Duolingo is expanding its suite of educational offerings beyond languages, music, and math, with the addition of chess lessons to its app. The new course will be available in beta starting mid-May on iOS, with Android and multilingual support expected in the coming months.
The chess course is designed primarily for beginners and intermediate players. According to Edwin Bodge, Duolingo’s senior product manager, the goal is to make the game more approachable for users who are just starting out or looking to strengthen their foundational skills.
Upon launching the course, users will be prompted to indicate their existing knowledge of chess. Based on their responses, Duolingo will personalize the learning path. For complete novices, the app will offer tutorials on how each chess piece moves. More experienced users will jump into interactive mini-puzzles, where they’ll be tasked with capturing specific pieces using a designated one, such as a rook.
These bite-sized challenges aim to reinforce each piece’s movement patterns, and learners will receive visual hints along the way. For instance, if a user repeatedly moves a piece incorrectly, the app will suggest valid movements using a bold arrow. However, while it can identify suboptimal moves, Duolingo won’t flag them as incorrect—only noting that better options may exist.
Beyond the puzzles, users can play full games against Oscar, one of Duolingo’s signature characters. The difficulty of these matches will adjust based on the learner’s skill level. Currently, multiplayer games against other users aren’t supported, but Duolingo says it’s exploring the feature for future releases.
With the addition of chess, Duolingo continues its push to diversify learning tools within its platform, aiming to make traditionally complex subjects more accessible to a global audience.
