A little help for your next move.

Choose a game

Choose Computer to set an opponent strength, Ranked to build your rating on a private ladder, Elite to challenge fictional computer opponents, or Pass & play for two people on one device. Choose Standard chess or Chess960 and adjust the clock before starting.

These modes and game analysis work offline. Ranked and Elite opponents are computer-controlled; they are not online matches with real people.

Ratings and saved games

Ranked games update the rating and progress stored on your device. Undo is disabled in ranked play. Return home to pause a ranked game and resume it later; resigning or leaving matchmaking records a loss. You can keep several games in progress and review completed games in your history.

Play against Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence is an optional, unranked opponent on supported devices. The on-device model needs Apple Intelligence enabled and its system model ready. It runs locally without an internet connection. Its language model can make chess mistakes and does not affect your ranked rating.

On supported devices running iOS or iPadOS 27 or later, Apple Intelligence (Cloud) uses Apple's Private Cloud Compute and needs internet access. It may be selected automatically when available, but ChessPlay asks for your consent before sending any game position. Each requested move sends the current position, legal moves, and recent moves to Apple through its system framework.

Choose the on-device model in the model picker if you prefer local play. Declining the initial cloud choice also selects the on-device model. The on-device model never switches a request to the cloud. For an unavailable model, read the explanation in the app, check Apple Intelligence in device Settings, or try again later if Apple's service has reached a usage limit. Computer, Ranked, Elite, and Pass & play do not require Apple Intelligence.

Review and share a game

Open a saved game to step through its moves and review the analysis. Use Export PGN to share the chess notation through the iOS share sheet. Check the file and recipient before sharing; anyone who receives it can read the game.

Back up or move your data

In Settings, choose Export backup to save games, ratings, progress, analyses, and preferences. Choose Restore backup to select a ChessPlay backup from Files and review it before replacing the data on this device. Undo last restore returns to the data held before that restore.

ChessPlay has no account-based sync. Keep a backup before changing devices or removing the app. Reset ChessPlay in Settings deletes local app data; it does not delete copies you exported or shared.

Contact support

Email warpkode@gangso.net with your device model, iOS or iPadOS version, ChessPlay version, and the steps that caused the problem. For an Apple Intelligence issue, include the selected model and any message shown in the app. Only include a game or backup if it is needed to explain the issue.

Read the ChessPlay privacy policy for details about local storage, optional Private Cloud Compute, sharing, and support.