What Can a Chess Position Scanner Do and How Do You Use One?

Updated

A chess position scanner turns a picture of a board into a digital position you can analyze. Chessvision.ai does this across four surfaces: a browser extension, an eBook reader, a mobile app, and chat bots. You photograph or capture a diagram, the tool recognizes the piece placement, and it opens on an analysis board where you can check engine suggestions, best moves, and matching videos. It works best when the diagram is flat, well-lit, and fully in frame; it is not a tool for analyzing a physical game in progress from across the room.

What the scanner actually does

The core job is recognition, not calculation. Once the position is digitized, the analysis comes from a standard engine board. Chessvision.ai adds two things on top of that:

  • Video matching — the app finds YouTube videos that reach the scanned position and can play them from the exact moment it occurs.
  • Library saving — you can store scanned diagrams for later.

The site describes scanning sources as websites, ebooks, images, and videos, so the input is almost always a 2D diagram rather than a photo of a real board.

Scanning in a browser

The browser extension is for diagrams you encounter while reading or solving online.

  1. Install the extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.
  2. Open a page containing a chess diagram.
  3. Trigger the scan. The position loads onto an analysis board.
  4. If the page has several boards, switch to Select Area mode and draw a box around the one you want.

Two features are worth knowing before you install:

  • Puzzle hints — while solving puzzles, scanning shows the best move, which is useful for study and less useful if you want to solve unaided.
  • Videos tab on Chess.com — in Chrome, the extension can add a Videos section to Chess.com analysis so you can watch explanations of the position on the board.

Scanning chess eBooks

The eBook Reader is aimed at PDF chess books.

  1. Open a PDF chess book in the Reader; it processes the file.
  2. Double-click any diagram to open it for analysis.

The Reader won an award at the ChessTech2020 Conference, and the site highlights a teaching workflow: select diagrams from your books, build exercises for students, and export them to a Lichess Study or a PDF sheet. If you are a coach, that export path is the main reason to use the Reader rather than scanning diagrams one at a time.

Scanning on mobile

The mobile app handles both printed and digital sources.

  1. Take a photo of a diagram, or pick one from your gallery.
  2. The app recognizes the position and shows it on the analysis board.
  3. It automatically searches for matching YouTube videos and plays them from where the position occurs.
  4. Save diagrams you want to revisit to your Library.

The photo step is where most failures happen. A diagram shot at an angle, with glare, or with pieces partly cropped will not recognize reliably.

Watching videos and using bots

The Video App works in the other direction: instead of scanning a diagram, you play moves on a board and it surfaces YouTube videos matching the resulting positions. You can also load a PGN of your own game and use the matched videos to study it. Filters let you search by chess concept — the site's example is finding videos with an exchange sacrifice in the Sicilian.

If you do not want to install anything, the bots cover the same recognition on existing platforms:

Platform Where it works
Twitter bot Chess diagrams posted on Twitter
Telegram bot Private and group chats
Discord bot Servers you add it to
Reddit bot Popular chess subreddits

When recognition fails

If a scan comes back wrong or empty, check these in order:

  • Framing — the whole board must be inside the image, including all edge squares.
  • Perspective — shoot straight on. A tilted board distorts the grid.
  • Lighting and glare — shadows across the board and screen reflections both break recognition.
  • Multiple boards — on a page with several diagrams, use Select Area instead of a full-page scan.
  • Source quality — low-resolution scans of old books are harder than clean digital diagrams.

Choosing the right entry point

  • Reading chess articles or solving puzzles online → browser extension.
  • Working through a PDF chess book → eBook Reader, especially if you export exercises.
  • Photographing a printed diagram or a screen → mobile app.
  • Studying your own games with video → Video App with a PGN.
  • No install, or working inside a chat platform → the relevant bot.

The site does not publish pricing on the pages referenced here, so check the individual product pages before assuming any tier is free.