- Quality of Life Update: Fading highlights, clock & player names fixes - 21 September 2026
Last move highlight now fades automatically. After each move, the highlighted squares now gently fade away after a moment, so the highlight no longer lingers over the 3D board while you think about your next move.Fixed an issue with the Continue game feature and the chess clocks. When continuing a saved game, the clocks now keep the saved times instead of resetting to the time control panel's default when you pick your side. Undoing moves after continuing restores the correct time for each move, and undoing all the way returns the clocks to the game's original starting time.Fixed an issue where the player names could end up on the wrong side of the board when flipping the view. The names now always stay on their own side of the board in every camera angle and game mode — including Lichess TV and broadcasts — and they appear correctly from the moment you enter the scene.
- New: The In-Game Handbook - 31 August 2026
The game now has its own handbook — a 3D book waiting on the shelf right beside the radio.So far the book covers the essentials: each game mode explained (the built-in engine, external UCI engines, and Lichess online play), plus the controls and features that are easy to miss — moving the pieces, trying out variations with the middle mouse button, switching clock models, the side UI, copying your PGN, managing engine profiles, and more.Reading it is simple: hover over the book and it leans toward you, click and it slides up to reading position, then click the pages to turn. Press ESC or click outside the book to put it back — and once you've turned the last page and the back cover is closed, one more click returns it to the shelf.The handbook's contents are not quite complete yet — new pages will be added.
- Major Update – Chess960, Voice Announcements & More! - 27 August 2026
NEW FEATURES Chess960 (Fischer Random) support in the UCI engine and Lichess game modes. (Not available in the Internal mode for now.)Spoken move announcements. The game now announces moves, captures, checks and the final result out loud. Volume is adjustable with Page Up / Page Down and announcements can be toggled off from the board-edge UI or with the M key.Opening display. The current opening is shown by name and ECO code (e.g. "C60 · Ruy Lopez") and updates as moves are played or taken back. Works in all three game modes.Lichess TV: follow games in progress on Lichess — both standard chess and Chess960 matches.Live game analysis for Lichess broadcasts. Enable "Live game analysis" from the right-side UI during a live broadcast and the engine marks its best suggested move on the board.Piece size slider in the theme manager — fine-tune the size of the selected piece theme.Revamped UI:…
- Small Update – Piece Theme 10 Fix - 15 July 2026
A small update has been released to fix an issue with the black bishops in Piece Theme 10.The textures for the black bishops were missing, causing them to appear lighter than the other black pieces. This has now been fixed, and the bishops should match the rest of the set correctly.
- Small Update - 8 July 2026
A new update is now available!What's newAdded new chess piece sets.Improved board lighting and shading for a cleaner and more immersive look.These changes enhance the overall visual experience.Thank you for your continued support, and enjoy the update!
- Tournament Update, Music Player, Theme Customization, and New Analysis Tools! - 3 July 2026
Greetings chess fans!Just Chess has just received a huge update packed with new features, quality-of-life improvements, and bug fixes. Here is a look at what’s new:📻 Built-in Music Player (Radio) I've added a virtual radio that comes with hundreds of included tracks to provide the background music for your matches!How to use: The radio UI appears seamlessly when you hover your mouse at the very top of the screen (Note: The camera needs to be facing roughly the opposite side of the board).Features: Volume control, skip track, mute, shuffle, and continuous loop.The radio displays the name of the currently playing track and features a moving tuning dial. If you turn the radio off, the game will remember your choice for your next session.🏆 Player Tournaments (Internal & UCI) You can now play full, structured tournaments against the game's internal engine or your own imported UCI engines!…
- Update: Advanced UCI Engine Profile Manager - 5 April 2026
Greetings players,Today's update brings a significant enhancement to how external chess engines are handled within the game. While the ability to import UCI-compatible engines has been available in previous versions, this update introduces a comprehensive UCI Engine Profile Manager. You now have the tools to configure, save, and manage specific internal settings for each of your imported engines.Here is a detailed overview of the new features:⚙️ Creating Custom UCI Profiles (Advanced) For users who wish to tweak an engine's internal parameters, the new Profile Manager provides full access to the engine's supported UCI options.How it works: Open the Add/Manage engines menu, select an imported engine from the list, and click Configure. The game will automatically read the engine's supported parameters. Adjust the settings to your preference, and click Save and close.You can create and sav…
- Update – UI Fix - 26 March 2026
Fixed a UI issue in Lichess mode where starting an open challenge game locked the player to the black pieces. Players can now once again choose their preferred color normally.
- Update: Move Evaluations, Threat Warnings, and Variation Previews - 25 March 2026
Hello everyone!Today's update brings a massive overhaul to how you can analyze the board and foresee your opponent's moves!🔥 Major New Features:Interactive Move Previews: When you select a piece, the board highlights the possible moves based on the engine's evaluation. New: If Move analysis toggle is on and the move evaluations are complete, the squares with preview are marked with corner brackets. If you hover your mouse over a square with these brackets, the game will play out an animated preview of the engine's calculated continuation (Principal Variation). If a checkmate is imminent, you'll see the entire mating sequence play out before your eyes!New Danger analysis & Move analysis: A brand-new assistant system. You can toggle Move analysis on the fly, as well as the Danger analysis, which will alert you to dangerous ideas and attacks your opponent is brewing.Advanced Hint System:…
- Upcoming Quick Fix: Puzzle Arena Accessibility - 22 February 2026
Hi everyone!I recently received some great feedback mentioning that the Puzzle Arena currently requires a Lichess login to access.As a solo developer, sometimes small configuration details slip through the cracks. I realized that a setting in the User Interface is incorrectly hiding the Puzzle Arena button if you aren't logged in.I want to clarify that the Puzzle Arena is designed to work completely offline using the local database included with the game files. It should not require a Lichess account.I will be releasing a patch very soon to remove this restriction. In the next update, you will be able to access Blitz, Sprint, and Training modes freely without logging in.Note: The Daily Puzzle also works without a login, though it naturally requires an active internet connection.Thank you for the feedback and for playing!
- New Feature: Review Your Mistakes with the Puzzle Summary Panel - 25 January 2026
I have added a new summary panel to enhance the puzzle-solving experience.From now on, at the end of every puzzle session (except for the Daily Puzzle), a summary will appear listing every puzzle you didn't manage to solve during that run. The panel provides a dedicated button for each failed puzzle, which opens the specific puzzle page on Lichess for analysis.This is the first step in improving the puzzle review process. In the future, I plan to develop this feature further. I hope this feature helps you sharpen your tactics and learn from every session!
- Update: Introducing 'Variation Mode' – Explore the Possibilities! - 21 January 2026
Hello everyone!I am excited to release a new feature that adds a whole new layer of depth to local Play vs Computer matches: Variation Mode.This feature is fully supported in both the Internal Engine and UCI Engine modes.Have you ever been in a tough position and wondered, "What would happen if I tried this risky move?" Now you can find out without losing your actual game progress!How it works:Create a Variation: Instead of using the Left Mouse Button, use the Middle Mouse Button (Scroll Wheel Click) to drag or click a piece to a new square.This creates a temporary "branch" of the game. You can see exactly how deep you are in the analysis from the Variation Depth counter on the screen UI.You can create up to 999 nested variations, so feel free to explore as deep into the game tree as you like!Step Back: To revert the variations one by one, simply click the Green Back Button or press Bac…
- Patch Notes: Fixed Lichess Unlimited Timer Issue - 16 January 2026
A small update has just been released to address a reported issue.Fixes:Fixed a bug where starting a Lichess vs. Computer game with the Unlimited timer setting would fail to initiate the game.
- Linux Support Now Available! - 9 January 2026
Hello everyone!As a solo developer, I am thrilled to announce that Just Chess is now officially available for Linux!I have released a native Linux build to ensure the smoothest possible experience. I have personally tested the game on the latest Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS and haven't encountered any issues.A note regarding Steam Deck: Since this is a native Linux build, it is very likely to improve performance and compatibility on the Steam Deck compared to the Windows version. However, as I don't own a Steam Deck myself, I haven't been able to verify this personally.If you do play on a Steam Deck or a different Linux distribution, I would love to hear how it runs.Happy gaming!
- An Update on Linux Support - 6 January 2026
I have some promising news for those of you who play on Linux. While official support isn't ready just yet, I wanted to share the results of some recent experiments.I spent some time this week creating and testing a native Linux build of Just Chess, running it on a live USB version of Ubuntu. During this preliminary test, I'm happy to report that everything appeared to work flawlessly.Test System Specs:OS: Ubuntu (Live USB)CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3DGPU: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTXHere's a quick rundown of what was tested and confirmed working:UCI Engine Support: I was able to successfully link a native Linux version of Stockfish and run a full engine-vs-engine game without any issues.Lichess Integration: The Lichess authorization flow and the Puzzle Arena all functioned as expected.Internal AI: The built-in AI opponent was also fully operational.Visually, the build was indistinguishable from t…
- Hotfix Update - 6 January 2026
This hotfix fixes an issue where Lichess login and logout were not working correctly.
- Update: Puzzle Arena Fixes & Improvements - 6 January 2026
A new update is now live, addressing some feedback and improving the Puzzle Arena experience. Clock: The clock should now pause the moment you make a successful move. It remains paused during the opponent's entire move animation (or while the next puzzle loads) and only resumes when it is your turn to act again.High Score System Overhauled:High scores are now tracked separately for each difficulty setting in applicable modes.For Blitz Mode, records are also unique to each combination of time control and bonus settings.Note: This creates a much fairer leaderboard, but it means all previous high scores have been reset. A fresh challenge awaits!Important: Please be aware that, pressing the "Reset all settings" button in the options menu will also clear all of your saved Puzzle Arena high scores."Ghost Piece" Bug Fixed: A visual glitch where pieces from a previous puzzle (often after castli…
- Major Update: Introducing the Puzzle Arena! Over 4 Million Puzzles Now Available - 4 January 2026
Hello Chess Fans,I'm incredibly excited to announce the biggest free content update for Just Chess yet! This update introduces a feature designed to help you sharpen your tactical vision and have a ton of fun doing it: the Puzzle Arena.At the heart of this update is a massive, integrated database of over four million chess puzzles sourced directly from Lichess.org. Whether you have five minutes or an hour, there's a new way to challenge yourself. The new Puzzle Arena is available as its own button within the Lichess game mode.Welcome to the Puzzle ArenaThe Puzzle Arena is your new home for tactical training. It features several game modes, each offering a unique challenge:Puzzle Blitz: Inspired by Lichess's 'Puzzle Storm', this is a fast-paced race against the clock. Start with a set amount of time and solve as many puzzles as you can. Correct answers add a small time bonus, and chainin…
- New Features in the Works – Chess Puzzles - 26 December 2025
Hello everyone!I wanted to share a quick update on what I’ve been working on lately. I am currently in the process of developing chess puzzles to bring more variety and challenge to the game.Puzzles are a fantastic way to sharpen your tactical vision and offer a different way to engage with the game, whether you're looking to improve your skills or just solve some quick chess brainteasers.Thank you for your continued support!
- Bug Fixes - 22 December 2025
The replay of finished broadcast games should now correctly use the game’s timestamps, as long as sufficient time control information is available in the broadcast and Quick replay is not enabled. Clocks should also display the correct times when stepping forward or backward through the moves.A bug in the Internal chess engine has also been fixed. At higher difficulty levels, the calculation depth was too high, which could make the game appear frozen.
