Chessunlock

A good fit for

• Mac users who want to improve their chess skills passively without needing to open an app or remember to practice.
• Chess players from beginner to advanced who want adaptive difficulty puzzles that match their skill level and help them improve steadily.

Know the limitations

• Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later and runs only on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
• Users need to know basic chess rules such as how pieces move and what checkmate means to use the app effectively.

What you can do

• Improving chess skills passively by integrating puzzle solving into the daily habit of unlocking a Mac.
• Building a lasting chess practice habit through habit stacking by pairing puzzle solving with the existing trigger of waking a Mac.

Features

• Adaptive difficulty with an Elo rating system from 600 to 2400+ that matches puzzles to the user's skill level.
• A database of over 5 million tactical positions from real games trusted by millions of players.
• Streak tracking that grows every time you solve a puzzle, helping build a habit without needing a calendar.
• Configurable smart cooldown to control how often puzzles appear, preventing puzzle spam during rapid unlocks.
• Ability to skip puzzles by holding a skip button, which resets the streak but allows users to bypass puzzles when needed.

Integrations

Not confirmed yet.

Platforms & data export

• macOS app that runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 14 Sonoma or later.