Your free AI chess coach
A chess coach that trains your weak spots.
Walnut Chess works like a real coach. It watches your games, here and on Chess.com or Lichess, and your puzzles, finds the mistakes that keep coming back and trains them out of you, so every game you play teaches you something. Completely free.
New Kids modeChess for ages 5–12, with Walnut cheering them on
Free forever. No card, no trial: sign up with Google or an email and you're in.
- Works with Chess.com and Lichess
- Every move checked by Stockfish
- Coaching in plain words, by Claude
- Free: no card, no premium tier
- Kids mode for ages 5–12
What your coach does
Play anywhere. Train with Walnut.
A good coach watches your games, works out what's holding you back and gives you the practice that fixes it. Walnut Chess does all three, and sends you back to Chess.com or Lichess ready for the next game.
Watches
Every game you play, here or on Chess.com and Lichess, and every puzzle you solve. Link your username once and new games come in and get reviewed on their own.
Finds
The one thing that would win you the most games: the fork you keep missing, the piece you leave hanging, the mate you don't see. Named, with the games it came up in.
Trains
Puzzles, drills and lessons aimed at exactly those spots, brought back until they stick. Then it checks your next games to see if it worked.
How the coaching works
Train here. Play anywhere. Bring your games back.
Walnut Chess turns your games into the next thing to practise, and gets you ready for the games that count.
- Play and solve herePlay Chess AI at your level and solve rated puzzles. Stockfish grades every move, and the coach stops at the moments that decided the game and says, in plain words, what happened and what was on the table.
- It names your weak spotWhen the same mistake keeps turning up, a fork, a loose piece, a pin, a missed mate, the coach tells you: "that's three of your last ten games".
- It trains itA short drill of puzzles on that theme, a warm-up before your next game on what went wrong in the last one, and your own mistakes to retry until you find the better move.
- It checks it workedOnce a few more games are in, the coach tells you whether the mistake is coming up less, and moves on to the next thing when it is.
- Take it to Chess.comPlay for real on Chess.com or Lichess. Link your username and those games come in and count too, so the coach sees how the training holds up in your real games.
Walnut and Chess.com
Keep playing where you play. Get better here.
Chess.com and Lichess are great places to play. Walnut Chess isn't trying to replace them. It's the coach you go to between games, the one that knows your games and tells you what to work on.
- Your games, not a generic course. Every lesson and puzzle it picks starts from what your games show.
- A coach you can question. Ask "what was I going for here?" or "why not Nf3?" and get an answer about your position.
- Practice at your level. When you want a game here, play an AI at your level with the coach beside the board, ranking your options and explaining each one.
- Lessons for what's missing. 3,800+ named openings, famous games and the endgames every player needs, with the coach on every board.
See it in action
What coaching looks like in the app
Real screens from Walnut Chess on a phone. It works the same on a laptop, with the coach beside the board.
Every game, reviewed
The coach stops where the game was decided and says what to take from it, for games here or on Chess.com.
A coach you can question
Ask "what about Nf3?" and get an answer about your position, not a general one.
Practice with a coach beside you
Play an AI at your level and tap to see your best moves, graded by Stockfish and explained in a sentence each.
Kids mode, ages 5 to 12
Chess for kids, with a friend who cheers them on
Turn on kids mode and the whole app changes for a young player: bright colours, big buttons, short words, and Walnut, a friendly talking walnut, beside them on every board. A parent or guardian sets it up and stays in charge.
Walnut cheers them on
A cheer for every good move, a kind word after a slip, and a party for a win. Walnut can read everything out loud for children still learning to read.
Animal friends to play
Toby the Turtle, Bella the Bunny, Felix the Fox and Olive the Owl: opponents a six-year-old can beat, and grow into.
Safe by default
The coach keeps to chess, kids accounts can't be found by other players, there are no ads, and only a grown-up can switch kids mode off.
Honest by design
An AI coach you can trust about the chess
Chatbots guess at chess. Our coach doesn't have to: Stockfish decides what's good, and the coach puts it into words you can use. You think first, and help comes when you ask for it.
What makes a good AI coach- The engine has the last word. Move grades, threats and lines come from Stockfish; the coach explains them.
- You decide first. Think first keeps the options hidden until you've had a go and tap to see them.
- Ideas, not variations. One idea per mistake, in a sentence, so it carries into your next game.
- Argue with it. Ask "what if I'd played knight to e5?" and get an answer about your position, checked by the engine.
- It remembers. Your plan, your games and your weak spots shape what it suggests next, and it follows up on them.
Free, and always free
A coach shouldn't depend on what you can pay
Private chess lessons cost more than most players will ever spend on the game, so most players learn alone. Walnut Chess gives everyone a coach that watches their games and trains their weak spots, and it costs nothing, now and later.
No subscription
There's no monthly fee, no trial that runs out and no card to enter. You sign up with an email and a password.
No premium tier
Every feature is for every player: the coach, guided play, reviews, 3,800+ openings, famous games, endgames, puzzles and drills.
Always free
This isn't a launch offer. The coach stays free, and so does everything you build with it. Why it's free.
From the blog
On AI chess coaching
Chess opponents kids can actually beat
Why matched opponents matter so much for children, what a losing streak does to a young player, and how Walnut's animal friends start very weak and grow with your child.
KidsHow to teach your child chess (ages 5–12)
A practical guide for parents, by age: short sessions, one piece at a time, puzzles that feel like games, and why letting them win now and then is part of the plan.
KidsIs an AI chess coach safe for kids?
An honest checklist for parents: who owns the account, who your child can talk to, what is kept and how to delete it, and whether the AI stays on topic. And how Walnut Chess answers each one.
Walnut ChessA free AI chess coach, and why it stays free
Walnut Chess is completely free: no subscription, no premium tier, no card. Here is exactly what that means, why we built it that way, and what "always free" commits us to.
Your coach is ready when you are
Bring your Chess.com or Lichess games, or start fresh. It's free, now and always. Sign up and you go straight into your first chat with the coach.