Play Chess
Play against a chess engine with configurable strength and time controls. Pass-and-play with a friend on the same computer.
En Parlant~ Documentation
En Parlant~ is a fork of En Croissant, the open-source chess GUI built by Francisco Salgueiro. We took Francisco’s excellent foundation — engine analysis, game databases, repertoire training, puzzle solving, Lichess and Chess.com integration — and added text-to-speech narration that reads chess annotations aloud in many languages, online multiplayer via a lightweight WebSocket relay, and a narrated demo that works out of the box with zero setup. Everything Francisco built is still here. We just gave it a voice.
Features
Section titled “Features”The home screen gives you seven ways in. Each card opens a different workspace.
Multiplayer
Play against a friend online. One player hosts, shares a 6-character code, and the other joins. No account required.
Analysis Board
Free analysis with engine evaluation, annotation tools, and automated game reports with move quality symbols.
Repertoire
Build opening repertoires with coverage tracking and train them with spaced repetition.
Import Game
Import PGN files, paste game text, or fetch games directly from your Lichess or Chess.com account.
Puzzles
Practice tactics with the Lichess puzzle database — millions of puzzles from real games, all offline.
Narrated Demo
Hear chess annotations spoken aloud in many languages. No setup required — pre-recorded audio plays instantly.
App Menus
Section titled “App Menus”The sidebar gives you quick access to the five main sections of the app.
Board
The main chess board — piece sets, themes, coordinates, eval bar, and annotation tools.
User
Link your Lichess and Chess.com accounts to browse your games and view stats.
Files
Browse, open, and manage your PGN files and repertoires.
Database
Search millions of master games by position, player, or opening.
Engines
Download, install, and configure UCI chess engines for analysis and play.
Setup & Reference
Section titled “Setup & Reference”TTS Providers
Choose from five text-to-speech providers — cloud and local — and start hearing annotations.
Under the Hood
Section titled “Under the Hood”Game Architecture
How the Tauri/Rust/React stack fits together — from the chess engine to the UI.
Multiplayer Architecture
How the WebSocket relay connects two players for real-time chess.
AI Workflow
How En Parlant~ was built with Claude Code — prompts, sessions, principles, and where the human draws the line.
TTS Language Rankings
Chess popularity by language — the data behind the order of the TTS language menu.
Repository Secrets
What the GitHub Actions secrets are and what you need if you fork the project.
BYOK: Bring Your Own Key
Why En Parlant~ uses bring-your-own-key for cloud features — and what it costs in practice.
Potential Enhancements
Ideas we’re exploring — teaching plugin, accessibility, multiplayer expansion, and more.