Whether you’ve never touched a chess piece or you’ve tried to play but got lost after “castling,” this course is for you. Our Chess curriculum starts at the very beginning—learning how each piece moves—and gradually builds toward more advanced strategies. But instead of memorizing openings, you’ll learn by doing. This is a key principle of the Duolingo Method, our teaching philosophy. Here’s how the Duolingo Method shows up in Chess!

• Learning by doing: Learners are guided by Oscar, the world character who serves as our in-game chess tutor. They build skills by actively solving puzzles and playing out tactics, not by reading long explanations. 
• Personalized practice: Duolingo’s spaced repetition algorithm helps learners retain what they’ve learned, revisiting earlier tactics at just the right time. 
• Focus on what matters: We prioritized the essentials like how the pieces move, key rules, and foundational tactics, so that by the end of Section 1 learners are ready to play a full game with confidence. 
• Scaffolded progression: Lessons gradually increase in difficulty, shifting from guided “move your bishop here” to open-ended challenges “find checkmate in two moves”, which encourages independent problem-solving. 
• Delight drives motivation: As always, we keep the learning experience fun and motivating with playful visuals, bite-sized lessons, and plenty of Oscar’s personality built in. 

Just like our other courses, this one is packed with bite-sized lessons and gamified learning. In fact, 75% of the course is puzzle-based, designed to sharpen your problem-solving skills and teach core concepts in a hands-on way. The rest of the course is made up of mini- and full-length matches that let you apply what you’ve learned—we’ll pair you up with Oscar, your friendly chess coach!

Start from square one

While many existing platforms cater to serious chess enthusiasts, we’re on a mission to make this game more inclusive and fun for everyone. With the help of Oscar you’ll gain confidence and work your way toward a 1500 Elo rating—a strong intermediate level—all from the palm of your hand.

FAQs

Why did Duolingo decide to launch a Chess course?
Chess is a powerful tool for building critical thinking, logic, and strategy—all things we love at Duolingo. We saw an opportunity to make chess more welcoming and accessible, especially for beginners and people who may not feel at home on traditional chess platforms. (Did you know that there are far fewer female grandmasters than male, and women's chess tournaments also tend to have smaller prizes?) Our long-term vision is for Duolingo to feel like a tutor in your pocket, whether you’re learning a language, music, math, or chess.

What makes Duolingo’s Chess course different from other platforms?
Most chess platforms are built for competitive players. Duolingo is built for learners. Our course teaches you from the ground up, with step-by-step lessons, interactive puzzles, and mini matches guided by Oscar.

What level does the course go up to?
The course is designed to take you from complete beginner to around a 1500 Elo rating—a solid intermediate level that sets you up for success if you want to play against others.

Will the course be free?
Yes! Like all of Duolingo’s learning content, the Chess course will be available for free to all learners.

What devices is it available on?
Currently, Chess is available on iOS. We’re working on bringing it to Android in the coming months.

Can I play against other learners?
Not yet! Right now, the course focuses on puzzles and short matches against Oscar, our friendly chess coach. As always, we’ll continue improving the experience based on your feedback.

What’s next?
If the Chess course is successful, we hope to launch features like Elo placement tests and real-time coaching to help learners continue to grow.