Every engine can tell you a move is worth +0.82. None of them can tell you why in a way that makes you better. Pioneer 2 names the plan it is pursuing, shows the sub-goals that plan rests on, and narrates the reasoning behind each move as it plays.
In the 1970s Mikhail Botvinnik built a program called Pioneer, which tried to make a machine reason about chess the way a grandmaster does — by forming plans — rather than by searching everything. It never became strong. Search won instead, and the question was abandoned rather than answered. Pioneer 2 asks it again.
A named plan sits at the top of the panel — Outpost Occupation, File Control, Passed Pawn Creation — with an evaluation attached, the sub-goals it depends on, and a progress indicator showing how far it has got. When the plan changes, you see it change, and the chain of plans that led there is drawn out.
"White prevents counterplay by restricting Black's knight. The d5 square cannot be challenged while the pawn chain holds. This is a typical Karpovian squeeze — no dramatic tactics, just the slow tightening of the positional vice." That is the output, not a centipawn score.
A conventional modern interface for normal use — and, for those who want it, a full amber-CRT Soviet chess-computer theme with the engine log in Russian. The second one is not a gimmick so much as an acknowledgement of where the idea came from.
| Platform | Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit. Desktop application. |
| Installation | Standard Windows installer. |
| Connectivity | Runs fully offline. No account required. |
| Interface languages | English, German, Russian, Spanish. |
| Formats | PGN export of played and analysed games. |
| Licence | One-time purchase, perpetual, per installation. |
Conventional engines return a move and a number. Pioneer 2 additionally states the strategic plan it is pursuing, shows the sub-goals that plan depends on, tracks how far it has progressed, and explains in words why each move serves it. The aim is not to be stronger than Stockfish — it is to be comprehensible.
No. It is a one-time purchase of €21,99 for a perpetual licence. No recurring fee, no account. The version you buy keeps working indefinitely.
No. Pioneer 2 runs entirely on your own computer. No connection is required to install, activate or use it, and no data is sent anywhere.
Windows 10 and Windows 11, 64-bit.
The name refers to Pioneer, the program Mikhail Botvinnik and his team developed to make a machine reason about chess by forming plans rather than by exhaustive search. An amber CRT theme with Russian engine output is available alongside a conventional modern theme.
Perpetual licence. Online checkout is being set up and is pending payment-provider approval; until it is live, write to us and we will arrange delivery and the licence key directly.