Setup
Base rules: chess. An 8×8 chess setup with a royal knight on each king's starting square and commoners on the usual knight squares.
Knightmate
Protect a royal knight; the king-shaped commoners can be captured.
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Moves and captures
The royal knight moves like a knight and must escape check. Commoners move one square in any direction and have no royal protection.
Winning and draws
Checkmate the opponent's royal knight to win. Capturing a commoner does not finish the game. Stalemate is a draw. A player may claim a draw after threefold repetition or 50 moves by each side without a capture or pawn move. If neither side has enough material to checkmate, the game is drawn automatically.
Special rules
The royal knight can castle to g1/c1 or g8/c8 with its rook when the castling conditions are met. Pawns promote to queen, rook, bishop or commoner, marked M.
Read the full guide
Board setup, special rules and winning conditions for Knightmate.
A commoner may enter an attacked square; the royal knight may not.
A quick guide to Knightmate
Read the Knightmate rulesWhat is Knightmate?
Knightmate is a chess variant on the normal 8×8 board in which the royal piece is a knight. Checkmating it wins. Each side's royal knight starts on the king's square, and commoners, which move like kings but can be captured freely, take the knights' places. Check rules apply only to the royal knight, which can also castle.
Which piece is royal in Knightmate?
The royal knight, which starts on e1 or e8 and moves like a knight, is the only piece that can be checked or checkmated. The commoners on b1, g1, b8 and g8 move one square in any direction like a king, but they can be captured like any other piece.
Can you castle in Knightmate?
Yes. The royal knight castles with a rook the way a king does in chess, landing on g1 or c1 (g8 or c8 for Black) with the rook beside it. It cannot castle while in check, through an attacked square or into check.
What can pawns promote to in Knightmate?
A pawn on the last rank promotes to a queen, rook, bishop or commoner. It cannot become a knight, because the only knight-moving piece in Knightmate is the royal knight. A promoted commoner is shown as M in the move list.
How can I play with a friend?
Share one device for a local game, or choose the friend option above to create an online room and send its invitation. Online games need an internet connection. Local games are saved in this browser.
Play Knightmate on one deviceWhich rules apply here?
Knightmate. Read the setup, legal moves, special rules and end conditions before starting. The guide describes the variant used on ChessPlayX, including differences from other versions where relevant.
Read the Knightmate rulesCan I play against AI?
Choose AI mode to practice at your own pace. Start with a lower difficulty while learning the moves, then increase it when you can spot threats and plan your replies.