Installing Sharly Chess on Linux (experimental)

:warning: EXPERIMENTAL FEATURE!
Linux support is still experimental and may not work on all Linux distributions.
Furthermore, the Sharly Chess developers are unable to provide support for this aspect and are looking for Linux experts. Get in touch!

Sharly Chess is also available for Windows and MacOS.

Requirements

  • An Intel/AMD or ARM computer with a Linux distribution (see below the tested distributions).

Step 1: Install Flatpak

The Linux version of Sharly Chess is distributed as a Flatpak application. Flatpak may need to be installed first:

Fedora / Linux Mint / Pop!_OS

Flatpak is already installed by default. Skip to step 2.

Ubuntu / Debian 

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y flatpak

Arch Linux / Manjaro 

sudo pacman -S flatpak

openSUSE 

sudo zypper install flatpak

Other distributions

See flathub.org/setup for your distribution.

Step 2: Graphical integration (optional)

To install applications from the software centre and open .flatpakrepo files by double-clicking:

GNOME (Ubuntu, Fedora Workstation) 

sudo apt install gnome-software-plugin-flatpak    # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo dnf install gnome-software                   # Fedora (already included)

On Ubuntu, this adds “Software” (blue/white icon), distinct from “Ubuntu Software” (Snap Store).

KDE Plasma (Kubuntu, KDE Neon) 

sudo apt install plasma-discover-backend-flatpak   # Ubuntu/Debian
sudo dnf install discover                          # Fedora (already included)

Step 3: Enable Flathub

Flathub is not configured by default on most distributions. It must be added manually. Sharly Chess needs it to download its dependencies (GNOME runtime).

# Add Flathub in user mode (no sudo required)
flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Verify that Flathub has been added:

flatpak remotes --user
# Should show "flathub" in the list

Note: If Flathub is already configured at system level (flatpak remotes without --user), it will work too. But adding with --user is preferred as it requires no administrator rights.

Step 4: Restart (required)

If you have just installed Flatpak for the first time, you must restart your computer. Without this:

  • Icons will not appear in the menu
  • Environment variables will not be correct
  • The software centre will not see the Flatpak plugin

Step 5: Install Sharly Chess 

flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists sharly-chess \
  https://flatpak.sharly-chess.com/sharly-chess.flatpakrepo

flatpak install --user sharly-chess com.sharlychess.SharlyChess

Running Sharly Chess

You’ll find Sharly Chess in the start menu. Alternatively, from the terminal:

flatpak run com.sharlychess.SharlyChess

When run for the first time it will open your default web browser to display the Sharly Chess interface with the opportunity to configure your preferences.

On subsequent runs, Sharly Chess will open the admin interface in your default web browser.

Updates

Sharly Chess updates automatically alongside your other Flatpak applications. To force an update:

flatpak update --user

Rolling back to a previous version

1. List available versions 

flatpak remote-info --user --log sharly-chess com.sharlychess.SharlyChess

Find the commit hash corresponding to the desired version (e.g. “Version 3.5.1 (x86_64)”).

2. Roll back to that version 

flatpak update --user --commit=FULL_HASH com.sharlychess.SharlyChess

3. Pin to prevent automatic updates 

flatpak pin --user com.sharlychess.SharlyChess

To remove the pin:

flatpak pin --user --remove com.sharlychess.SharlyChess

Data storage

Application data is stored in an isolated directory, with a sub-folder per version:

~/.var/app/com.sharlychess.SharlyChess/data/
└── sharly-chess-X.Y.Z/
    ├── events/          # Tournaments (.sce) and configuration (.scc)
    │   └── archives/    # Archived tournaments (.sca)
    ├── logs/            # Activity log
    ├── tmp/             # Temporary databases (FIDE, FFE, sessions)
    └── custom/          # Custom files

Complete uninstall 

# Remove the application (keep data)
flatpak uninstall --user com.sharlychess.SharlyChess

# Remove the application AND all data
flatpak uninstall --user --delete-data com.sharlychess.SharlyChess

# Remove the repository
flatpak remote-delete --user sharly-chess

# (Optional) Also remove the dev repository
flatpak remote-delete --user sharly-chess-dev