Set Up Sparring Positions and Endgames in Noctie
Sparring positions are Noctie’s answer to “I know the idea, but can I actually play it?” You set up any position — an endgame, a middlegame structure, a puzzle you got wrong — or choose one from Noctie’s library of instructive positions, and then play it out against Noctie at your level, without the pressure of a clock and with instant feedback on every move. It is the closest thing to having a training partner who will replay the same position with you as many times as you like.
What you can set up
- Theoretical endgames — king and pawn, rook endings, opposite-colored bishops — where knowing the plan is not the same as executing it.
- Middlegame structures from your own games: the position after the opening you keep getting, or the moment where things went wrong.
- Positions from lessons and puzzles you want to understand from both sides.
- Custom positions you build piece by piece on the board editor.
Because Noctie plays like a human at the level you choose, the defence you meet is the defence a real opponent would put up — not a perfect engine line, and not random weakening moves either.
How to create a sparring position
- From the game options choose to set up a custom position (Noctie’s help video is titled How to Create Sparring Positions in Noctie, and the flow follows the same idea).
- Place the pieces on the board editor, or pick a position from Noctie’s library of instructive positions.
- Choose which side you play and which level Noctie should play at.
- Start the game. There is no clock: take the time you need, and lean on the color feedback to see whether your plan holds up.
- Play it again from the other side — defending the same endgame teaches you what the attacker must avoid.
Sparring positions for endgame training
Endgames are where sparring positions pay off fastest. A practical routine:
- Pick one theoretical endgame per week (Noctie’s lessons cover theoretical endgames and positional themes).
- Play it out against Noctie until you can convert or hold it three times in a row.
- Watch the feedback colors: a “Dubious” king move in a pawn ending is exactly the kind of small inaccuracy that costs half points online.
- Move to the next endgame; come back to the previous one after a couple of weeks.
Sparring positions from your own games
The most useful positions are your own. After a game with Noctie — or an imported Chess.com / Lichess game — take the position at your first serious mistake and set it up as a sparring position. Play it out several times, trying different plans. Combined with the flashcard Noctie generated for that mistake, you get both the “what” (the right move) and the “how” (the play that follows).
Sparring positions vs. engine analysis
An engine tells you the evaluation of a position; a sparring position lets you play it. The comparison is blunt: turn a normal engine down to “beginner” and it still mixes flawless moves with random blunders no human would make. Sparring against Noctie at your level means the mistakes on the other side of the board are believable, so what you learn transfers to real games.
Availability
Creating sparring positions is part of every Noctie plan (€14 monthly or €8/month billed yearly) and included in the free 7-day trial. Positions and games are stored with your account, so a position you set up on the web is there in the iOS and Android apps too. Noctie’s roadmap also lists annotate during play and review as in progress, which will let you write your own notes into these training games.