Duolingo, the mobile app that helps you learn a language through gamifying the experience, is set to jump to the next frontier: chess.
Luis von Ahn, the company’s CEO and co-founder, said on Tuesday, Big news: the next subject @duolingo will teach is… chess.” He added, “Strategy, logic, and a little bit of trash talk—coming soon to your app.”
A teaser screenshot shared by the Duolingo CEO shows a similar challenge you see in learning a language. You’re asked to “solve the puzzle” and if you get it right, you’ll be rewarded with the classic green “correct” prompt.
Duolingo will see users play against a coach named Oscar. “We’ve been quietly mastering our openings, and now it’s your turn. I can’t wait for you all to experience it! Can you checkmate Oscar?”, said Cem Kansu, head of product at the company.
Today, a beta version was released for a “few thousand users”, but the full chess course will hit iOS for English speakers in the coming weeks, then support other operating systems in the months ahead. The chess course will be free. This should be fun for those that have always wanted to learn chess, and now you can do so at your own pace with mini lessons from Duolingo.
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
