Obviously, if you’re a high-level chess player, then Duolingo’s chess course is not for you. That’d be like a native speaker doing Duolingo for their own language.

But I don’t consider myself a high-level chess player (I’m a roughly 1400 ELO player), so when the chess course popped up as an announcement on my Duolingo app, I thought it’d be a good chance for me to improve or stay sharp.

However, even at my still unimpressive level, the Duolingo chess course wasn’t that helpful. At least, it was much less helpful than other free resources available.

This was true even after I skipped to puzzles at roughly my level.

In this article, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on it, who it isn’t and isn’t for, and how to get the most from it.

I have a 1200+ day streak on Duolingo. I’ve been a premium (and now Max) user for several years. I’ve finished entire courses on Duolingo. (You can read my reviews of the Catalan course and Duolingo Max.) Let’s get to the chess.

The Appeal of Duolingo’s Chess Course

I suppose their chess course is Duolingo doing what they’ve always done best: gamifying learning.

In the chess course, they’ve done that.

Quick Lessons and Puzzles

Like their language learning courses, you’ll get quick lessons and puzzles you can do in just a few minutes. They won’t require you to be totally present or think too deeply. Over time, this will help you spot various chess patterns quickly.

There Does Seem to Be Variety and Progression

Like the language learning courses Duolingo has, my instinct is to be critical that there are lots of quick lessons without the appearance of a broader “program.” But I think this is part of Duolingo’s secret sauce. You learn and progress without feeling like you are.

Some lessons have endgame puzzles. Others are checkmate patterns. Others are random middle games with hanging pieces. I think the course gives a decent grasp of the types of patterns you see on the chessboard.

Guidance on The Basics

I will also give credit to Duolingo here for having “Oscar,” one of their mascots, provide tips and hints. At the start of some levels, he will guide you to the first move, allowing you to get a feel for the pattern.

Experience Points, Streaks, Quests… All The Duolingo Staples

Duolingo is the undisputed master of making learning feel like an addictive video game. With their streaks and quests, you may want to do this for how gamified it is. And that’s okay! Hey, if it gets you learning how to move the chess pieces and starting to understand the game, great.

Who The Course is Good For: Beginners

If you don’t know how the pieces move, the Duolingo Chess course is great.

But once you get to a certain level, you’re better off going to a real chess app. That’s because, once you’re a decent chess player with some understanding of tactics and positions, the problems with it become obvious. And again, I’m nothing special. I played in high school with friends. But even I notice these flaws.

It’s Not Good if You’re Over ~1300 ELO

First, the course ends at 1500 elo. So if you’re above 1500, which is still intermediate/beginner, but if you hit that level, you’ve played a good amount.

However, even before this, I don’t think there’s a lot of value. It’s true, I think that the puzzles have helped me a little bit, but its issues mean that if you’re beyond a beginner, you should look for other apps.

The Course Has Several Issues

Let’s get into the drawbacks.

You Can’t Review Games or Puzzles

My biggest gripe is that you can’t review puzzles or games. You can’t get an explanation of what the right move is and why. You can’t see how the game might continue. You just have to keep going. I think itt’s hard to improve when you can’t examine what you did right or wrong.

Almost every chess app will allow you to do this. A puzzle on Chess.com will have a computer teacher explaining the mistake, and giving you the option to “review” any puzzle and move the pieces around as you figure it out.

This is especially annoying for the full games. I can’t even see what moves I played.

You Can’t Change the Time Format For Games

At first, you could only play with the white pieces. In an October 2025 update, Duolingo finally started giving you games with black.

So maybe they’ll add features for this too. But right now, you can’t change the time format either. All of the full games give you 20 minutes to make all of your moves.

It’s Puzzles Are Mostly Tactics

Tactics are great. And important. But you can’t just do tactics.

I’d like to see more variety. How about some guidance on endgames? I mean full endgames that you play to the end, not just the next 1-2 moves. How about more “puzzles” where the best move is something subtle or positional? There’s much more to chess improvement than spotting mates-in-2, or tactics that win a piece.

Oscar is Extremely Annoying

Every time you do a puzzle, Oscar says something. Sometimes he says something that’s a hint for the puzzle. (Which often gives the puzzles away.)

Other times, he rotates between the same 10 or so irrelevant phrases. It gets annoying after a few rounds. I now turn the volume off when I do a lesson because Oscar annoys me.

If You Know How The Pieces Move Already, Head to Chess.com or Lichess.com

This is not meant to be an ad for Chess.com at all. I’m not a member and have no affiliation. You can use Lichess too. I’m going to talk about chess.com because I’ve used it. These are companies that know how to teach chess. It’s what they do. And they do it in bite-sized app formats like Duolingo. Its options to review your moves and full games blow Duolingo away.

The free version of these chess apps is better than the paid version of Duolingo. If you really want to improve your chess, then the paid version of either will be your best option.

Its Lessons Are Much Better

The lessons on these real apps are fully-fledged lessons, with explanations on each move and a clear progression that shows how they connect.

Its Options for Playing Games Are Broader

You can play against the computer at various difficulty levels, or face off against real people from around the world. On Chess.com, you can choose bullet, blitz, rapid, or even correspondence games that last days. You set the time controls.

Also, you play with white and black.

Puzzles, Analysis, and Feedback

The puzzle feature on Chess.com is light-years ahead of Duolingo’s.

After you solve (or fail) a puzzle, you can analyze the position with a computer, see the correct sequence of moves, and even play out alternative lines to understand why your choice was wrong. You can filter puzzles by themes (forks, pins, endgames, checkmates) and track your puzzle rating over time.

Full games are just as well-supported. You can review your game immediately after it ends, with an automated analysis highlighting blunders, mistakes, and brilliant moves. More feedback = more improvement.

That’s all I have to say on this. If you try the Duolingo chess course, let me know what you’d add to this. How is it from your perspective?

Maybe Stick with Languages?

There’s an assumption that chess is good for our brains. I can speak to my experience. I’ve written before about how lessons from chess help me think in other areas.

Yet, there are other instances of creative thinkers “losing themselves” in chess. I’ve felt this too. It can be addictive and distract you from what matters more in life. Maybe you’re better off continuing to learn languages on Duolingo?

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Have you tried the Duolingo chess course? Chime in with your experience down in the comments.