Chessnook · Chess & Xiangqi

Chessnook is a cozy chess club for your pocket — a beginner-friendly, fully offline iPhone and iPad app for Chinese chess (Xiangqi), Banqi (Dark Chess / Flip Chess), and Western chess. A friendly dog mascot called Lil' General cheers you on, reacts to your moves, and softens losses with a wag of the tail. WHAT YOU GET • Standard Xiangqi — the full 9×10 board with River and Palace. Cross the river, ride the cannon, and corner the General. • Banqi (Dark Chess) — a 4×8 flip-board variant where every move reveals a new piece. Quick games, surprising swings. • Western chess — the classic 8×8 game with full standard rules, an opening book, endgame puzzles, and piece-by-piece tutorials. • 14 endgame puzzles — classical mate-in-1 patterns, from Lone Chariot Mate and Horse-and-Cannon to Iron Bolt and Bold Sacrifice. • Step-by-step tutorials — learn how each piece moves, then how it really fights. • Adjustable AI — gentle Easy for newcomers, tough Master for veterans. • Local 2-player mode — pass-and-play on a single device. • Save & resume — pick up exactly where you left off. • Move list in proper notation (炮二平五 / Nf3) as you play. DESIGNED FOR COZY PLAY • All-new boards and pieces — traditional ivory Xiangqi pieces with brush-style characters and an original Chessnook chess set, with the same highlights for selection, legal moves, captures and check across all three games. • Moves that feel good — pieces slide, land with a little bounce and pop when captured, with haptics. • A friendly dog mascot reacts to every move and never lectures. • Five board themes — Classic, Ocean, Space, Jungle, Candy — shared by all three games. • Thoughtful sound and music with independent volume controls. • Three languages — Traditional Chinese, English, Japanese — switch any time from inside the app. • Optimised for iPhone and iPad, including landscape and split-view layouts. 100% OFFLINE • No accounts. No sign-ups. No servers. • Play on a train, on a plane, or on the couch. CHESSNOOK PRO (one-time, optional) Unlock the full experience with a single purchase: • All 5 board themes • Remove all ads • Save & resume in-progress games • Full set of endgame puzzles • Chess opening names, hint arrows and game analysis (evaluation chart and move-quality grades) More variants on the way. Need help? Visit support from the Settings tab inside the app.