How to Install a Chess Extension in Chrome, Edge and Brave

To install a chess extension, open its Chrome Web Store listing, click "Add to Chrome", read the permission prompt, and confirm with "Add extension". Then pin it to the toolbar and decide which sites it may run on. The same store works in Microsoft Edge and Brave with one or two extra clicks.

We use ChessHelper (chesshelper.ai), our own extension, as the running example because we know its setup best, but every step applies to the other extensions on our ranked list. Steps follow Google's help article "Install and manage extensions", Microsoft's Edge support page and Brave's own help pages, checked in November 2026.

Before you install

Spend thirty seconds on the store listing. Check the publisher name under the title, the user count, the "Updated" date in the Details section, and the privacy section at the bottom, where the developer declares what data the extension handles. For ChessHelper, the listing shows version 1.0.10 updated November 7, 2026, and a declaration that it handles user activity data. Our safety guide explains what to look for in each section.

You cannot add extensions in an Incognito window or as a guest, so use your normal Chrome profile.

Install in Google Chrome

• Open the Chrome Web Store and find the extension, or follow the store link from the developer's site. For ChessHelper the listing is titled "ChessHelper.ai".
• Click Add to Chrome.
• Chrome shows the permission prompt. For a chess extension it typically lists the chess sites it can read and change data on. ChessHelper's prompt also includes "Display notifications".
• If the list matches what the extension is for, click Add extension. Google's own advice on that screen is to approve only extensions you trust.

Some extensions need a second setup step. ChessHelper asks you to connect an account: click its icon in the toolbar and choose Connect Account, or sign up on chesshelper.ai. The Chess.com-to-Lichess bridges need no account at all; they work the first time you click them on a finished game.

Install in Microsoft Edge

Edge has its own add-on store, but it can also install from the Chrome Web Store. Microsoft's support page describes the process:

• Open the extension's Chrome Web Store page in Edge.
• Click Get extension in the banner at the top, or the install button on the page.
• If Edge asks you to Allow extensions from other stores, choose Allow. You only do this once.
• Review the permissions and click Add extension.

ChessHelper's download page also describes a manual install for Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi: download a .zip, turn on Developer mode, and use "Load unpacked". It works, but an unpacked extension does not update itself and was not delivered through store review. Where the store route works, we recommend it.

Install in Brave

Brave supports nearly all Chromium-compatible extensions and installs them straight from the Chrome Web Store. Open the listing in Brave and the button reads Add to Brave; approve the permissions as in Chrome. A few users on Brave's community forum report that the store occasionally refuses an install in Brave; that forum is the place to check if it happens to you. Brave on iOS cannot run Chrome Web Store extensions, because it is built on Apple's WebKit engine.

Pin the extension to the toolbar

New extensions are hidden behind the puzzle-piece Extensions icon to the right of the address bar. Click it, find your chess extension and click the pin icon next to it. The icon now sits in the toolbar, where you can click it on a game page. Google notes that some extensions do not offer this option.

Pinning matters more for chess tools than for most. Several of them, including Chess.com Analysis at Lichess and Free Chess Analysis, are designed to be clicked on a finished game page. A pinned icon also lets you see at a glance which tools are active on the page you are viewing.

Manage site access

This is the setting most people never touch, and the one that does the most for your safety and your fair-play record. Go to More, then Extensions, then Manage Extensions (or type chrome://extensions). Click Details on the extension and find the setting labeled "Allow this extension to read and change all your data on websites you visit". You have three choices:

Google's help page notes that these choices only narrow access within the extension's own declared sites; they never grant more. The same Details page has an Allow in Incognito toggle, which is off by default and can stay off.

Edge and Brave are built on Chromium, so the equivalent Details page sits at edge://extensions and brave://extensions.

For an analysis overlay like ChessHelper, a sensible setup is "When you select the extension". The overlay then appears only when you ask for it on an analysis board, a finished game or a game against the computer, and cannot be switched on by accident during a game against a person. That habit is the practical side of our fair-play guide.

Check that it works

Open a finished game from your archive, not a game in progress. A bridge extension should open a Lichess tab with your moves loaded into the analysis board. An overlay should draw its arrows or evaluation on the board. If nothing happens, reload the page once; extensions installed after a page has loaded often need a refresh before their script runs.

A good first test position is a familiar opening. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5, for example, Stockfish at depth 20 prefers 4...d5, with the position about equal, while 4...Nxe4? 5.Bxf7+ gives White an advantage of about two pawns. An analysis extension that shows something close to that is set up correctly.

Troubleshooting

• The extension disappeared or shows as disabled. An update that adds new permissions disables the extension until you accept them. Open Manage Extensions, review the new permissions, and re-enable it only if they make sense.
• Nothing appears on Chess.com. Check site access in Details. If it is set to "When you select the extension", click the icon first.
• It worked last week and stopped. Chess sites change their page layouts, and extensions need updates to follow. The store's "Updated" date tells you whether the developer is keeping up; Chess.com Analysis at Lichess, for example, lists several fixes for Chess.com layout changes in its changelog.
• Two extensions conflict. Two overlays on the same board can interfere. Turn one off with the toggle on the Manage Extensions page rather than removing it.

Remove an extension you no longer use

Unused extensions still hold their permissions. Right-click the toolbar icon and choose Remove from Chrome (or Remove from Microsoft Edge), or click Remove on the Manage Extensions page. If the extension had an online account, as ChessHelper does, cancel any subscription and delete the account on the developer's site as well; removing the extension does not do that for you.

Frequently asked questions