Computer —
You —
Your move — you are White.
Promote pawn to
Chess is the classic two-player strategy game played on an 8x8 board. Each side commands sixteen pieces — eight pawns, two knights, two bishops, two rooks, a queen, and a king — and the goal is checkmate: trapping the enemy king so it cannot escape capture. Tap any piece to see its legal moves highlighted, then tap a marked square to move. You play White against the computer and always move first.
All the real rules are here. Castle early to tuck your king safely behind its pawns, capture en passant when a rival pawn tries to sneak past yours, and promote a pawn that reaches the far rank into a queen, rook, bishop, or knight. Draws follow the official rules too: stalemate, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule, and insufficient mating material all end the game correctly.
Beginner strategy: control the center with pawns and knights, develop your minor pieces before moving the same piece twice, castle before launching an attack, and resist bringing your queen out too early. Before every move, scan the board for checks, captures, and threats — most games at this level are decided by a single overlooked tactic.
Play chess online free against the computer at Easy, Medium, or Hard difficulty, or switch to 2 Players for a hotseat game with a friend on one device. Choose Play by Link to play correspondence chess: make your move, send the generated link by text or chat, and the whole game travels inside the URL. No accounts, no downloads — just chess.