Openings · Catalan
A new idea in your line
Played twice this week at the top level, including a 2700 game. It hits your 7…c5 directly. 2 model games ↗
Added to your repertoire · review before your next game
Grandmasters have a second. Now you do too.
A second is the person a top player trusts between games. They keep the repertoire sharp, prepare every opponent, keep their ear to the ground on the players that matter — the next opponent, the rivals, the elite — and catch the mistakes you keep repeating, before they cost another half-point.
Chess Second does all four, for everyone who plays over the board.
Free. No credit card.
820K+ FIDE players · 220+ federations · 420K+ tournaments · Ratings history since 2001 · 9M+ OTB games · Game analysis by Stockfish 19 · Master games in your lines
Your living repertoire · White · Catalanafter 7.Qc2 c5
New this week
7…c5 — 2 GM games
Two 2700+ games, both with 8.dxc5. Added to your line.
How it works
Every game you play makes the next one better.
Your repertoire, your games and your analysis live in one place. Every day, your new games come in, along with the best games played by masters and grandmasters in your lines. Chess Second shows you where your openings leave you worse, which tactics you miss, which endgames slip away and which habits keep coming back. Your next games confirm when they’re fixed.
- 1ImportYour Lichess and Chess.com games every day, your FIDE results and this week’s top tournaments. Automatically.
- 2SpotWhere you leave the book, which tactics you miss, which endgames slip away — the mistakes that keep coming back.
- 3WorkUpdate your lines with master games, save your analysis, drill the tactics and endgames you keep missing.
- 4CheckYour next games confirm it’s fixed — and the item closes.
Open · since Mar 3
Endgames · Rook endings
You trade into a drawn rook ending too early
In 4 of your last 6 rook endings, you were better in the middlegame — then traded down into a drawn ending. Let’s settle this one before your next game. 3 positions ↗
2 games without recurrence · closes at 5
Build · Opening repertoire
Your living repertoire.
Build it from what you actually play, then make it yours: edit your lines, add your own analysis and notes, keep your games attached to every position. The best master and grandmaster games land in the lines you play. One repertoire, always up to date — no more PGNs scattered across folders.
Get started free →Lichess · Chess.com every day, FIDE every month — automatically.
Your repertoireUpdated Monday
With White · Catalan
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2
7…c5New · 2 GM games this week
7…a6Your main line · 14 of your games
Your noteTake on c5 first, then win c4 back with Qxc4. I mixed up the order in Berlin Open, R4.
Your notes on 214 positions+4 master games in your lines this weekLast edited: Catalan, 7…c5
Prepare
Your next opponent, prepared before you sit down.
Opens, team leagues, national championships — FIDE games, Lichess and Chess.com reconciled into one profile. Their whole career: rating history, best wins, rivalries. Then what they play, where they lose, how they handle a worse position — and how the world’s best play against their lines.
Why we merge online games
Most club players have only a handful of OTB games in any database. Their Lichess and Chess.com games show what they really play — so we merge them into one profile when possible, and always show you which games come from where.
- 820K+ FIDE players
- 420K+ rated tournaments
- Rating history since 2001
- 9M+ OTB games
- Lichess + Chess.com
- Stockfish 19
Opponent report · example
Ryan Callahan
FIDE · USA · Saved to your preparations
2087Standard2112Peak · Mar 2025
Rating history · 2012 – 2026
Rated games412 in 58 events
Best winsJ. Whitaker 2261K. Donovan 2238
RivalriesD. Brennan · 11 gamesC. Mitchell · 9 games
- With Black vs 1.d4
- 18 games · 61% · Semi-Slav 11×
- Most likely opening
- Semi-Slav, Moscow Variation (7 of last 9)
- Update
- Semi-Slav, Moscow — 3 grandmaster games this week
- Strength
- Converts material edges: at +2.1, wins 84%
- Weakness
- Rook endings a pawn down: 1 / 7 held
Moves from FIDE 64 games · Lichess 612 · Chess.com 188 — one profile.
Prepare the whole eventComing soon
Paste your open’s pairings or Sunday’s team line-up. Chess Second prepares every possible opponent at once.
Monitor
Follow the players who matter to you.
Grandmasters, your club, your students, your federation. One monthly brief on what actually happened — new peaks, norms, big wins, streaks. Their new games from Lichess and Chess.com, and the best ones in the openings you play. Stories, not rating charts.
Brief preview3 players followed
The latest from three players on a sample watchlist.
Magnus Carlsen GM 184 consecutive months as world #1
OngoingEthan Guo IM becomes IM — Sep 2026
TitleThomas Belikan crosses 1900 for the first time — Sep 2026
Milestone
Online games of titled players included — Titled Tuesday recaps coming.
Improve
What to work on this week — from your games and the world’s best.
Not a score, not a grade. Three things, each backed by positions you actually reached.
Get started free →Lichess · Chess.com every day, FIDE every month — automatically.
Three open items, positions attached
- Rook endings4 / 6
- The e4 reflex in the Open Catalan5 / 7
- Trading your good bishop3 / 5
From this week's games
Tactics and endgames from your recent games — and from the top tournaments played this week.
Explore
Every rated player, free. The same data behind your reports.
Rankings from the October 2026 FIDE list, rivalries, 220+ federations. Every name below has a free player page — no account needed.
Top Players
Ranked by October 2026 Standard rating
Top World
Full rankings →
Top Europe
Top Rivalries
Most-played classical rivalries among the world’s top 100
Magnus Carlsen vs Levon Aronian
🇳🇴GM28232725GM🇺🇸
+17 −8 =39
64 games·last met Jan 2023
Magnus Carlsen vs Fabiano Caruana
🇳🇴GM28232784GM🇺🇸
+15 −6 =40
61 games·last met Jun 2025
Fabiano Caruana vs Levon Aronian
🇺🇸GM27842725GM🇺🇸
+12 −7 =41
60 games·last met Aug 2026
Top Federations
Ranked by average rating of top 10 active players
#1USA
🇺🇸United States
2,723
avg top 10
5,795 players·78 GM
GMNakamura, Hikaru
2,792#2IND
🇮🇳India
2,704
avg top 10
28,675 players·86 GM
GMPraggnanandhaa R
2,763#3CHN
🇨🇳China
2,663
avg top 10
2,116 players·49 GM
GMWei, Yi
2,758#4RUS
🇷🇺Russia
2,641
avg top 10
13,656 players·89 GM
GMNepomniachtchi, Ian
2,719#5UZB
🇺🇿Uzbekistan
2,637
avg top 10
1,108 players·19 GM
GMSindarov, Javokhir
2,782#6AZE
🇦🇿Azerbaijan
2,630
avg top 10
1,454 players·25 GM
GMMamedyarov, Shakhriyar
2,710#7GER
🇩🇪Germany
2,630
avg top 10
15,708 players·87 GM
GMKeymer, Vincent
2,761#8FRA
🇫🇷France
2,630
avg top 10
24,828 players·59 GM
GMFirouzja, Alireza
2,757#9UKR
🇺🇦Ukraine
2,626
avg top 10
3,964 players·58 GM
GMEljanov, Pavel
2,664#10FID
FIDE
2,610
avg top 10
954 players·35 GM
GMAndreikin, Dmitry
2,714#11NED
🇳🇱Netherlands
2,605
avg top 10
5,033 players·32 GM
GMGiri, Anish
2,752#12ESP
🇪🇸Spain
2,598
avg top 10
20,719 players·47 GM
GMAnton Guijarro, David
2,634Explore Rankings
Popular chess rankings by age, cadence and federation
Top U14 — WorldTop U18 — WorldTop U20 — WorldTop Blitz — WorldTop Rapid — WorldTop Women — WorldTop Veterans (65+) — WorldTop U14 — FranceTop U18 — FranceTop U14 — IndiaTop U18 — USATop Blitz — Spain
Why we built it
The second we never had.
It started with my own games. I play club leagues and weekend opens, and blitz on Lichess and Chess.com in between. Like most club players, I had no trainer to follow my games and no second to prepare my opponents. So I started building one.
Today, Chess Second is built by a team of tournament players and engineers, and it solves one problem: amateurs put hours into chess with nobody to tell them where those hours should go.
Louis
Founder & product
Chasing 2300. Started Chess Second to train smarter and get there.
Your second makes every second count.
You already put the hours in. Chess Second points them at what actually costs you points — it doesn’t replace your coach or your own work, it tells you where they should go.
Today — four tools and a folderWith Chess Second — one place
01Build
A ChessBase file, a Lichess study, PGNs in a dozen folders — none of them know what you actually play.One living repertoire, built from your games, with the best master games in your lines.
02Prepare
FIDE card, chess-results, then a hunt for their Lichess username on your phone.One profile per opponent — FIDE history and online games merged — before you sit down at the board.
03Monitor
The FIDE card once a month, chess-results for results, social media for the rest.A monthly brief on everyone you follow — peaks, norms, big wins — and their new games.
04Improve
Lichess analysis, one game at a time. Nobody notices it’s the same rook ending, lost for the third time.Your recurring mistakes, named and drilled — closed only when your next games prove it.
Press and directories
Featured in
- ChessBase India · FIDE Rating list October 2026: Savitha Shri Breaches 2400Records and insights from our India report · Read on ChessBase India (opens in a new tab)
- The Bridge · India’s teen chess wave: 105 players aged 20 or under now rated 2300 or moreOctober FIDE list, analysed by Chess Second · Read on The Bridge (opens in a new tab)
- Ajedrez NDNoticias en cortoSpanish October ratings, from our Spain reportRead on Ajedrez ND (opens in a new tab)
Also listed in Dan Heisman (opens in a new tab) · SaaSHub (opens in a new tab) · ChessDir (opens in a new tab)