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.
DESIGNED FOR COZY PLAY
• A friendly dog mascot reacts to every move and never lectures.
• Five hand-crafted board themes — Classic, Ocean, Space, Jungle, Candy.
• 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
More variants on the way.
Need help? Visit support from the Settings tab inside the app.
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