Free Chess
Chess lets you play against the computer at eight levels, or against a friend on the same device, with optional clocks from 1 + 0 to 15 + 10. Drag, click or type moves such as Nf3, ask for a hint, take moves back, and copy or load games as PGN and positions as FEN.
- Opponent:
- Computer (levels 1–8) or a friend
- Clocks:
- 1+0, 3+2, 5+0, 10+0, 15+10
- Formats:
- PGN and FEN, import and export
- Price:
- Free
- Runs:
- Locally, in your browser
- Uploads:
- None: files never leave your device
- Account:
- Not needed
Quick answers
Which engine plays against me?
A chess engine written for this site that runs entirely in your browser, in a background thread. The lower levels look only a move or two ahead and deliberately make mistakes; level 8 searches for up to 3 seconds per move.
Can I play a friend?
Yes. Choose “Two players” and take turns on the same device, with or without a clock.
Processed on your device: your files are never uploaded. How it works
Network activity in this tab
What this page has requested since you opened the site in this tab. An upload is any request that sends data: POST, PUT, PATCH or a request with a body.
No uploads: nothing has been sent from this page.
No network requests yet.
To see every request, open your browser's developer tools (Network tab).
How to use the Chess
- Choose “vs computer” (pick a level from 1 to 8 and your colour) or “Two players” on one device, and an optional time control.
- Drag a piece or click it and then click the destination; legal moves are marked. You can also type moves like e4, Nf3 or O-O.
- Use Hint for a suggested move (shown as an arrow), Take back to undo, and Flip board to change sides.
- Step through the move list (or press ← →) to review the game; copy or download the PGN, or copy the FEN of any position.
- Paste a PGN or a FEN to continue or analyse a game.
Credits & open source
Our own code plus open-source libraries. Thank you to the people who make these projects.
- chess.jsChess rules, move generation and PGN. © Jeff Hlywa · BSD-2-Clause
- cm-chessboardResponsive SVG chessboard. © Stefan Haack · MIT
Web platform APIs used: Web Workers, Pointer Events, Keyboard Events, Web Audio API, localStorage, Clipboard API, File API.
- Standard chess pieces (Cburnett set, via cm-chessboard) by Colin M.L. Burnett (Cburnett) and Rfc1394, Wikimedia Commons; sprite adapted by Stefan Haack (CC-BY-SA-3.0) — Piece images on the board (cm-chessboard pieces/standard.svg, served from /vendor/cm-chessboard)
Full license texts: third-party notices · all credits
Frequently asked questions
How do clocks work?
Pick a time control such as 3 + 2 (three minutes plus two seconds added after every move). The clock starts after the first move; if your time runs out you lose, unless your opponent has no material left to mate.
How do I promote a pawn?
Move the pawn to the last rank and choose the new piece in the dialog that appears on the board.
Can I save my game?
Copy or download it as PGN at any time; you can paste it back later with Load PGN.