Chess
Think ahead. Trap the king.
The oldest, deepest game on the shelf: two armies, sixty-four squares, and one goal. Move your pieces, win material, and trap the other king. Here is everything you need to know before you sit down.
- Free practice
- No sign-up
- Play in your browser
Join a Game Room
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- Players
- 2
- You need
- A board, 32 pieces
- Style
- Strategy
- Goal
- Checkmate
What is Chess?
Two armies. One king each.
Chess is played on an eight-by-eight board, with each player starting with sixteen pieces: eight pawns, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, a queen and a king. White moves first, and the players take turns.
Each piece moves in its own way, and captures by landing on an opponent’s piece. You win by putting the other king in check with no way out: checkmate. A great deal of the game is looking a few moves ahead.
The practice table
Try itLearn it one move at a time.
Play against one bot with the standard rules. Tap a piece to see where it can go, and the coach looks ahead to suggest a move and tells you whether yours was any good.
- Easy, Normal or Sharp: Easy slips up now and then. Sharp looks five moves ahead.
- Turn the coach off when you want to play it straight.
- No account, no host, nothing saved.
A little history
Fifteen hundred years of thinking.
Chess grew out of an Indian game called chaturanga, travelled to Persia and across the Islamic world, and reached Europe around a thousand years ago. The queen and bishop took their modern powers in the 1400s.
The rules we play today have been settled for centuries, and they are the same rules as in the world championships. These are our Classic rules, and they are the standard ones.
Fun facts
- White has exactly 20 possible first moves: 16 with the pawns and 4 with the knights.
- The shortest possible checkmate takes just two moves. It is called the fool’s mate.
- A king is never captured. The game ends at checkmate, with the king in check and no way out.
- Each side starts with sixteen pieces on a board of 64 squares.
Why people love it
Simple rules. Endless depth.
Everything is on the board.
No dice, no hidden cards. Every piece is in plain sight, and every mistake is yours.
You can always get better.
You learn a pattern, then a trap, then a plan. Players still find new ideas after a lifetime.
Small moves, big swings.
One careless move can lose a game, and one clever move can turn it around.
A game for anyone.
A quick game takes ten minutes, and the bots start gentle and get tough.
How to play
Move. Capture. Checkmate.
Setup
- Players: two. You are White first, the bot is Black, and you swap next game.
- Board: 8 by 8, with a light square at each player’s right hand.
- Pieces: each side has a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns.
- First move: White always moves first.
Winning
Checkmate the other king and you win. If neither side can, the game is a draw: by stalemate, too few pieces, fifty moves without a pawn move or capture, or the same position three times.
- 1
Move your pieces
The rook goes in straight lines, the bishop on diagonals, the queen both ways, the knight in an L, the king one square. A pawn goes forward one square (two from its start) and captures diagonally.
- 2
Capture
You capture by landing on an opponent’s piece, which leaves the board. A piece cannot jump over others, except the knight.
- 3
Check
A king under attack is in check. You must get out of it at once, by moving, blocking, or capturing the attacker.
- 4
Special moves
Castling tucks your king away. A pawn that reaches the far side is promoted. A pawn can capture another that has just moved two squares, en passant.
- 5
Checkmate
A king in check with no way out is checkmated, and the other side wins.
- 6
Stalemate
No legal move and not in check is a draw, even if you are far ahead.
These are our Classic rules, and they'll be shown in every room before the game starts. Printable rules card →
Lessons
Learn it in a few minutes.
6 quick lessons, one idea each. Make the call, see why it works, and move on. Your progress is saved in this browser.
The knight’s jump
The white knight is on e4. Which of these squares can it jump to?
Scoring
Mate it, or draw it.
There are no points. A game ends in a win, a loss or a draw.
| How it ends | Result | |
|---|---|---|
| Checkmate | Win | |
| Resign | Loss | |
| Stalemate | Draw | |
| Too few pieces to mate | Draw | |
| Fifty moves, no pawn move or capture | Draw | |
| The same position three times | Draw |
Our Classic rules are the standard ones. Timed games, a clock, and offering a draw are not part of the practice table.
Strategy
Play it smart. Then play it feral.
Tip 1
Fight for the center.
Pawns and pieces in the middle of the board control more squares and reach everywhere.
Tip 2
Develop, then castle.
Bring your knights and bishops out early, and castle to put your king safe and your rook to work.
Tip 3
Check your move is safe.
Before you move, ask what the piece attacks, what attacks it, and what your opponent threatens now.
Tip 4
Look for forks.
A knight or a pawn that attacks two pieces at once wins one of them.
Tip 5
Trade when you are ahead.
With more material, swapping pieces makes your extra pieces count for more.
What would you do?
One decision. Every day.
A new Chess puzzle every day, the same for everyone. Solve it, then send it to the group chat and see who gets it right.
Want more? See today's puzzles for every game →
Your path to game night
Learn it here. Play it with friends.
Finish the lessons or win a practice game and you're ready to sit down at a real Chess table with your people.
The Feral Worlds community
Play-testing Chess? Tell us in Discord.
Found a bug, a rule that feels off, or a house rule your family swears by? Our Discord is where we collect play-test feedback, and where game nights are starting to happen.
Glossary
Talk like a regular.
- Check
- The king is under attack. You must get out of it.
- Checkmate
- A king in check with no legal move out. The game is over.
- Stalemate
- No legal move, and not in check. The game is a draw.
- Castling
- The king moves two squares toward a rook, and the rook jumps to its other side.
- En passant
- A pawn takes another that has just moved two squares, as if it had moved one.
- Promotion
- A pawn reaching the far rank becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight.
- Fork
- One piece attacking two at once.
- Pin
- A piece that cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it.
The Feral twist
Still under the hat.
Every game can be played Classic. In Feral mode, the host writes the house rules: a clock, a different starting position, new pieces. We'll show you what Chess can do when it's ready.
In the Board Games pack
Chess is on the ballot.
Backers vote on which board games join the Board Games pack. Owning the pack means every one that joins is yours too.
$9.95, one time, to host every game in it. Playing is always free. Packs go on sale when the full game launches.
Chess is on the ballot
Save me a seat.
Hear when the Kickstarter opens so you can vote Chess into the Board Games pack, and when you can host it with friends.