Chess

How to play

White moves first, then you take turns, one move each. Take a piece by moving onto its square. Win by checkmate: attack the other king so it can't escape.

• King: One square in any direction. Keep it safe: if it can't escape an attack, the game is lost.
• Queen: Any number of squares in a straight line: across, up and down, or diagonally. The strongest piece.
• Rook: Any number of squares across or up and down.
• Bishop: Any number of squares diagonally (it stays on one color all game).
• Knight: In an L: two squares one way, then one to the side. The only piece that jumps over others.
• Pawn: One square forward (two on its first move), and takes one square diagonally forward.

• Check means a king is attacked: the player must get out of it at once (move the king, block, or take the attacker). The screen says “Check!”.
• Castling: once a game, the king moves two squares toward a rook and the rook hops over it. Only if neither has moved, the squares between are empty, and the king isn't in check or passing through an attack. Move the king two squares to castle.
• Promotion: a pawn reaching the far side becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight (you choose).
• En passant: a pawn that moves two squares can be taken by an enemy pawn beside it, as if it had moved one. Only on the very next move.
• Draws: no legal move but not in check (stalemate), too few pieces left to checkmate, the same position three times, or 50 moves each with no capture or pawn move.
• Here: tap a piece to see its moves (dots, or a ring for a capture), then tap a dot. You can also drag a piece. Against the computer, Hint shows a good piece to move (tap again for where), and Take back undoes your last move.