KarpaChess
Learn chess one idea at a time
Free · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
100 lessons that end with proof, 441 puzzles, Stockfish 19 and 240 master games to study, in twelve languages. No account, no ads, no tracking.
KarpaChess teaches chess on the board. Every lesson shows you an idea, lets you play it, then asks you to prove it on a position you have never seen. Train on rated puzzles, play Stockfish 19 and study the masters, in twelve languages. Everything runs on your device: no account, no ads, no tracking.
SEE IT, PLAY IT, OWN IT
Each of the 100 lessons follows three beats. See the idea on the board, with arrows and moves played out for you. Play it yourself: if you are stuck, the hint is a sentence the lesson's author wrote for that exact position. Then own it, by solving a puzzle on a new position. The patterns you own go into your Pattern Book, and Sharpen brings them back before you forget them.
EIGHT ARTS
Foundations, The Story of Chess, The Blade (tactics), The First Moves (openings), The Finish (endgames), The Plan (strategy), The Hunt (attack) and The Chess World. They run from setting up the board to the Greek gift and the Lucena bridge.
A RATED PUZZLE TRAINER
240 puzzles in twenty packs, rated from 600 to 2000, with solutions several moves deep. Your first try moves your puzzle rating. After that, replay any puzzle to beat your best.
PLAY STOCKFISH 19
Four strengths, from beginner to full strength. Play with a real clock, increment included, or untimed. Ask for a hint, take a move back, and come back to an unfinished game where you left it.
REVIEW EVERY MOVE
When a game ends, every move is graded best, good, inaccuracy, mistake or blunder, and the turning point is explained.
THE STUDIO
A library of 240 short, decisive master games in 24 collections, from Paul Morphy in the 1850s to the present day. Import your own games as PGN, with their comments and variations kept. Brilliant moves are flagged, and the drawing tools put arrows, lines, highlights, shapes, a pen and text on the board.
A HINT WHEN YOU ASK
One hint button, answered on your device. It looks at material, king safety, pawn structure, development and loose pieces, and says what matters.
MAKE IT YOURS
Ten themes, five boards, ten original piece sets, three typefaces and three sound packs.
TWELVE LANGUAGES
English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Indonesian, Japanese, Hindi, Turkish, Italian and Portuguese. The app, every lesson and every puzzle are translated by hand.
PRIVATE BY DESIGN
KarpaChess collects no data. It never connects to the internet, and everything it keeps stays on your device.
FREE SOFTWARE
KarpaChess is free software under the GNU GPL, version 3 or later. Its complete source code is published at https://github.com/mourad-ghafiri/KarpaChessMobile
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
Puzzles: a wrong move now tells you so. Play: you can resign a game against Stockfish and still review it. Studio: importing a game explains what is wrong with text that is not a valid game, and master games show where they were played. Learn: lesson progress now reads "mastered".
The developer, Mourad GHAFIRI, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Mourad GHAFIRI
- Size
- 179.6 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 15.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later. - iPod touch
Requires iOS 15.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Mourad Ghafiri