Chess

Play chess online with a live opponent or practice against easy, medium, and hard bots. Race the move clock and find checkmate.

1–2 playerstouch · mouse · keyboardany layout Offline ready

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Live matchmaking available · bot practice included

How to play Chess

Move one piece at a time, protect your king, and attack the opposing king until it has no legal escape from check.

Start with a plan

These notes cover the controls, rules, and decisions in this browser version.

Choose a bot difficulty or live opponent, then move White first by selecting a piece and one of its legal destinations.
Keep your king out of check; moves that expose it are rejected. Castling, promotion, and en passant follow standard chess rules.
Use the move clock efficiently because running out of time can decide an otherwise unfinished game.
Win by checkmating the opposing king; stalemate and other standard draw conditions end without a winner.

Develop knights and bishops toward useful central squares before making repeated moves with the same piece.
Castle early when the center may open, and avoid weakening the pawn cover around the castled king without a concrete reason.
Before every move, check forcing options in order: checks, captures, and direct threats for both sides.
Against harder bots or live players, use the clock to verify that a seemingly free piece is not protected by a tactical reply.

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