AI chess coach · Backed by Stockfish

Understand the why behind every move.

Stockfish finds the best move. UnicornFork explains it. Ask about any position in plain language and get answers you can see on the board.

Watch the explainer video 0:30 Get started

Meet UnicornFork

Stockfish's moves, explained in 30 seconds.

See it in action

Ask about a move. See the answer on the board.

Morphy's Opera Game, Paris 1858. Hover or click the moves in the chat to see them on the board, or step through the game.

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Mistake Blunder

Coaching prompts

Make the coach your own.

A prompt decides how the coach works for you: how deep it goes, how much jargon it uses, how long its answers are. Here's the question from the game above with each built-in prompt.

Coach For club players: a verdict, the key ideas, short lines. Trainer For improving players: questions and hints, so you find it yourself. Beginner For casual players: one idea, plain words, no numbers.

What's the best move here? Morphy's Opera Game, after 15...Nxd7

16.Qb8+!! wins on the spot: a queen sacrifice that mates in two, 16.Qb8+ Nxb8 17.Rd8#.

The knight on d7 is Black's only defender. It blocks the d-file and is the only piece that can take on b8. Taking the queen pulls it off the file, and the rook comes to d8.
The king has nowhere to go. The bishop on g5 covers e7 and protects d8, while Black's own bishop on f8 and pawn on f7 take the other squares.

Other moves give Black time. 16.Qb5, pinning the knight, even throws the win away: after 16...Be7 17.Bxe7 Kxe7 the bishop on g5 is gone, and it's a draw.

White has something crushing here. Can you find it yourself?

Look at Black's knight on d7. What is it doing for Black right now? It has more than one job.
Now look at White's rook on the d-file. Which square would it love to reach, if only the knight weren't in the way?
Is there a check that forces the knight to leave its post, even if it costs you something big?

Give it a try: which move would you play?

White can win right away by giving up the queen!

16.Qb8+ puts Black's king in check. The only way out is to take the queen with the knight: 16...Nxb8.
But that knight was standing in the way of White's rook on the d-file (the column the rook is on). Now 17.Rd8 is checkmate: the rook attacks the king, the bishop on g5 protects the rook, and the king has no square to run to.

This trick is called a deflection: you lure a defender away from the job it was doing. When one enemy piece guards something important all on its own, look for a way to pull it away.

None of them quite right for you? Copy one and change it, write your own from scratch, or pick one other players share.