Web Apps

Pawn Academy

Browser chess training platform with in-browser WebAssembly Stockfish engine

Interactive chess study platform featuring tactics puzzles, an opening explorer, endgame training, and client-side Stockfish chess engine analysis compiled to WebAssembly, backed by a Neon serverless PostgreSQL database.

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CategoryWeb Apps

LinksSource

StackReact, Vite

ScaleWASM Stockfish

The Challenge

Chess analysis usually requires heavy, expensive backend servers running Stockfish instances, leading to high hosting bills and noticeable network latency during live moves.

Architecture & Solution

Compiled Stockfish into client-side WebAssembly running inside a dedicated Web Worker. Analysis, evaluation bars, and engine moves compute directly on the user's browser CPU with zero latency and zero server CPU cost.

Engineering Decisions

WebAssembly + Web WorkersOffloaded Stockfish engine calculations to a Web Worker so the main UI thread never drops a frame during deep depth evaluations.
Neon Serverless PostgreSQLUtilized Neon serverless PostgreSQL for instant autoscaling of puzzle tactics databases and player game archives.

Outcomes

Zero server compute costs for infinite-depth chess engine analysis
Sub-10ms response times for tactical blunder checks and move suggestions