Learn chess

A free chess analyzer, without a signup wall

The analyzer is a chess board with an engine beside it. Set up a position from scratch, paste a FEN, or load a PGN. When you ask for a hint, Chess Hints runs a chess engine in your browser and marks the move it prefers—usually with an arrow—plus an evaluation bar so you can see who is better. You choose the search depth: lower is quicker on a phone; higher is more reliable when the tactics are messy.

This page is for anyone who wants a second look without creating an account. Beginners use it after a casual game to see the move they missed. Club players paste a PGN and jump to the turning point. Coaches set a position and talk through the eval bar. You can analyze, play vs AI, play a friend, or open the daily puzzle without signing in. If you are still learning how the pieces move, start with the rules of chess.

Chess.com and Lichess are full platforms: matchmaking, ratings, coaches, and huge game archives. Chess Hints is smaller on purpose. There is no social feed and no paywall in front of the engine. You open the page and use the board. Analysis runs on your device, so you are not sending a position into a training product just to see the first hint. If you already live on those sites, this is a quiet tab for “what was the best move here?” If you do not want another login, this is the whole tool.

A hint is a suggestion, not a move that plays itself. After you see it, try the idea in Play vs AI or send a link in Play vs Friend. If the position is a tactic, use the daily puzzle or the tactics guide. Openings, pins, and beginner basics live in the articles.

Guest puzzle progress stays in this browser. Sign in only if you want streaks, XP, and rating to follow you to another device.

Play chess vs AI in the browser

This page is a single-player game against Stockfish, one of the strongest open chess engines. Pick White, Black, or random, set a difficulty, and start. There is no clock and no rating on the line. Use Undo if you want to take back a line and try something else. You do not need an account.

The six levels are meant to read like people, not engine settings:

• Beginner (~200) — blunders often. Fine for first games and kids.
• Easy (~500) — casual. It still leaves pieces hanging.
• Medium (~1200) — club-ish. You have to be careful.
• Hard (~1800) — strong club. Few free points.
• Expert (~2400) — very accurate. Good for testing an opening you just studied.
• Master (2800+) — near full engine strength. Expect almost no gifts.

Stockfish is limited on purpose at the lower levels: a shallower search, and sometimes a weaker move, so the game stays human. Expert and Master search deeper and reply almost immediately. There is no clock, so you can think as long as you want—useful when you are working on a new opening or a lost endgame.

Use this when you want a full game without waiting for a partner. Play out an opening from the openings guide, finish a middlegame you set up on the analyzer, or practice being a pawn down. When you want the engine’s preferred move instead of a game, go back to the analyzer. For a tactic with a known answer, use the daily puzzle. For longer plans, see chess strategies and the rest of the articles. If a friend is free, switch to Play vs Friend.

Want to check a tactic from the game? The tactics guide covers forks, pins, and discovered attacks in plain language.

Play chess with a friend from a link

Create a game, copy the link or the short code, and send it. Your friend opens it and sits on the other side. There is no download and no signup required to finish a game. Choose White, Black, or random before you create. If you tick Open game, the match is listed in the lobby so anyone can sit down; leave that off if you only want the people you text.

Time controls are grouped the usual way. Blitz is 3 minutes, 3|2, or 5 minutes. Rapid is 10 minutes, 15|10 (the default), or 30 minutes. Classical is 1 hour or 2 hours. Clocks use the same increment rules you see on other sites: after you move, increment seconds are added.

Without an account, the game still works; the result is not attached to a profile. Sign in if you want the result, XP, and a Glicko-2 rating saved. Those show up on your account and the leaderboard. One player can stay a guest—only the signed-in side keeps the rating.

If you close the tab, your opponent sees that you left. Open the same link again while the game is still active to come back. When the game ends you can offer a rematch from the same page. After a game, paste the moves into the analyzer if you want a hint on a critical position. No partner? Use Play vs AI. For a short tactic instead of a full game, open the daily puzzle. Opening ideas are in the openings guide and the other articles.