How To Read Best Chess Moves

Arrows

• Arrow width shows how likely Maia thinks the move is for players at the selected Elo level. Wider arrows are more likely human choices.
• Arrow number is the Maia rank, with 1 being the most likely human move.
• Thin green arrow marked >5 appears when Stockfish's best move is outside Maia's top five likely moves.
• Small pill labels near arrow heads show Stockfish's classification for that move.

Colors

Controls

• Elo For Maia Based Likely Moves controls the human-likelihood model used for arrow widths. Chess.com scale values are mapped to Maia's Lichess-trained rating scale before analysis.
• My Side sets which side you are exploring from.
• Hints For chooses whether arrows appear only for your side or for both sides.
• Show controls timing: Pre-move shows ideas before a move is made; Post-move shows the likely alternatives and quality after a move is made.
• Navigation buttons move backward and forward through the move history. If you go back and play a different move from that position, the previous move history from that point forward is erased and replaced by the new line.
• Reset returns to the starting board and clears the move history.

Position Inputs

• FEN can be edited and set to jump directly to a position. Setting a FEN treats that board state as move 1 for the explorer.
• Move List can be edited and set using normal chess notation to replay a line from the start. After setting a move history, you can step forward and backward through those moves with the navigation buttons.
• Copy buttons copy the current FEN or move list for sharing or saving.

Stockfish quality and Maia likelihood are different concepts. A move can be very likely for humans at your level while still being a mistake, or hard for humans to find while being Stockfish's best move.