Coming to iOS

Stop doomscrolling,
start improving.

Gambit is an iOS App That Forces You to Solve Chess Puzzles to Unlock Social Media apps. Designed to break your doomscrolling habits

We'll only write when it's ready

♟ Gambit
Gate
TikTokYou're openingTikTokSolve this puzzle first.
White to move — mate in 2⏱ 1:34
r
b
q
k
b
n
r
p
p
p
p
p
p
p
n
p
P
N
N
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
R
B
Q
K
B
R

How it works

One puzzle stands
between you and the feed.

01
Block your apps
Choose which apps to protect. TikTok, Instagram, X, anything that pulls you in without intention.
02
Get intercepted
Every time you open a blocked app, Gambit steps in front of it. No exceptions. No bypass.
03
Solve to proceed
A chess puzzle appears. Solve it, and the app opens.
“Small daily efforts are the best way to improve.”

Why it works

Friction by design.
Skill as a side effect.

♟
The best way to improve in chess
Putting in a little effort every day is what generates results. A couple of chess puzzles every day will seriously improve your Elo in the long term
↗
Builds real skill
Your puzzle Elo rises over time. You get measurably better at chess as a direct byproduct of managing your attention.
🔥
Streak momentum
Daily streaks, weekly stats, solve history. The same feedback loops apps use against you, now working for you.

The philosophy

The only shortcut
is consistency.

The best way to improve in chess is by playing a little every day. What's something you do every day? Doomscroll on social media. That's what this app is designed to take advantage of, by replacing social media with chess every day.

I
Puzzles are one of the highest-leverage activity in chess.
Tactical puzzles build the pattern recognition that separates instinct from calculation, the kind that shows up at move 1, not after 40 minutes of thought.
II
Every puzzle adds to a permanent mental library.
When you solve a pin, a fork, a back-rank mate, your brain encodes it. The next time that pattern appears on the board, you see it immediately. This is how strong players think: not by calculating everything, but by recognising what matters.
III
Ten minutes daily beats three hours on a Sunday.
Retention and pattern fluency compound with frequency, not volume. The habit matters more than the session. Gambit makes the habit unavoidable, you practice every time you reach for your phone.
800+
Puzzles in library
Elo-adaptive
Difficulty scaling
Zero skips
That's the deal
♟

Your move.

Join the waitlist and be first to know when Gambit launches on the App Store.

No spamiOS onlyFree to try