Read your chess books
Every diagram in your PDF and ePub books becomes a board you can play on.
Your chess books, with a live board beside every diagram.
Open a PDF or ePub you own. Each diagram becomes a board you can move, with the book’s own moves ready to play. Then train with puzzles, your own games and lessons.
Free to start, no card needed. Sign in with Google, Lichess or your email.
No chess book handy? Read Chess Fundamentals by José Raúl Capablanca for free
A chess book that plays along
The book stays on your device; only numbers taken from each diagram are sent for scanning.
A board beside every diagram
The board follows you from diagram to diagram as you read. N and P step to the next and previous one.
The book’s own lines
The moves printed after a diagram are ready on the board, one click to play through.
Read aloud
Hear a page or chapter read aloud, with moves said in words: “Knight f3, check.”
Drills from chapters
Turn a chapter into positions to learn, with the book’s move as the answer, then flashcards until you know them.
Ready before you turn the page
With Pro, the next pages are scanned while you read, so the next diagram opens at once.
From a printed page to a live board in four steps
Open
Open a PDF or ePub you own, or a screenshot or photo of a board. The diagrams on each page are found as you reach it.
Check
The board appears beside the page. Squares GreyChess is unsure of are circled, and one tap fixes them.
Play
Play through the book’s own moves, or ask Stockfish 18, running in your browser, for the best move.
Keep
Save the position to your library, practise it as a flashcard, or open it on Lichess with every move you played.
Everything GreyChess does
Start with your books, then train what you read. Coaches and academies teach with it too.
Train and improve
Puzzles, your own games, openings, endgames and lessons, at your level.
- Chess puzzlesRated puzzles at your level, by theme, with your misses brought back.
- Woodpecker MethodOne set of puzzles, solved again in cycles, each in half the time.
- Game reviewYour Lichess and Chess.com games reviewed with Stockfish, mistakes to practise.
- Chess lessonsFrom how the pieces move to the endgame, step by step on the board.
Teach chess
Classes and homework for coaches, and one place to run an academy.
Your books stay on your device
- Books and images are never uploaded to scan a board. Your device turns a board into numbers, and GreyChess works out the position from those. Saved positions keep a small image of their diagram in your library.
- Only essential cookies. One keeps you signed in, and one shares the Free plan’s daily limits between the accounts on this browser. The website counts visits with Umami, which says it stores nothing that identifies you.
- Lichess only when you ask. Open a position there, or turn on online lookups, and the positions you analyse are sent to it. Lookups are off until you turn them on.
Pricing
Free to start, no card needed. Upgrade for a month or a year when you want to read more each day. A plan you pay for once doesn’t renew, and paying again extends your current plan.
Free
Most features to try, with daily limits.
₹0$0No card needed, and no time limit.
- 30 board scans a day from books, images and videos
- Diagrams read on the first 20 pages of each book
- 3 games reviewed by Stockfish a day
- Insights from your latest 100 games: what to work on
- Unlimited rated puzzles
- 1 lesson a day, any lesson in the library
- 1 course made from your books
- Up to 10 books in your library at once, 100 MB each
Pro
For readersFor reading books cover to cover, and learning from every game you play.
₹350 a monthor ₹3,500 a yearSave 17% compared with monthly$5 a monthor $50 a yearSave 17% compared with monthly
- 1,000 board scans a day from books, images and videos
- Diagrams read on every page of your books
- Upcoming pages scanned ahead, so every diagram is ready
- Every game you import reviewed by Stockfish
- Insights from every game you import, with the board heatmap
- Unlimited rated puzzles
- Every lesson, as many as you like
- Courses made from any chapter of your books
- Up to 200 books in your library at once, 100 MB each
- 500 MB of cloud storage, to open your books on any device
Prices are in Indian rupees in India and in US dollars everywhere else, by where you are. ∞ means unlimited. Payments go through Razorpay: UPI, cards, net banking and wallets.
Run a chess academy? Email us at support@greychess.com
Questions
Which books work?
Any PDF or ePub you own, including books whose diagrams are printed as images, like most chess books. Diagrams in standard chess fonts are read from the PDF’s text. Screenshots and photos of a board work too.
Is GreyChess free?
It is free to start, with no card needed. The Free plan reads the boards on the first 20 pages of each book, up to 30 boards a day, and reviews 3 of your games a day. Pro raises the limits, scans pages ahead, and adds features Free doesn’t have, such as repertoire practice and every key endgame. Prices are shown above.
How do I pay, and does it renew?
Through Razorpay, with UPI, a card, net banking or a wallet, for a month or a year. A one-time payment doesn’t renew: you won’t be charged again unless you pay again.
Do I need an account?
Yes. Sign in with Google, Lichess or a link sent to your email. Your library and reading progress then sync to every device you use.
Does it work offline?
Scanning a board needs an internet connection, because GreyChess completes every scan on its server. Once the app is installed, your library, books, training and analysis keep working offline.
Can I use it during a game?
No. GreyChess is for study, and the terms of use forbid help during any game.
Where does my data go?
Books and images you open stay on your device: your browser turns each board into numbers, and GreyChess works out the position from those. A book goes to GreyChess’s server only if you save it to GreyChess cloud, where only you can open it. Your account keeps your library in sync, with a small image of each diagram you save. Positions go to Lichess only when you open one there, or turn on online lookups.
Open the book you are reading now
Sign in to GreyChess, open the book, and turn to the diagram you have been staring at.
Open your first book