---
title: Tabia: A free alternative to paywalled opening trainers
description: I'd been using chessreps.com to drill my opening repertoire but it's paywalled, so I built a free, open-source version.
image: https://image.lichess1.org/display?fmt=webp&h=550&op=thumbnail&path=rFi4WR5YLaRO.webp&w=880&sig=a7d2ae102deeeebf6120f659553dac9bf7888ddd
---

When it comes to chess openings I tend to forget some lines in crucial situations mid game. To cure my problem I used a site called chessreps.com for drills and practice. After wanting to explore more lines I came across the paywall behind it, which left me with one option: To build the open-source version myself and finally its here: Tabia.

What it is: Tabia at its core is a browser-local, no account, no server chess opening driller where nothing leaves your machine built with chess.js + Stockfish-in-WASM.

**Let's look at an example: the Caro-Kann:**

The only comfortable defense I reach for when I want something solid against 1.e4, also the one I hate and keep forgetting. Once in Tabia I click my beloved Caro-Kann, hit **Study**, and go into **Learn mode** right away: Intuitively enough it just walks me through the line I select (The classical in the example below) one move at a time: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4, and then the whole point, 4...Bf5 getting the light squared bishop outside the pawn chain before I shut it in with ...e6. ![image.png](https://image.lichess1.org/display?fmt=png&h=0&op=resize&path=j5-lQ7rk6GK-.png&w=800&sig=e77ba4c148dc1538b168c734bc0181ae7cd22024)
Then I switch to **Drill**. Now im in control. I have to think about my next move myself. Get one wrong and a red light appears, so try again and again. Play the line "accurately" for the given line and the game continues. That's the part that sticks (for me at least): **spaced repetition**, so a line I nail won't come back for a while, but the one I keep botching shows up again the next day until it's muscle memory.

After a few minutes of not so intensive work I've already drilled the Classical, the Advance and the Exchange with a live eval bar (Stockfish) sitting right around equal, precisely where a Caro should be around then.

I'm a part time developer, and I'm a big believer in open source, so i think its safe to say chess prep especially shouldn't be locked behind a paywall. Evidently Tabia is **MIT-licensed and free forever**: no account, no "pro" tier, nothing to upgrade. Your data lives in your browser and never touches a server, because there isn't one.
And because it's open like Lichess, it's not just mine. You can **build and drill your own opening lines** right in the app, and if you're a developer, the whole thing is on GitHub fork it, send a pull request, add a feature. If just like playing chess and want to see more openings u can add it in a few clicks in the app itself with custom tags.

If it saves you from blanking on your prep mid-game the way I used to, it's done its job. And if you want to throw a star on the repo, that's what keeps me motivated to keep building it.

Try it out at: [https://daxaur.github.io/tabia/](https://daxaur.github.io/tabia/)
Or contribute here: [https://github.com/daxaur/tabia](https://github.com/daxaur/tabia)

Tabia is built for the open source enjoyers, chess lovers and most importantly **everyone**.