Support

Email kibitz@csteiger.ch and you'll get a reply from the person who wrote the app. Most answers are below.

Placing the phone

Most recognition problems come down to where the phone stands. What works best:

• At the side of the board, between the two players, about an arm's length away.
• A bit above it — camera at roughly head height when seated, tilted down by 30–45°.
• Every square in view, with a little space around the board.

No tripod? Lean the phone against a stack of books or a water bottle, or clip it to a lamp. It only needs to stay still — a small nudge is fine, Kibitz follows the board. The guide is in the app under Settings → How Kibitz works.

The board isn't found

• Make sure the whole board, including all four corners, is in the picture.
• Turn on more light, and avoid a lamp reflecting straight into the camera.
• Clear the board's surroundings of things that look like squares, such as a second board or a checked tablecloth.
• Kibitz expects the pieces in the starting position before the game begins. If it says the position doesn't match, check for a swapped king and queen or a missing piece.

A move wasn't recognized, or it keeps asking

Kibitz waits until no hand is over the board and the picture is still, then records the move. If it's not sure, it asks — tap the right move, or enter it yourself with the hand button.

• Place pieces in the middle of their square. A piece on a line between two squares is the most common cause of questions.
• Take your hand fully away after moving. Hovering over the board delays the recording.
• If it asks a lot, the light or the angle is usually the reason: more light and a slightly higher camera help most.

Correcting a game

Open the game and step to the wrong move — the photo shows what the board looked like at that moment. Tap Correct this move and choose the right one. The moves after it are kept, up to the first one that is no longer legal. You can also edit the players, event and place from the ⋯ menu.

During a recording, the undo button takes back the last move if it was written down by mistake.

Lichess

Uploading without an account. Works — the game is imported to Lichess for analysis, and you get a link to it.

Signing in lets Kibitz put games into your Lichess account and studies, upload them automatically, and run a live broadcast. Connect or sign out under Settings → Lichess.

"No engine evaluation for this position yet." Evaluations come from the Lichess cloud database, which covers openings and many common positions but not every position that can arise. It needs an internet connection.

Purchases

Restoring a purchase. Open Settings → Kibitz Pro and tap Restore purchases. Make sure you're signed in with the same Apple Account you bought with — this is almost always the cause when a purchase seems to have vanished.

Managing or cancelling a subscription. That's handled by Apple, not by Kibitz: iPhone Settings → your name → Subscriptions. Cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the period, including the free trial week, to avoid being charged.

Refunds. Also Apple's, through reportaproblem.apple.com. We can't issue refunds ourselves because we never handle the payment.

My games are missing on another device

Games sync through iCloud. Check that you're signed in with the same Apple Account on both devices and that iCloud is allowed for Kibitz in Settings → your name → iCloud. Syncing can take a few minutes after a game ends.

Requirements

• iPhone with iOS 26 or later.
• The back camera, and something to keep the phone still beside the board.
• English and German.

Feature requests

Genuinely welcome. A built-in chess clock is already on the list. If the way you play or teach makes Kibitz awkward, that's the most useful thing you can tell me.

Contact

kibitz@csteiger.ch

Kibitz is made by Cédric Steiger, Switzerland. See also the privacy policy.