Chess books
Open a PDF and the diagrams on every page are marked, and you can draw a box around any the search missed. In an ePub, each image gets a Read diagram button. Books reopen at the page you reached, and nothing in them is uploaded.
Every chess diagram, one tap from a real board.
Screenshots, book pages and paused videos: VizChess reads the pieces, rings any square it is unsure of, and runs Stockfish on your own device once you confirm the position.
Free during the demo. Sign in with your Lichess account to start.
From a picture to a plan in four steps
Capture
Paste a screenshot, open a PDF or ePub book, or press the extension button on a web page or a paused YouTube video.
Check
The board appears beside the picture with doubtful squares ringed. Fix a square in a tap and confirm. Nothing goes further until you do.
Analyse
Stockfish 18 runs in your browser, with an evaluation bar, the best lines and an arrow for the best move. Play moves and variations on the board.
Keep
Save the position to your library, train its key move as a flashcard, or open the same board on Lichess with every move you played.
Wherever the diagram is
Web pages and videos
The VizChess extension for Chrome, Edge and Firefox lights up the boards on a page. Click one, drag a box around it, or right-click an image. On YouTube, a knight button reads the paused frame. It stays off during live games.
Download extensionDirect download (Beta)
Screenshots and photos
Paste a screenshot straight from the clipboard, drop a file, or share a picture from your phone to the installed app. VizChess finds the board and shows what it read beside the picture.
Keep what you find
A library on every device
Studies keep their moves, notes, source and page. Sign in on another device and the library is already there.
Flashcards that stick
Make a card from any position with a move to find. Grade yourself, and spaced repetition brings the card back just before you would forget it.
The same board on Lichess
Open a confirmed position in Lichess’s analysis board with its moves and variations, at the move you were looking at.
Your diagrams stay on your device
- Reading and analysis run in your browser. Images and books are never uploaded.
- No ads and no tracking. One cookie keeps you signed in.
- Lichess only when you ask. Look a position up or open it there, and only that board is sent.
Questions
Is VizChess free?
Yes. This release is a free demo, so accounts may be reset while VizChess is being built.
Do I need an account?
Yes. Sign in with your Lichess account, or with a username and password from the VizChess team. Your library then follows you to every device you use.
What can it read?
Printed diagrams in PDF and ePub books, screenshots and photos of a board, and boards on web pages and in paused videos. Diagrams typeset with a chess font inside a PDF’s text are not read yet.
Does it work offline?
Once the app is installed, scanning, analysis, books and your library keep working without a connection. Signing in and syncing wait until you are back online.
Can I use it during a game?
No. VizChess is for study. The browser extension refuses to work on live games at Lichess and Chess.com, and the terms of use forbid help during any game.
Where does my data go?
Images and books are read in your browser and never uploaded. Your account keeps your library in sync, and only a position you choose to look up or open goes to Lichess.
Try it on the next diagram you meet
Open VizChess, sign in, and paste the position you have been staring at.
Open VizChess