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Free on iOSLearning Game

Mansuba

A free chess app built to teach, one idea at a time.

Mansuba (منصوبة) is named after the classical Arabic chess study, the composed positions masters used to teach the game. The app works the same way: each level sets up one idea on the board, and you have to play it correctly to move on. Free, fully offline, in Arabic and English, with no account and no ads. Android is next.

Download on the App Store Android coming soon

Mansuba.

Stage 2 · The Art of Checkmate

The Back-Rank Mate · Back-rank strike

White to move. Mate in one.

✓ Checkmate · Re8#

The king is boxed in by its own pawns.

The idea

A king hemmed in by its own pawns has no escape square, so one rook on the back rank can end the game.

Level 6 of 301 / 2 drills

Illustration with sample data

How it teaches

From the first rook move to the last boss game.

Here is what one learner sees on the way through the thirty levels, one screen at a time.

  1. 01The path

    Thirty levels, opened one at a time.

    The Learn tab is a single path of seven stages and thirty levels, and it starts from the empty board. Each level teaches one idea. Finishing it opens the next.

    • Level 1 is the board and the rook
    • Levels open strictly in order
    • The card at the top always shows what comes next

    Mansuba.

    Noor

    1/30 levels

    Unrated · play your first game

    Next up: Bishop, Knight & Queen

    Stage 1 · Foundations

    1/5

    Learn the language of the board

    1. The Board & the Rook

    Files, ranks, and your first capture

    2. Bishop, Knight & Queen

    The minor pieces and the strongest piece

    3. Check, Checkmate & Stalemate

    How chess games actually end

    4. Special Moves

    Castling, promotion, and en passant

    5. Piece Values & Fair Trades

    The arithmetic every master runs constantly

    Stage 2 · The Art of Checkmate

    0/5

    Every game ends here. Master the endings first.

    6. The Back-Rank Mate

    The most common mate in real games

    7. The Ladder Mate

    Two rooks walk the king off the board

    Learn
    Play
    Puzzles
    Tips
    Profile

    Illustration with sample data

  2. 02The idea

    Each level explains one idea.

    Level 11 is the fork: one piece attacking two targets at once. A few short paragraphs explain it, a tips card says what to watch for in your own games, and then there is a board with a position to try.

    • Stage 3 has seven tactics levels, from the fork to counting captures
    • The Tips tab keeps longer strategy articles to read alongside the levels

    Level 11

    The Fork

    One piece, two targets

    Double attack

    A fork attacks two things at once. Your opponent can only save one.

    Master's tips

    ▸ Checks make forks unstoppable: the king always moves first.

    Drill 1

    The royal fork

    Fork the king and queen with your knight.

    Hint: Find the square that attacks both king and queen at once.

    Illustration with sample data

  3. 03The drill

    You finish a level by playing it right.

    Every level ends in drills, and each drill is a position where you find the move yourself. A wrong move is taken back so you can try again, and a hint is one tap away. A level can be finished once all of its drills are solved.

    • The opponent's replies play on their own
    • A second miss opens the hint for you

    Level 11

    Drill 1

    The royal fork

    Fork the king and queen with your knight.

    ✓ Solved

    Nc7+ forked king and queen. The check forced Black to abandon her.

    Restart
    Drill 2

    The humble pawn fork

    A pawn attacks two pieces at once. Win material.

    1 of 2 drills solved

    Solve all drills to finish

    Illustration with sample data

  4. 04Real positions

    Textbook patterns, then positions from real games.

    The Puzzles tab has two sections. Classic patterns are clean textbook positions. The Real games pack is adapted from amateur tournament games in the Tactics Time collection, credited in the app, where the board is crowded and the winning move is harder to see. Every puzzle has a rating, and solving it on the first try moves your puzzle rating the most.

    • A puzzle of the day, with a streak counter
    • You solve as White or as Black, and the board turns to your side
    • Solving a puzzle again later is free practice

    Puzzle

    Real game: the h-file breakthrough

    Mating attack1200 ELO
    Solved

    ✓ Solved

    Puzzle rating +12 → 1022

    How to solve

    Scan checks, captures and threats first. Find the idea, calculate the full line in your head, and only then move.

    Solving again later is free practice. Ratings only move on the first solve.

    Illustration with sample data

  5. 05The opponents

    Five opponents, and the early ones make mistakes.

    For a full game there are five computer opponents, from the Rookie at 500 to the Master at 1600. The lower ones are built to slip the way a new player does, so a beginner can win by noticing. Each one also varies its choice among moves of similar strength, so the same opening does not play out the same way every time.

    • Play as White or as Black
    • Pause a game and pick it up later

    vs Rookie (500)

    Rookie is thinking…

    ResignPause & exit
    1. e4  e52. Nf3  Nc63. Bc4  Nf64. Ng5  h65. Nxf7

    Illustration with sample data

  6. 06Your rating

    A rating that moves with every result.

    Games change your rating with the ELO formula chess uses: a win over a stronger opponent earns more, and a loss to one costs less. Puzzles keep a rating of their own. The last two levels each end in a boss game. Level 29 asks for a win against the Expert, and Level 30 asks for a win against the Master.

    • One win against the boss is enough to pass
    • Your rank starts at Pawn and changes as the rating climbs

    vs Master (1600)

    Game over

    ★ Victory!

    Checkmate

    ELO +24 → 1435 (Candidate Master)

    Mansuba.

    Beat the Master AI (1600)

    1435 ELO

    Share
    BackRematch

    Illustration with sample data

  7. 07Yours alone

    Arabic or English, and it stays on your phone.

    Mansuba is written in both languages, and in Arabic the layout runs right to left. It works without a connection. There is no account to create and there are no ads. Your name, your rating and your progress are saved on the phone and stay there.

    • Several players can each keep a profile on one device
    • Five board themes and a choice of piece sets
    • Light and dark appearance

    Mansuba.

    نور

    30/30 مستوى

    ♚︎ Candidate Master · 1435 ELO

    ★ أكملت المنهج

    المرحلة 1 · الأساسيات

    5/5

    تعلّم لغة الرقعة

    1. الرقعة والقلعة

    الأعمدة والصفوف وأول عملية أسر

    2. الفيل والحصان والوزير

    القطع الخفيفة وأقوى قطعة على الرقعة

    3. الكش وكش ملك والبات

    كيف تنتهي مباريات الشطرنج فعلا

    4. النقلات الخاصة

    التبييت والترقية والأخذ بالتجاوز

    5. قيم القطع والتبديل العادل

    الحساب الذي يجريه كل أستاذ في كل نقلة

    المرحلة 2 · فن كش الملك

    5/5

    كل مباراة تنتهي هنا. أتقن النهايات أولا.

    6. كش الصف الأخير

    أكثر أنواع كش ملك شيوعا في المباريات الحقيقية

    7. كش السلم

    قلعتان تسوقان الملك إلى حافة الرقعة

    تعلّم
    العب
    ألغاز
    نصائح
    حسابي

    Illustration with sample data

30
Levels
7
Stages
5
Computer opponents
Free
On iOS

Every drill and puzzle is machine-checked before it ships: each move in the solution has to be legal, and each mate has to be mate.

Download on the App Store

Transparency

We don't know who you are.

Mansuba collects no personal data. There are no accounts, no tracking and no ads. The details are here:

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