I built this because I got tired of Stockfish giving me evaluations (+0.5) without explaining the actual plan.
Most opening explorers focus on statistics (Win/Loss/Draw). I wanted a tool that explains the strategic intent behind the moves (e.g., "White plays c4 to clamp down on d5" vs just "White plays c4").
The Project:
Comprehensive Database: I’ve mapped and annotated over 3,500 named opening variations. It covers everything from main lines (Ruy Lopez, Sicilian) to deep sidelines.
Strategic Visualization: The UI highlights key squares and draws arrows based on the textual explanation, linking the logic to the board state dynamically.
Hybrid Architecture: For the 3,500+ core lines, it serves my proprietary strategic data. For anything deeper/rarer, it seamlessly falls back to the Lichess Master API so the explorer remains functional 20 moves deep.
Stack: Next.js (App Router), MongoDB Atlas for the graph data, and Arcjet for security/rate-limiting.
It is currently in Beta. I am working on expanding the annotated coverage, but the main theoretical landscape is mapped.
Feedback on the UI/UX or the data structure is welcome.▲