Find the best chess move in any position

ChessMoveScout is a new set of free chess tools: set up a position, see the strongest move with an arrow and the evaluation, and go through your own games move by move. They are being built now.

Chess board: white king g1, rook e1, pawns f2 g2 h2; black king g8, pawns f7 g7 h7. Arrow from e1 to e8.abcdefgh87654321♚︎♟︎♟︎♟︎♟︎♟︎♟︎♜︎♚︎

Example position · White to move

Best move: Re8#

The rook goes to the back rank and it is checkmate. The rook also covers f8 and h8, Black's own pawns on f7, g7 and h7 take away the other escape squares, and nothing can capture the rook or block the check. This is the classic back-rank mate.

FEN: 6k1/5ppp/8/8/8/8/5PPP/4R1K1 w - - 0 1

Worked by hand and checked with the python-chess library: Re8# is the only move that mates at once. The tool will show answers like this for any position you set up.

Tools being built

Best move calculatorSet up a position or paste a FEN; see the best move, the evaluation and the next few moves
Board editorPlace pieces, pick who moves, copy the FEN or share a link
Analysis boardPaste a PGN and step through the game with an evaluation graph

The engine

The tools will use Stockfish, the free, open-source chess engine. It is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3. When the tools go live, a Licences page will link to the exact source code of the engine build we serve, as that licence requires.

Your positions and games

The first tools will run the engine in your browser, so positions and games you enter are not sent to us. If a later tool needs our server, its page will say so before anything is sent.

Fair play

ChessMoveScout is for study, puzzles and reviewing finished games. Using an engine during a game you are playing breaks the fair-play rules of online chess sites and over-the-board events. We will not make browser extensions or live-game overlays.