Play Chess Online Free — vs the Computer, Plus 120 Mate Puzzles

Complete rules, nothing missing

This is full chess, not a simplified demo: castling both sides, en passant, pawn promotion with a choice of piece, and every draw rule — stalemate, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule and insufficient material. The rules engine was verified against published perft node counts (the standard test that catches illegal castling or broken en passant), so the moves you argue about with friends are simply not arguable here.

Games are one tap to move: tap a piece, tap a destination. Legal moves show as dots, captures get a red outline, and your king flashes when in check.

120 checkmate puzzles — generated and verified

Alongside the game there is a puzzle trainer with 60 mate-in-1 and 60 mate-in-2 problems. Every puzzle was generated by the site's own engine and then re-verified position by position with an independent second implementation, so each one has exactly one key move and a guaranteed forced mate.

Solved puzzles are remembered on your device, hints highlight the piece that delivers mate, and wrong moves snap the board back so you can try again without penalty.

An honest engine, on a site about Chinese chess

The computer plays at a solid club level: a depth-5 alpha-beta search with quiescence and a material-plus-position evaluation. We label the levels Beginner, Casual, Club and Strong — because that is what they are. The Strong level never walks into a one-move mate in testing; the Beginner level is allowed to be sloppy on purpose.

And there is a bridge for the curious: the same page carries a chess → xiangqi (Chinese chess) mapping — which pieces transfer directly, what the cannon does, and the three rules that surprise chess players most. If you have ever wondered what the Chinese chess on this site is about, that tab is the two-minute answer.

Frequently asked questions

Is this really full chess?

Yes — castling, en passant, promotion and all the draw rules are implemented and machine-verified against standard perft test positions.

How strong is the computer?

The four levels are Beginner, Casual, Club and Strong. Strong searches five moves deep; it is a fair club-level opponent, and we do not claim more.

Where do the puzzles come from?

They are generated by this site's own chess engine and cross-verified with an independent implementation — no third-party puzzle database is used.

Do I need an account?

No. The board opens ready to play, and your puzzle progress is stored on your own device.

What does this have to do with xiangqi?

Xiangqi is Chinese chess — the site's main game. The chess page includes a piece-by-piece mapping so chess players can try it in minutes.