Free Play
Standard 10+0 or 15+10 against any unlocked Maia. The most basic mode and the one you'll use most. Post-game review queues drills automatically.
Free tier · adjustable Maia 2
Play vs Maia
Spar against an opponent who blunders like a human.
Maia 2 is a unified neural network trained on millions of real human games. She plays the moves a player at your rating would actually play — including the mistakes. No engine perfection, no random nonsense. Just a believable opponent.
Live · Maia 1500
Maia
"Your move."
Queen-coded, trained on real games, adjustable from beginner bands through 2000+.
Maia 2 rating bands
<1100
ELO
1100
Start
1500
Club
1900
High
2000+
Master
Why human-like
The opponent your engine doesn't simulate.
Stockfish at 1500 is a contradiction. Random move generators at 1500 are also a contradiction. Maia is what 1500 actually plays like.
Trained on humans
One unified model with rating-aware inputs for the active player and opponent. Not a knobbed-down engine.
Blunders convincingly
Maia drops pieces, misses tactics, and plays positional moves the way humans at her ELO actually do — not "give back ten pawns to simulate weakness".
Open research
Maia is published research from Toronto and Cornell. We integrated the official checkpoints — read the original papers for the deep dive.
Game modes
Four ways to play.
Each mode trains something slightly different. Mix them through the week.
Line-Based Play
Set the opening you want to practise. Maia plays the agreed line for the first eight moves, then improvises like a human at the chosen ELO. Stops you wasting prep on positions you never reach.
Pro
Pairs with Opening Improver
Remember the Line
Drill mode. You play the line cold; Maia plays the expected response. If you forget a move, the system shows it, then you start over. Spaced-repetition queue keeps lines fresh.
Pro
SRS scheduling
Play Maia
Maia plays her natural game from move 1 — no forced openings, no scripted lines. The closest substitute for an OTB game at your ELO.
Free tier · adjustable Maia 2
Pro · line modes and review
Pick your opponent
Slide across the Maia 2 rating bands.
Maia 2 accepts active-player and opponent ratings. The public package groups sub-1100 together, models 1100–1999 in 100-point bands, and treats 2000+ as the master band.
- Sub-1100 — early learners and casual players
- 1100–1999 — 100-point bands for club improvement
- 2000+ — advanced and master-strength human patterns
Maia ELO
1500
<1100
Band
1200
Band
1500
Band
1800
Band
2000+
Band
Maia 2 at 1500 plays like
A club player who knows opening principles, calculates 2 moves ahead, and drops pieces under pressure. Has favourite openings.
Post-game review
Every Maia game ends with feedback.
Stockfish analyses the whole game in the cloud, classifies every move, and surfaces the patterns that defined the result. If you blundered, Pawnther shows you the motif by name and queues the matching drill.
See the full analysis tour
Game review
Maia 1700
76%
Accuracy
2
Brilliants
1
Blunder
Pattern detected
Missed knight fork after queen trade
Move 18. The drop after a piece exchange is recurring in your last 6 games.
Queue knight-fork drill
Play her now
Play a game
Free tier opens with adjustable Maia 2.
Pick a rating band that fits the player in front of you. Pro unlocks line-based modes, Remember-the-Line, and deeper review.