Sometimes, the most interesting technology projects begin with a personal passion.
In our family, chess has always been more than just a game for my son. He is a chess player, and his interest in the game has now extended into an exciting technology project: designing, developing, and deploying his own chess website.
The result is ChessLens — https://chesslens.in/.
What makes this project particularly interesting to me is not simply that he has launched a website. It is how he has combined his interest in chess with software development and used AI as a practical tool to help bring his idea to life.
As someone who has spent years working in the software industry, I find this a valuable example of how the way we build software is evolving.
From playing chess to building a chess platform
Chess is a game of calculation, patience, pattern recognition, and continuous learning.
Players study openings, analyze their games, look for mistakes, and try to understand why one move is better than another. Improving requires more than simply playing more games; it requires learning from the positions and decisions made along the way.
Digital chess tools make this learning process more accessible. But building a tool around a subject you genuinely understand adds another dimension: you can approach the problem not only as a developer, but also as a user.
My son has taken that step by creating ChessLens, a browser-based platform designed to help chess players analyze games and practice their skills.
The website brings together several chess-learning features:
Game analysis: Import a chess game and review mistakes, blunders, inaccuracies, and missed opportunities.
Opening training: Explore 20 curated chess openings through guided move-by-move walkthroughs.
Tactical puzzles: Practise with a collection of more than 5,000 puzzles.
Play and explore: Play against Stockfish or explore different chess positions.
ChessLens uses Stockfish 18 for chess-engine analysis. Players can explore the platform directly in their browser, without needing to download a desktop application.
You can visit it here:
Where AI-assisted development makes a difference
One aspect of this project that deserves attention is the use of AI during software development.
AI coding tools are changing how developers approach implementation. They can help explain unfamiliar code, suggest solutions, generate initial implementations, assist with debugging, and accelerate repetitive development tasks.
For an individual developer, this can make it easier to move from an idea to a working application without needing to do every implementation step manually.
However, there is an important distinction between using AI to help develop a product and expecting AI to build a reliable product without engineering judgement.
A useful application still needs someone to define what it should do, make design decisions, evaluate the generated code, test the functionality, resolve integration problems, and ensure that the deployed version works as intended.
In ChessLens, AI-assisted development is part of the software-building process. The chess-specific analysis is powered by Stockfish, a specialized chess engine.
These are two different uses of technology: AI can assist the developer in building the application, while a dedicated chess engine evaluates positions and recommends moves.
Understanding that distinction is important when discussing AI in software engineering.
The importance of combining domain knowledge with AI
One lesson I take from this project is that AI tools become more useful when the person using them understands the problem.
A chess player approaches the platform with knowledge of openings, tactics, mistakes, and the practical needs of someone trying to improve at the game.
A software developer approaches it with a different set of concerns: application structure, user experience, data handling, performance, testing, and deployment.
Bringing these perspectives together can help turn a general idea into something more useful.
AI can assist with implementation, but it does not automatically decide which features matter most to users or whether the finished application meets their expectations.
The developer must still make those decisions.
This principle applies far beyond chess. An engineer building a manufacturing application, a teacher developing a learning platform, or a researcher creating a technical knowledge tool can all benefit from combining domain expertise with AI-assisted development.
From code on a computer to a live website
There is also a significant difference between getting an application to run locally and making it available to real users.
A deployed website needs its frontend, application logic, supporting services, configuration, and hosting environment to work together.
Developers must consider issues such as authentication, error handling, performance, compatibility, and the behavior of the application outside the development environment.
Deploying a project makes these considerations real.
ChessLens is now available online, giving people an opportunity to explore the application rather than simply read about the idea.
For anyone learning software development, this is an important milestone: completing the journey from concept and implementation to a live, usable product.
What this tells us about the future of software development
I believe AI-assisted development is making software creation more accessible to people who have ideas and are willing to learn, experiment, and solve problems.
It can shorten the distance between imagining a feature and implementing an initial version. It can help developers investigate unfamiliar technologies and spend more time evaluating solutions rather than repeatedly writing routine code.
But faster implementation does not remove the need for sound engineering.
Generated code can contain defects. Integration problems still occur. Security and data handling still matter. Applications must still be tested and maintained.
The real opportunity is not to replace engineering judgement with AI. It is to use AI to increase what a developer can accomplish while retaining responsibility for the quality of the result.
For aspiring developers, this means learning to work effectively with AI tools while also understanding programming fundamentals, software architecture, debugging, testing, and deployment.
The combination is more valuable than treating either coding knowledge or AI as a complete solution on its own.
A proud moment as a father
As a father, I am happy to see my son's interest in chess extend into building something of his own.
He has taken a subject he enjoys, worked on a software project around it, used AI to assist the development process, and made the resulting website available online.
For me, this is an encouraging example of curiosity turning into practical work.
The most important part is not that AI was used. It is that an idea moved beyond discussion and became a working product that others can explore and use.
I look forward to seeing how ChessLens develops as he continues learning, gathering feedback, and improving the platform.
Try ChessLens
If you enjoy chess, want to review your games, practice tactics, or explore opening variations, I invite you to visit the website.
Website: https://chesslens.in/
Explore it, try its features, and share your feedback.
I would also be interested in hearing from developers who are using AI-assisted coding to turn their own interests and ideas into real applications.
Technology becomes particularly exciting when it helps people create something meaningful from a subject they care about.
Sometimes, a chessboard is not just the beginning of a game. It can be the beginning of a software project, too.
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