Everything players ask about Sensei Chess, game analysis, and coaching.
This FAQ explains how Sensei Chess works: onboarding, Chess.com and Lichess game import, AI chess game analysis, detailed insights, piece activity, square control heatmaps, Chat with Sensei, Stockfish-backed board review, and the coaching dashboard.
Game Review
Opening, middlegame, and endgame feedback with summaries, recommendations, and crucial positions.
Board Exploration
Stockfish-backed position evaluation, move navigation, FEN loading, and coaching-oriented chat.
Coach Spotlight
A focused 2-3 metric coaching view for subscribers, with the broader multi-metric coaching system part of the paid experience.
How do I get started with Sensei Chess?
What should I do first?
Start in your profile: set your preferred language, link your Chess.com or Lichess account, and choose up to three improvement goals. That gives Sensei the right context for personalized chess coaching instead of generic advice.
Why is language part of onboarding?
Chat with Sensei depends on your language preference. Setting it early makes the chess coach chat available immediately and lets the product explain chess ideas in the language you want to use.
I’m having trouble linking my Chess.com or Lichess account. What should I check?
Make sure you are entering your exact username with the correct capitalization, that you have played at least one public game on that account, and that your games and profile are visible publicly. If it still fails, support can help verify the link manually.
Do I need to link an account to use Sensei?
You can ask general chess questions without linking an account, but personalized game analysis requires a linked chess profile. Once your games are connected, Sensei can analyze your real positions, openings, and recurring mistakes.
How does game import and Fetch Games work?
What happens when I click Fetch Games?
The dashboard checks your linked accounts for newer games and adds them to your game list. This keeps your chess analysis queue fresh so recent games are ready for review without manual uploads.
Why aren’t all my games showing up?
When you first join, Sensei imports up to your last 100 games played before joining. New games are added on the normal sync cycle, and if your most recent game is missing, it is often just queued for the next import. Using Sensei regularly helps keep your game sync active.
Do I have to upload PGN files?
No. Sensei is built around direct Chess.com and Lichess integration, so the normal workflow is account linking plus fetching games. PGN context is loaded automatically when you open a tracked game inside the app.
What does Sensei analyze in each game?
What do I unlock when I request analysis?
Sensei focuses on the full game arc: opening decisions, middlegame plans, endgame execution, tactical misses, and practical improvement points. The goal is not just to flag blunders, but to explain what actually changed the result.
What is the difference between the list of games and full analysis?
Your game list shows the imported records. Full AI chess analysis begins when you open a game and click Get Insights. That deeper pass gives Sensei move-by-move detail, practical turning points, and the richer context used across the rest of the page.
Why can a newly imported game take a little longer?
If a game was just imported, the first Get Insights request may take a bit longer because the deeper review still needs to be prepared. Once that is done, you can return to the game with its full analysis, crucial positions, and game-specific coaching context.
Is this only for advanced players?
No. Sensei is designed for practical training across skill levels. Beginners can use it to understand common opening, middlegame, and endgame mistakes, while stronger players can use it to inspect sharper tactical and strategic patterns.
What is inside Get Insights and the deeper review?
What does Get Insights generate?
The detailed review is organized into a Summary, Strategic Recommendations, Tactical Suggestions, and Potential Improvements. It also gives Sensei the move-by-move context needed to answer more deeply about specific decisions, plans, and turning points.
What are crucial positions?
Crucial positions are the moments that defined the game, not just the largest eval swings. They highlight the decisions that mattered most so you can replay them, compare candidate moves, and understand the turning points that shaped the result.
Do I need to click Get Insights on every game?
No. Use it on the games you want to study deeply. If you only want your results and history, the game list is enough. If you want move-by-move coaching, crucial positions, and game-specific chat, Get Insights is the right next step.
Why can’t I chat with Sensei about my game?
To chat with Sensei about a specific game, click Get Insights first. That full analysis gives the coach the game data it needs, so without insights there is no game-specific context. Once insights are generated, you can ask about tactics, strategy, or what went wrong in a specific phase.
How do Piece Activity Analysis and the heatmap help?
What is Piece Activity Analysis?
This section tracks how active each piece was in your game, including how often it moved, which piece was most active, and a move-by-move path for any selected piece. It is useful for spotting underused rooks, overworked queens, and development imbalances.
What does the Square Control Heatmap show?
The heatmap visualizes which squares your pieces attacked or occupied most often. Darker zones show where you concentrated control, making it easier to see whether you consistently fight for the center, over-focus on one wing, or ignore key squares.
How should I use these tools?
Use them to connect board habits to practical results. If your bishops stay passive, your rooks never activate, or your control map avoids central files, Sensei can turn that pattern into a concrete training target for future games.
How do chat, coach games, position loading, and Stockfish work together?
Chat isn’t working. What do I do?
Set your default language on the profile page first, even if you are chatting in English. The most common first-time issue is that no language has been selected yet. Once that is set, you can use chat in your preferred language.
What can I ask in Chat with Sensei?
You can ask about openings, middlegame plans, endgames, tactical ideas, analyzed games, and custom positions. For the best game-specific answers, run Get Insights first so the conversation has the right context.
Can I play a game with Sensei?
Yes. In the current canvas flow, you can play with Sensei in a coach-game format. In the current v1 experience, the board can require you to make the moves on the board while Sensei provides the move guidance, creating a training-first experience rather than a standard rated game.
How is the coach-game ELO calibrated?
Coach games start with an approximate training ELO from your coach-game configuration, and Sensei presents that number as a practical skill match for the session. It is a learning calibration, not an official rating, so the goal is useful difficulty and instructive positions rather than rating certification.
Can I load custom board positions?
Yes. The board supports loading positions directly from FEN for custom analysis. If you open the canvas from one of your tracked games, Sensei can also load the full PGN context so you can replay the move list and inspect the game move by move.
Where does analysis depth come from?
The interactive board uses Stockfish-backed evaluation for deeper position review. Sensei uses that engine support to discuss candidate lines in plain English, while the board waits for a usable search depth before surfacing stable evaluation feedback. In short: Sensei explains the ideas, and Stockfish helps anchor the concrete lines.
How do subscriptions, billing, and support work?
Which payment provider does Sensei Chess use?
Sensei Chess uses Stripe for subscriptions globally in most regions. For users in India, subscriptions and billing are handled through Paddle.
Who should I contact for billing help?
If you have subscription, billing, refund, or account-access questions, email [email protected]. That is the fastest path for direct support.
Is there a community support channel too?
Yes. You can also join the Sensei Chess Discord if you want help from the team, product updates, or a place to ask questions about features and improvements.
What is the coaching dashboard?
What is Sensei Coach Spotlight?
Sensei Coach Spotlight is the high-signal coaching layer that highlights the top 2-3 metrics with the biggest impact on your next improvement cycle. It is meant to keep your focus narrow, practical, and actionable instead of overwhelming you with every stat at once.
How many metrics does coaching track?
The full coaching system is built around 21 performance metrics, grouped into areas such as overall strength, phase accuracy, move quality, tactical and positional play, and pressure resilience. Spotlight shows only the most important 2-3, while All Stats exposes the complete dashboard.
Which metrics stay visible all the time?
The coaching design keeps a small health bar visible at all times: Overall Accuracy, Win Rate, and Improvement Velocity. Around that core, Sensei rotates spotlight metrics like Error Rate, Clutch Index, Endgame Conversion, Resilience Score, and other targeted training signals.
How will free vs paid access work?
Coach Spotlight is planned for subscribers rather than free users. The broader coaching experience, including the All Stats view and deeper cycle-based tracking, remains part of the paid coaching layer.
What is a coaching cycle?
The coaching UI is designed around a focused multi-game cycle so your spotlight metrics do not change after every single game. That gives you enough time to practice a theme, track progress, and see whether the change is working before Sensei rotates the next focus area.
Ready to turn your games into a training plan?
Link your account, fetch your latest games, run Get Insights, and use Sensei Chess as an AI chess coach that turns every game into practical next steps.