• Board themes: nine board-and-piece colour schemes. Choose one in Settings, or switch mid-game from More → Settings and watch the board change instantly. The default is now the lighter Warm Ivory; the original kaya-wood look is still available. • Nearby Duel clock: each player has a main time; once it runs out, every move gets its own countdown (15 seconds by default). The clock shows a single number, pulses every second during the countdown, and the game is lost when it reaches zero. • Take-backs in Nearby Duel: after you move and before your opponent replies, you can ask to take the move back; it is undone if your opponent agrees. • Leaving mid-game no longer forfeits: the player who stays keeps the game and waits, and the player who left can return to the same game from the lobby. • Smoother piece movement, and a fix for the board appearing too small after joining a table on iPad in landscape. • A default player name is suggested based on your device language the first time you use Nearby Duel; you can change it at any time. • Further Liquid Glass refinements throughout the app. • Note: both devices need this version to play Nearby Duel together.

• Stop unnecessary AI calculations when leaving a game or entering the background, and resume the current position on return. • Smoother moves: network acknowledgements and recovery preserve existing pieces without board-wide reappearance; cached glyph paths and isolated clock updates reduce repeated rendering. • Photo recognition now runs on-device by default, including offline. Review and complete the imported position; optional cloud enhancement requires consent and preserves the local result if it fails. • Camera capture and scanning pause during photo import, in the background, and after leaving the scanner. • Adds a three-minute reconnection countdown and explicit disconnect results, with continuation after recovery. • Improvements to board editing, captured pieces and match recovery.

• New mode: Game Study. When you face a real opponent over a physical board, enter both sides' moves and get the strongest move on your turn. Start from the opening position or set up any position with the board editor. • Nearby Duel rebuilt: a direct device-to-device connection with automatic reconnection, and the screen no longer locks during play. The game starts as soon as both players are seated. New game clocks (total time and per-move limit) and Jieqi over nearby play. • New Liquid Glass design: the game screen shows just the board, with Menu at the top left and More at the bottom right; captured pieces appear above and below the board. • Adaptive Coaching now lifts the piece for the strongest move and highlights its destination on your turn. • Stronger Jieqi computer: it weighs every possible identity of the remaining hidden pieces, still without peeking. • The computer no longer gives repeated checks with the same move; a new end-of-game title animation leaves a watermark on the board; smoother undo and opponent-move animations.

• New mode: Jieqi (Hidden Chess). All pieces except the generals start face-down in shuffled positions; a hidden piece moves like the piece that normally starts on its square and is revealed after moving. Revealed advisors and elephants may leave the palace and cross the river. The computer never peeks at hidden pieces. 40 moves without a capture is a draw. • Nearby play: fixed being able to find an opponent but never seating at the table; the host now always plays Red and moves first; tapping a table shows connection progress. • Captured pieces are now shown under the board in capture order, with a count badge for duplicates. • Cleaner game screen: resign, exit and sound live in a single More menu, leaving only undo and hint on the panel.

• Puzzles rebuilt from the ground up: 90 classical endgame compositions from the Ming-dynasty collection "Shi Qing Ya Qu", each with its source and original number; all 1,416 moves verified for legality and checkmate • Search puzzles by name or original number, and filter to unfinished ones • New calm, modern Chinese look: warm paper background, kaya-wood board with jade-tone pieces, clerical-script glyphs and a bundled Kai typeface that works offline • Centered board layout: landscape on iPhone; on iPad landscape the board sits left with tools on the right • Much stronger engine: fixed transposition-table and quiescence issues, completed advisor / elephant / general attack detection • Background music, a full sound set and Mandarin move announcements, adjustable in-game; can yield to your own music • Fixed tap targets for piece selection