Chess Coach

Inspiration

While waiting in my car for my daughter outside the chess coaching center, I was trying to practice the accelerated London opening using a paid chess app. I was getting stuck at the same spot after the first ~ 10 moves. Everytime losing either my minor pieces or sacrificing my Queen.

My daughter recently started learning chess and she had a lot of questions. So I decided to learn along with her. I tried three to four apps and realized that all were using the same chess engine with minor UI changes. However, the user experience was exactly the same: same massive jumps in level, same hints and lack of guidance if you feel stuck. So I decided to build an open-source game with the hope that other developers will contribute to make it better for everyone.

What it does

It is a chess coaching app that feels like a coach watching every move and helping you think through it. Every move is graded based on how it changes your chances of winning. You can ask for a hint, best move or questions about the current position.

Other apps have rigid jumps from beginner to intermediate level. In my other app, I win every game at beginner level and lose every game at intermediate level. In either situation, I lose my desire to play more. So I introduced 20 levels with human-like variation in game play. So the app simply doesn't pick the same moves everytime.

In addition, you can learn openings, solve puzzles and import games from other sources.

How we built it

The app is built with Claude Code. I started with a concept and brainstormed through it. My goal for the app was to feel like I was playing along a coach who would help me when I needed help. Also, I wanted to minimize dopamine hits by reducing unnecessary graphics and allow people to personalize the app.

All the core features will be free on the app store and available on GitHub for anyone. If you want access to online AI-based coaching, you have to pay a small fee to cover token usage. For 99 % players, the free version is more than enough.

Challenges we ran into

The AI based coaching can be tricky since most LLMs are not as good as the chess engine. So we connected the chess engine to the LLMs, so both with together.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

This is my first open-source project and I enjoy using this app over the other apps that I paid for. All the code was written by Claude Code.

What we learned

You can use AI to learn almost anything, including things that AI is not good at. Building, customizing and shipping apps is easier than ever.

What's next for Chess Coach

Hoping to see people contribute to the open-source project so we can continue to make this better for everyone. I am considering adding a BYOK option for people who want to connect their own LLMs to the app.

Built With

• revenuecat
• swift