Zen Chess

Zen Chess teaches chess as a practice of attention. Master Kū guides you from your first move to strong club play, one calm step at a time. THE PATH Eight stages, in the order the great teaching books follow: the rules, basic mates and opening principles, tactics, endgames, positional play, calculation, openings as ideas, and finally strategy and competitive calm. Each stage has short lessons written for the app, puzzles checked by the chess engine, a practice for the mind, and a trial game. Win the trial to earn the stage's seal. PLAY Eight opponents run on your iPhone, from a gentle beginner of about 400 to a master of about 2200. The lower levels make human slips, so you can learn from winning as well as losing. After each of your moves the engine judges it, and the master tells you, briefly and kindly, when something was missed and what was better. Ask for a hint, take a move back, or ask the master a question about the position. A MASTER WHO SPEAKS On devices with Apple Intelligence, the master speaks in its own words, privately on your iPhone. The engine supplies the chess facts, so the master never invents moves. Without Apple Intelligence the master speaks from the app's built-in teachings, and everything else works the same. YOUR OWN AI, IF YOU WISH Add your own API key for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or DeepSeek, and before each game you choose who teaches you: Apple Intelligence is always the default. A cloud master can also play its own moves against you. Every move is checked, and the engine steps in if one isn't legal. Keys stay in your iPhone's Keychain and go only to the provider you chose. CALM AT THE BOARD Breathing practices, a body scan before a game, and a practice for after a hard loss. Turn on the mindful pause and the board gives you one slow breath before each of your moves. The calm move checklist trains the habit strong players share: look before you leap. DESIGNED FOR THE BOARD Six board themes, from classic green to sumi ink and river stone. Tap or drag to move, legal-move dots, last-move and check highlights, coordinates, piece sounds and haptics. No account. No ads. No tracking. Your progress stays on your device. The breathing practices are for focus at the board; Zen Chess is not a health service.