Real chess engine.
On your phone.
Knight Rise packs a 2300-ELO Rust engine, computer-vision board scanner, coach mode, 18 free lessons, 100 achievements, and local-Wi-Fi multiplayer with chat and emotes into one private phone app. No accounts. No telemetry. Everything runs on-device.
Sixteen tools.
One on-device app.
Knight Rise is what every major chess site already does · but without the account, the tracking, or the server round-trip. Every feature runs on your phone.
Coach Mode
Every move scored · best line, threats, plans · plain-language explanations
2300-ELO Engine
Native Rust engine on-device · adjustable strength · no cloud calls
Board Scanner
Point the camera at another screen · vision pipeline writes the FEN for you
Share Extension
Share any screenshot to Knight Rise · the engine returns the best move inline
Browser Extension
Analyze the active tab on every major chess site · one-tap engine eval
Local Multiplayer
Same-Wi-Fi peer-to-peer · chat and emotes · no matchmaker, no server
Messages Play
Play a full chess game inside a message thread · moves stay between you
Game History
Every game saved on-device · move-by-move replay · jump to any position
FEN Tools
Paste any FEN · open in a read-only viewer · export as PNG · analyze in one tap
Learn Chess
4 interactive sections: board orientation, Pokemon-style piece cards with 3D tilt, 18 lessons covering rules and tactics, plus 32 practice puzzles. Always free.
Daily Puzzles
Hand-picked tactical sets · streaks and difficulty curve, fully offline
100 Achievements
Earn badges for captures, checkmates, streaks, and milestones. Complete achievement sets to unlock free PRO. Syncs with Game Center.
Time Controls
Bullet, blitz, rapid, classical, or unlimited · Fischer increment · flag-fall by FIDE rules
Daily Goals
3 random goals every day · capture hunts, win targets, move challenges · resets at midnight · streak rewards
Works Offline
Every feature runs on-device · no internet needed to play, learn, or analyze
Private by Design
No account · zero telemetry · games and analyses stay on your device
See every move
the way a coach would.
Drop in a PGN, scan a board, or just play · Knight Rise runs the entire position through a native Rust engine and a coach layer that names each move (Brilliant, Best, Good, Inaccuracy, Mistake, Blunder) and explains why. The engine is real, the explanations are written, the verdict is yours.
- 2300-ELO Rust engine that runs entirely on-device
- Move-by-move tags · Brilliant, Best, Good, Inaccuracy, Mistake, Blunder
- Suggested continuation lines with click-to-explore variations
- Plain-language reasoning for every critical position
The engine is yours · no positions ever leave your phone.
Point the camera.
Get a position back.
A computer-vision pipeline reads a real-world chess board and writes the FEN for you. Detect the board corners, classify every piece, and hand the position straight to the engine for analysis · all on-device, no upload.
- Board-corner detection and perspective rectification
- On-device piece classification across pieces, sides, and squares
- One-tap export to analysis, play, or PGN
- Confidence indicator with manual override per square
Vision runs locally · no photos uploaded, no third-party model calls.
Learn Chess, Your Way.
From beginner to confident player.
Four interactive sections guide you from board basics to advanced tactics. Explore the board, collect Pokemon-style piece cards with holographic 3D tilt effects, master 18 lessons on rules and tactics, and sharpen your skills with 32 practice puzzles. Every lesson is interactive with tap-to-play board demonstrations. Always free, no subscription required.
- Board orientation, coordinates, and FEN notation
- 6 collectible piece cards with 3D tilt and holographic shine
- 18 lessons: castling, en passant, forks, pins, back rank mates
- 32 curated puzzles from famous games to endgame challenges
The full Learn tab is free · no subscription gate.
100 Achievements to Earn.
Every move counts toward something.
100 achievements that reward everything you do: captures, checkmates, special moves, learning milestones, and daily goals. Plus 3 random daily challenges that reset at midnight to keep you coming back. Complete curated achievement sets to unlock a free month of PRO.
- Badges for captures, checkmates, castling, en passant, promotion
- 3 random daily goals every day: capture hunts, win targets, move challenges
- 3 PRO Reward Sets: Scholar, Warrior, Completionist
- Apple Game Center integration
Achievement sets reward free PRO · no strings attached.
Play across the table.
No servers in the middle.
Same-Wi-Fi peer-to-peer multiplayer with live chat and emotes. Knight Rise builds the connection on top of our open-source ConnectionPool library · the same mesh transport from the StealthOS project, with DTLS-encrypted local pairs. No matchmaker, no game server, no account.
- Local-Wi-Fi peer-to-peer · DTLS encrypted under the hood
- In-game chat and reaction emotes during play
- Time controls, takebacks, and offered draws
- Built on the open-source ConnectionPool library from StealthOS
Transport · ConnectionPool from StealthOS · MIT
Pay what you use.
Nothing more.
Free for play, local multiplayer, the full Learn tab, daily puzzles, and 84 achievements. A one-time $0.99 unlocks in-app analysis. Pro adds the on-device vision pipeline, or earn it free through achievement sets.
Free
No account · forever free
Play against the engine across all four difficulty tiers, pair up over local Wi-Fi for a friend match, learn chess from scratch with 18 interactive lessons, and track your progress with 100 achievements. No sign-up, no internet required.
- Play vs the 2300-ELO on-device engine · all four tiers
- Local-Wi-Fi multiplayer · chat and emotes
- Full Learn tab · 4 sections, 18 lessons, 32 puzzles
- Achievement tracking · 100 badges, Game Center sync
- Daily curated puzzle · streak tracking
- No account · no telemetry · works offline
Analysis
One-time · unlocks Analyze tab
Unlock the in-app Analyze tab with full engine evaluation, coach mode, and FEN tools. Pay once, keep forever. No subscription, no server round-trip.
- Everything in Free
- In-app Analyze tab with engine eval + candidate moves
- Coach Mode · plain-language move explanations
- Paste-FEN viewer with PNG export
Pro
3-day free trial
1-week free trial · save 30%
Lifetime subscription · one-time
Everything in Analysis plus the on-device vision pipeline. Read any board from your camera or any other app, and analyze positions wherever you find them. Or earn it free by completing achievement sets.
- Everything in Analysis
- Board scanner · camera + screenshot vision pipeline
- Share extension · analyze from any app
- Browser extension · works on every major chess site
- Complete achievement sets for a free PRO month
- Same engine, same coach · no cloud round-trip
Start on Free · upgrade inside the app.
Prices listed in USD · regional pricing applies on the App Store and Google Play
Multiplayer is a library.
Read it. Fork it. Run it.
Knight Rise doesn't reinvent the network layer · it sits on top of an open-source mesh transport we maintain in the open with the rest of the StealthOS project.
ConnectionPool
P2P mesh networking library · from StealthOS
Knight Rise's local-Wi-Fi multiplayer is built on top of ConnectionPool · the same open-source mesh library that powers pools and games in StealthOS. Local peers connect over the device's native peer transport with DTLS encryption · remote peers via a self-hosted relay with Noise NK and ChaCha20-Poly1305. No matchmaker, no game server, no account.
Your games stay
where they were played.
Knight Rise is built so you never have to negotiate with a server about your chess. Four guarantees, baked in.
No account
Open the app and you are in · no email, no sign-up.
No telemetry
Zero analytics, zero tracking, zero third-party SDKs.
On-device
Engine, vision, and coach all run on your phone · nothing uploads.
Local multiplayer · no servers
Peer-to-peer over your Wi-Fi · no matchmaker, no game server.