Chess Lessons Coming to Duolingo
Never learned to play chess and don’t know where to start? Duolingo, the gamified education app best known for its language learning lessons, will add chess lessons to its iPhone app later this month. You can learn how each piece moves before moving on to tactics, all within the familiar Duolingo user interface.
A “limited number of students” on iOS will receive the chess feature on Tuesday, April 22; it will be available to other English-speaking iPhone users “in the next few weeks.” Other operating systems, as well as versions for non-English speakers, are “planned for the coming months,” according to Duolingo.
This isn’t the first offering beyond language learning that the app has offered – the app currently offers math and music lessons starting in 2023. The maths lessons I tried are a great way to brush up on your times tables, and the music lessons cover the basics of music theory and also include rhythm game sequences based on real pop songs.
However, chess lessons are a departure since they teach you how to play a game rather than learn a language or an academic subject. “Chess is a perfect fit for Duolingo,” Louis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of Duolingo, said in a press release. “It sharpens your brain, is filled with strategy, and, like learning a language, it is a skill that gets better with practice.”
The app is designed to make chess more accessible, so it’s no surprise that the lessons themselves are designed for beginners, from the mechanics of each piece’s movement to tactics and strategy. A typical lesson is built on short puzzles – for example, you may be asked to checkmate your opponent in one move. There are also mini-matches and even full-fledged chess games, all played against Oscar (the cartoonish, mustachioed man with a memorable, deep voice long featured in Duolingo language courses).