How to play

Dzeal Chess teaches chess one small skill at a time. Each level removes one support, until you can play a whole game without looking at a board.

1. Start in a minute

Open the app at chess.dzealai.com. No download or account needed.
Choose your goal: 🥉 Learn the basics, 🥈 Get good or 🥇 Master it. This only decides which path we suggest. Every path stays open and you can change your goal any time in Settings.
Take the 12-question placement test (optional). If you already know the basics, you skip ahead.
Press “Continue” at the top of the home screen. It always takes you to your next step.
Sign in with Google (optional) to keep your progress safe. See why sign in.

You can learn everything without an account. Signing in is free and keeps your progress safe.

	Guest	Signed in with Google
All levels, paths and badges	✅	✅
Progress saved	In this browser only	✅ In your account
Continue on another phone or computer	—	✅
Keep progress if you clear browser data or use private browsing	—	✅
Email when new levels launch	—	✅ (if you choose “Notify me”)

If you played as a guest first, that progress moves to your account when you sign in. (If your account already has more progress from another device, the account copy is kept.) We only use your name and email to save your progress (see our privacy policy).

2. Levels and paths

Every level has three paths: Easy Medium Expert. Passing a level on a path opens the next level on the same path. You never have to do Expert to keep going.

♟ Level 1 · Vocabulary

Piece names, rules and chess words: check, castling, en passant, fork, pin and more.

♜ Level 2 · Squares

Name highlighted squares like e4 or h7, then whole zones of the board. Expert flips the board and adds a timer.

♞ Level 3 · Piece movement

Write the legal moves of a highlighted piece, from a single move on an empty board to every move in a crowded position.

♝ Level 3.5 · Read a game soon

Follow a famous game from its notation, move by move.

♛ Level 4 · Best move

Real positions from real games. Find the strongest move and type it in. Every answer is checked against the computer's top 5 moves.

♚ Level 5 · Notation play soon

Play full games against the computer by writing your moves.

♔ Level 6 · Blindfold soon

Play without seeing the pieces, and finally without a board at all.

3. Answering

Every answer has a Confirm button, so a slip of the finger can be fixed before it counts.
Easy: a small chess keypad. Tap a file letter (a–h) and the keypad switches to ranks (1–8).
Medium and Expert: your own phone or computer keyboard, so the key layout never gives away the answer. On a small phone you can switch to the compact keypad in Settings.
Several answers? Separate them with spaces, e.g. e4 d5 h1 or Nf3 Nc3 Ne5.

4. Writing moves (notation)

You want to write	Example	How
A piece move	`Nf3`	Piece letter + square. K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight.
A pawn move	`e4`	Just the square; pawns have no letter.
A capture	`Bxe5`, `exd6`	Add `x`. A pawn capture starts with the file it came from.
Castling	`O-O`, `O-O-O`	Kingside / queenside. Zeros (`0-0`) are accepted too.
Promotion	`e8=Q`	Square + `=` + new piece. `e8Q` is accepted.
Two pieces can reach the square	`Nbd2`, `R1e2`	Add the starting file or rank.
Check / mate	`Qh5+`, `Qf7#`	Optional; we accept the move with or without them.

You can also type from–to squares, like g1f3 or g1-f3.

4b. Level 4: finding the best move

The board is turned so that your side is at the bottom. The two highlighted squares show your opponent's last move.
Type one move. It is compared with the top 5 moves of Stockfish, a strong chess engine: ★ Best (+3 points), ✓ Good (+1, close to the best), ✗ Not good enough (0) or ✗✗ Blunder (−2, a move that loses).
After each answer you see the best move, the engine's top moves and the full solution, with a link to replay the puzzle on Lichess.
Hint 💡: marks the piece to move and names the idea (fork, pin, mate in 2…).
Easy puzzles are short (often one move). Medium and Expert need more calculation, and Expert only accepts moves very close to the best.

5. Help along the way

Hints 💡 cost one hint token. You start with 3 and earn 1 for every 10 correct answers in a row. A hint might show the board coordinates, mark the possible squares, remove two wrong options or give the first letter.
Retries: a question you get wrong comes back once, a few questions later, so you can put it right.
No repeats: you see every question in a set before any comes back.
Daily warm-up: levels you have passed return as a quick 5-question warm-up after 1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days, so you don't forget them.

6. Badges

Pass a level on Easy, Medium or Expert to earn a 🥉 bronze, 🥈 silver or 🥇 gold badge. Share it with friends from the badge screen. Your name only appears if you switch it on.

The exact pass marks and progress rules are on Scoring, rules & disclaimer. Stuck or found a wrong answer? Tell us.