Chess

How to play Chess

This is a complete chess game against the computer, including every standard rule: castling on both sides, en passant captures, pawn promotion, check, checkmate, stalemate, and draws by the fifty-move rule or when neither side has enough pieces to win.

Choose whether you play white or black and set the Level. Beginner plays random legal moves, so it is good for learning how the pieces move. Easy looks one move ahead. Medium searches two moves ahead, and Hard looks four half-moves ahead and checks captures, so it will punish careless blunders but can still be beaten by a patient player. Tap one of your pieces to see where it can go, then tap a highlighted square. If a pawn reaches the last rank, you will be asked what to promote it to.

The move list under the board uses standard notation, so you can replay a game later. Undo takes back your last move and the computer’s reply, which makes it easy to try a different idea. The king glows red when it is in check.

Good habits help at any level: control the centre early, develop your knights and bishops before moving the queen, castle to keep your king safe, and check what each of your opponent’s pieces threatens before you move. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.