ChessFish vs ChessReps vs Rukh: which should you use?

ChessFish, ChessReps and Rukh keep coming up together when people ask how to get better at openings. They sit in the same corner of the chess-improvement world, but they do three different jobs. This post explains each, compares them on the things that matter, and says who each is for. We make Rukh. Facts about the other two are as of October 2026 and link to their own pages.

The short version

• ChessFish helps you understand a position: it scores every legal move on the board.
• ChessReps helps you memorize an opening: courses and drills from strong players.
• Rukh helps you stop repeating your own mistakes: it works from your chess.com games and your clock.

ChessFish: see every move

ChessFish (opens in a new tab) is a web analysis sandbox by Chess Fish LLC. Instead of showing one engine line, it draws a score on the board for every legal move. Its default "Combo" score, from 0 to 100, blends Stockfish with Maia-3 so that suggestions are both sound and realistic for a human to play, according to its developer. You can switch to plain Stockfish or to a human-likelihood view for different rating levels, import a PGN, study openings, and play Maia bots. The developer describes it as free to try with no signup. The site also has a premium tier; we did not find a published price.

It is a thoughtful tool for understanding a position. It is not a coach: we found no memory of your past games, no repeated-mistake detection and no clock analysis. See Rukh vs ChessFish.

ChessReps: learn and drill lines

ChessReps (opens in a new tab) lists 900+ opening courses, 57 by titled coaches, with Learn, Practice, Drill, Time, Puzzles and Arena modes. It is $34.99 a year on the web after a 7-day trial. It is strong on content, price and practice design. Training is built around courses, not your own games, and explanations vary by course. See our ChessReps review and Rukh vs ChessReps.

Rukh: fix what you repeat

Rukh follows your chess.com games, reads your clock to find the moves you rushed, and explains the better line in conversation and out loud. A lesson opens only after the same miss shows up 3 times in your real games. It counts as mastered when you play it in 4 of your next 5 real chances. Every move is checked by Stockfish. Rukh starts with a one-week free trial, then a subscription. It has no course library, no drill modes and no native app, and it works with chess.com only for now.

Comparison

• Starts from: ChessFish, a position you load. ChessReps, a course you pick. Rukh, your chess.com games.
• Reads your clock: ChessFish, not found. ChessReps, not found. Rukh, yes.
• Engine: ChessFish blends Stockfish and Maia. ChessReps grades moves in its analysis board. Rukh checks every move with Stockfish before saying it.
• Practice: ChessFish has Maia bots and opening study. ChessReps has the richest drills. Rukh has lessons from your own misses.
• Platforms: ChessFish on the web. ChessReps on web, iOS and Android. Rukh on the web.
• Lichess: ChessFish accepts PGN. ChessReps supports Lichess. Rukh does not yet.
• Price: ChessFish free to try. ChessReps $34.99 a year on web. Rukh one-week trial, then a subscription.

Which should you use?

If you are staring at a position and want to know what your options are, use ChessFish. If you want to learn a new opening from a strong player, use ChessReps. If you play on chess.com, already know some openings and keep losing early in the same ways, use Rukh. They also combine well: ChessFish to explore, ChessReps to drill, and Rukh to tell you which of your lines is costing you games and whether the fix holds.

For a wider view, see the best ChessReps alternatives and the comparison of AI chess coaches.