A chessvision.ai alternative, built around your chess books
chessvision.ai is known for reading positions from websites, images and videos, with browser extensions, phone apps and bots. If the books on your shelf are what you study, GreyChess is built around them: every diagram a live board beside the page, with the book’s own moves on it.
No chess book handy? Read Chess Fundamentals by José Raúl Capablanca for free
What GreyChess does differently
Both read the diagrams in a chess ebook. What happens next is where they part.
- The book’s own lines: GreyChess finds the moves printed after each diagram and fits them to its position, so the author’s analysis is a click from playing through.
- One plan for everything: on chessvision.ai the eBook Reader is a subscription of its own, apart from the main membership, and its free version works on the first few pages of each book. GreyChess’s Free plan reads every page of every book, with daily limits.
- A newer engine beside the book: chessvision.ai’s eBook Reader FAQ said it uses Lichess’s embedded board, with Stockfish 10 or later, without NNUE and with few engine options. GreyChess runs Stockfish 18 in your browser, with the lines, depth and time you choose.
- Your book stays on your device: to read a diagram, your browser turns it into numbers, and only those are sent to GreyChess, never the page.
- Learning, not only reading: a chapter becomes a drill of positions to solve, then flashcards, beside rated puzzles and classes for coaches.
Where chessvision.ai may suit you better
Fair is fair. chessvision.ai does some things GreyChess does not.
- DjVu books: chessvision.ai opens PDF, ePub and DjVu. GreyChess opens PDF and ePub.
- Apps and extensions: chessvision.ai has iPhone and Android apps and browser extensions that read web pages and videos. GreyChess installs from the browser on any device, and reads a screenshot you paste.
- Bots and video search: chessvision.ai answers positions posted on Reddit, X, Telegram and Discord, and finds positions in YouTube videos.
Trying GreyChess with a book you already have
Open the same PDF or ePub in GreyChess; there is nothing to convert. The first diagram on the page is loaded onto the board beside it, and N and P step to the next and previous one.
What this page says about chessvision.ai comes from its own pages, as they read in September 2026, and may have changed since. chessvision.ai is a trademark of its owner, named here only to compare: GreyChess is not affiliated with chessvision.ai, nor endorsed by it.
Questions
Is GreyChess free?
You can start free, with daily limits. Pro raises them and adds a few things, such as practising your repertoire, for a month or a year, and a plan you pay for once doesn’t renew.
Will my chess ebooks work?
Yes, if they are PDF or ePub books with their diagrams printed as images, like most chess books. DjVu files are not read yet; diagrams in standard chess fonts are read from the PDF’s text.
Does GreyChess read screenshots and videos too?
Yes. Paste a screenshot or a photo, or a still of a paused video, and check the board before you use it.
More of what GreyChess does
Try it on the book you are reading
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