Guide — Chess

Chess is a free, no-account chess game you play right in your browser against a computer opponent you can tune from beginner-friendly to genuinely tough. Here is how it works.

What is this?

Chess is a single-player game of standard chess against a built-in AI engine. It runs entirely in your browser — there is no login, no download, and nothing to set up. It is for anyone who wants a quick, good-looking game: a beginner learning the moves, or an experienced player who wants a real fight on the hardest setting.

The engine plays the full rules of chess — castling, en passant, promotion, and every way a game can end (checkmate, stalemate, and the draw rules) — so a game here behaves exactly like a game on a real board.

How to play

1. Choose your side and difficulty. Play White (you move first) or Black (the engine opens), and pick Easy, Medium, Hard, or Master.
2. Make a move. Tap a piece to see its legal moves light up, then tap the square you want — or simply drag the piece there. Only legal moves are allowed.
3. Special moves happen automatically. Castle by moving your king two squares toward a rook; capture en passant by moving your pawn to the highlighted square; when a pawn reaches the far rank you choose which piece it becomes.
4. The engine replies. The computer answers in about a second on Easy through Hard, and takes a couple of seconds on Master. It thinks in the background, so the board never freezes while you wait.
5. Take it back or start over. Undo steps back your move and the engine’s reply together; New game re-opens the side and difficulty choice.
6. Finish and share. When the game ends you get a clean result card (for example, “Checkmate in 24 · beat Hard”) you can save or share.

The four opponents

All four levels share one engine and one set of rules — what changes is how hard it is allowed to think, and whether it is allowed to go easy on you.

• Easy. Looks two moves ahead and deliberately throws in a random move now and then. It will hang pieces, and a beginner who watches for captures can beat it.
• Medium. No deliberate mistakes any more. It takes free material, sees simple one-move tactics, and will steadily grind down a careless game.
• Hard. Searches about four moves deep with a capture-resolving follow-up, so trades no longer trick it. Loose pieces and unguarded back ranks get punished.
• Master. The deep tier. It reuses positions it has already analysed, remembers which replies refuted a line, and skips branches it can prove are hopeless — so inside its longer thinking time it reaches several moves further than Hard. It also switches its judgement in the endgame, marching its king to the centre once the queens come off instead of sitting at home. Expect it to find quiet moves you did not consider, and to convert an endgame it is winning rather than letting it fizzle to a draw.

Your last choice of side and level is remembered on this device, so a rematch is one tap. None of the levels ever plays an illegal move — the opponent is bound by exactly the same rules your own pieces are.

Tips

• Control the centre early. Pushing a central pawn and developing your knights and bishops toward the middle gives your pieces the most squares to work with.
• Castle before it gets sharp. Getting your king to safety and connecting your rooks is worth more than grabbing an early pawn.
• Look at the whole board before moving. The legal-move dots show where a piece can go; check what your opponent threatens in reply, not just your own plan.
• Trade when you are ahead. If you win material, swapping pieces makes your advantage easier to convert.
• Use Undo to learn. When a move backfires, take it back and try the position a different way — it is the fastest way to improve.
• Climb the levels. Beat Easy consistently, then move up; Hard searches deeper and will punish loose moves.
• Play Master slowly. It rarely blunders back, so gambling on a cheap trap is the fastest way to lose. Improve your worst-placed piece, keep your king safe, and make it prove its advantage — beating Master is the brag this game is built around.

FAQ

Is it free? Yes, completely free. It is supported by unobtrusive ads that never sit on top of the board or interrupt your game.

Do I need an account? No. There is no sign-up, no login, and nothing to install — open the page and play.

Does it work on my phone? Yes. The board is mobile-first and works from small phones up to desktop; you can move by tapping or by dragging.

Can I play a friend online? Not in this version — it is you against the computer. Online multiplayer is not part of the game.

Is the computer actually good? Yes. Hard uses a real search engine that looks several moves ahead and never plays an illegal move; Master looks further still. Easy is deliberately gentler so newer players can win.

Why does Master take longer to move? Because it is genuinely searching further ahead — it is given a couple of seconds instead of one. The search runs off the main thread, so the board stays responsive and you can see it thinking.