ChessClues: Chess Patterns
The tactics of every opening
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Every opening has its own forks, pins and mates. Pick yours, learn the ones that win games in it, and practise them on puzzles from real club games. Works offline.
Every opening has its own tactics. In the Italian, royal forks turn up four times more often than in chess as a whole. In the Caro-Kann, it is Boden's mate. ChessClues shows you the tactics, patterns and mates that happen in the openings you play, and teaches you how to win with them.
Tactics trainers teach patterns in isolation. Opening trainers teach moves. ChessClues connects the two: pick your openings, and see which patterns turn up in them more often than in chess as a whole, ranked from real club games.
SEE THE TACTICS IN EVERY OPENING
• The Pattern Atlas for each opening: its signature tactics, ranked by how often they appear there.
• Each pattern explained in plain words: what to look for, and why it works.
• The typical pawn structures of the opening, with a plan for each.
• The main named lines, and the traps club players fall into, move by move.
LEARN TO WIN IN YOUR OPENING
• A learning path for each opening: a pattern tour, its traps, its top tactics from easiest to hardest, then a final test.
• 36 interactive courses, 216 short lessons where you play the moves: one course per opening, plus checkmates, tactics by name, finishing the game, and pawn and rook endgames.
• Your teacher, Finn or Nia, talks you through every lesson.
THE MATES THAT HAPPEN IN YOUR OPENING
Smothered mate, back-rank mate, Légal's mate, Boden's mate and dozens more, each shown in the openings where it really happens.
PRACTISE ON REAL POSITIONS
More than 140,000 puzzles from real games in your openings, at three levels:
• Spot: one move wins it.
• Set-up: one forcing move first, then the payoff.
• Deep: three moves and beyond.
Spaced review brings back the patterns you are still missing. Recognise trains your eye: ten real positions, five seconds each.
13 OPENINGS
As White: Italian, Ruy Lopez, Scotch, Vienna, Bishop's Opening, Four Knights, Queen's Pawn Game (London setup).
As Black: Sicilian, French, Caro-Kann, Scandinavian, Philidor, Queen's Gambit Declined.
EVERY DAY
• A daily drill of 5 puzzles from your openings. Free.
• Trap of the day and pattern of the day.
• A blind-spot grid: your openings against their top patterns, by mastery.
• Across your openings: the patterns they share, to learn first.
• Search a pattern by name (smothered mate, royal fork) and see which openings produce it.
• Tactics tree and Endgame Atlas: the same patterns under their textbook names, and the endgames each opening tends to reach.
MADE FOR 800–1600 PLAYERS
Choose your openings and rating; change them any time in Settings.
OFFLINE, NO ACCOUNT
Everything ships inside the app and works offline. No sign-in, no ads, no analytics. Progress stays on your device. The app goes online only for purchases. Two-pane layout on iPad and Mac.
FREE AND ALL ACCESS
Free, the same for everyone: the daily drill; 100 Spot and Set-up puzzles in every opening; 10 in every pattern and mate; the top three patterns of every opening in the Atlas; five traps in every opening; the first two lessons of every course.
All Access opens every level including Deep, every trap, all 216 lessons, the full Atlas, and everything added while you have access. Choose a yearly subscription or a one-time lifetime unlock; the store shows the price before you buy. Restore purchases and manage your subscription in Settings.
All Access yearly renews automatically at the end of each year unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends; payment is charged to your Apple ID and you can manage or cancel it in Account Settings. Terms of Use: https://happyheadsapps.netlify.app/chessclues/terms. Privacy Policy: https://happyheadsapps.netlify.app/chessclues/privacy.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
The developer, Santosh Hegde, 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
- Santosh Hegde
- Size
- 61.3 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. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- All Access — 1 Year $14.99
- All Access — Lifetime $24.99
- Copyright
- © @Santosh H