Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf

Amazingly well done app. It uses your own personal games to train you, remembering your blunders as problems to solve later. When you make a mistake, they will point it out and sometimes even flip the board so you have the chance to discover the mistake you made. So far it's been the most effective strategy for me to graduate from beginner to (almost) intermediate

The yearly subscription is a bit expensive at $40, but I really like getting feedback as I play. The lessons are interactive and instructive and encourages you to try the techniques in games through mastery points. Beginner difficulties are very forgiving for someone just learning the game. I have not tried the high difficulty options, but they exist. For puzzles, the game uses your mistakes and will bring up old issues to see if you remember the problem. This is good reinforcement.

Well designed and motivating. Im not sure if I'll pay for the full subscription yet, but the hints the ai gives are much better than straight up telling you the right move. I love the little touches in this - how 'Dr. Wolf' asks about your setting preferences over the course of your first, say, 30 minutes with the app (Ex. asking if it can play music after a few games. It felt very natural and I came to quite enjoy the music. Its been stuck in my head for the past few days.) Seriously, kudos!

Excellent training and explanations. The review of blunders is very helpful. However, it would be nice to be able to save a record of the game to play through later. Also there's a stats pop up at the end of the game that would be nice to save, but it can't be access any other way and being a pop-up can't be screenshot either #frustrating.

This is a good app for learning chess. Good (but sometimes very subtle and nonspecific) hints, a useful "undo move" feature, and excellent explanations of the game move by move. Dr. Wolf is a solid tutor ... for three games. After that, you get no help at all unless you sign up for the subscription (~$3/week). I guess the old saying is true: Anything free is worth what you pay for it.

It was an awesome app, teaching me all sorts of things I hadn't know before. I loved it. But suddenly I couldn't learn anymore until I paid a subscription. If I could just pay like 5-10$ for a premium version of this I would but a subscription? Now I'll never touch the game again. With limited playability I don't care how good the game is. Uninstall.

Dr. Wolf is remarkable. He slowly takes his time teaching you step by step, with variations & exercises that give ample context. Has helped me learn a great deal in a short time (beginner). Was debating it, but I may buy the yearly subscription just to support such a powerful app. Definitely wish there was a one-time-purchase option. Hate subscriptions, but love the content.

This method of coaching is very effective. Ask for help and it first says things like "take a look at..." If you still don't see it, ask again and it shows you. It also trains you by reviewing games you've played and showing you better moves. There's a lot more, too. An awful lot of hard work went into this app and it really shows; Dr. Wolf is exceptional. It's free to try and worth the subscription price if you are serious about learning chess and getting good at it. Happy castling!

Very nice app overall, but the jump from strong beginner to intermediate is a bit too dramatic. The computer's style at intermediate is quite hyper aggressive, which if played right can be taken advantage of. I wish there was a way to indicate you wanted to play a certain opening so it would "play along" to help you learn certain gambits and styles. I also wish the computer player would have a resign function - instead of 1 king vs a queen, 2 rooks, knight,bishop fighting to the bitter end.

I'm extremely impressed with how the lessons are laid out, and taught. After not playing for 40 years, it was great to see if I could grasp it again at all. The algorithm is intuitive to the player. I left off one star due to the price. For an app that doesn't require frequent updates, have the same level of tech as a photo, video, or AI app, but costs the same is not reasonable to me.

Pretty good. Sucks that the last part of the beginner training is stuck behind a paywall, stopping any progress further, though. I feel that they at least should've let me finish the beginner training without paying, but what I've learned so far is heaps more than I would've learned otherwise. You'll be stuck at playing Dr. Wolf at a beginner level too, which I think shouldn't be that way. However, it's overall pretty good and if I had extra money, I might just pay because it's fun enough.

What I love about this is that from basic to high intermediate, you get a good grasp on development, attacking pieces, and finding quick ways to checkmate. By the time you play advanced, and especially on expert mode, the training becomes more about finding good sacrifices for strategic advantages, thinking in depth about your plans and your opponents moves, and trying NOT to end up in a draw or stalemate when in a winning position. I think it would be cool to see a lesson on strategic thinking.

I enjoy it. I was hoping to just pay for the app for its coaching features but there's a monthly/yearly subscription that I really can't be dedicated to with my other obligations. I think the yearly subscription may come out to about 3$ a month but I may not play for 3-6 months in between. But it's a really good app. There are some instructional exercises that you can really benefit from with adjustable game levels. You can learn as you play without a lot of pressure. Replace yourSolitaire!

Best beginner chess game available. Really solid, easy to understand way of teaching. Learn at the right pace all the way to advanced moves. I started not knowing anything & was beating the game in a matter of hours...with a bit of coaching from time to time. I've wanted to learn for years but never could until this app. Now I look forward to playing.

Before you download this app you should know that this isn't a free learning tool, it's a subscription service with a free demo. The personal coaching is NOT free, it costs 4.99 a month or 34.99 a year, and accessing the library of lessons without restriction is behind a paywall as well. Other than that, the features are user friendly and somewhat helpful as a beginner, but the personalized feedback left something to be desired.

Covers the basics fairly well. My main criticism is that you have to click "Next" after every single move, which is quite frustrating. The bots are also strange. They will basically play perfect chess until making some ridiculous blunder. Good for beginners to spot hanging pieces, but not very useful to more advanced players. Finally, I'm not sure what is the point of the subscription. After ~8 hours I think you can complete all the lessons in this app.

I didn't know how to play chess, but after a day on this app I suddenly found myself "playing chess"! Never thought I'd have the patience to learn, but Dr. Wolf eases you into it. My only complaint is that the $4.99 monthly subscription is steep. That's about half of Netflix, or a full month of some other streaming services. If it were closer to $2.50 monthly or even had a reasonable one-time purchase option, I would jump at the chance. I simply can't justify $60/year on a chess app.

I've been interested in chess for years and have tried to pick it up and learn many times without any success. This app has taught me so much in a small amount of time and I definitely recommend. Eventually you will need to pay if you want all the tutoring benefits but it does come with a free week trial. If 40 dollars for a year doesn't sound worth it, cancel the subscription and play against a bot for free. Either way it's great! 👌👍

You should tell people before they download, that the coaching part of the program is by subscription. I will make a one time purchase to unlock parts of any program, but I'm not going to pay over and over. Especially since this renders the game not wholely usable if I am involuntarily offline for a long enough period. I'm looking for extended-grid-down games, and this is not one of those. But fix that, and I think it very likely will be excellent

I love the format of playing a complete game, then reviewing mistakes right after. The app can't tell the difference between the best engine move vs second best. So it sometimes drills on a move even my titled coach says is better. App devs, letting Dr. Wolf at least notice that my move was fine, even if there was a slightly better one, would help a lot. The mistakes the app makes when playing aren't the kind of mistakes a human would make, but they seem to be deliberate with a teachingpurpose.