Intro

We are happy to announce the beta release of the Maia Chess platform, a site built around the unique abilities of the Maia chess engine. Designed with an emphasis on understanding and modeling human decision-making rather than optimal play, Maia opens up new ways for you to engage with the game--whether you're training, playing, or analyzing games.

Maia is not a typical chess AI. While most engines focus on playing ever more perfect chess--further and further away from human play--Maia was trained to play like a human, offering a much more relatable and realistic playing experience. Whether you’re a beginner learning the squares or a seasoned player refining your game, Maia adjusts to your level, offering both challenge and education.

Platform Features

We’ve filled the platform with features designed to showcase how you can interact with human-centric chess AI:

• Play Chess Against Maia: Play traditional games against Maia at various skill levels, and experience the difference in how it approaches the game.

• Start from Any Position: Do you want to practice a specific opening or study an endgame? Simply input a position using FEN notation, and Maia will pick up right from there.

• Hand and Brain Mode: Try the popular and fun Hand and Brain variant, where one player (the "Brain") picks which piece to move, and the other (the "Hand") chooses the move. It’s perfect for honing strategic thinking and working as a team--especially when you’re teamed up with Maia!

• Analyze Games with Maia and Stockfish: Whether you're reviewing your own recent Lichess games or legendary World Championship matches, Maia and Stockfish provide deep insights that help you learn from every move. The combination of human subjectivity from Maia and objective analysis from Stockfish gives you a new perspective on games.

• Tactics Puzzles: Practice specific positions with Maia-powered puzzles that challenge your tactical skills, while helping you understand real-world patterns and decision-making.

• Bot-or-Not Challenge: Think you can tell the difference between human and bot moves? Put your skills to the test in Bot-or-Not, where you’ll analyze games and guess which player was the bot.

• Watch Maia Play Live: Head over to Twitch and watch Maia take on human opponents in real-time, and see Maia’s thought process as it streams live.

• Leaderboards: Check out where you stand on the leaderboards to track your progress and see how you compare in each format.

One of the things we’re most excited about is building a vibrant community of chess lovers around Maia. Join us on Discord, where you can connect with fellow players, share tips, help us fix bugs and discuss potential improvements. And if you have thoughts on what you’d like to see next, we’d love to hear from you!

As we continue to evolve Maia and add new features, your feedback will play a vital role in shaping the platform. Be sure to let us know what you think using this link. Your insights help us refine Maia to make it the best chess platform out there.