Chess

Your goal

You play White; the computer plays Black. Each side moves once per turn. Win by checkmate: the enemy king is attacked and no legal move can save it. You never capture the king.

How the pieces move

Pawn

Moves one square forward into an empty square, or two from its starting square if both are empty. Captures one square diagonally forward, never straight ahead.

Rook

Moves any distance along a rank or file. Cannot jump over pieces.

Bishop

Moves any distance diagonally. Cannot jump over pieces.

Knight

Moves two squares along one axis and one along the other, forming an L. It can jump over pieces.

Queen

Combines rook and bishop movement: any distance straight or diagonally, without jumping.

King

Moves one square in any direction, but never into attack. Two kings cannot stand next to each other.

Special moves

Castling: select the king and its marked two-square destination. The rook moves too. Neither piece may have moved; the squares between them must be empty, and the king cannot be in check or cross or finish on an attacked square.

En passant: immediately after an enemy pawn advances two squares beside your pawn, your pawn may capture it diagonally as if it advanced only one. This opportunity expires after that turn.

Promotion: a pawn reaching the farthest rank must become a queen, rook, bishop or knight. Choose in the promotion panel; you do not need a previously captured piece.

Check, mate and draws

The red ring marks a checked king. Escape check by moving the king, capturing the attacker or blocking its line when possible. Moves exposing your own king are illegal. No legal move without check is stalemate. This game also automatically draws after threefold repetition, insufficient mating material, or 50 moves by each side without a pawn move or capture.

Controls, challenges and saving

Tap or click a white piece, then a marked square. A marker means legal, not necessarily safe. Hint selects a suggested piece; you still choose the destination. Undo returns to your previous turn. Challenges use their displayed goal and move limit; clearing one unlocks the next. Full matches use normal checkmate/draw rules, not challenge goals. Match progress and challenge clears are saved separately on this browser when storage is available. Clearing browser data removes them.

Arrow keys: move focus. Enter: select or move. Escape: cancel selection.