Every good chess book works the same way: a diagram, a question, and the patience to let you find the move. ChessMentor is that book, except the diagrams answer back.
Diagram 1 · The KnightThe knight moves in an L: two squares one way, then one square sideways. Tap it to see its unusual reach, then hop to e5.
Chapter One
Lessons you do, not lessons you read.
Each lesson is a sequence of small tasks on a live board. You move the piece; the lesson moves on.
Meet the Pieces free
Special Rules castling, en passant, promotion
Check & Checkmate
Tactics forks, pins, skewers
Opening Principles
Basic Endgames
Reading Chess notation
Plate I. The lesson from Diagram 1, as it appears in the app.
Chapter Two
Eight hundred ways to see it sooner.
Tactics are pattern recognition, and patterns need repetition. Here is one of the oldest.
Diagram 2 · Corner Trap ♥♥♥White to move - checkmate in one!
27
Hand-crafted puzzlesEach with a name, a hint and a sentence on why the pattern matters.
790
Engine-verified puzzles, roughlyUnique mates in one to three and material-winning tactics, generated and checked by the app's own engine.
6
ThemesCheckmate patterns, forks and double attacks, pins and skewers, winning material, defence and survival, special moves.
35
Days, at the long endMissed puzzles return after 1, 3, 7, 16 and 35 days. So do the mistakes from your own games.
Rated like you are. Puzzles are matched to an Elo-style rating that counts first attempts only, so it stays honest.
A daily goal. Set how many puzzles make a good day. Streaks can be protected with freezes you earn.
Puzzle Rush. As many as you can before the lives run out.
Reminders with manners. They check whether today's goal is already done before they say anything.
Chapter Three
Opponents with opinions.
Play the computer at three levels, or choose a bot. Each has its own rating, favourite openings and a style the engine actually plays to.
800
Tactical Tina
The Pin & Fork Seeker
An enthusiastic learner who hunts for double attacks and helps you train tactical awareness.
1100
Cautious Carl
The Solid Defender
A disciplined sparring partner who prioritizes king safety and waits for the opponent to overextend.
1400
Speedy Sam
The Blitz Gambiteer
A fast-moving club player who loves seizing the initiative and playing sharp lines.
1750
The Romantic Prodigy
in the style of Paul Morphy
Harmonious development and open lines, after the 19th-century master of piece coordination.
2000
The Chess Machine
in the style of Capablanca
Makes the hardest positions look effortlessly simple.
2200
The Magician from Riga
in the style of Mikhail Tal
Hyper-aggressive, relentless sacrifices, king hunting.
Plates II & III
At the board
Training mode names the opening as you play it and warns before a blunder. An evaluation bar is there when you want it and off when you don't.
Clocks train decisions under pressure, and the post-game report shows where your time went. Take a move back and the game simply becomes unrated.
A Handicap Ladder, an Endgame Trainer and a weekly bot challenge with a Game Center leaderboard keep it interesting after the basics.
The engine is the app's own: alpha-beta search with iterative deepening, a transposition table and quiescence search. It runs on your phone.
Chapter Four
Fourteen openings, drilled until they stick.
For example
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
The Italian Game. The bishop eyes f7, the centre is contested, and both sides are three moves from castling. Opening drills walk the line with you, then test it from memory.
Bring your own games. PGN import copes with comments, variations and annotation symbols, and exports with the standard tags. A board editor and annotation tools are there for study.
Built to be usable. The board is navigable with VoiceOver, highlights use shapes rather than colour alone, and Dynamic Type and Reduce Motion are respected.
The Italian Game
The Spanish (Ruy Lopez)
The Queen's Gambit
The Sicilian Defense
The French Defense
The Caro-Kann Defense
The London System
The King's Indian Defense
The Scandinavian Defense
The English Opening
The Slav Defense
The Scotch Game
The Vienna Game
The King's Gambit
Chapter Five
Eight boards. Choose your wood.
Pick one and both diagrams on this page will change with it.
Terms
Start free. Go further if you like it.
Free
$0
All “Meet the Pieces” lessons
Play the computer at Beginner level
The Checkmate Patterns puzzle theme
Ratings, streaks and achievements
ChessMentor Premium
$29.99 a year, or $4.99 a month
The full curriculum, all seven parts
Intermediate and Advanced computer levels
Every puzzle theme
The Endgame Trainer
Prices in USD and may vary by region. Subscriptions are managed by Apple and renew until cancelled.
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