Our Story

Chessalyz was born from a unique friendship between Dalton, a FIDE Master and coach, and Varun, a tech leader and chess enthusiast, first connected over online lessons. What started as student and teacher quickly became a partnership built on a shared obsession with chess improvement, technology, and creative learning. Countless games, brainstorms, and even a podcast (ChessChatter) later, we realized the best way to help others improve was to combine Dalton’s coaching philosophy with Varun’s passion for building. Chessalyz is the result: a platform designed by friends, for players, to make chess analysis insightful, accessible, and fun.

Meet the Founders

FM Dalton Perrine

I'm a FIDE Master and dedicated chess coach with a passion for helping players unlock their full potential. With years of tournament experience and a strong record against high-level competition, I bring both practical insight and a deep understanding of the game to my students.

I’ve coached players of all levels, from beginners learning the basics to advanced students aiming for master titles. My teaching focuses not just on what to think, but how to think during a game.

That philosophy inspired me to co-found this AI-powered analysis platform. It’s built to guide players through their own games using the same kinds of thought-provoking questions I use in lessons: smart, practical prompts that sharpen your thinking and accelerate your improvement.

Whether you’re trying to break 1000 or push past 2000, this platform was built with you in mind.

Varun Kumar

I'm a techie with nearly two decades in the industry; from big firms to nimble startups. and most recently leading engineering in e-commerce fraud prevention. But behind all that, I've always been obsessed with chess and building tools that help people learn.
Before Lichess, I built freechessBoard.com, A free platform with shared board for coaching, when others charged! I've even picked up a few tournament medals (yes, U1400 counts!).
With AI's recent leap, I couldn't resist rethinking how we learn chess. LLMs weren't built for it, but with a bit of tinkering, I found new ways to use AI to spark real improvement, not just passive engine evals.

I love creating products that make a difference, and Chessalyz is a dream project that brings together my love for technology and chess.

Technology, Privacy & Security

Chessalyz is powered by state-of-the-art machine learning, the latest industry and academic algorithms, and a lot of hard work. We are constantly experimenting and improving, so you get the best insights possible today and tomorrow.

We take your privacy seriously. Your game data is securely stored and used only to provide you with analysis and insights. We never share your personal games or analysis with third parties without your explicit consent.

We also deeply respect copyright and the hard work of chess creators. All data used for training our models comes exclusively from public domain games and sources where usage is permitted. We do not use any unauthorized content without proper consent.

Join Our Community

Whether you're just starting your chess journey or you're an experienced player looking to reach the next level, we invite you to join the Chessalyz community. Together, we can make chess analysis more accessible and help players around the world improve their game.

Contact Us

Have questions, suggestions, or feedback? We'd love to hear from you!