ReplayChess is a free, open-source alternative to Chess.com and Lichess for people who want to play chess history rather than browse it.
Where other sites give you a game database or a video, ReplayChess starts you at the critical position of a famous game and lets you play it out — against a friend via a private link, a matched opponent from the ELO queue, or Stockfish running in your browser. When the game ends you get a move-by-move comparison with the original: your match rate against the grandmaster's line and the exact move where you diverged.
What you get
- 50+ chess legends — Morphy, Capablanca, Tal, Fischer, Kasparov, Carlsen — each with playable famous positions
- 3,600+ ECO-coded openings, every one playable from the position, with narrated ideas on the key lines
- Real-time multiplayer with ELO matchmaking, private challenge links and tournaments
- Post-game analysis: match rate vs the original moves, divergence detection, and a practice mode to replay the position against Stockfish
- Installs as a PWA on phone and desktop; distinct sounds for moves, captures, checks and time warnings
Who it's for
Club and online players who pause chess videos to find the winning move and then never get to play the position out. Coaches who want training positions with a real opponent. Developers curious about a real-time multiplayer chess app built with Next.js 15, React 19, Socket.IO, Prisma and Stockfish WASM — the source is MIT-licensed on GitHub.
Pricing
Free to play. The Player plan ($4.99/month or $50/year) unlocks the full legend and opening catalogue.
