Voice Command Reference

ChessNow's voice recognition parser translates your natural spoken words into legal standard chess moves. Below is the complete reference of what you can say during a call.

1. Standard Moves & Phonetics

You can state your moves using standard piece names and square coordinates. The parser cleans up punctuation and common verbal fillers automatically.

Command Format	Example Phrasing	Parsed Move
Pawn Moves	`"E 4"` or `"E 2 to E 4"` or `"play E 4"`	e4 / e2-e4
Piece Placements	`"Knight to F 3"` or `"N F 3"` or `"Knight F 3"`	Nf3
Captures	`"Knight takes E 5"` or `"Knight captures E 5"`	Nxe5
Pawn Captures	`"E takes D 5"` or `"E pawn takes D 5"`	exd5

NATO Phonetic Alphabet Support

If the engine has trouble understanding coordinate letters (especially over noisy 8kHz cell connections), use the NATO phonetic alphabet for files A through H:

A = Alpha
B = Bravo
C = Charlie
D = Delta
E = Echo
F = Foxtrot
G = Golf
H = Hotel

Example: Saying "Echo four" is parsed as e4. Saying "Knight to Charlie three" is parsed as Nc3.

2. Castling & Special Moves

Castling Kingside: Say "castle kingside", "castle", "O-O", or "short castle".
Castling Queenside: Say "castle queenside", "O-O-O", or "long castle".

3. Pawn Promotion Flow

When one of your pawns reaches the 8th rank, Thara will pause the game and ask which piece you want: "Your pawn reached the eighth rank. Which piece would you like? Say queen, rook, bishop, or knight."

To promote, simply say: "queen", "rook", "bishop", or "knight". Alternatively, you can press phone keys: 1 (Queen), 2 (Rook), 3 (Bishop), or 4 (Knight).

4. Ambiguity Resolution & Confirmations

Ambiguous Moves

If two identical pieces can move to the same destination square (for example, knights on b1 and d2 both able to reach c3), and you say "Knight to C 3", Thara will ask: "Which knight? The one on B1 or D2?"

Respond by saying the starting square: "B 1" or "D 2".

Low Confidence Confirmation Flow

If the parser cannot verify a legal SAN/UCI move but detects a piece name and destination (e.g. "Rook E 4"), it triggers a safety prompt: "I heard Rook to E4. Press 1 or say yes to play it, or say no to try again."

Say "yes" or "play" (or press 1) to commit the move.
Say "no" or "cancel" (or press 2) to reject the move and speak again.

5. Board-State Queries

You can query the game status without consuming a turn. The parser intercepts these commands, dictates the answer, and immediately redirects you to the move input prompt.

Repeat Position: Say "repeat", "position", "read the board", or "my pieces".
Opponent's Pieces: Say "opponent's pieces" or "your pieces".
Check Square: Say "What is on [square]?" or "What's on [square]?" (e.g. "What's on E 4?").
Last Move Played: Say "last move", "previous move", or "what did you play?".
Game Status: Say "whose turn", "status", "score", or "material" to hear move counts and material balance.

6. Telephone Keypad (DTMF) Shortcuts

You can press keypad numbers on your phone instead of speaking to perform system commands:

Press 1: Resign the game.
Press 2: Offer a draw.
Press 3: Takeback (undo the last move and the bot's response).