chessguessr.com

Chessguessr compares your guess to the actual move played using exact algebraic notation, so a move that looks right on the board can still be marked wrong if the notation differs in any way. The most common cause is a missing or extra symbol such as + or #: the site states that Nxf7 and Nxf7+ are not considered the same move. The second most common cause is misreading the tile colors — a yellow tile means the same piece type was played somewhere in that spot, not that you found the right move.

The notation must match exactly

Chessguessr treats two moves as identical only when their notation is identical. A check symbol, a mate symbol, or any other suffix changes the move's identity in the game's comparison.

• Nxf7 and Nxf7+ are different guesses.
• Be7# is not the same as Be7.
• The same applies to any other notation difference, even if the piece and destination square look the same on the board.

If your move is legal and looks correct but the tile stays gray, check whether the real game's move included a check or mate symbol you omitted, or whether you added one that wasn't there.

What the tile colors actually mean

The feedback colors describe three different relationships between your guess and the played line, and only one of them means "correct."

The third case is the one that trips people up. As the site explains, if a knight was played in that spot, the gray tile tells you a knight belongs there — but not necessarily the same knight. So Nxg7 being gray does not mean the game played Nxg7; it means some knight move happened at that point in the line.

Order and position matter

You are guessing the five next moves in the order they were played. A move that appears later in the line will show as yellow if you place it in an earlier slot, and a move from an earlier slot placed later will do the same. Getting the right moves in the wrong order will not produce five green tiles.

A quick checklist before you submit

1. Confirm the move is legal in the displayed position.
2. Check whether the real move would be check or mate, and add + or # if so.
3. Re-read any gray tile: it may only be telling you the piece type, not the move.
4. Make sure each move sits in the slot where it was actually played.

If a guess still looks correct after all four checks, the likely explanation is that the game's move simply wasn't the one you expected — the tile colors are telling you what was played, not confirming what you hoped.

Chessguessr is a daily chess puzzle in the style of Wordle: you are shown a position from a real game and have to guess the five moves that were actually played next. After each guess, the tile colors tell you how close you were. It is free to play in a browser, a new position appears every day at midnight UTC, and no account is mentioned — you just open the site and start guessing.

The basic loop

1. Open chessguessr.com. The day's position is already on the board, taken from a real game (the example on the site is Amirfer (2190) – Cybermemere (2277)).
2. Read the position and decide what you think the next move played in the game was.
3. Enter that move in chess notation and submit it.
4. Repeat until you have filled in your five guesses for the five moves that followed the shown position.
5. Use the tile colors after each guess to narrow down the real continuation.

You are guessing the five next moves played in the game, in order — not the best moves according to an engine.

What the tile colors mean

The feedback works like Wordle, but adapted to chess moves. The site gives three cases:

The third case is the loosest signal: it only tells you the piece type, so a knight hint does not mean the same knight moved, and it does not confirm the destination square.

Notation has to match exactly

This is the most common place to lose a correct guess. The site states that the notation must be identical for moves to be considered the same — for example, Nxf7 and Nxf7+ are not treated as the same move. So include or omit check and checkmate symbols exactly as the game record does, and be careful with captures, promotions, and disambiguation.

Controls you will use

• Submit — lock in the current guess and get color feedback.
• Undo last move — take back the move you just entered before submitting, useful if you mistype the notation.

Practical tips

• Start from the position on the board, not from what you would play. The answer is what the players actually played, which may be a weaker move than the engine's choice.
• Treat a "same piece type" tile as a weak hint: it narrows the piece, not the square.
• If a move gets the "in the line but wrong spot" color, remember it and try placing it in a different one of the five slots.
• Double-check symbols like +, #, and x before submitting, since an exact-notation mismatch reads as a wrong move.

A new position appears every day at midnight UTC, so the puzzle resets on that schedule rather than on your local midnight.

Chessguessr publishes one new puzzle every day at midnight UTC, and each puzzle is built from a real chess game. The page shows the two players and their ratings, for example "Amirfer (2190) – Cybermemere (2277)", so you can see whose game you are reconstructing. There is only one puzzle per day, so once you finish it you have to wait for the next midnight UTC reset.

The daily release schedule

The site states plainly that "a new position will appear every day at midnight UTC." That single sentence answers the timing question:

• One puzzle per day. You are not working through a queue or a set of levels; there is a single daily position.
• Reset time is midnight UTC. This is a fixed reference point, not tied to your local time zone. If you are in New York (UTC−5 in winter), the new puzzle lands at 19:00 the previous evening; in Tokyo (UTC+9) it arrives at 09:00.
• After you finish, you wait. Because there is only one puzzle per day, completing it means the next fresh position is the next midnight UTC.

If you want to know exactly when the next puzzle drops in your area, convert midnight UTC to your local clock rather than assuming it matches your own midnight.

Where the games come from

Every puzzle is drawn from a real chess game, not a composed study or an engine line. The page header names the players and their ratings, as in the example above: Amirfer (2190) against Cybermemere (2277). That tells you a few useful things:

• The games are actual played games between named opponents, with ratings attached.
• The ratings are shown on the puzzle itself, so you can gauge the level of play you are trying to reconstruct.
• The task is to guess the moves that were actually played, not the best moves a computer would choose.

This matters for how you approach it. Because the source is a real game, the "correct" answer is whatever the players actually did, which is not always the engine's top choice.

What you are actually guessing

The puzzle shows you a position and asks for the next five moves from that game. The rules page describes it as "like Wordle, or Chessle, but for chess games." Your job is to reconstruct the continuation, and the tile colors tell you how close each guess was.

Tile colors and what they mean

The examples on the site define the feedback precisely:

The third case is the subtle one. If you guess a knight move and the tile signals a piece-type match, a knight did move at that spot — but not necessarily the same knight and not necessarily that move.

Notation has to match exactly

One rule trips people up: "The notation has to be identical for the moves to be considered the same." The site gives a concrete example — Nxf7 and Nxf7+ are not treated as the same move. A check symbol, a capture marker, or any other notation difference can make an otherwise correct move register as wrong. So write the move exactly as it would appear in the game's notation.

Practical takeaways

• Set a reminder for midnight UTC if you want to solve the puzzle as soon as it appears, converted to your local time.
• Expect one puzzle, not many. There is no backlog to catch up on.
• Read the player names and ratings at the top to understand the level of the game you are reconstructing.
• Match notation exactly, including check and capture symbols, or a correct move may be marked wrong.

The combination of a daily midnight UTC release and real, rated games is what gives Chessguessr its rhythm: a single fresh position each day, drawn from an actual game between named players, waiting for you to rebuild the next five moves.

Chessguessr is a daily puzzle game where you see a position from a real chess game and try to guess the five moves that were actually played next. It works like Wordle, but for chess games: after each guess, tile colors tell you how close you were. A new position appears every day at midnight UTC, and the site presents it as a game between two named players with ratings — for example, "Amirfer (2190) – Cybermemere (2277)."

How a round works

You are shown a position from a real game. Your task is to enter the five moves that followed, in order. After each guess, the color of each tile shows how close that guess was to the real move.

The feedback has three levels, based on the examples on the site:

So a green-style tile confirms a move and its place, a "wrong spot" tile tells you the move exists later or earlier in the line, and a "same piece type" tile narrows down which piece moved without confirming the move itself.

The notation rule that trips people up

The site states explicitly: the notation has to be identical for moves to be considered the same. For example, Nxf7 and Nxf7+ are not treated as the same move. A check symbol, a capture symbol, or a different destination square all change the notation, so an answer that is "almost right" can still register as wrong or as a lower match tier.

This matters most when you are confident about the piece and the square but unsure whether the move gave check, captured, or was a different kind of move. Enter the exact notation you believe was played.

Practical tips for solving

• Use the piece-type feedback first. If a tile says a knight moved but not which one, you have narrowed the move to knight moves from the position — list the legal knight moves and test the most forcing ones.
• Treat "wrong spot" as a placement clue. A move that was played but in the wrong spot tells you the move belongs somewhere in the five-move sequence, so you can keep it and reposition it rather than discard it.
• Check forcing moves early. Checks, captures, and threats are common in real games and are often the moves players actually chose, so they are reasonable first guesses.
• Watch the notation exactly. Add or remove +, x, or # only when you believe the real move had them.

Controls and daily reset

The interface includes an Undo last move option and a Submit action, so you can correct a mis-typed move before committing it. Your guesses are tracked in a "Your guesses" list as you play.

A new position appears every day at midnight UTC, so the puzzle is the same for everyone during that window and changes on that schedule.

What Chessguessr is not

It is not a full chess game or an engine analysis tool. You are not playing the position move by move against an opponent — you are reconstructing a sequence that was already played in a real game. The site describes it as "like Wordle, or Chessle, but for chess games," which places it in the daily-puzzle genre rather than the play-a-game genre.

If you already enjoy Wordle-style daily puzzles and know standard algebraic notation, Chessguessr fits that habit directly. If you are new to chess notation, the notation-identity rule is the main thing to learn before your first guess, since a correct idea written with the wrong symbol will not score as correct.