Using an engine to choose your moves against a human opponent is cheating. On chess.com and Lichess it is detected and it gets your account closed — the fair play systems look for exactly this pattern, and “I only checked a few moves” is not a defence.
Fine, and what this is built for:
Not fine, and we will not help with it: a live game against another person, anywhere — online, over the board, or correspondence. If you ask Claude for a move in a game against a human, it is instructed to ask who the opponent is and to decline while the answer is a person.
https://mcp.betterchess.coThat is the whole setup. Nothing installs on your machine, and subscribing later lifts the cap on the connector you already added — you never reconnect it.
There are no commands. Ask in plain language and Claude picks the right tool. These work as-is:
Here is my position: rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 2. What is undefended, what attacks it, and what are the best moves?
Runs chess_analyse. You get the top moves with real evaluations, whose turn it is, whether that side is in check, undefended pieces and what attacks them, and the material balance.
In that position, exactly which squares does the knight on f3 attack?
Runs chess_attacks. This is the one that stops confident nonsense about knights, pins and discovered attacks — the squares are computed, not recalled.
Here is my PGN from a game I just finished. Where did I actually lose it? [paste PGN]
Runs chess_review (Pro). It replays the game and reports only the moves where the evaluation genuinely swung — the two moves that decided it, not forty small inaccuracies.
I am studying this position and I want to play Ng5. Is that actually good, or is there a refutation? [paste FEN]
Analyses the position after your move, so you get the concrete refutation rather than an opinion. Use this while studying — not mid-game against a person.
| Tool | Returns | Plan |
|---|---|---|
chess_analyse | Top moves with evaluations, side to move, check, undefended pieces and their attackers, material balance. | Free (daily budget) |
chess_attacks | The exact squares a given piece attacks, and its type and colour. | Free (daily budget) |
chess_review | Every move in a finished game where the evaluation swung past a threshold, with the move played, the better move, and the position after. | Pro |
No. Paste the connector URL into Claude's connector settings and sign in with your BetterChess account. There is no terminal step, no config file and no local Stockfish. It works on the free Claude plan and on mobile.
Not yet. The connector gives Claude three tools — analysis, attack maps and game review — and you use them by asking in plain language. There is no slash command to install.
No. Using an engine to pick moves against a human opponent is cheating and will get your account banned on chess.com and Lichess. Against a bot, in a finished game, or on a position you are studying, it is fine — see the fair play section above.
A free account gets a daily analysis budget, which is enough to work through a game or study positions. Pro removes the cap for $5.99/month, cancel anytime.
The board facts do not. Attackers, defenders, evaluations and legal moves are computed by the engine and handed to Claude as fact. Claude still writes the explanation around them, so if it ever says something that contradicts the numbers it returned, tell it — it will re-check.
FEN, PGN, or a plain list of moves from the start (e.g. e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6). Paste whichever you have.
Questions or something not working: info@betterchess.co. BetterChess is independent and not affiliated with Chess.com, Lichess or Anthropic; those names are their owners' trademarks. BetterChess is a practice tool — we make no guarantee of any rating result.