Good at puzzles but bad at games?Lichess vs Peekchess
Why am I good at puzzles but bad at games? One reason: on Lichess the pieces move as you solve, so you can spot tactics one move at a time without calculating the whole line the way a game asks you to. Lichess is free, open and excellent, and its puzzles cost nothing. I'm a chess coach and I built Peekchess, so read this knowing that. I've tried to be fair.
Lichess puzzles vs Peekchess at a glance
Peekchess
Pick it to know why a move works, and see it before you play it.
$7.99 per monthor $59.99 once for life
- The method
- Calculate without moving a piece
- Your weak spots
- Aimed at what you miss
- Explanations
- Every move explained by Peek AI
- What it trains
- Calculation and visualization
- Their replies
- What players at your level play
Pick it if free matters more than how you train.
$0 free
- The method
- The pieces move for you
- Your weak spots
- Random puzzles near your rating
- Explanations
- None, just the moves
- What it trains
- Finding one good move
- Their replies
- The engine's best defence
1. Do the pieces move for you?
On Lichess the pieces move as you solve. You play a move, the reply appears, you look again, so you can solve a long puzzle one move at a time.
In Peekchess the board freezes and the moves land as arrows: you calculate the whole line without moving a piece, the way a game asks you to. It's calculation and visualization in one exercise. Why that matters
Storm, Racer and Streak are fun, but as a coach I treat them like Puzzle Rush: against the clock you play the first move that looks right. That's the habit that loses games.
2. Are the puzzles picked for your weak spots?
Lichess serves puzzles near your rating, mostly at random. Peekchess gives you a daily lesson: puzzles from the openings you play, at your level, with your games read for your report.
3. Does it explain why a move works?
Lichess shows you the solution and lets you check it with an engine. Peek AI explains every move in plain words.
4. Does it train calculation, or one good move?
A Lichess puzzle asks you to find a good move. Peekchess trains the whole calculation, in four steps: spotting the moment, listing forcing moves, calculating and judging the end.
5. Are the replies ones your opponents would play?
Every Lichess reply is Stockfish's best move, even when nobody at your level would play it. Peekchess checks every reply with Maia 3, a neural network trained on millions of human games, so the reply you face is the one you'd most likely meet. See an example
Is Peekchess a good Lichess puzzles alternative?
- The method: you calculate the whole line without moving a piece.
- Ten puzzles a day, aimed at what you miss and the openings you play, not random puzzles.
- Peek AI explains every move.
- All four steps of calculation, not one good move.
- Replies are what players at your level play.
- Threat puzzles, and puzzles from your own games.
When is Lichess the better pick?
- It's free, with no ads and no limits.
- About 70 themes to filter by, and a dashboard of your weak spots.
- Your games, puzzles and analysis in one place.
Why do I still blunder after so many Lichess puzzles?
Because a puzzle tells you there's something to find, and a game doesn't. On Lichess the board also plays the line for you, so the calculation is never fully yours. When that's the gap, your rating gets stuck where your calculation stops.
Which is the best chess puzzle app, Lichess or Peekchess?
For free puzzles with no limits and themes to filter by, Lichess. As a chess calculation trainer, where you see the whole line before you play it and every move is explained, Peekchess.
