PawnPilot
Your personal chess tutor for macOS.
PawnPilot helps you move from "I think this works" to "I know why this works." Import board screenshots, run local Stockfish analysis, compare variations, and practice against a configurable bot.
What you can do
Board detection from screenshots
- Open an image or drag and drop directly onto the board.
- Auto-detect piece placement and side to move.
- Rotate board when needed and continue without manual setup.
Best lines and variations
- Analyze top lines with adjustable depth and number of lines.
- Explore variation trees move-by-move with branching alternatives.
- Play selected lines on board to understand tactical ideas quickly.
Play against bot
- Let the engine reply to your moves in real time.
- Set strength and randomness based on your training goal.
- Enable "Keep playing" for continuous sparring sessions.
Offline and local
- Runs locally with a bundled Stockfish engine.
- No account setup and no cloud dependency.
- No ad SDKs and no analytics SDKs.
Quick setup
- Open PawnPilot and import a screenshot with the "Open Image" button or drag and drop.
- Check orientation and select which side has the next move.
- Choose a mode: Analyze Best Lines, Analyze Variations, or Play Against Bot.
- Adjust engine strength, depth, lines, and plies for your session.
- Run analysis or play moves directly on the board.
Best detection quality: keep a small margin around the chessboard in your screenshot.
App details
| Developer | Digital Handstand |
| Contact | digitalhandstand@gmail.com |
| Support | Support |
| Privacy | Privacy |
| Last updated | February 8, 2026 |