Choose Lichess Study
Choose Lichess Study when you want public discovery, Lichess variants, or teaching material connected to the wider public chess ecosystem. It also offers mature real-time collaboration and free access.
The short answer
Choose by where the lesson should live
Feature comparison
Lichess Study and Chessdesk at a glance
Both products save annotated chess material in chapters. The practical difference is the surrounding workflow: Lichess connects a Study to its public chess platform, while Chessdesk keeps it inside a private coaching workspace.
| Comparison | Lichess Study | Chessdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Publishing, discovering and collaborating on chess material inside Lichess | Keeping a private, durable Study workspace for each student or lesson |
| Visibility | Public or private Studies, with public Studies available through the Lichess ecosystem | Private Studies available to the owner and invited viewers or editors |
| Study material | Chapters, move trees, comments, symbols, arrows, PGN and FEN | Chapters, variations, comments, NAG symbols, arrows, PGN and FEN |
| Working together | Real-time collaboration for invited contributors, plus member chat | Invited editors can work on Study content; lessons are designed around screen sharing |
| Student practice | Interactive lessons and the option to hide moves in a chapter | A hide-next-move chapter mode and material that remains in the student's workspace |
| Chess variants | Standard chess and the variants supported by Lichess | Standard chess |
Lichess documents comments, annotations, saved variations, collaboration, chapters, PGN export and variants in its official Study guide. Check Lichess directly for later product changes.
Switch selectively
Move the chapters you need
Chessdesk does not recreate an entire Lichess Study automatically. The supported route is PGN or FEN import, followed by a quick review of the imported chapter.
- In Lichess, download the accessible Study as PGN.
- Create a Chessdesk Study, add a chapter and open the Import tab.
- Paste that PGN into the Chessdesk chapter importer. Use FEN instead for a single position.
- Review names, variations and comments, then invite the student as a viewer or editor.
Member lists, chat history, visibility, variant settings and other Lichess-specific data do not transfer through PGN.
FAQ
Questions before choosing
Is Chessdesk a replacement for every Lichess Study feature?
No. Lichess is the stronger choice for public discovery, chess variants and a workflow inside the wider Lichess ecosystem. Chessdesk focuses on private Study workspaces for coaches and students.
Can I move a Lichess Study to Chessdesk?
You can download an accessible Lichess Study as PGN and import that PGN into Chessdesk chapters. Review the imported material afterward because members, chat, visibility settings and other Lichess-specific configuration do not transfer automatically.
Are Chessdesk Studies private?
Yes. A Chessdesk Study is available to its owner and invited members. Members can be invited as viewers or editors; copying the Study link alone does not make it public.
Does Chessdesk include a video call?
No. Open the Study and share that browser tab in Google Meet, Zoom or another video-call service. The Study remains available after the lesson for review and follow-up work.
Keep the next lesson in one private Study
Create the workspace, add chapters from PGN or FEN, and invite the student when the material is ready.