Guide

Best chess bots for beginners

By the Best Chess Bot team (ChessHelper) · Published November 12, 2026 · Updated November 12, 2026

A beginner needs a bot that loses sometimes, explains a little and never makes the game feel hopeless. Below are the best options in 2026, the training aids worth switching on, and when to switch them off. Once you are finishing games, ChessHelper (chesshelper.ai), our own review tool, can help you understand them at a beginner-friendly strength.

What makes a good beginner bot

Four things matter. First, it must be weak enough that you can win, because nobody keeps practicing after twenty straight losses. Second, it should not affect a rating, so mistakes are free. Third, optional aids, such as takebacks, hints and threat warnings, let you learn during the game rather than only after it. Fourth, there should be a clear next step, a slightly stronger bot to move up to when you start winning.

The best beginner bots, compared

We compared the published features of each option below, as listed on the providers' own sites in November 2026.

Chess.com Beginner bots: the best place to start

Chess.com's Beginner tier has 15 bots between 250 and 850, according to its help center, and every bot game is unrated. During a game you can turn on threat arrows, suggestion arrows, move feedback, an evaluation bar and hints, and take moves back. On the mobile app, these are bundled into modes: Challenge, Friendly, Assisted and Custom. Adaptive bots shift their strength during the game to keep it balanced, which is useful when you do not know your level yet.

Free accounts can play some bots, and others are locked until you upgrade to a paid Premium plan. The free selection is enough to start.

Lichess level 1: free and simple

Lichess is free with no ads. Its Stockfish level 1 uses Stockfish's lowest skill setting with a very shallow search and only 50 milliseconds per move, according to the open-source code that runs it. It makes frequent blunders, which is exactly what you want while you learn to spot free pieces. There are no bot personalities or hints during the game, but every game can get a free computer analysis afterwards. Move to level 2 and 3 as soon as level 1 feels easy.

ChessKid: built for children

ChessKid is the kids' platform from the Chess.com family. Its help pages list 10 computer levels from 400 to 2200, and its newer bot characters talk to the player during the game, with an optional coach mode. It is designed as a safe environment for children, with lessons and puzzles alongside the bots. For a child just learning the moves, the lowest levels are a gentle start. Older children who get strong may prefer the adult sites for their wider bot range.

Lucas Chess: offline on a computer

Lucas Chess is a free, open-source program (GPLv3) for Windows and Linux. It bundles 57 engines from about 0 to 3600 Elo, including very weak engines that only know how the pieces move, which its site says lets young children win from the start. It also has a tutor and training modes for tactics, openings and endings. Because it runs offline, it is a good choice for a family computer or a trip.

A trick every beginner bot will try

Low-level bots and new players often go for the same early attack on f7, the square only the black king defends. After 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4, White threatens 4. Qxf7#. Learning to meet this calmly is a rite of passage.

All lines here were checked for legality and evaluated with Stockfish at depth 18.

Turn the aids off in stages

Training aids help, but leaning on them hides what you actually know. A simple progression: play your first ten games with threat arrows and takebacks on. For the next ten, keep takebacks but switch off arrows. After that, play without any help and only use takebacks for obvious mis-clicks. On Chess.com, the crowns on each bot's avatar reflect how much help you used, so earning the full three crowns is a good sign it is time to move up.

After your first wins

When you are beating the 600 to 800 bots regularly, move up gradually: the chess bots by rating guide lists the next settings on each platform. Around that point, maia1 on Lichess is worth trying, because it makes the kind of mistakes human beginners make; the human-like chess bots guide explains why that matters.

This is also when reviewing games starts to pay off. ChessHelper's engine can be set as low as 800 Elo, so its suggestions stay within reach for a newer player, and its opening guides give a simple first repertoire. Our learning from bot games routine takes about 15 minutes per game.