Coach Rook Start a session

Meet Coach Rook

A chess coach that watches your board.

Play. Think out loud. Ask questions. Coach Rook sees every move and helps you find the idea before showing you the answer.

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Puzzles · Play · Review

The ad 50 seconds, sound on

Anna, Victor, Helen and Darius, recorded from live calls. The boards and numbers on screen come from the app's engine.

Seeing the best move isn't the same as learning it.

?? Blunder → best move → engine line → close the tab.

Make a move → get a question → try again → understand why.

One conversation

Ask for it. The coach moves the board.

There are no menus to learn. Say what you want and the coach takes you there, mid-sentence.

"Let's play. You at a thousand."
A game starts.
"Can we review the game we just played?"
It opens, with your mistakes found.
"Show me where it went wrong."
The board goes back to that move.
"Back to puzzles."
You're back.

A real call two minutes, uncut

The coach's replies are live and unscripted. The student's requests were typed instead of spoken.

Try it yourselfThe board works without a code. The video coach needs one.

Puzzles

Hints that don't ruin the puzzle.

Stuck? Say so. Help comes one step at a time, and each step leaves you something to find.

  1. A question. "What is your knight standing in front of?"
  2. A highlighted piece. The coach points. You look.
  3. The pattern's name. "Think clearance."
  4. The solution. Only when you ask for it.
Puzzle 7 · rated 836
White to move

Play

Play someone who can explain the game.

Pick a strength from 500 to 3000. Ask about the position at any point. Take a move back. When it's over, ask to go through it and the game opens in review.

The coaching thins out as the rating climbs. At 500 you hear about a threat before it lands. At 3000 you get the engine, and very little conversation until it's over.

500
Mentions threats before they land.
1000
Says what a move let through, and why.
1500
Speaks up when the game turns.
2000
Comments on turning points only.
2500
Explains when asked.
3000
Says little until the game is over.

Review

Don't watch your mistake. Replay it.

Paste a game. The board goes back to the move before each one that cost you. The coach asks what you were thinking. Then you try again.

Any move that holds the position counts. The engine's first choice is one of them, and often there are others.

1-0 · Paris Opera
You played 10... cxb5
1. 6... Nf6?! 2. 10... cxb5?

Four coaches. Pick the one you'd listen to.

Same engine, same rules, same memory of you. Switch whenever you like.

The engine checks. Rook teaches.

The coach is never trusted to work out chess by itself. The board keeps the position. Stockfish judges the moves. The coach's job is to ask, explain and encourage.

Board
Austin played Qd6. Queen from d1 to d6.
Stockfish
Mistake. Bd3 kept it equal (−0.1). Now Black is winning (−3.4).
Coach
"Look at your bishop on e4. What happens to it now?"

Memory

Your next lesson starts where the last one ended.

After each session the board writes down what happened: what you solved cleanly, what needed hints, which mistakes came up in your games. The coach reads it before saying hello.

Every session is kept, so the notes add up to a profile: what you're getting better at, and what still catches you.

Notebook

Austin
  • Session note 2026-10-02: played the coach at strength 1500 as White: lost in 21 moves; biggest mistakes 14. Qd6?.
  • Session note 2026-10-01: solved first try: back-rank mate, pin. fork: tried Qd5, Nc7 first, 1 hint, then solved it.
  • Student profile, 14 sessions since 2026-09-12. Puzzles: 61 tried, 38 solved first try. Lately needs work on fork (2 of 9 first try). Lately strong at pin (9 of 10 first try).

Don't just see the move. Find it.

Start a session

Puzzles, a game against the coach, or a review of one of your own games.