ChessDojo review: scores and evidence
A structured programme organised by rating band (0-2500) with a task list, a database of annotated games, opening courses, DojoLiga tournaments and a Discord server; paid tiers add weekly workshops and game review by a sensei. It does not import the player’s games automatically, offers neither engine analysis nor a weakness diagnosis, and has no official mobile app.
Overall score
3.4/ 10
Rank
28/ 147
Languages
1
Yearly price
$144/yr ≈ €132 (Core "$12/month*" billed yearly, 12 × $12; chessdojo.club/prices) — the home page quotes "$120 per year"; Workshops tier $75/mo and Game & Profile Review $200/mo
What the service is
ChessDojo is run by three titled players — GM Jesse Kraai and IMs Kostya Kavutskiy and David Pruess — called "senseis" on the site. The training programme launched in 2022 — the Dojo Digest of 1 May 2024 notes it had been running for "2 years" — and chessdojo.club has been on version 4.0 since 16 May 2025. It hands out a work plan per rating cohort (0-2500): books, exercises, a weekly hours target, a quota of classical games and graduations; games are played on Lichess or Chess.com and then annotated by the player in the site’s own editor, with Discord as the main channel of communication. The model is subscription, at $12 a month billed yearly for the first paid tier, with higher tiers for live workshops and game review by a sensei, alongside a limited free plan. The code is public: the GitHub repository jackstenglein/chess-dojo-scheduler was created on 27 October 2022 and was still receiving commits at the end of August 2026.
Activity history
- 2026-08The site’s public repository is still receiving commits (last push on 31 August 2026, close to 2,900 commits on the main branch).
- 2026-05A post on 4 May 2026 announced the 2026 DojoLiga, a monthly league open to everyone and played on Chess.com and Lichess; it is the last post published on the blog.
- 2025-05Dojo 4.0 shipped on 16 May 2025: a weekly planner built on an hours target, a quota of 40 classical games a year, bot sparring, the Repertoire Spy tool and the DojoAI chatbot.
- 2024-07The Dojo Digest of 1 July 2024: a database of 250,000 master games went live, along with endgame tests and the Position Explorer tool.
- 2024-05Dojo 3.0 shipped on 1 May 2024: graded tactics tests, a tactics rating, a new game editor and clubs.
- 2022-10The GitHub repository behind the site was created on 27 October 2022, a few months after the training programme launched.
The scores, evidence by evidence
Every score points to the page read and the fact found there. A fact documented nowhere is not credited: document it, then write to us.
APersonalized diagnosis
1.7A1 :1Importing your games (Chess.com, Lichess, PGN files)
https://www.chessdojo.club/help — the player "annotates their classical games" and submits them; no Chess.com or Lichess connector observed
A2 :0Automatic engine analysis of every game
https://www.chessdojo.club/ and /help — no mention of automatic engine analysis
A3 :1Recurring mistakes identified across all your games
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog/dojo-digest/vol-24: "performance rating and your WDL breakdown by opponent cohort"; no mistake named
A4 :1Types of mistakes covered (tactics, strategy, endgame, time…)
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog/tactics-test: the only axis measured is tactics and calculation (tests for 1500-2000 and 2000+)
A5 :0Written explanation of each mistake
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog/dojo-digest/vol-13: the player does the annotating; no automatic explanation per mistake
A6 :0Stated verification of the diagnoses (procedure, rates)
https://www.chessdojo.club/help — nothing about the reliability of a diagnosis
A7 :1Tracking each weakness over time
https://www.chessdojo.club/prices — "Rating dashboard & progress tracking": rating and tasks, not playing indicators over time
A8 :0Comparison with players of the same rating
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — no comparison with the rating band observed
BOpenings
3.3B1 :1Building a personal repertoire
https://www.chessdojo.club/prices — "All opening courses": set repertoires
B2 :1Training the repertoire (drills, games)
https://www.chessdojo.club/prices — opening courses; no interactive drill observed
B3 :0Spotting where you left your repertoire in your games
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — no detection of deviations in the player’s games
B4 :1Verification of the lines taught (engine, practice)
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — courses by IMs and GMs, no engine check announced
B5 :1Opening explorer and statistics
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — "Opening Repertoire Spy" (opponent preparation); no explorer on an outside database observed
B6 :2Explanation of opening plans and ideas
https://www.chessdojo.club/prices — opening courses written by the senseis; video, traps and model games not observed
CTargeted training
3.0C1 :0Exercises drawn from your own games
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — no exercise generated from the player’s games
C2 :1Bank of tactical exercises (size, themes, rating)
https://www.chessdojo.club/prices — "Unlimited puzzles" with no figure and no published rating by theme
C3 :1Endgame training
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — material "hand-picked by IM and GM coaches" per cohort; no dedicated endgame module observed
C4 :2Strategic and positional training
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog/dojo-blog/4-0: a "middlegames" section in the plan; vol-19: a course with "15 sparring positions, 15 annotated games, and 47 exercises" on the d4-c6 structure
C5 :0Training defense and alertness
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog: no defensive exercise mentioned across the 47 posts listed
C6 :0Training calculation and visualization
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — no calculation or visualisation exercise observed
C7 :1Difficulty matched to your real level
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — cohorts by rating band ("0-2400+"), not an adaptive rating
C8 :0Spaced repetition (named algorithm)
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog: no spaced repetition mentioned
C9 :3Personalized training plan
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog/dojo-blog/4-0: "set a weekly training goal (in terms of hours)" plus a plan per cohort; /blog/dojo-blog/custom-tasks: custom tasks; vol-24: tasks can be skipped
DPrice and value
3.3D1 :1What the free plan actually lets you do
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — a free "basic plan with limited access"; its scope is not quantified
D2 :1Annual price of the full plan
https://www.chessdojo.club/prices — $12 a month billed yearly = $144 a year, about €132 (the €76-150 band)
D3 :1Commercial transparency (price shown, trial, cancellation)
https://www.chessdojo.club/prices — price shown, "Plans automatically renew until canceled"; no trial and no refund mentioned
D4 :1Number of paid tiers (how simple the offer is)
https://www.chessdojo.club/prices (rendered in JS, amounts read on v2): Core, Workshops and Game & Profile Review = three paid tiers
ERigor and honesty
5.8E1 :1Published evidence of effectiveness
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — "members have gained more than 186,000 rating points" with no method
E2 :2Chess verification of the content (positions, lines)
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — "hand-picked by IM and GM coaches": titled review is announced
E3 :3Transparency of the method (algorithms, code)
https://github.com/jackstenglein/chess-dojo-scheduler — public source code (NextJS/Go, 2,888 commits)
E4 :1Marketing claims that can be checked (no overselling)
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — "innovative training plan", "0-2400+", the 186,000-point figure: unverifiable superlatives
FContent and method
7.3F1 :3Courses organized by rating level
https://www.chessdojo.club/prices — "All training plans, 0-2500" by rating band
F2 :3Course authors named and titled
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — GM Jesse Kraai, IM Kostya Kavutskiy, IM David Pruess
F3 :2Content formats (text, video, interactive)
https://www.chessdojo.club/prices — annotated games (text) plus "Weekly live workshops" (video); puzzles not tied to the content
F4 :2Published method of progression
https://www.chessdojo.club/help — a plan per cohort with graduation "once you pass the threshold"; not fitted to a diagnosis
F5 :1How often the content is updated
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog — latest post 4 May 2026 (more than 3 months old); GitHub repository last commit 24 Feb 2026
GPlaying and practice
0.8G1 :0Playing humans online (pool, anti-cheating)
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — games are played on Lichess or Chess.com, not on the service itself
G2 :0Realistic artificial opponents
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — no computer opponent
G3 :0Replaying one specific position against the machine
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — no practice from a given position
G4 :1Tournaments and organized competition
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog — "2026 DojoLiga", a monthly league; /tournaments/liga: 69 entrants, 10 tournaments
HExperience and accessibility
1.3H1 :1Platforms available (web, iOS, Android, desktop)
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — web only; iTunes Search for "chessdojo" and Google Play return no app from the publisher (com.kalab.chessdojo belongs to someone else)
H2 :0User ratings and reviews (stores, press)
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — no store rating; testimonials on the site only
H3 :0Interface languages available
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — English only, no language selector; no multilingual store listing found
H4 :0Accessibility (keyboard, screen reader)
https://www.chessdojo.club/help — no mention of accessibility
H5 :1Offline use and known incidents
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — a server-side service (AWS Lambda according to the repository); no public incident found
IPreparation and study
6.7I1 :1Preparing for a named opponent
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog/dojo-digest/vol-20: Opening Scout can "search for specific users in Chess.com and Lichess and explore their openings", with colour and time-control filters; per-opening results not demonstrated
I2 :3Annotating and sharing games (studies)
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog/dojo-digest/vol-14: shared folders with "viewers, editors or admins"; https://www.chessdojo.club/blog/dojo-digest/vol-10: a database of members' annotated games
I3 :1Entering a game played at a club (photo, scoresheet)
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog/dojo-digest/vol-13: an annotation tool running Stockfish 17 locally, moves entered on the board; no photo or OCR input
I4 :3Searching your games (filters, position)
https://www.chessdojo.club/blog/dojo-digest/vol-10: a "Position Explorer" over members' annotated games; vol-24: WDL stats by opponent cohort inside a folder
JHuman coaching and community
6.7J1 :3Access to human coaches
https://www.chessdojo.club/prices — the "Game & Profile Review" tier: "Direct feedback from a sensei" (GM or IM)
J2 :2Size and activity of the community
https://www.chessdojo.club/help — "Discord is the primary method of communication"; the member count is not published
J3 :1Tools for trainers, clubs and schools
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — "create and join clubs"; no student roster or homework observed
J4 :2Engagement mechanics (streaks, virtual currency, reminders)
https://www.chessdojo.club/ — graduations and a dashboard; no virtual currency and no boosters
KPersonal data and interoperability
3.3K1 :0Exporting your data (games, repertoire)
https://www.chessdojo.club/help — no export function observed
K2 :0Protection of personal data (GDPR, hosting)
https://www.chessdojo.club/privacy and /terms — both fall back to the marketing page (SPA); no readable policy
K3 :3Public API and source code
https://github.com/jackstenglein/chess-dojo-scheduler — public repository
Also, outside the grid
Features found that no criterion measures. They do not count towards the score.
- Monthly DojoLiga league and classical round robins
- Activity heatmap and Dojo points
- Sparring against bots to clear tasks
- DojoAI chatbot about the programme
- Database of 250,000+ master games