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My new app to play on Lichess with a physical chessboard using AI / computer vision

Jujizzu

Hi everyone!

I love the feel of playing on a real chessboard, but I also enjoy playing online. So I’ve been working on a way to bring the two together: ChessCoo. ️

The idea is simple: your ordinary chessboard, a camera, and a game on Lichess. No electronic board or special pieces needed!

You make your moves on the physical board, and ChessCoo uses computer vision to recognise them and send them to Lichess. Your opponent’s moves appear on screen and can be announced aloud, so you can play them on your board.

It runs in your browser on PC or smartphone. On PC, you can use a webcam or turn your smartphone into the camera. It’s free to use, with no installation and no separate ChessCoo account. Just connect your Lichess account to play online.

And to clarify the “AI” part: it reads the board—it doesn’t suggest moves or provide engine assistance during Lichess games. Camera processing happens on your devices; camera images and video aren’t uploaded to ChessCoo’s servers.

Here it is: https://chesscoo.com

You’ll find a tutorial in the help section.

Now comes the interesting part: seeing how it behaves outside my own setup! Different pieces, boards, lighting and camera angles can all make a difference. Recognition can get things wrong, and I’d really appreciate hearing about both the smooth games and the “hang on, that wasn’t my move!” moments.

A few things I’d love to know:

  • Was getting started straightforward?
  • How reliably does it recognise moves with your board?
  • Is correcting a missed or misread move easy?
  • What would make playing this way more enjoyable?
    If something goes wrong, a short description of your device, browser and board setup would help me investigate.

Thanks for taking a look—and I’d love to hear how you usually combine a real chessboard with online chess!

Hi everyone! I love the feel of playing on a real chessboard, but I also enjoy playing online. So I’ve been working on a way to bring the two together: ChessCoo. ️ The idea is simple: your ordinary chessboard, a camera, and a game on Lichess. No electronic board or special pieces needed! You make your moves on the physical board, and ChessCoo uses computer vision to recognise them and send them to Lichess. Your opponent’s moves appear on screen and can be announced aloud, so you can play them on your board. It runs in your browser on PC or smartphone. On PC, you can use a webcam or turn your smartphone into the camera. It’s free to use, with no installation and no separate ChessCoo account. Just connect your Lichess account to play online. And to clarify the “AI” part: it reads the board—it doesn’t suggest moves or provide engine assistance during Lichess games. Camera processing happens on your devices; camera images and video aren’t uploaded to ChessCoo’s servers. Here it is: https://chesscoo.com You’ll find a tutorial in the help section. Now comes the interesting part: seeing how it behaves outside my own setup! Different pieces, boards, lighting and camera angles can all make a difference. Recognition can get things wrong, and I’d really appreciate hearing about both the smooth games and the “hang on, that wasn’t my move!” moments. A few things I’d love to know: - Was getting started straightforward? - How reliably does it recognise moves with your board? - Is correcting a missed or misread move easy? - What would make playing this way more enjoyable? If something goes wrong, a short description of your device, browser and board setup would help me investigate. Thanks for taking a look—and I’d love to hear how you usually combine a real chessboard with online chess!
Alepioffo

Cool application! I will try it!

Cool application! I will try it!
petri999

I hope you are using official lichess API to feed the moves and not using it via web-interface

I hope you are using official lichess API to feed the moves and not using it via web-interface
Jujizzu

Yes, ChessCoo uses the official Lichess Board API to send moves and receive game updates, not browser automation or interaction with the Lichess web interface. The camera recognition runs locally on the user’s device. Thanks for checking!

chesscoo_lichess.png

Yes, ChessCoo uses the official Lichess Board API to send moves and receive game updates, not browser automation or interaction with the Lichess web interface. The camera recognition runs locally on the user’s device. Thanks for checking! ![chesscoo_lichess.png](https://image.lichess1.org/display?fmt=png&h=0&op=resize&path=x5jx0WGLU9XY.png&w=864&sig=fdcfb7126651eab7fbcc39b3a027f1461a068a6e)
Sahist4

Nice idea! Will check it out!

Nice idea! Will check it out!