follow theory or openings. Having never beat the highest level, I thought: “I can learn something from this app.” But within an hour of purchase, I canceled. The coaching is terrible. More than half the time it gives incorrect advice that isn’t paying attention to position play at all. Okay to have free version set in highest setting. My guess is rating is around 2000.

Great app that doesn’t cheat but Encourages. Been looking for a app to replace Magnus app. He is not encouraging chess and is now surrounded by people who ONLY love money. The money over chess doesn’t take chess as a whole to the next level. You need to pay constantly for brain power. Which is to aid you in learning the better move. In over 5 years the app would never never offer a draw. Which is ridiculous its AI for crying out loud. Then when it’s your turn to win the app just crashes to keep your rating down. I have complained for years. And it’s always some unencouraging answer. This app actually teaches instead of discouraging the art form.

Awesome!!. I am completely new to chess meaning I have zero knowledge of the game but this app has taught me everything about the game with excellent tips like what to do and what not todo or what todo in certain situations. This app will show you how to master each piece on the board. I just feel so happy to finally understand this game!!! Btw my I.Q is like 10 and somehow I still grasped everything easily. The coaching is very clear and informative. I highly recommend this app!!!

Second time around. I downloaded and used the app when it first came out and it was pretty good. I reinstalled again today (a year+ later) and the game seems improved. However, the app isn’t affordable. It’s not clear at all why it’s a subscription. It’s also not clear why the dev can’t make sufficient money off $10 per install. Your income isn’t my business but I would put up with an ad heavy version of this app if it meant that I could keep using it and you could get some amount of income from me. Or, you know, you could charge something a bit more reasonable like a one-time fee that fits the budget of us chess students outside the US.

I know how to play now!. Before using this app, I was only good enough to stay alive in a game of chess. It was especially hard for me to wrap my head around capturing the king and winning in general. Even going against a “Beginner” Dr. Wolf would have been difficult for me. BUT thanks to the lessons I got from here, that’s not really an issue anymore. I’ve won several games! I’ve only been able to beat the beginner mode, but I see this as an improvement! I’m excited to study more on the lessons the app has in store for me. Even if it’s just in the free version.

Nice learning environment. Provides a friendly, supportive learning experience. The lessons and the gameplay are symbiotic. To make the app even better, there should be deeper explanations on why the “best move” hints are really the best moves, especially during the middle game. Sometimes there is a good explanation, but other times the explanation is too shallow or altogether absent. Clearly the hints are considering the gameplay several moves ahead, so why not share the logic with the “student” like a live teacher would? The game board could also benefit from some 3D options to create a more life-like experience.

Dr Wolf. It’s a good app, but don’t plan on practicing openings, this guy never has any type of traditional opening. Always opens like c6 or a6 or something crazy. He plays well but it would be nice if you could plan his style so you could practice openings. You start 10 games and rewind after every first move, he’s going to have 10 different openings. This guy absolutely never starts the first of second moves with a knight either like 99% of the people your going to play in real life. Out of about 50 openings i tried just to see, almost forty had double pawn openings and most were like bishop pawn or rook pawn openings. You just don’t see those playing the people i play. I would fall over dead if this guy had a pawn knight knight bishop opening one single time. He may in there somewhere, but I’ve never seen it

Helpful, well executed chess tutoring app. Very enjoyable gameplay and useful instruction. The Dr. Wolf persona is effective and enjoyable. Just enough variety and personality to make the dialogue motivating. The tutorials and opportunities for in-game learning are all very well realized. My only quibble would be that in the “reviewing mistakes” from the previous game, there could be more detail not just on the alternate moves to consider but why those moves were better choices. But this is a high class problem. About the only thing I can really complain about is that I hate the app icon. Yes, don’t mind this old man’s head on my home screen. I am a serious professional human.

Coaching. It’s a good program,I think the coaching helps a lot. But there are some discrepancies. I would be happy to help, but I don’t want to give my ideas for free. I’ve been playing chess on and off since I’ve been 8 years old. I had to work for 35 years so I couldn’t stay with it the way I wanted. Now that I’m retired I enjoy studying the game again as much as I like to play it. So I may be looking at this coaching more from a student’s point of view than a programmers point of view. The coaching leaves a lot of questions. This is the reason I gave three stars, not five. I’m not putting anything down, just some observations. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Raymer Brogan

Lacks some of the most basic features of a chess app. How do you make a chess app and not show what pieces have been captured or what piece was captured by the last move? It’s mind-blowing to me that a high school comp sci project would leave that out let alone an app that charge 5 bucks a month. There’s also no way to switch sides unless Dr Wolf is in the mood to. He played a move that seemed mind-bogglingly stupid so I wanted to switch sides and see his thoughts if I played the move I thought he should have taken. Can’t do it. Also, the tutorials are VERY limited. The concept here is great. I like the idea of having him create opportunities to teach you various concepts through play but the execution is terrible. I do like the art style of the app and newspaper chess board. But geez, what about the basics?

Love this chess coach!. Dr. Wolf is fun and friendly way to learn chess. The coaching and lessons take you step by step into the nuances of the game, both strategy and tactics. Whenever you need a little help, Dr. Wolf is there to give you a hint and encouragement. It feels like you are playing with a real person because Dr. Wolf comments on every move, praising your good ideas and cautioning against a mistake. I love when I make a stupid move and he says “Oh dear…” but it’s nice to know you can always take it back and try again.

Helpful selection of Lessons, Unique Interface. This chess application provides the feeling of actually playing against a live opponent, who offers conversation; often helpful. There are a wide variety of lessons available. Probably could best be summarized as a friendly, helpful chess application. We have a suggestion to consider for future versions: When showing a suggested move (using the ? Option), briefly explain why the player should make this move. There are many levels available. All in all, highly recommended for the valuable tips and lessons.

Project/Example-Based-Learning at its peak. I rarely write reviews but I honestly thank this app so much. I’d propose that there’s at least one psychologist in the developer team. I’d wanted to learn chess for a long time but the potential barrier were pretty tough. But this step-by-step break-down and humanistic encouragements (and even humor!) made learning exponentially faster and I finally found the feeling how learning a brain-demanding skill could be addictive. It’s like you had a real coach who watches over you and patiently points out where you needs to improve - the antidote to solitude and fear of humiliation, two of the greatest enemies of learning. The instruction style that this app uses is indeed the study-proved and tried-and-true best way to lead a student forward. I’ve been trying to search for apps that teach other intellectual skills with a similar style but have been in vain so far. I really wish there could be more apps of this sort. Well worth the money.

Fun way to learn chess. If you’re a beginner like me Chess has a lot of fundamental ideas and tactics that you should know to make sure you have a good foundation and this app is the best I’ve played so far it’s fun and guides you through games in a way i haven’t seen other chess Apps do. It tells you when you make mistakes and gives you alternatives. Im learning and having fun playing games where now i understand how to begin, what moves i should start out with etc. If you’re a beginner and want to improve and learn fundamentals and understand why certain moves are made in games and how to pull them off etc check out Dr Wolf 👍🏽👍🏽

Bad reviews come from Freeloaders. Before getting this app, I only knew how the pieces moved. That’s it. I went through all the lessons for beginners and then played a game against the AI set at “strong beginner”. I was able to defeat it, albeit with my coach every once in a while nudging me in the right direction and the ability to take back some bad moves here and there. The amount I learned is astonishing. I signed up for the $4.99/month which is just peanuts considering you get a “coach” that actually teaches you and sets up many exercises and problems when covering lessons. Much like a math or music tutor would do. If you do yearly instead of monthly you’ll get it for less than three bucks a month. This is such a no-brainer. I took the free trial and saw the value right away. Not surprisingly, the bad reviews for this magnificent app come from people who want everything for free. That’s their main beef: “Waa waaaa it’s pay for play, waaa waaa”. How are they surprised that they have to pay for quality goods and services? Do these people go to a car dealership, enjoy their free test drive, and then complain that they have to pay if they actually want the car? Anyway, the AI coaching here is nice. A patient and understanding experienced dude at your service 24/7. Exceptional for beginners.

I like it a lot. I was looking for a chess game where I could play others but I saw this and figured I would give it a chance. I used to play with my roommate and he taught me a lot about chess but I haven’t been able to play in almost a year. This was really cool to go through a game and get coached on better moves. I made quite a few perfect moves and he coached me through some of my mistakes. Originally this was a five star review but I wanted to see if I could change the design so it wasn’t so 2D and if not was going to mention that I’m the review. Instead I found out I can’t play for free very long. I didn’t realize it was a pay to play and so expensive to do so.

Great for learning. If you are looking at ways to improve your game and build upon your skills from beginner or imtermidate skill level, this is the chess app for you. I enjoy it and have been learning more than I was expecting from this app. The only down side is it doesn't synch across multiple devices. If you subscribe and down load the app on your iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, your progress isn't update across all devices (thus the four stars). However, when I brought this up to their support, I received a quick reply and was informed they are aware of the issue and are working to fix it (five stars and thank you Holly). Overall, I would highly recommend this chess app to family and friends and feel the cost of the subscrition is worth it.

Great app. I learned to play chess with this app. I promised myself after things shut down a few years ago that I’d try anyway. This app/game is great and I play quite often, so much so that I received a message after finishing a game last night asking if I was a developer. I’m not. I’m still at the beginner level and the only reason why I win is because the app lets me. I make plenty of mistakes and the app always asks if I’d like lessons. Really can’t afford them right now, but I’ve learned a lot just from watching what the computer does in the game. I know and understand what each piece is named & how it moves and advances on the chess board. Much appreciated for a great app.

Great app. Yesterday I decided that learning how to play chess would be a good use of my time, and this is the app that I happened to download. I love the hands on puzzle approach to teaching and because of the amount of times you go over a single thing, I found myself learning quickly. You do eventually hit a paywall but honestly you get so much for free even if you don’t pay you can leave knowing the basics of chess to get you started. No complaints here.

The best chess app yet. I downloaded this app with some skepticism, since I’ve tried numerous chess apps over the years but found them frustrating. This one, however, is in a league of its own (I have the paid version). My chess abilities have skyrocketed, and my only complaint is that it’s addictive! I would like to see some additional options as the developers continue to listen to feedback, as they so graciously do. Some suggestions: let the user see which pieces have been captured; add a forward button (for when we use the back button and then change our mind—sometimes Dr W plays differently when we do that); explain why he sometimes labels a move as a blunder (in the “learn from your mistakes” option after a game, which is generally very helpful). In that section, I’d also like to see exactly what I played when he shows me the board where I made a mistake. But for those of you wondering whether this app is worth it, I would say that its advantages are terrific!

Poor advice with little explanation. I really loved this app at the start and started the free trial. However after the third day the advice become very odd with very little reasoning. For example the app advised the best move was to hang a bishop in order to protect a pawn. The bishop would be a free capture and the pawn would be taken anyway so it would be a useless move. The reason provided was just “Right! You protected a pawn!” Another example was to hang a knight to protect the queen. The queen had no threats at all (I stared at the board for some time) and all this did was lose the knight and provide a strong open diagonal to the queen. I would take this advice if there was some pliable reasoning behind this, as I am no advanced player, but there was very little reasoning and for a teaching app I expect more understanding as to why I would sacrifice pieces like this. Unfortunately, I will not be a subscriber as I do not think I will learn much from this advice. I do have screenshots if the devs are interested.

Only Worth it For Lessons, Not Actually Playing Chess. The app has great lessons, my chess game has already improved significantly with the free ones! Playing actual chess games against the AI is a different story however. I have yet to find an AI that doesn't cheat, or refuse to lose. I tried to win many games against the AI here, and only won once. One game I had a rook, a queen, a knight, and a bishop and the AI only had the king. I should've been able to win that one, right? Everytime I made a move with any of these that would put its king in check with it cornered the AI would call a draw. I took back the move and tried to win with many different moves and angles, and got the same results. I am, however, able to beat the AI of other chess apps with strategies from this one, when they don't cheat that is. Edit: (In response to developers response.) Ty for letting me know that, As a beginner I did not know that rule about chess. I probably just missed it. Some of the other chess apps out there don't always enforce that one as much. Maybe you could have Dr. Wolf explain that more often? I'll be sure to send in screenshots of anything that I have questions about.

Excellent tool for just starting out at chess.. I knew very little about chess but wanted to know. I started on Dr. Wolf and not long after, I feel I could sit down and play someone. I’d probably loose at this point but I’m doing and redoing the lessons and playing “Dr. Wolf” often. I am getting better. There are so many ways to learn on this app: Lessons, Training and Playing. Even while playing Dr. Wolf is helping - if you want the help. Not to mention, it is fun and nearly addictive if you want to learn chess.

Good for Basics - Buyer Beware. I really enjoyed this app at first. I think it has a great approach to teach a beginning chess player. Really like the format. However, eventually you hit a “pay wall” which can be frustrating. I was considering buying the additional content/access.... and then? I was playing Dr Wolf, and he castled to get out of check. You can’t do that. Clearly a glitch / bug, whatever. But I’m not going to pay to play against a computer opponent (and pay for “coaching” from “him”) if he sometimes is programmed to forget some basic rules. Not cool. Not paying. Deleting. To the programmer: check your logic to make sure Dr Wolf knows the castling rules and follows them. Update following developer response: I have increased my rating by 2 stars, as the developer responded quickly and kindly to show interest in investigating the bug. I really appreciate that as a user that they stand by their product. Unfortunately, I can’t help any further right now, as I can’t generate a screenshot from a game from some time ago. As I’d spent many hours playing Dr Wolf, I think this issue to be very rare indeed - if it were to happen in future I will of course try to be more helpful and save a screenshot (also a PGN). Thanks for reaching back - if it happens again I will supply better data to you via an email or something instead of an app review!

Good app with potential. I am a USCF class B player. I have been playing on the advanced level for roughly 20 games. What I notice is Dr. Wolf doesn’t necessarily play at an advanced level, but rather suggests advanced skills he hopes to cover in the game. That does not mean those opportunities will arise. Furthermore Dr. Wolf will suggest to you to take back a move that is either a mistake or he sees something better. In either instance I have had Dr. Wolf make outright blunders dropping material or giving his Queen away for nothing. As far as rating goes 1500 is average USCF and Dr. Wolf has me at 1055 when I am 1630 USCF. I have won all 20 games so I don’t understand why this is. This app has a lot of potential and I love the concept. I’d like to see these issues fixed.

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Excellent Chess game. Thanks for Dr Wolf. I love it.

Dr.wolf chess. Thankful to Dr.wolf chess excellent lessons I learn amazing tactics idea to play chess successfully, for the past decade I was struggling to know the in-depth facts of chess game your super lessons proved very helpful and just in 3 days I am able to play defend and use proper approach in every move Thanks a lot Fida

Great app. Great way to improve on your chess skills. Good value and lots of fun.. definitely recommend this to any budding player. The tips and lessons help develop your game

Pls fix. Doesn’t have any other colour boards

Best teacher ever!. Dr Wolf - I’m in love 😍 you’re such a great teacher. So supportive!!! Thanks a million

Very helpful. This is very well designed, and seems like real interpersonal assistance. Best chess app I’ve seen so far.

Great, however. During some lessons, the pieces will magically duplicate. I had like 6 kings in the mate with queen lesson

I think this app is great. Great app!

Very good step to step teaching material. I am very impressed. Clear examples and good instructions. Very easy to understand and it’s fun to learn.

AI So Advanced!. Easy to forget that Dr Wolf is an AI. This is the first bot I have ever interacted with and not been painfully aware that it’s just a stupid computer program. I could even say I admire and look up to Dr Wolf and his mastery of chess. In-game coaching occasionally lacks explanation as to why a certain move is better, and sometimes the suggested move doesn’t seem better at all; that is, unless he’s just failing to explain why it is.

!!!. Kind of annoying when you wait for them to move for two hours!!!!

Yol. Sometimes I frustrate you, I feel bad. Before I make a move I don’t think well

Good Option for permanent opponent but you need to pay for a coach. I initially thought this would be a five star excellent coaching app, but then the coach disappeared unless I paid $47 for the ‘free trial’. Not doing that. A bit disappointed. Also, I found that I was encouraged by good moves only to be mated the very best move. It’s not ideal to be congratulated for a precisely correct move and then instantly lose.

My chess game. Every day I play a few games still at beginner’s level. It’s good,I have a lot of fun and hope to improve. Thanks Anna

Fantastic. Great chess app. Thank you.

Money money money. I appreciate the complexities of chess and understand developing such a well rounded and pleasant learning experience (which this app does deliver), could be quite complex and costly to the developer. However…. A subscription based model costing $9 a month, or $60 a year really takes the charm from Dr wolf. It seems as though Dr wolf has obtained his doctorate in the field of finance and business, offering free trials for a few months and praying that you forget about the subscription while he makes withdrawals from your account all while laughing from his side of the chess board. I find the increased use of subscription based models highly predatory and down right unnecessary. I feel as though it ruins what could have been a fantastic chess learning experience.

Euphoric?. Hard to believe there’s almost 400 ratings, most of them euphoric, but nearly all a year or more ago. Something’s odd.

Great way to learn. I never leave reviews, but I had to leave one on this I have played a little bit of chess with my mates but no formal training this app got me to a pretty respectable level in about 3 weeks... I win every game against my mates easily now.

Chess. Very good great app

The best Chess app. Need to win? Buy this app is so good !!especially when you sign up for coaching😸

Addictive game, great coaching. New to chess, learning to love it as a result of this game. It’s great!

Good app. Maybe more feedback when you make a bad move on why it’s a bad move. That’s it.

Superb. This is an excellent chess tutor app, in fact it’s a superbly designed app full stop. Clever interaction, top hints and explanations, and Dr Wolf is a great original character. It’s helped me a lot... This app deserves a wide audience.

Automatically give hints. Please give an option that shows everything. Like the strategy of the other sides positions and it’s advantages. Also including an automatic hint shower for your side instead of having to manual spam the question mark each move.

Chess game. Awesome

Highly recommend. This app teaches you so much about chess and helps improve your game. It’s easy to use and focuses on making you better. And on top of all that it’s free!

Best in a (non existent) class. Short review : if you are learning chess, Dr. Wolf will be a great booster. I should elaborate from my own perspective. There are resources that will teach the rules, and there are resources that are challenging enough for a semi-serious player (say FIDE 1400+). From there down to the rank beginner there is precious little. Dr. Wolf is deigned to fill that gap, and all while I’m having fun playing a new and unique game! I am an advanced beginner (as I write ~ FIDE 1000) and need help with tactics. Dr. Wolf won’t tell me every tactic (chess is a difficult game, folks) but I really enjoy when the app offers its commentary. I have a feeling there will be more to come, although if I ever get to 1400 (that certainly is an aim) it will be time to move on to the typical resources. Another great tool for us patzers is of course regular play, and there may well be cheaper options if one improves through competition.

It’s addictive. Awesome app for a raw beginner like me. Has kept me entertained every time I pick it up. It’s only been a week and I’m already at a level now where I feel I have a certain amount of control which is very rewarding.

Great game with helpful tips. Training module very clever and helpful

Best chess app. I have downloaded and played a variety of chess coach aps and this is definitely the best one available. My game has improved and the game review is excellent. The app truly plays at the correct level ranging from “beginner mistakes” to chess master variations. If you want to learn chess or improve your game this is the app to buy

Schepchess. Lacks flexibility in setting up positions or defences/attacks

I ❤️ Dr.Wolf. Get

Great learning tool. I didn’t know anything about chess before this app, it explains everything very well! Highly recommend!

Wish the speech had sound. Would love an option for read aloud speech vs having to reading it yourself — we have a kid who this would be amazing for but they can’t read yet so it’s inaccessible.

Must play. I love to play dr wolf everyday to get better and I think more ppl should play

I just want to play. Keep getting bombarded with all these free trial things all I want to do is play chess. I do not want to learn or to do all this other stuff and chest should be free, chess.com better for just games and a little bit learning, but recommend if willing to spend money coaching, and stuff very good

It’s very very good. Hard to beat at the most advanced level & always “up for a game” The coaching wasn’t for me so I learn & play for free with no annoying ads I highly recommend this app and wish to publicly thank the developers.

Fantastic tool for improving chess. I’ve been trying to improve my game for a year or so and making little progress. This app is a great application of technology. In the two weeks I’ve had it so far my game has notably improved. Equivalent private coaching would be multiples of the purchase price.

Absolutely love it!. By far the best learn to play chess app out there. Simple and easy to use, highly recommend!

Absolutely Terrific.. This game is absolutely terrific as it has helped me get significantly more skilled so I am able to compete with my friends who are chess enthusiasts.

Fantastic teaching app. Fantastic teaching app. Well done, it’s been an enormous help to me and I’ve already improved dramatically. It’s quite hard to believe sometimes that the incredibly helpful and friendly guyyou’re playing isnt a real guy coaching you and giving compliments/encouragement along the way. Best chess coaching app ever. Cheers

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Chess app. Great game, a bit slow to load sometimes

Necessity!!. Good Teacher you’ve got here!!!

Key Move Missing. You cannot castle your rook and king in this app. Doesn’t make much sense not to add this move.

Excellent. I have been wanting to learn how to properly play chess for years, and this app pretty much covers it for me. Good lessons and tips, really enjoyable. $6.50/month isn’t that bad either for the monthly cost, or $4/month for a year is reasonable as well, considering how much an actual instructor would cost. Highly recommended!!

Great app!!. This app works great and is a great teacher.

I really enjoy playing !!!. I think it’s a well structured app

Helpful. Dr wolf helps in a helpful way. He gives tips and tricks and compliments while teaching you.

How but not why. Great for basic how to’s for a beginner but doesn’t really explain the why’s in order to better understand and plot moves.

Best app. This is the best app if you’re learning how to play chess

Wish it was better. I’m around 1900 on rating on most apps and even on expert dr wolf wasn’t really a challenge not saying I’m an amazing chess player or bragging I’m far from the best I get beat all the time by people online but dr wolf just isn’t that good I wish they spent more time making dr wolf a better player also I wish I could flip the board it helps me play better

Fun way to improve your skills. I really like this app: it’s well-designed and very helpful, and I think the cost is quite reasonable. About the only thing I’d add is the ability to get more detail on why a suggested move is good or why a move the engine considers a mistake is bad (it will often say, but not always).

Beat Magnus. Thanks to Dr Wolf, I was able to beat Magnus at age 8 after many many many failures. My chess game is improving because of the lessons and the in-game training. Onward to the next age of Magnus.

Dr. Wolf on top. Very informative tutorials with a teacher that is well-drawn, helpful, and would probably have a nice voice. His praises make me go brrrrr~ Love.

Fun and Interactive. I really enjoy using this app daily and have since purchased the full version. I have noticed some errors, however, with some of the lessons for they display more pieces than what actually exists (e.g. 3 bishops during the forking lesson). Otherwise this is a very useful app to learn chess.

Love this game. I became better at chest like never before thanks to this game; one of my best app purchase in a while! Great job Dr Wolf

Incredible. Gives wonderful advice and insight on how to play chess, way better than I would’ve thought.

Great way to get better at chess. The free version doesn’t give you much feedback on your game but it’s still a great app to practice on.

Stable but frustrating. I’ll do a short review, maybe add some later. Overall it’s stable and pretty decent for what it is. I think the menu and changing difficulty etc. is weird, but you get used to it. I’m not a huge fan of the puzzle feature. I just play a game and want to try out my mistakes. And when I go straight from a game to look at mistakes I’m presented with mistakes from 3 days ago as well. Makes no sense. Make two puzzle features then, one of your random over all mistakes and one from each game. Second. It is overly frustrating to solve a puzzle that makes little to no sense optically and yet you get zero logical explanations as to why the new decision is better. Trading an opponent pawn for my knight is the better move, but I gain no ground I can’t see how that’s the better move and the app tells you nothing except, yes that’s the move. How is that teaching anything. This app needs to do better in teaching imo. Other than that it’s a nice practice app but needs a slight upgrade here and there.

It's really good. The application is really well done. The writing is impressive. Dr. Wolf almost seems like a real person. The application really helped me to improve my chess. The training is good and when you're playing "real" you can always request suggestions. I wish there were more training. I finished everything within two months... and will now move to another app only because I feel like I need more training and now there's nothing left to do in this app. Hey guys if you add more trainings, more tactics, strategy training, please let me know!

Free version only allows one undo move.. If you are looking to train yourself by playing and undoing your moves in the hopes of learning better strategies then skip this app as you’ll just be wasting your time. You’ll need to purchase a training subscription tied with a monthly or yearly cost in order to undo more than once. Another typical attempt at a money grab to entice you to purchase a paid subscription rather than the approach in showing the value added in their training subscription without limiting the basic functionality of the game.

merci CHESS. monsieur le professeur j ai 93 ans et quand je suis fatigue la concentrationm echappe..metiers divers marin ecrivain poete peintre sculpteur Sensei plus de 40 ans dAi Ki Do en France Espagne Mexique Goa en Indes Mc Gill universite a Montreal vie intensement interessente marie depuis 72 ans j aime les defis je parle courammant 4 langues et me debrouille assez convenablement dans 3 autres j apprecie beaucoup votre methode d enseignement merci robert clementmerci

Supports older devices. I use an old phone and old iOS. I’m really happy to see that they’ve done some bug fixes and it works on my old phone again! Hooray for supporting older devices!! This is a great app and I really enjoy it. I can see visible progress when practice with Dr. Wolf :)

Entertaining way to learn!. I keep improving and the supportive permissive environment really helps!

The best app ever! / La meilleure application !. A very concrete application where each move is very well explained. Being an intermediate player, learning by visualizing the moves with good advice is essential. you never feel alone. for less than $ 1 a week, you have loads of content. to buy without hesitation. if I could invest in this company that offers these applications, I would without hesitation.

Fantastic app. Love this app. Super for beginners or those wanting to tune up their game. Works flawlessly and the coaching on the purchased package is great and well worth it!

A little annoyed.. App provided a free trial with the stipulation that I could confirm or cancel subscription as of dec 11. The app however confirmed my description on that day. Clearly the app could communicate the subscription confirmation date better.

Excellent!!. Just learning to play or looking to hone your skills, this app and the coaching program really delivers!!

Very impressed with Dr. Wolf!. I’ve been telling everyone how this noob has gotten so good so quickly and it’s thanks to Dr Wolf! Just started playing Chess and have learnt so much already. Can’t wait to learn more. Excellent job on the app guys! Great interface and interactions! It’s world class!

Best Chess Coach. I cannot believe what I have learnt in a short time with this application! I have tried others but this one is the absolute ultimate. I am a beginner and within a week improved my skills! Thank you so much for all the skills I am learning and the pleasure it gives me! I am a teacher and this app. was Triple Chessnutdesigned by exceedingly skilled teachers! Their technique is wonderful. You cannot go wrong with this app. Thank you so very much !

Educational and Informative. I knew almost nothing of chess. Dr. Wolf taught me a lot as I started playing with him from the basics. He patiently plays based on your level and corrects your mistakes as you play. This is indeed a wonderful approach to learning chess step by step.

One of the best games I ever played. It’s a good game to get it calms your mind

Dr Wolf. Great Chess app! My daughter and I are both learning at the same time and this app is helping make memories.

Now I can’t actually play chess. I knew nothing about chess, now I can actually play a little. Methodical instruction that.builds on techniques. Enjoyable and fun.

Simply excellent. Great tutorials with reasoned explanations- a great way to learn.

My favourite game now. This game has helped me get better at chess it’s worth it

Well done. Really well made app, take it slow and practise and it pays off. I am awful but it made me enjoy chess and I show progress

The perfect package.. I’m a 68-year old who has been frustrated for sixty or so of those years by not ever being able to get any better in this infernal game, despite purchasing dozens of books and apps. This little chestnut of a program has changed all that in a handful of days. I’m always leery of “in-app purchases,” but the deal here is that you go through enough training and practice to improve, and then you decide whether you want to subscribe. No ads for other junk. I was sufficiently surprised by my progress (mostly by being forced into being systematic, and then chided by Dr Wolf the second I wobbled) to opt to subscribe. That was just days ago. Already I’m leaps and bounds ahead of where I was even then. I LOVE the lessons, the instant feedback, the brilliant writing throughout (thank you, writing team!), and innovations such as the invitation to swap sides whenever you do something stupid, designed so you can observe how obvious your gaffe was to the opponent. Truly humbling and instructive. That alone has vastly improved (what I know know is called) my Board Vision. Bless you Dr Wolf. I’m happy, hooked and hard at it. Checkmate!

Dr. Wolf. It is the best way to learn chess!

Great for newbies. Great for noobs

T. I don’t like looking at some stupid cartoon face

Awesome chess tutor. Not one to write reviews but this is a awesome chess tutor!!!!

Great app. I am much impressed with this app which is part of chess.com. I have known the rules to play chess decades ago, but could never figure out how to play it in a half-decent manner. I get more instruction for my money with the gold package on chess.com plus dr.wolf than I got with the chess.com diamond package I originally tried.

It’s always disappointing when he just throws the game. It’s a great app for training as a beginner but as I’ve been progressing and using more advanced tactics, etc. I always find it disappointing when Dr. Wolf just obviously throws the game with some basic move order, or skewer stuff. It would be nice if he could point out more advanced tactics or intentionally blunder stuff like that to teach you when to be aggressive because as it is, it kind of feels like you just have to be patient until he just completely blunders and loses the game in some extremely simple way (usually just tossing the queen for no reason).

Good for newbies. Has helped me get started with this game. However he always tells me to stop training, and I have to find something else to do when I would rather keep training! But that is good because I get carried away with things and burnout.

Pay to learn how to loose. Payed 50$ to learn how to draw... With all the lessons, you still have to listen to him only to loose... Kinda sucks actually.

Student. Great learning tool and fun

Great for beginners, minimal nagging. Attractive board, good AI for beginning players. You cannot move past beginner level unless you sign up for coaching at $5/month I think it is. But it doesn’t nag much and you can play uninterrupted as much as you want. I like it and play it often. I used to play the Optime chess but it’s basically just an ad, like many apps I suppose.

Covid stress reliever. Thank you for creating a teaching chess program. This program has been very valuable due to our second Covid lock down. It provides learning chess why playing at different levels. Thank you, Clem

App is good. This app is well made, is fair in how much it will teach you before asking for money. I am able to beat the worst bot now.

Excellent for payers. If people were paying, this is actually a really really good app. The advice is nice, the app is made really well, and there are many opportunities to hone your skills. However, 35$ a month is just too much for me.

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Add more puzzles.. I Would like to see lessons have more puzzles added in, a separate mode, i.e., after updating the app, Forking opportunities (10 new puzzles) , pinning opportunities (20 new puzzles) added from developers. Etc. Secondly, hope to see different style of pieces to select from in future updates. Lastly, would like our games to be saved when playing against any instructor to review later on. 5/5 stars for me. 💪🏽♥️

Perfect for a strong benginner. I’ve “known how” to play chess since I was a kid, but had zero concept beyond how the pieces moved. I’ve improved 5 fold in the week since I started using this app. It’s probably the perfect way for someone at my level to learn in an app. My only complaint is the cost. Seems a little excessive for what you get. I’ll probably pay it for a couple months, then cancel, as there isn’t enough content to make it a long term subscription.

Good Learning Tool.. This app is worth every cent. It has helped me not only see my mistakes, but also has improved mt vision over the board in tight situation which would lead me to losing. Pay the yearly fee. It is cheaper and very instructive as well as enjoyable. Will not only show you mistakes from your last game, but any that you have made in pst games as part of training. I love the app.

New to Chess?. I’m new at the game of Chess. This has to be one of the best learning tools I’ve come across for any game. Dr. Wolf teaches just as thou a real person would. I love being able to revisit my previous game to review mistakes with the added option of play from that point. At the end of the match the game also informs you of Great moves, Good moves, Mistakes and Blunders and how many of which you’ve made. And I’m just getting started..... Hats off Guys!! Cheers!!

Enjoyable. I haven’t played as much chess with other apps as I have with this one. I like the style, the ability to adjust the difficulty, the report of how many of my moves were strong, and the estimated rating of my ability. It’s enjoyable! I have the free version and am considering subscribing to bring back the coaching I had during a free trial period.

Great app. This has helped me understand the game in the last month. I completed all of the trainings in about two weeks and found them very helpful. My only complaint is that I completed all of the trainings in two weeks… I wish there were more! I’d highly recommend this to anyone for a month.

Best Chess App. This app has increased my game and turned a somewhat chess novice into someone who went out and purchased their own set. I have learned everything from opening moves, promoting and developing pieces to specific strategies. I am no longer intimidated by the game but look forward to using the skills I have learned. Thank you for building an incredible app and building my confidence.

Feedback. This game is fun it help kids (like me) how to play chess. I already knew how to play chess when I started using this game but it helped me learn moves that my opponents can use while playing against me. Of course I knew they could do this but, I have not seen anyone use this strategy before. I think of myself as a good chess player. I play with my dad a lot, and this game might help me beat him for once in my life.

Best chess app ever!. I have tried a lot of chess apps. Dr. Wolf is by far the best for learning and or improving. Really feels like being instructed by an actual chess coach. Subscription cost is far better than paying for in person chess lessons as well. Having done in person lessons before I can say that Dr. Wolf works better for me. Best g thank you to the developers. I love this app.

I love this app. Honestly a great app. I don’t wanna sound like a bot but I knew almost nothing about chess and now I play friends and understand the game. It teaches in good chunks and helps along the way. Doesn’t make you figure it out yourself. I did the pay for extra lessons option and it’s super helpful. If you’re already playing chess I don’t know if it would be a little rudimentary but if you’re learning it’s fantastic

Perfect for couples. My wife and I (out of boredom) started playing chess. We went from googling how the pieces move to getting a (still wrong) basic understanding of the game. One night, I saw my wife sneakily on this app. I downloaded it. We now have a constant, ongoing chess game on our coffee table while we both sneak away and learn more on this app. Who woulda thought we would wanna play chess?!?

I’ve learned so much in a short time. I was looking for a good instructional chess app. I found this one and downloaded with some skepticism. I have been very happy with it. I’ve already learned so much within the free games that I’m definitely going to buy the expanded version. It’s pretty nice the way that Dr. Wolf interacts with you when you make a move. It’s like having a real instructor sitting across the board from you. This app is a game changer.

Great AI - Better Than Puzzles. Has more human-style moves than engines. And is tactically smart in a useful way that puzzles aren’t. The in-game learning is great too. I’ve gained 500 points in rating, heading towards 1000. And I think there is a good deal of road left. The cheapest coach available IMO, and can probably get someone high enough to where a real coach makes sense.

Seems solid. I don’t know much about chess, so if the app is teaching me bad strategy, I wouldn’t know enough to tell you. But from a beginner perspective, I can say that it seems pretty solid so far. I like how he will interrupt a game to tell you what you are doing wrong (or right). I don’t know how “advanced” it gets, but so far, I’m loving the approach and will probably pay for a month just to see how far it takes me.

If only.. I am not sure how I feel about the bot intentionally leaving a free piece to capture or saying that they left it to take, especially on beginner level. It is overall a good learning experience, but I would like it to be more of analysis on details rather than listening to statistics, how many minutes, I’ve played, and certain moves are placed. It’s difficult to even pin any pieces, or the king, since the bot automatically reacts to the move.

Amazing. The fact that this is free is surprising, I always known how to play checkers but never tried chess, until I was at school and there was nothing else to do, I didn’t know how to play it and kept on undoing my moves, and when I got home I downloaded this, the lessons and teaching is very thorough and clear and it helped me understand the basics within half an hour. I really recommend this app.

Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks. I’m 80 years old and have tried to learn chess countless times over the years. I’ve always given up frustrated and confused. The drawing of Dr. Wolf caught my eye on a recent stroll through the chess apps so I downloaded it. I’ve now completed 7 lessons with a game record of 3 wins, 3 draws and 0 losses. I’m definitely satisfied with this user friendly style of teaching and recommend this app to all beginners. John

Mr. Wonderful app. Plays well and and meets my expectations. I am really enjoying it. Even it makes mistakes to match the expected level (like we all do) like intermediate or advanced level setup. The expert level plays strong. I hadn’t win one yet at that level. Overall, a great companion and a challenger ready at any time. Thank you for making such a nice app! D Drinovan, NJ

Absolutely wonderful app. I cannot sing enough praises for this app. With a very casual, personal feel to the coaching, Dr. Wolf finds a way to gently correct mistakes, offer suggestions, and offers wonderfully constructive criticism. I find myself looking forward to opening up the app and sitting with what feels like my own personal chess coach. Absolutely worth every red cent.

Almost perfect, but an annoying bug. I have a recording of the bug if the developers would like it. Sometimes, it seems to happen randomly, when you move a piece, it leaves a picture of the piece in the previous square. So if I move my rook from A1 to A2 for example, the actual movable piece will be on A2, and there will still be a “piece” on A1. It’s just a picture of the rook, and you can’t remove it unless you start a new game. It’s the only thing holding me back from a 5 star review.

How. What are all these reviews of people saying to turn off stalemate!? Why are you calling it a "feature"?😭. It's like the top 3 reviews for this app, the first ones people see! It doesn't seem like a bit, but I hope it is. Sometimes I wish I could turn off stalemate too 😔

Great for studying the basics. It’s a good tool for learning how to play chess. The lessons are very well designed to teach you the basics in a logical and informative manner. I am older and started playing casually as a child. I’ve played intermittently as an adult. I decided I wanted to play more and improve my game, especially strategy. I decided to follow the advice of the “coach” through entire games to try to discern new strategies but I ended up learning little and getting my brains beat out game after game.

Can't wait to start playing chess in person. I always knew the chess pieces and their abilities and I knew how to castle but I really never got the opening middle and end game. I am starting to play on an intermediate level. This is a great app to improve and challenge your knowledge and skill! And I love that Dr Wolf converses with you in a casual and sometimes humorous manner.

Best Chess Coaching App. I think this is a great app! It has really improved my chess play, and I think this app is perfect for beginners looking to learn how to play the game and learn some simple concepts. I really like to play with Dr Wolf because as you are playing he comments on every move and gives helpful tips. And the lessons gallery has really helped me a lot! I definitely suggest downloading this app if you want to improve how you play chess!

Amazing learning while playing. Not some standard games, but actually teaching along the way. While playing gives you foolproof tips on opening. Push King Pawn, Bishop, knight, queen pawn, bishop, knight. Then set up rooks and queen into play. After that it’s just the middle game punishment, which he walks you through. Enough technique and practical help to teach while playing you. Ver specific, and proves it .

Love this app, has some bugs. I love this app. It’s really helping me improve my chess game. However, there’s a bug where if you close the app in the middle of a lesson and try to go back to the lesson, most of the time it doesn’t load the board or the text. And just today when it did load, it wouldn’t register my moves and I had to restart the app and fight the loading issue all over again. I don’t know if it’s a connection issue to the server or what, but it’s frustrating.

Great way to improve your game. I’ve been a casual chess player for my whole life, but recently I’ve begun studying and training more seriously. There are a great many great chess teaching and training apps out there, and Dr. Wolf sits easily in the upper echelon. The in-game instruction is invaluable. The ability to review mistakes is, too. And the lessons are well composed and easy to follow. Highly recommend.

The best. I’ve tried every chess app available. At 90 I don’t get around as well as I once did. Dr Wolf and the other three coaches seem so real and are super friendly and provide top instruction. While I have been playing on an off since I’m 19 , I have never enjoyed chess so much as with this app. AI’m now up to expert level but lose more then I win; but I’ll keep at it. No question in my mind, I have improved my game . Highly recommend.

Love/Hate relationship. I’m learning with this app, but, as others have noted, the help (?) suggested is often misguided. For example, I’m advised to capture bishop with bishop, which leaves me directly next to opponent’s queen. I took back my original (safe move, which was identified as a mistake) and captured bishop, next move the bishop I had just played (as advised) was captured by opposing queen. Have photos, but don’t know how to post here. There are obvious issues, but I’ll keep playing ‘till trial is up and decide if it’s worth to continue or go elsewhere.

Awesome!!. I am completely new to chess meaning I have zero knowledge of the game but this app has taught me everything about the game with excellent tips like what to do and what not todo or what todo in certain situations. This app will show you how to master each piece on the board. I just feel so happy to finally understand this game!!! Btw my I.Q is like 10 and somehow I still grasped everything easily. The coaching is very clear and informative. I highly recommend this app!!!

Good but needs some improvement. For people who are still learning, explanations for suggested moves would be a big improvement. When I chose to review mistakes from games that I have won, it prompts me to make alternate moves. However, as I choose to play it out, the outcome is a loss. I am unclear how my original, winning moves were mistakes compared to the suggestions.

Has really helped!. I haven’t played chess in 30 years and never really knew what I was doing when I played as a kid. In a few weeks of playing this I have learned a lot, and am doing so much better than when I started. I regret not playing more chess earlier in life. It is such a mind stimulating strategic game. BTW I did pay for the yearly subscription for extended lessons, but I think it was money well spent.

Very well done!. I really like this application. As others have pointed out, the expert level is too easy. I’m a casual player, and I can beat the expert without much difficulty. What is the elo he plays at? If this application is designed for children then I understand the difficulty ratings. However, you do need a setting for players who are over 1600 elo

Lacking 1 thing. Im a novice chess player and wanted to learn properly. I enjoyed the easy to read interactive format and definitions of the lingo used. My only suggestion would be to tweak explanation of the knight move. No mention of the L-shape move which most people are familiar with. There are so many chess tutorials out there, I didn’t feel compelled to pay for in app purchases

Opening Moves. I am a beginner, and recently bought the App. for one year. I have learned so much, and have almost doubled my rating since starting. I highly recommend it! One suggestion for the future: I would love to learn a handful of opening moves that could be practiced in the learning section, and used in the game section. It would be a great add on to an already great App.

Very impressive app. I freaking love this app. I've never known how to play chess and this app is so smart, I love the lessons and trainings and it blows my mind how it responds with tips no matter what move I've made. I feel like there is a real person teaching me how to play chess and I love it, I'm totally hooked. I paid for the premium version and it's totally worth it.

Love it!. I started out playing on another chess app but I wanted something closer to the real experience of playing with a teacher. This is an excellent version. You feel you’re being coached, given encouragement, and you have someone who is pointing out what’s happening as the game progresses. I’ve been using it for about a month and so far really enjoying it.

DuoLingo for chess. The structure of the lessons and then practicing what you learned is extremely similar to DuoLingo. Sometimes the suggested moves are patently very bad and I feel like the computer isn’t showing me how to play as well as it does, but that’s rare and didn’t start until around intermediate level. Well worth the subscription and your time.

Mostly Good, But Not Always. The training has been really great, and everything feels pretty smooth. I have 2 complaints. A lot of times, you are instructed to execute the “best move,” but aren’t told why, and it isn’t always obvious. So, not learning much from those situations. Also, it seems like every few games Dr. Wolf just cranks it up to eleven and crushes me disproportionately to how he’s been playing and makes me feel pretty dumb. I don’t like those games much, haha.

Best chess coaching app I’ve seen so far. I am terrible at chess and have tried many times to get into it. Dr. Wolf is the first time I felt like I was progressing as a player and my functional knowledge was improving. My only issue so far is that when reviewing mistakes of previous games, Dr. Wolf puts too much importance on forking. Many times he will say the best move is to fork two pieces even if it puts your high value piece in immediate peril. Maybe I am still too much a neophyte to know why it’s so important to sacrifice your forking piece just for the sake of forking two pieces. If I understood why he was weighing this so heavily, I would give it five starts but either miss-weighing the best moves or the lack of clarity on why it is the best move makes it miss that mark.

Unacceptable free version. Playing a game against the computer runs a distracting animation every thirty seconds or so if you are not paying the subscription fee. EDIT: fine training program… sometimes the AI does some unexpected things but overall positive experience. Changing my review according to developer response. Limited features are fine for free version but I couldn’t accept such a pushy approach and had deleted the app.

Absolutely Outstanding. As a hobbyest chess player I’ve always been looking for an app that can really help me learn to be better. Most apps that teach are written by highly skilled GMs for highly skilled players. I am not one of them. This app is perfectly made to help a layperson with minimal time on his hands for chess to gain some valuable knowledge. It breaks down my play, shows me what I did wrong, and guides me to better decisions. Awesome app, thank you.

A great resource to build your skills and learn to become better.. This is a well designed app with that gives you all the chances you need to screw up alone, so you can play more confidently in person. I have other chess apps downloaded as well, but only so that I can have multiple chess games going at once to practice the things I've learned from Dr Wolf's lessons.

Awesome - love it.. Just an awesome app. Sometimes I wish I could play it on my laptop, cause I don’t have an iPad. Some of my comments for improvement or very similar others. Sometimes they take pieces so fast I forgot which piece they took. And sometimes when they say a certain move was the best move-they don’t say why-that would be amazing if they fixed that. Thanks to everyone for all the hard work to put this app together. It’s awesome having a chess coach.

Fails at many levels. This app seemed decent at first, but it is severely flawed. As several other reviewers have pointed out, it just drops material for no apparent reason at some point, often putting a piece en prise. It also gives inaccurate advice ,e.g., it has missed moves that often lead to mate quicker than the move that Doc Wolf suggests when you press the '?'. I ignored it's bad advice and won in 15 moves in one game and it claimed I had made 4 mistakes! It had suggested Nh6 was a better move in a position where Nh6 made absolutely no sense. No way to report such issues either, I tried. You also can't save or review complete games. This makes me very suspicious as it prevents users from running their own analysis of a game. Maybe Dr Wolf's analysis is suspect? Also, how can you label this a teaching program when you can't even ask it for an explanation or an engine eval? Finally, the ratings are a joke. Just read some of the other reviews.

Excellent learning tool. I am new to chess but have always wanted to play but never made the time. This app has taught me more than I expected to learn. It’s challenging and instructive with feedback when I make a mistake. You can replay your incorrect moves after a game, which I find very helpful. Highly recommend!

Great App!. I’m really enjoying the Dr. wolf chess app. I feel like I am getting one-on-one personal lessons from someone who has mastered the game. Lessons are interactive and easy to understand. Comments are given on moves made during games and you have the opportunity to analyze the game after and see where you could have made better moves. I would highly recommend this app!

Was fine at first, but 2:30AM reminders to “play” awards this 2 stars. I really enjoyed it at first. Then I had a pop up asking if I wanted to set daily reminders to play a match and practice. “Sure”, I thought. So I hit Ok. Then my phone starts going off at 2:30AM. I wake up, look at my screen, and it’s Dr. Wolf asking me if I’m ready to practice. Um….it’s 2:30AM. No. I go into the options, and I can’t find anywhere to change the reminder times, nor can I find how to disable the feature. I was forced to go into iPhone notifications and completely disable them for this app. Who programmed this?

Good idea. Like the basic idea of being tutored as you go through the games. I would like there to be some way to know which lessons I’ve completed, and how well I did in them. As of now, when I do a lesson, it looks the same as it did before I did it, so I don’t know which ones I did or didn’t do. With that said, I like that I can complete lesson challenges just simply by playing. It’s authentic and feels natural to progress just simply by playing. But just having like a little sign showing I at least read through one of the lessons might be nice. I would like there to be a way to have my progress synced up across multiple devices. On my phone, I have lots of progress, but on my tablet, I have very little. I would like to use my tablet, but if it makes me redo old stuff again, I don’t see the point.

Great way to learn and practice chess!. It’s like playing with someone who knows chess and gives you helpful hints along the way. There are lessons available to help you along the way; becoming available as you practice new skills. After an initial trial period there’s a monthly fee; right now it’s worth it to me - although I’d prefer a one time purchase option. I don’t like having to manage subscriptions. Overall it’s an excellent/fun tutorial for a chess newbie like me!