Chessboard Magic 1.2. Halloween Release

As the nights grow darker and the pumpkins light the way, it feels like the perfect time for a little treat — a mix of platform updates and brand-new applications.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been on a fun journey programming chess: building, refining, and expanding the collection of tools on the Chessboard Magic Website. We’ve just hit a big milestone — 51 items live today — and the roadmap is clear: we’re heading toward a complete set of 64 tools, one for every square on the board.
In this post, I’ll share the latest updates, highlight what’s brewing behind the scenes, and invite you to share your own ideas as we continue this journey together.

Usage & Growth

Since going live in May 2024, Chessboard Magic has seen steady organic growth — with just shy of 30,000 users and over 400,000 total page views. What makes this even more exciting is that the platform has reached those numbers with no paid marketing — just a few mentions on the Lichess blog and word-of-mouth among the chess community.

Here are my latest updates to the platform:

Repertoire Builder

Since its initial release in March 2025, the Repertoire Builder has grown significantly — now serving 3,638 registered users in total. Together, they’ve created 7,602 repertoires, averaging 2.1 per user, and contributed more than 1.1 million moves — roughly 302 per user. The community has also recorded 46,481 games, reflecting both the scale of engagement and the growing depth of study within Chessboard Magic. What a blessing it has been.

The Repertoire Builder received the bulk of the updates in this release.

What began as a simple concept has evolved into a fully fledged workspace — packed with tools for analysis, training, customization, and study. As the module has grown to include an increasingly rich and interconnected set of features, it can take a little time for new users to get oriented. To make that journey easier, I’ve created a comprehensive documentation site that explains how everything fits together, showcases key workflows, and helps you get the most out of what’s now available.
View Wiki: https://wiki.chessboardmagic.com

I’m excited to share that several new features have been added to make the repertoire builder more powerful and enjoyable to use:

• Flexible Layouts: This is the game-changing feature that demanded considerable time and effort to perfect. It offers the power to completely customize the workspace—specifically in the Builder and Library Modules—allowing any user to arrange elements exactly as they like, creating an interface that precisely fits their unique workflow. Plus, you can save and load your customized layouts instantly. Wiki : Custom Layouts

• New Analytics Cards – Fresh insights at your fingertips, plus tons of small improvements across all cards. Include TCEC Database and the Correspondence Database, to name a few.
• Local Stockfish Integration – Allow Stockfish to run on your own machine and integrating with the Repertoire Builder, also enabled Syzygy Tablebase support for deeper analysis. Wiki: Stockfish
• All-New Tools Section – Featuring the Reference Tree (formerly Opening Tree), Integrated components like User Scout, Time Usage Analyzer, Opening Priorities, and Game Review. Much deeper integration will be coming in future releases. Wiki: Tools
• Subscription & Upgrades – You can now subscribe and unlock higher platform limits, giving you more room to explore and grow your repertoire as well as subscriber only analytics components. Wiki: Upgrade
• New Piece Sets – Ten new piece sets added to the platform, giving you more ways to personalize your board. I have made the pieces open-source here
• Countless Tweaks & Quality-of-Life Upgrades – From small refinements to behind-the-scenes improvements, everything’s designed to make your experience smoother.

Note: using LiChess Tools, I am also able to use these piece sets when playing on Lichess. That was a pretty awesome surprise benefit. https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/lichess-tools-by-siderite/langlhlcknngldkeliapahbhbcmlcbcj?hl=en

Try it free today – jump in, explore the tools, and see how the Repertoire Builder can help your chess improvement journey.

Updates

Here are some of the new Chessboard Magic applications now available:

Game Review

Bring in your own games—whether you load them straight from Chess.com, Lichess, or simply paste a PGN—and get a clear, easy-to-follow assessment of your play. See what you did well, where things went wrong, and which moves changed the course of the game. It’s like having a coach quietly walking you through the highlights, showing the patterns, and giving you practical takeaways to build on for your next match.

Try it now: Game Review

Solitaire

Step through a game one move at a time, guessing the right continuation as if you were playing it live. Each move comes with instant feedback: you’ll see when you’re on the best path, and when you drift into mistakes or miss opportunities. Over time, this steady rhythm of practice strengthens your intuition and sharpens your decision-making for real games. You can load your own PGN, or explore our curated library of classic and instructive games.

Try it now: Solitaire

Time Usage Analysis

Import your games and see exactly how you’re using your time move by move. Are you spending too long in the opening, rushing through the middlegame, or hesitating at critical moments? This tool highlights your patterns so you can spot where the clock is helping—or hurting—you. With a clearer picture of your habits, you’ll be able to adjust your approach and train smarter for future games.

Try it now: Time Usage Analysis

Opening Priorities

Upload your games and quickly see how you perform against different openings. Spot the lines where you’re confident, and the ones where you consistently struggle. By highlighting which openings matter most for your results, this tool helps you focus your study where it counts, turning practice time into real improvement.

Try it now: Opening Priorities

Full Catalogue of Chessboard Magic

Here’s the latest update on Chessboard Magic—now featuring 51 unique items! With a goal of reaching 64, just 13 more items to go. I’m excited to keep pushing forward and make it happen!
Analytics (7)

• (NEW) Game Review
• (NEW) Opening Priorities
• (NEW) Time Usage Analysis
• Repertoire Builder
• User Scout
• Opening Tree
• Opponent Prep

Learn (14)

• (NEW) Solitaire
• Candidate Move Trainer
• Checkmate Trainer
• Chess Resources
• Coordinate Trainer
• Hand and Brain
• Hidden Chess
• Notation Trainer
• Memory Trainer
• Opening Templates
• Piece Trainer
• Practice Trainer
• Space Visualiser
• Where Are my Pieces?

Games (17)

• Chess Anagrams
• Chess Crossword
• Chess Cryptogram
• Chess Hangman
• Chess Image Puzzle
• Chess Wordsearch
• Chess Slide
• Decrypt Chess
• Guess The Elo
• Guess The Eval
• Guess The Opening
• Guess The Move
• Guess Who
• Jumping Knights
• Play The Opening
• Rotating Image Puzzles
• Whack A Pawn

Tools (6)

• Chess Clock
• Fischer Random Generator
• Gif Generator
• Opening Explorer
• PGN Viewer
• Tablebase

Library (7)

• Chess Glossary
• Chess Miniatures
• Chess Quotes
• FIDE Rules of Basic Play
• FIDE Rules of Competitive Play
• World Championship Matches

If you’ve got any ideas or apps you’d love to see built, let me know — I’m always open to new suggestions.

A Heartfelt Thank You

Thank you for being a part of this magical journey. Since our launch on May 27, 2024, we’ve come a long way with your support. Your feedback and engagement have been invaluable, pushing me to keep improving and expanding Chessboard Magic.
If you’ve enjoyed my site, please tell a friend about it, share it on social media, and help spread the word. Stay tuned for more updates, and until next time—happy chess playing!

Warm regards,
Toan Hoang (@HollowLeaf)

Creator of Chessboard Magic
Follow me on Discord, Patreon
Visit Chessboard Magic to explore all these exciting new features!