# Sealed Move — Chess coach who shows the why

> AI chess coach explaining engine moves and game analysis with interactive features. (iPhone/iPad app by Tim Williams.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sealed-move/id6799776097 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Tim Williams](https://appshunter.io/developer/1365167722)
- Category: Games, Education, Board, Strategy
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 3.00/5 from 1 App Store ratings
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 9 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-08-18
- Data updated: 2026-09-05
- Monetization: freemium
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sealed-move/id6799776097/reviews.md

## What is Sealed Move?

Sealed Move is a chess coach on your phone. Stockfish makes every factual claim about your game, and a coach who talks like a person turns those claims into plain speech. The coach never analyzes the board on its own, which means it cannot invent a variation.

THE ENGINE JUDGES. THE COACH EXPLAINS.
Every evaluation, best move, tactic, and opening name comes from the engine. The coach's job is the words: what your move accomplished, what it missed, and what deserves your attention now. When the game genuinely shifts, the coach steps in with a short recap of the moves that caused the swing, then leaves you to play.

FEEDBACK THAT WAITS ITS TURN
Coaching arrives as cards docked under the board. Read the newest at a glance, tap to expand it, and swipe back through earlier notes whenever you like. Ask a question and a full conversation opens; close it and the board is yours again.

TAP THE COACH'S WORDS
Every square, piece, and move the coach mentions is live. Tap f7 and the board shows you f7. Tap a move and an annotation pen draws the same red arrow a coach reaches for at a demo board.

A LEXICON WITH MOVING PARTS
When the coach names a fork, a skewer, or a Najdorf, the word links into a Lexicon of 153 entries: a plain definition plus the pattern played out on an animated board. Every demo line was checked by the engine before it shipped.

HINTS THAT LEAVE THE FIND TO YOU
Stuck in a sharp position? The coach will tell you what kind of idea you are missing and let you find it. The eval is the engine's, the nudge is the coach's, and the find is still yours.

REVIEW THE GAME AS A TIMELINE
After the game, the review lays your moves on a scrubber with a dot at each moment that mattered: green where the game swung your way, red where it slipped. Press play and the coach walks you through the moments, two moves of run-up at a time, at reading pace.

EXPORT THE GAME AS A VIDEO
Turn any finished game into a vertical video. The moves play out on the board with the coach's red arrows or classic highlights, and the coach's notes hold on screen at reading pace. Trim the clip to the stretch that decided the game, then share it or save it from the share sheet.

AN OPPONENT WHO PLAYS LIKE A PERSON
Practice games run against Maia, a neural network trained on millions of human games, so your opponent misjudges positions the way people do. The level moves with you as you improve.

FREE AND PRO
The free coach runs entirely on your phone. Nothing leaves the device, there is no account, and free play stays free. Pro Coach ($5.99 a month, first 7 days free) adds our sharpest coaching through cloud AI, with deeper explanations and richer game stories. Positions reach the cloud only on Pro Coach, and only after you agree.

OPEN WHERE IT COUNTS
Sealed Move embeds Stockfish 11 under the GPLv3 and honors the license fully: the complete client source is public at github.com/tjameswilliams/sealedmove-app, tagged for every release. The claim that the coach cannot invent a line is one you can audit.

The name comes from the adjournment era, when a paused game meant sealing your next move in an envelope and going home to analyze. Secret preparation, deep analysis, the resumed game: that is what your coach does between your moves.

Terms of Use (Apple standard EULA):
https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Privacy policy: https://sealedmove.com/privacy

## Key features

- AI-powered chess coaching
- Plain-language explanations of engine moves
- Interactive lexicon of chess terms
- Game review timeline
- Export games as videos
- Human-like AI opponent

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro Coach | $5.99 | per month |



## Frequently asked questions about Sealed Move

### What is Sealed Move?

Sealed Move is a chess coaching app that uses AI to explain engine evaluations and best moves in plain language. It helps players understand the 'why' behind chess decisions.

### Does Sealed Move have ads?

No, Sealed Move is ad-free. The free version offers core coaching features, and an optional Pro Coach subscription unlocks advanced cloud AI analysis.

### What are the pricing details for Sealed Move?

Sealed Move offers a free version with on-device coaching. The Pro Coach subscription is $5.99 per month, with a 7-day free trial, and provides enhanced cloud-based AI analysis.

### Can I play offline with Sealed Move?

Yes, the free version of Sealed Move runs entirely on your phone, meaning nothing leaves the device. This allows for offline play and coaching without an internet connection.

### How does Sealed Move's AI opponent play?

Sealed Move features an opponent named Maia, a neural network trained on millions of human games. This AI opponent misjudges positions in a way that mimics human play, and its difficulty adjusts as you improve.

### What devices does Sealed Move support?

Sealed Move is available on iPhones and iPads, indicated by its support for these devices.

### How often is Sealed Move updated?

The app was last updated on August 26, 2026, indicating a recent update. The latest version is 1.2.

### What is the age rating for Sealed Move?

Sealed Move has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for a wide range of young players and beginners.

## Version history (last 3 releases)

### 1.2 — 2026-08-26

Your best games deserve an audience.

Export any game as a video. Open the game review, tap the film button, and pick the stretch that matters on the timeline: the whole game, or just the five moves where it turned. Choose the coach's red annotation arrows or classic square highlights, and decide whether the coach's notes ride along. Moments with a note hold on screen at reading pace, the same rhythm as the review walkthrough, and the clip ends on the game's report card.

The result is a standard vertical video in the share sheet. Send it to a friend, post it, or save it to your photo library.

Also in this release: replay boards across the app (game history, reviews, the Lexicon) now draw pieces with the same high-contrast outlines as the live board, so positions stay readable on every square, in videos included.

### 1.1 — 2026-08-19

Your coach learned to hold its tongue.

Coach feedback now arrives as cards docked under the board. The newest card sits collapsed; tap it to read the whole note, and swipe to page back through earlier ones. The chat view opens only when you have a question for the coach.

Balanced is the new default coaching style, and it waits. While the game holds steady the coach stays quiet. When the evaluation genuinely moves (a blunder, a missed win, a slow slide that added up) it steps in once and recaps the stretch of moves that caused the swing. Chatty still reacts to every move if you prefer a talkative table; both live in Settings.

The game review gained a timeline. Each moment that decided the game sits on the scrubber as a dot, green for a swing in your favor, red for one against you. Drag onto a dot to read that note with the position on the board, or press play and the review walks you through the moments at reading pace. Pause any time.

Smaller things: reviews rebuild when you reopen them after playing more moves, checkmate is scored properly on the review timeline, and the app may ask for a rating after a game finishes well.

### 1.0 — 2026-08-18

No release notes.

## More apps by Tim Williams

- [Falconry Journal](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/falconry-journal/id1607391134)
- [Falconry Journal Pro](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/falconry-journal-pro/id6757684266)
- [Tomte: Private Assistant](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tomte-private-assistant/id6796799490)
- [Remote for OpenCode Agents](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/remote-for-opencode-agents/id6797660779)

All apps by Tim Williams: https://appshunter.io/developer/1365167722

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-05.*
