Chess
Two-player same-screen chess — full rules, castling, en passant, promotion.
How to play Chess (two players, same screen)
This is pass-and-play chess for two people sharing one device. White moves first; then take turns passing the phone, tablet or keyboard back and forth. There is no computer opponent and no internet needed — just you, a friend, and the board.
Controls
- Tap/click a piece of the side to move. Its legal destinations appear as dots (empty squares) or rings (captures).
- Tap/click a highlighted square to move there. Tap your own piece again, or an empty square, to change or cancel the selection.
- New game resets the board to the starting position.
How the pieces move
- Pawn — forward one square (or two from its starting row), captures diagonally.
- Knight — an L-shape; the only piece that jumps over others.
- Bishop — any distance diagonally.
- Rook — any distance horizontally or vertically.
- Queen — any distance in any straight line.
- King — one square in any direction.
Special moves (all supported)
- Castling — if neither the king nor the chosen rook has moved, the squares between them are empty, and the king is not moving into, out of, or through check, tap the king two squares toward the rook to castle.
- En passant — if an enemy pawn jumps two squares and lands beside yours, you may capture it as if it had moved only one, but only on the very next move.
- Promotion — a pawn that reaches the far rank is automatically promoted to a queen (auto-queen).
Winning, check and draws
When your king is attacked you are in check and must get out of it — the game tells you. If a player to move has no legal move and their king is in check, that is checkmate and the other player wins. If they have no legal move but are not in check, it is stalemate — a draw. The engine only ever offers legal moves, so you can’t accidentally leave your own king in check.
A little chess history
Chess grew out of the Indian game chaturanga around the 6th century, spread through Persia and the Islamic world, and took its modern form in Europe by the late 15th century when the queen and bishop gained their long-range powers. Today it is one of the most played and most studied games on Earth — and it needs nothing more than a board and an opponent, which is exactly what same-screen play gives you.
Frequently asked questions
Is this against the computer?
No — it is two-player, same-screen. Two people take turns on one device.
Can I promote to something other than a queen?
For simplicity, promotion is auto-queen. A queen is the best choice in the large majority of positions.
Does it stop illegal moves?
Yes. Only legal moves are offered, and moves that would leave your own king in check are never allowed.
Does it work offline?
Yes — once the page has loaded it runs entirely in your browser, no connection required.