Play a full game of chess against the computer in your browser. Three difficulty levels, every rule, undo and move hints. Free, no install.
Tap a piece to see its legal moves, then tap a square — or drag the piece. Checkmate the computer's king to win.
Chess is the most celebrated strategy game in history — a contest of pure skill between two players on a 64-square board. Its origins reach back to the 6th-century Indian game chaturanga, which travelled through Persia and the Arab world before taking its modern form in Europe around 1500. Five centuries later it is still played by hundreds of millions of people, from kitchen tables to world championships.
Each player commands sixteen pieces: a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns, and every type moves in its own distinctive way. The goal is checkmate — placing the enemy king under attack with no legal way to escape. Along the way the rules include castling, en passant captures, pawn promotion and several ways a game can end in a draw.
This browser version lets you play a full game of chess against a computer opponent on three difficulty levels, with no download and no account. The engine follows every official rule, detects check, checkmate, stalemate and draws, and includes an undo button so you can take back a move and explore a different idea.
You win by checkmating the opponent's king — attacking it so that it cannot move to safety, cannot block the attack and the attacking piece cannot be captured. A game can also end in a draw in several ways.
Checkmate ends the game with a winner: the king is in check and has no legal escape. Stalemate is a draw: the player to move is not in check but has no legal move at all.
The computer searches ahead through possible moves and scores each position by material and piece placement. Easy looks only a move or two deep and sometimes slips; Medium plays solidly; Hard searches deeper and is a real challenge.
Yes. The undo button reverts the last full move — your move and the computer's reply — so you can rethink your plan. It is great for learning and trying out ideas.
When one of your pawns reaches the far side of the board it must be promoted. A small menu lets you choose a queen, rook, bishop or knight — a new queen is the strongest choice in almost every position.
Yes. Tap one of your pieces to see its legal moves highlighted, then tap a destination square — or simply drag the piece. The board scales to fit any screen size.