What is Lichess?
Yo, I made a huge mistake. I clicked on Lichess thinking we finally got a legit Auto Chess game with real pieces. Spoiler: it’s not an autobattler. Not even close. You don’t draft units, you don’t build synergies, and you definitely don’t sit back and watch your army fight. It’s just… chess. Traditional, turn-based, move-the-piece-yourself chess. If you’re looking for the chaos of TFT or the randomness of Hearthstone Battlegrounds, you’re in the wrong place. But if you want to actually think until your brain hurts, this is it. You play real-time or correspondence matches, jump into arena tournaments, or grind against bots. The core loop is pure skill, no RNG luck. And honestly? It’s free. Like, 100% free. No subscriptions, no ads, no pay-to-win nonsense. The UI is clean, the load times are fast, and the community is massive—over five million games a day. It’s just a pure, unadulterated chess experience.
Gameplay
Yo, I made a huge mistake. I clicked on Lichess thinking we finally got a legit Auto Chess game with real pieces. Spoiler: it’s not an autobattler. Not even close. You don’t draft units, you don’t build synergies, and you definitely don’t sit back and watch your army fight. It’s just… chess. Traditional, turn-based, move-the-piece-yourself chess. If you’re looking for the chaos of TFT or the randomness of Hearthstone Battlegrounds, you’re in the wrong place. But if you want to actually think until your brain hurts, this is it. You play real-time or correspondence matches, jump into arena tournaments, or grind against bots. The core loop is pure skill, no RNG luck. And honestly? It’s free. Like, 100% free. No subscriptions, no ads, no pay-to-win nonsense. The UI is clean, the load times are fast, and the community is massive—over five million games a day. It’s just a pure, unadulterated chess experience.
The real magic happens in the post-game analysis. You get instant feedback from Stockfish, the AI that’s basically a grandmaster roasting your moves for free. It tells you exactly where you messed up, which is insane value for a free app. But it’s not perfect. The timer can be sketchy in bullet games, and some folks feel the new interface is less intuitive than the old one. Still, for learning and playing serious chess, it’s hard to beat.
key_features":["100% free with no ads or subs
Key Features
- 100% free with no ads or subscriptions
- Powered by Stockfish AI analysis for post-game review
- Play real-time bullet games or slow correspondence matches
- Solve puzzles online or offline to improve your skills
- Join daily arena tournaments with thousands of players
- Practice against customizable online bots of varying strength
What Players Say
The real magic happens in the post-game analysis. You get instant feedback from Stockfish, the AI that’s basically a grandmaster roasting your moves for free. It tells you exactly where you messed up, which is insane value for a free app. But it’s not perfect. The timer can be sketchy in bullet games, and some folks feel the new interface is less intuitive than the old one. Still, for learning and playing serious chess, it’s hard to beat.
Video Review
Screenshots
Verdict
“one of the worst timers in chess apps out there. there is a way to cheat and increase the time for yourself in bullet games. absolutely pathetic. absolutely horrible horrible timer. Even after repeated complains no action taken. Absolutely horrible developers. edit in response to below: I am not sur”
“I liked the previous version better”
“even better than site ;) better than other app”
“What a great resource and service to the chess community. Kudos to the developers and volunteers for this. The app isn't difficult to navigate or use. There is some great learning content and unlimited puzzles (unlike some other chess apps.) One thing that could be improved would be an easy way to s”
“У приложения после обновления стал лучше интерфейс, кастомизация. Но пропал режим игры с компьютером - поэтому 4 звезды”
“I gave the app 3 stars because it features some great new additions. The personalized puzzle feature is a fantastic upgrade that tailors challenges to your specific gameplay. However, I held back from a 5-star review due to a few tournament issues. You can no longer tap ongoing games to spectate liv”
“what happened to the old interface? the new interface is less aesthetically pleasing and just generally worse from a UX perspective as well. Can you rollback? edit: so apparently you can re-enable quick play matrix from settings, that was my main issue with it (it required 3 clicks to start a game).”
“i want the old app back. this one sucks! EDIT to answer dev question: The old app was simple, fast and functional. That's exactly what I liked about Lichess. I open the app to play chess, not for fancy UI, animations and transitions. The old app felt much faster and more responsive. Menus opened ins”
“new awful design ...It was hard to find 1st time the widget where to play.I undestand therr are a lot of interrsing information,but the first widget mjst be how to play”
Skip it if you want an autobattler; it’s a 0/10 for that genre. Grab it if you want to learn chess for free; it’s a 9/10 for that. It’s a masterpiece of a platform, just don’t expect it to play itself for you.
Play for Free →* Price at time of publication (checked 22.09.2026). Prices may vary by region and are subject to change. This is an editorial review, not a commercial offer.