To control a chess game by voice, you say each move as the piece and the square, such as "knight f3", and a few command words do the rest: "yes" or "no" to answer a question, "undo" to take a move back, "resign" to end the game. In VocalChess, a free iPhone app by Studio Marabel, you tap the microphone once and it keeps listening for the whole game, so you can play hands-free from the first move to the last. The computer answers aloud, so you never need to look at the screen.
Start a game by voice
- Tap the microphone. The first time, allow the microphone; iOS may download its English speech model.
- Say your move: "e4".
- Listen for the reply: "Black, e5".
- If the app asks "Did you say …?", answer "yes" or "no".
Moves
Say the piece, then the square: "e4", "knight f3", "bishop takes e5", "castle kingside", "e8 promotes to queen". The guide to saying chess moves out loud covers every case, including captures, two pieces that can reach the same square, and the letters that sound alike.
Your words appear on screen as you speak. The app waits while you pause mid-move, and once you finish a whole move it plays within about a second.
Every command
| To | Say |
|---|---|
| Accept the move it asks about | "yes", "yeah", "yep" or "confirm", with "please" or "thanks" if you like |
| Turn down the move it asks about | "no" |
| Drop the question without playing anything | "wait", "hold on", "never mind", "cancel" or "stop", optionally followed by "that", "it", "please" or "thanks" |
| Take back your move and the computer's reply | "undo", "take back" or "takeback", optionally followed by "last move", "my move", "that move" or "that" |
| Step back through the game | "back" or "previous", with a count if you like: "back three moves" |
| Step forward again | "forward" or "next", with a count if you like: "forward two moves" |
| Jump to the first position | "start" or "beginning" |
| Jump to the current position | "latest", "live" or "current" |
| End the game | "resign" or "I resign" |
Stepping through the game only changes what the board shows; the game itself is unchanged, and your next move returns to the live position. "Go back" steps back one move; it does not take a move back.
While the app is asking about a move, "undo" only drops the question; it takes nothing back.
Resigning ends the game at once without asking. If you didn't mean it, "undo" reopens the game by taking back your last move and the computer's reply. When a command can't run, the app shows why, such as "Can't undo now" before the first move.
How confirmation works
Speech recognition is never certain, and a wrong move in a game you're playing by ear is easy to miss. So VocalChess checks every hearing against the legal moves in the position.
- When it's sure, the move plays at once.
- When it isn't, because the recognizer's confidence was low or more than one legal move fits what it heard, it keeps the move off the board and asks aloud: "Did you say knight c3?"
Answer by voice or by tapping the check or cross next to the move. "No, a3" keeps the piece it asked about and moves it to the square you name. Saying the move again doesn't answer the question: the app hears it as a new move and asks again if it's still unsure, so say "yes" to play the move it asked about. If you don't answer, the question lapses after a few seconds and nothing is played. On your turn, tapping a move on the board also works and overrides the question. VocalChess is built not to play a move you didn't say; if one slips through, say "undo".
When it mishears
- Say the whole move in one breath: the piece, then the square. "Knight f3" leaves less to guess than "f3" when two pieces can get there.
- Say each letter crisply. b, d and e sound alike; the notation guide lists the slips the app corrects for you.
- Pausing is fine. The app keeps listening through a short pause mid-move rather than playing half of it.
- "Say again" means nothing legal matched what it heard. Nothing was played; say the move again.
- Keep the phone close and facing you, not face down or across the room. As with any speech recognition, background voices and a television are the hardest noise to talk over, so a quiet room helps most.
- You can talk over the app. If it's still reading the last move, say yours; it hears you.
Hearing the game
The computer says each reply in words, with the side first: "Black, knight f6". It says "Check." after a checking move and reads the result when the game ends. In Settings you can choose which iPhone voice reads the moves, and the Announcements button mutes everything the app says.
Your own moves are read back according to Read my moves back (☰ → Settings):
- Never: only the computer's moves are read aloud.
- In Blindfold (the default): the moves you speak are read back while the pieces are hidden, so you can catch a mishearing you can't see.
- Always: after every move you speak.
Moves you play by tapping aren't read back.
If you play with the board hidden, the guide to blindfold chess shows how to build up to whole games.
Speech recognition runs on your iPhone, and nothing you say leaves it.
Questions
Can I play a whole game without touching the phone?
Yes. Tap the microphone once at the start; it stays on, and the screen stays awake until the game ends. Moves, answers, takebacks and resigning all work by voice.
Does voice control need an internet connection?
Only once. The first time you use the microphone, iOS may download its English speech model. After that, you can play fully offline.
What languages does it understand?
English. VocalChess hears and speaks moves in English, whatever your iPhone's language is set to.
Can I mix voice and tapping?
Yes. On your turn, every move can be played by tapping a piece and then its square, and the check or cross answers any question the app is asking.
Does VocalChess work with chess.com or Lichess?
No. VocalChess is an iPhone app you play against the computer; it doesn't connect to other chess sites, and it isn't the "VocalChess" Chrome extension for Chess.com. To play by voice on those sites, see ways to play chess by voice.
Can I play other people by voice?
No. VocalChess plays against the computer only.