Meet Dr. Wolf

I recently downloaded the app by Chess.com called Dr. Wolf. I've used it for about two weeks now and wanted to share my experiences with it from the perspective of a novice player.

After I did a few sample games with the app, I enjoyed it enough to go ahead and sign up for a subscription. At the time of this writing, the subscription cost is $4.99/month. After about two weeks, I have found that I have learned quite a bit from it and I'm enjoying the plain-English explanations of why my moves were good or bad. I enjoy playing this better than an unresponsive computer opponent, anyway. And I especially enjoy the feature where he recommends we flip sides after I make a blunder so I can better appreciate my mistake.

My main complaint about the software is that it is a subscription model. I get that this is the most common means that software companies are going about making money these days, but I would rather pay up to $29 once for this app and be done with it, rather than have a subscription. So my plan at this time is to work with it daily for a few weeks and see how it goes.

Also, I readily admit that this is no replacement for a chess coach. I am consider this in order to get me off to a good start and see if it would work for someone as busy as myself. Right now I'm just trying to get some basics down before I make that jump. Additionally, I have read in the forums several complaints about the app by more seasoned chess players. They feel there are a number of inaccuracies about the recommended moves. I'm not really qualified at this point to make this assessment, but I did appreciate their reviews.

To learn more about this app, visit the official Chess.com page: https://www.chess.com/news/view/dr-wolf-joins-chess-com

(All images are from Chess.com)