Use it when
You want to learn chess from scratch, practice mate patterns, play a quiet game against Stockfish, run a timed local match, or review where the evaluation turned.
Chessboard · Desktop chess
A focused chessboard for desktop
Learn in 72 offline lessons, drill mates through mate-in-three, play Stockfish 18 or a friend locally, then review with a centipawn curve.
A look inside
Learn, drill, then play and review
The board keeps a 72-lesson beginner course, mate drills, Stockfish controls, clocks, SAN move list, review curve, themes, and PGN tools together in one desktop app.
Engine review
See where the evaluation turned
Run a full-game Stockfish pass to build a centipawn curve and mark mistakes on the move list. Jump to any position, then continue from there.
Board themes
Wood, night, day, or paper
Keep the same game state while switching appearance. Flip the board, mute sound, and keep local stats by difficulty.
Fit and limits
Fit and limits
Current platforms
Desktop releases for macOS and Windows; no online matchmaking or accounts.
Local by design
Lessons, drills, gameplay, autosave, analysis, and imported records run locally. Chessboard is a desktop board, not an online chess service.
At the board
At the board
72 beginner lessons
An offline course from board coordinates and piece moves through tactics, checkmate patterns, openings, middlegame ideas, and endgames — with denser practice on the earliest lessons. UI and lesson text cover English, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese. Miss twice and the answer appears; progress saves and can be reset.
Mate drills through mate-in-three
Practice mate-in-one, mate-in-two, and mate-in-three offline, plus capture, tactics, defense, and opening lines. Motif lessons can continue into matching drills. Wrong answers undo immediately and show how Black escapes; press H for the solution arrow.
Stockfish with hints
Play against Stockfish 18 from novice and casual levels through Elo-limited strengths up to full strength. Press H for a full-strength arrow hint without placing the move for you.
Drag, clocks, draw offers, openings
Drag pieces or click to move. Share one screen in two-player mode with optional clocks (including Fischer increments), offer a draw, and see the current ECO opening name in the sidebar.
Full-game review
Run an engine pass to build a centipawn curve, annotate mistakes, and show the principal variation as you scrub the game. Jump to any position, then continue from a chosen move.
PGN, FEN, themes, and stats
Copy, export, paste, or import standard seven-tag PGN, including FEN-start studies; copy the current FEN; switch wood, night, day, or paper themes; and keep win–loss–draw stats by difficulty.
Questions & download
Which systems are supported?
The current release provides an Apple Silicon arm64 build for macOS and an x64 build for Windows. An Intel Mac build is not published.
Does it need an account or internet connection?
No account is required. Lessons, drills, gameplay, autosave, analysis, and PGN work stay local; you only need the internet to download a release.
Can I bring in an existing game?
Yes. Paste or import a PGN file, including FEN-start studies, then review the move list, jump to any position, and continue from there if you choose.
What license does it use?
Chessboard is GPLv3. It vendors Stockfish.js 18 (GPLv3) and chess.js 0.13.4 (BSD-2-Clause).