♟ CHESS

Play Chess Online

Play a free game of chess against the computer. You control the white pieces and make the first move. Choose Easy, Medium or Hard difficulty and try to checkmate the black king.

How to Play Chess

Chess is played by two sides on an 8 × 8 board. Each side begins with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns.

• King: moves one square in any direction.
• Queen: moves any number of squares horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
• Rook: moves horizontally or vertically.
• Bishop: moves diagonally.
• Knight: moves in an L-shape — two squares in one direction and one square sideways.
• Pawn: normally moves forward one square but captures one square diagonally. A pawn may move two squares from its starting position.

Check and Checkmate

A king is in check when an opposing piece is attacking it. You must make a move that removes the threat. If the king is in check and there is no legal move that can save it, the game ends in checkmate.

Castling

Castling allows the king and rook to move in one turn. It is allowed when neither piece has previously moved, the squares between them are empty, and the king does not move through or into check.

Pawn Promotion

When a pawn reaches the opposite end of the board it is promoted. You can choose a queen, rook, bishop or knight.

En Passant

A pawn that advances two squares and lands beside an opposing pawn may sometimes be captured as though it had moved only one square. This special capture must be made immediately on the following move.

Stalemate

If a player has no legal moves but their king is not in check, the game is a draw by stalemate.

Chess on Games Bogey runs directly in your browser and requires no download or registration.