BetterChess
क्लॉड के लिए चेस MCP — स्टॉकफिश विश्लेषण, आक्रमण मानचित्र, और खेल समीक्षा। एक URL पेस्ट करें, साइन इन करें, कोई इंस्टॉल नहीं। मुफ्त दैनिक बजट; प्रो $5.99/माह।
दस्तावेज़
A chess coach that has to show its working.
Ask Claude about chess today and it will answer confidently, from memory. Sometimes the memory is wrong — a knight “attacking” a square it cannot reach, a pin that isn’t there. This connector replaces recall with computation: every claim about an attack, a defender or an evaluation is calculated from the actual board by a real engine.
Add it to Claude
Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, and paste:
https://mcp.betterchess.co
You’ll be asked to sign in with your BetterChess account. Nothing new to install.
A real game against a chess.com bot. Ng5 is the Fried Liver — except Black played …Bc5, not …Nf6, so the d8–g5 diagonal is open and the knight simply hangs. The evaluations shown are the ones the connector returned.
What it gives Claude
- Engine analysis — the strongest moves with real evaluations, plus whether the best move is a clear winner or a near-tie, so it can say “this is close” instead of inventing certainty.
- Board facts — what is undefended and what attacks it, whose turn it is, material. Computed, not remembered.
- Attack maps — exactly which squares a given piece hits. This is the one that stops confident nonsense about knights and discovered attacks.
- Game review — walks a finished game and reports only the moves where the evaluation actually swung, not every small inaccuracy.
How it compares to the free servers
There are good open-source chess MCP servers, they are free, and if you are comfortable in a terminal you should try them. The difference isn’t the quality of the analysis — it’s what you have to do before you get any, and whether the server knows who you are between sessions.
| BetterChess | turlockmike/chess-mcp | pab1it0/chess-mcp | alexandreroman/mcp-chess | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Install | Paste a URL, sign in | Node 20 + Stockfish + Cairo, or a Smithery CLI command — then hand-edit Claude Desktop’s config file | Docker, or uv — then hand-edit the config file | Ships platform binaries — then hand-edit the config file |
| Works on mobile | Yes | No — runs as a local process on your desktop | No — runs as a local process on your desktop | No — desktop only |
| Works on free Claude plan | Yes — Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise | Claude Desktop only | Claude Desktop only | Claude Desktop only |
| Chess engine | Stockfish, native, on our servers | Stockfish, running locally — plus a masters game database | None — reads Chess.com’s public API (profiles, stats, game archives) | Stockfish, via the remote stockfish.online API |
| Knows who you are | Yes — signed in, so it can track the mistakes you keep repeating | No sign-in | No sign-in — but will look up any Chess.com username you give it | No sign-in |
| Price | Free tier with a daily cap; $5.99/month unlimited | Free, MIT | Free | Free |
On the plan row: the three open-source servers run as local processes you configure in Claude Desktop, so your Claude plan isn’t really the constraint — having a desktop machine and a terminal is. BetterChess is a remote connector, which is why it turns up on your phone too.
What it costs
Free BetterChess accounts get a daily analysis budget — enough to look at a game and work through positions. Pro ($5.99/month) removes the cap and unlocks full game review. It’s the same subscription as the website; if you already pay, the connector is already included.
Where you may use it
Studying your finished games, working through positions, preparing openings, and playing bots — all fine. Not in rated games against other people. Chess.com’s Fair Play Policy prohibits engine assistance there and enforces it with account closure. We would rather say this plainly than sell you something that gets you banned.
Questions
Do I need a new account?
No. The connector signs in with the BetterChess account you already have. Free accounts get a daily analysis budget; Pro removes the cap.
Which Claude plans work?
Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise can all add custom connectors. Free accounts are limited to one connector.
Can I use this while playing a rated game online?
No. Chess.com's Fair Play Policy prohibits engine assistance in games against other people, and using it there can get your account closed. This is for studying finished games, working through positions, and playing bots — where engine help is explicitly allowed.
What stops it from making things up?
The tools return computed facts, not recollection: which squares a piece actually attacks, what is undefended and by what, the engine's evaluation. Claude is instructed to call them before making a claim, so an assertion that contradicts the board is visible instead of persuasive.