Lichess Analysis Board
Free, open-source, ad-free analysis with Stockfish in the browser and a serverless cloud engine for deeper dives.
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Our take
If I could only keep one chess tool, it'd probably be this one. Lichess is a non-profit and it shows in the product: no ads, no dark patterns, and the analysis board is better than most paid alternatives. The tradeoff is that it's an engine, not a tutor — you won't get the chatty "here's why this is a great move" experience. Pair it with something like DecodeChess if you want the narrative layer.
Lichess’s analysis board is the reference implementation of a free chess analysis tool. It runs Stockfish in your browser via WebAssembly, so there’s no rate limit and no account required. For tougher positions, one click offloads the analysis to Lichess’s cloud engine farm.
On top of the engine you get an opening explorer (Masters DB + Lichess games), a Syzygy tablebase probe for 7-piece endgames, and tight integration with Lichess Studies for organising your notes.
Pros
- Completely free with no ads, no upsells, no locked features
- Stockfish runs client-side; a cloud engine is available for serious depth
- Opening explorer, tablebase probe, and studies all on the same page
Cons
- No AI narrative commentary — you get engine evaluations and that's it
- The UI is dense; new players can find it overwhelming
- Mobile app has feature parity but a smaller screen makes deep analysis painful
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