Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I create an account?

Sync and backup: Your repertoire and training progress are always synced between your devices. You can log into your King’s Cross account from a new or restored device and everything’s right where you left it.

Simpler solutions such as iCloud could do this as well, but I wanted to be flexible: Although King’s Cross does not support other operating systems like Android, I wanted to keep the option open and stay away from an Apple-only cloud service.

You can use King’s Cross without creating an account, but it still uses an account behind the scenes — it just assigns you a random number instead of an email address. You can always add an email address to such an account later.

Why an email address instead of a username?

Password resets: With an email address you can always request a reset if you have forgotten your password.

Don’t worry, I have no interest in spamming you. You can also enter a fake address, but if you forget your password, I won’t be able to help.

Not all moves are covered during training – why?

If some move was not covered during training but you expected it to be part of it, check the following:

  • Is the training depth restricted? Let’s say the move in question (which is not part of the training) is the sixth move, e.g. 6.♖e1. Make sure that the training depth is not restricted or that it is restricted to a depth greater than or equal to 6. You can view and change the training depth in the opening info by tapping the navigation bar when the opening is open and then going to Training > Depth. You will also see the training depth in brackets if it is restricted, e.g. Train (5).
  • Is the move excluded from training – either manually or because of its annotation? Make sure the arrow of the move is yellow. This indicates that the move is part of the training. If the move is not yellow, check the following:
    • Is the training relevance set to automatic and the move annotated as dubious or worse? Let’s say you are training an opening for White and the move in question (which is not part of the training) is also a move for White. Make sure that this move is not annotated as dubious (?!), mistake (?) or blunder (??); otherwise, the move will not be included in your training. (What’s the point of learning a bad move?) Note that this rule only applies to your own moves, i.e. Black moves will be trained regardless of their annotations. This rule also only applies if the training relevance of the move is set to automatic. You can change the move annotation by tapping the three dots in the move table and then going to Move > Annotation Symbol. Make also sure the training relevance is set to automatic (Training > Training Relevance). You can also force the move to be part of the training by setting its training relevance to include.
    • Are there moves with better annotations? Let’s say you are training an opening for White and the move in question (which is not part of the training) is also a move for White. Make sure that there are no moves with better annotations in the same position in this opening. For example, if there is a brilliant move (!!), other good moves (!) are considered incorrect. (You only want to learn the best move for the side you’re playing, don’t you?) Note that this rule only applies to your own moves, i.e. all Black moves will be trained regardless of their annotations. This rule also only applies if the training relevance of the move is set to automatic. You can change the move annotation by tapping the three dots in the move table and then going to Move > Annotation Symbol. Make also sure the training relevance is set to automatic (Training > Training Relevance). You can also force the move to be part of the training by setting its training relevance to include.
  • Is there a follow-up move? Let’s say you are training an opening for White and the move in question (which is not part of the training) is a move for Black. Make sure that there is another move for White after this move, otherwise the move will not be included in your training. (What’s the point of showing a move for Black to which White has no answer?)

Why should I subscribe to King’s Cross Premium?

With King’s Cross you can manage and train your chess openings. However the following limits apply to the free version:

  • You can only create up to three openings
  • You will see occasional ads.

You can subscribe to King’s Cross Premium to remove these limits and to support future development.

What happens after my subscription expires?

After your subscription expires, King’s Cross will return to free mode with its outlined limitations.

If you have already created more than three openings, you will only be able to make changes to your first three ones – all other openings will become read-only, i.e. you cannot add additional moves to them.

You will still be able to browse all your openings, train them, export them and so on.

Other question?

If your question is not answered here, feel free to write an email to support@kingscross-app.com or tweet me at @KingsCrossApp.