Studies Are Here

gbtami 2026-09-28 53 views en

Now With Interactive Lessons and Computer Practice

A few days ago we quietly enabled the first version of **Studies** on PyChess with the normal analysis mode. Since then we have added two more important chapter modes: **Interactive Study** and **Practice with computer**.

This has been one of the most requested and long-awaited PyChess features. A Study is a persistent collection of chess positions, games, analysis and lessons organized into chapters. Instead of keeping an analysis in a single temporary board, you can build something larger: an opening repertoire, an endgame course, a collection of interesting games, a set of puzzles, variant documentation, or a lesson for other players.

If you already know Lichess Study, the idea will feel very familiar. PyChess Study is heavily inspired by the excellent open-source work of Lichess, but adapted to PyChess and its much wider collection of chess variants.

## What you can do with a Study

A Study can contain many chapters, and each chapter has its own position or game. You can add variations, comments, arrows and circles, annotation symbols such as `!`, `?`, `!?`, and so on, PGN information, and engine analysis.

Studies can be private, unlisted, or public. They can be used alone or shared with other players, and contributors can work together on the same Study. Public Studies can also be discovered by other PyChess users.

You can create chapters from a starting position, a FEN, an existing PyChess game, or imported PGN. Multi-game PGN files can create several chapters at once, which also makes it possible to bring many existing study collections to PyChess.

Most importantly for this site, Studies are **not limited to standard chess**. They work with the variants supported by PyChess, including many regional and fairy-chess variants, and can also preserve the rules of supported custom/community variants inside the Study.

## Three Study modes are available today

Lichess Study has four chapter modes. We are enabling them on PyChess gradually instead of releasing everything at once.

### Normal analysis

This was enabled first.

Normal analysis is the familiar analysis board turned into a persistent, multi-chapter workspace. It is useful for analyzing games, building opening or endgame material, collecting positions, explaining variant strategy, or simply keeping your own chess notes in one place.

Readers can explore the move tree and variations normally, while contributors can add and edit the Study material.

### Interactive Study

Interactive Study turns a chapter into a lesson or puzzle. The author chooses which side the learner plays and creates the expected line. Comments can explain the position or ask a question before the learner moves. Optional hints can be added, and authors can provide specific feedback for wrong moves.

For the reader, the move tree is hidden and the lesson is played directly on the board. Find the right move and the lesson continues; make a wrong move and you can try again. This makes it possible to create guided tactical exercises, endgame lessons, opening quizzes, variant tutorials, and many other kinds of training material.

### Practice with computer

**Practice with computer** is now enabled as well.

In this mode the Study position becomes a training game against the engine. You choose the moves for the chapter side while Fairy-Stockfish plays the opponent directly in your browser. The engine evaluation and gauge remain available, and you can ask for a hint when you get stuck.

This is especially useful for practicing positions where there is not just one scripted continuation: technical endgames, defensive exercises, converted advantages, opening positions, and variant-specific situations where you want to keep playing against realistic resistance. If you are unhappy with your attempt, you can rewind and try a different continuation without leaving the Study.

The remaining Lichess chapter mode, **Hide next moves**, is still not enabled on PyChess. We are continuing to roll out the Study modes gradually so each one can get real use and feedback from the community before the next is added.

## Inspired by Lichess

Rather than repeat everything Lichess has already explained very well, here are their two classic introductions to the feature:

* [Lichess Study and Our Favorite User-Created Content](https://lichess.org/@/lichess/blog/lichess-study-and-our-favorite-user-created-content/Wsdc0C4A)
* [Interactive Lessons](https://lichess.org/@/lichess/blog/interactive-lessons/WtDErSQA)

Those posts show many of the ways Studies can be used, from openings and endgames to game collections and interactive teaching. The same basic idea now has a home on PyChess, with support adapted to our variant community.

## Try it

You can find **Studies** under the **Learn** menu. Create a new Study from scratch, add one of your games, or import a PGN and start experimenting.

This is a large new part of PyChess, and there will certainly be more polishing to do as people start using it in ways we did not anticipate. If you find a problem or have a good idea for improving the feature, please let us know on GitHub or Discord.

And if you create something interesting — especially a Study teaching one of the less familiar variants on PyChess — make it public and share it with the community.

Have fun studying!

-gbtami (co-authored with codex, gpt-5.6-sol)

Image credit: "All Asahi Press Photography 1952", Asahi Shinbun, 1952, index.31

Studies Are Here

You may also like