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Chess
International chess
Two players, sixteen pieces each, on an 8×8 board. Checkmate the opposing king to win.
Learn the rules
Short, clear rules for every game on ChessPlayX. Learn the board, the moves and how to win — then try your first game.
Popular games
Xiangqi
Chinese chess · Xiangqi
Pieces stand on the points of a 9×10 board divided by a river. Checkmate the general or leave your opponent without a legal move.
More games
37 games in 5 families
Chess variants
New starting positions, new pieces and new ways to win.
- Chess960Chess960, or Fischer Random Chess, is standard chess with the back-rank pieces shuffled into one of 960 starting positions. The bishops stand on opposite colours, the king stands between the rooks, and both sides mirror each other. Pawns, piece moves and checkmate are unchanged. After castling, the king and rook finish on the usual c/d or g/f files.5 topics
- CrazyhouseCrazyhouse is a chess variant on the standard 8×8 board in which captured pieces change colour and join your reserve. On each turn you either make a normal move or drop a reserve piece onto an empty square. Pawns cannot be dropped on the first or last rank, and captured promoted pieces return as pawns. Checkmate wins, and drops can block or give check.5 topics
- Atomic ChessAtomic Chess is a chess variant in which every capture causes an explosion. Exploding the enemy king wins. The capturing piece, the captured piece and all non-pawn pieces on the eight surrounding squares are removed. The game uses the standard chess setup, and checkmate also wins. A move may never blow up your own king, so the two kings can stand side by side.5 topics
- Three-check ChessThree-check Chess is a chess variant with one extra way to win: giving check three times. Checkmate still wins too. It uses the normal 8×8 position, moves and draw rules, and each side has a check counter that starts at zero. Every legal checking move adds one, a double check counts as one, and the third check wins at once.5 topics
- King of the HillKing of the Hill is a chess variant played with the normal 8×8 setup and rules. Besides checkmate, a king in the centre wins. You win at once by legally moving your king onto d4, e4, d5 or e5. The king still may not enter an attacked square, so the game becomes a race to control the centre safely.5 topics
- AntichessAntichess, also called Losing Chess, is a chess variant in which the goal is to lose all your pieces. It starts from the normal 8×8 position and White moves first. Capturing is compulsory whenever possible, and there is no check, checkmate or castling. The king is an ordinary piece, and you win when you have no pieces or no legal move left.5 topics
- Horde ChessHorde Chess is an asymmetric chess variant on an 8×8 board. White has 36 pawns and no king, while Black has the usual 16-piece army. White moves first, and pawns on the first two ranks may advance two squares. White wins by checkmating the black king; Black wins by capturing every white piece, including promoted ones.5 topics
- Racing KingsRacing Kings is a chess variant in which both kings race to the eighth rank of an 8×8 board. There are no pawns and no checks. Both armies start side by side on the first two ranks, and the first king to arrive wins. No move may give check or walk into check. If White arrives first and Black can arrive on the very next move, the race is drawn.5 topics
- KnightmateKnightmate 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.5 topics
- Reveal ChessReveal Chess is a ChessPlayX hidden-information variant on an 8×8 board. Kings stay visible; other pieces begin covered and reveal after their first move. The starting role and revealed identity can differ. Read this variant's rules before playing.12 topics
- Capablanca ChessCapablanca Chess is a 10×8 chess variant proposed by world champion José Raúl Capablanca. It adds two compound pieces. Each side has ten pawns plus the archbishop (bishop plus knight) and the chancellor (rook plus knight). The back rank reads rook, knight, archbishop, bishop, queen, king, bishop, chancellor, knight, rook. Castling puts the king on c or i, and checkmate wins.5 topics
- Gothic ChessGothic Chess is a chess variant on a 10×8 board with ten pawns per side. It adds the archbishop and the chancellor. The archbishop moves as a bishop or knight, and the chancellor as a rook or knight. Its back-rank order differs from Capablanca Chess. Castling puts the king on the c or i file, pawns may promote to either new piece, and checkmate wins.5 topics
- Grand ChessGrand Chess is a large chess variant played on a 10×10 board. Each side has ten pawns and ten pieces. They include the cardinal (bishop plus knight) and the marshal (rook plus knight). White moves first and there is no castling. Pawns may promote on the eighth or ninth rank, must promote on the last, and only to a piece already lost. Checkmate wins.5 topics
- Three-Player ChessThree-Player Chess uses a 96-square board and three armies of 16 pieces. Turns rotate among the players still in the game. An eliminated player's pieces stay on the board as frozen blockers that cannot move or be captured; the last active player wins.9 topics
Asian chess
Relatives of Xiangqi and Shogi from East and Southeast Asia.
- JanggiJanggi is Korean chess for two players on 9×10 intersections. Palace diagonals, passing and cannon screens distinguish it from Xiangqi. On ChessPlayX, accepted bikjang, two passes in a row and a third repetition are decided on material points (chariot 13, cannon 7, horse 5, elephant and guard 3, soldier 2), with Han receiving 1.5 extra points.5 topics
- ShogiShogi is Japanese chess on a 9×9 board, with 20 pieces per side. Captured pieces can return as drops, and many pieces can promote in the opposing camp. Sente moves first. The main objective is to checkmate the opposing king.6 topics
- MinishogiMinishogi is a small version of Japanese shogi played on a 5×5 board. Each side has only six pieces. They are a king, gold, silver, bishop, rook and pawn. Captured pieces change sides and can later be dropped back onto the board instead of making a move. Pieces promote when entering or leaving the farthest rank. Checkmate or leaving the opponent without a legal move wins.5 topics
- Three Kingdoms XiangqiThree Kingdoms Xiangqi brings Wei, Shu and Wu onto a 135-intersection board. Each player starts with 16 pieces. ChessPlayX uses Modern v1 rules for the centre, palaces and elimination, with the last surviving player winning.9 topics
- MakrukMakruk, or Thai chess, is Thailand's traditional relative of chess, played on an 8×8 board. Each side has 16 pieces. Pawns start on the third rank and promote to met on the sixth. The met replaces the queen but moves one square diagonally; the khon, in place of the bishop, moves one square diagonally or straight forward. White moves first; checkmate wins, and endgame counting can force a draw.5 topics
- ASEAN ChessASEAN Chess is a standardised Southeast Asian form of chess played on an 8×8 board. It replaces bishops and queens with khon and met. The back rank keeps the chess order; the khon steps diagonally or straight forward, and the met steps one square diagonally. Pawns start on the third rank and promote only on the last rank, to a rook, knight, khon or met. Checkmate wins; endgame counting can force a draw.5 topics
- Ouk ChatrangOuk Chatrang is the traditional chess of Cambodia, a close relative of Thai Makruk played on an 8×8 board. Pawns start on the third rank and promote to met on the sixth. On their first move, the king may make a forward knight jump and the met may jump two squares straight ahead. Checkmate wins, and endgame counting can force a draw.5 topics
- SittuyinSittuyin is the traditional chess of Myanmar (Burma), played on an 8×8 board. Players deploy their own pieces before moving. Pawns start in staggered rows, and players take turns placing their other eight pieces within their own first three ranks, with rooks on the back rank. The elephant and general step one square. A pawn can become a general only when you have none left. Checkmate wins.5 topics
Vietnamese classics
Vietnamese games, from hidden chess and arithmetic to sowing stones.
- Hidden chessCờ úp is Vietnamese hidden Xiangqi on a 9×10 board. The two generals are visible and 30 pieces start covered. A covered piece first moves as its starting-square role, then reveals its identity. This is different from Banqi on a half board.10 topics
- Math chessVietnamese Math Chess uses a 9×11 board and ten numbered pieces per side, from 0 to 9. Zero stays still. Arithmetic determines capture distances using a neighbouring friendly support piece; capturing the opposing zero wins.7 topics
Abstract strategy
Stones, discs and lines — territory, connection and capture.
- GoGo is a two-player game of surrounding territory. Place stones on intersections, keep connected groups supplied with liberties and capture groups with none. ChessPlayX uses Chinese area scoring, with 9×9, 13×13 and 19×19 boards available.15 topics
- GomokuCaro is a five-in-a-row game on a 15×15 board. Make exactly five marks horizontally, vertically or diagonally, with at least one open end. ChessPlayX also supports Standard and Freestyle Gomoku; their winning-line rules differ.15 topics
- International DraughtsInternational draughts uses a 10×10 board with 20 pieces per side, and White moves first. Capture is compulsory, men may capture backward, and you must choose a sequence taking the most pieces. Kings travel along diagonals. Draws: threefold repetition, 25 moves each with only kings moving and no capture, and limits of 16 or 5 moves each in endings against a lone king. This is the international game, rather than 8×8 English draughts.13 topics
- ReversiReversi is played on an 8×8 board starting with four central discs. Place a disc to enclose and flip opposing discs in a straight line. Black moves first. When neither side can move, the player with more discs wins.5 topics
- Connect FourConnect Four is a two-player connection game on an upright grid of seven columns and six rows. Players take turns dropping a disc into a column that is not full, and the disc falls to the lowest empty cell. The first player to line up four discs horizontally, vertically or diagonally wins; a full board with no line is a draw.5 topics
- HexHex is a two-player connection game on an 11×11 rhombus of hexagonal cells. Each player links a pair of opposite edges. Players take turns placing a stone on an empty cell; stones never move and are never captured. White links top and bottom, and Black left and right. The first unbroken chain wins, and a full Hex board can never end in a draw.5 topics
- AbaloneAbalone is a two-player strategy game on a hexagonal board of 61 positions. Each side starts with 14 marbles. On a turn you move one, two or three marbles in a line by one step; a larger inline group can push a smaller opposing group, such as three against two. The first player to push six opposing marbles off the board wins.5 topics
- HiveHive is a two-player strategy game played with hexagonal insect tiles instead of a board. The goal is to surround the opposing queen. Each side has a queen bee, two beetles, two spiders, three grasshoppers and three ants. Players place or move tiles while keeping the hive connected, and each queen must be placed by its owner's fourth turn. A queen surrounded on all six sides loses.5 topics
- QuoridorQuoridor is an abstract race game for two players on a 9×9 board. Each player has a pawn on opposite edges and ten walls. On a turn you either move your pawn one step or place a wall to lengthen your opponent's path, but every wall must leave both players a route to their goal. The first pawn to reach the opposite edge wins.5 topics
Dice & family
Roll, race and trade in games for two to six players.
- BackgammonBackgammon uses 24 points, two dice and 15 checkers per player. Bring every checker into your home board and bear them off before your opponent. ChessPlayX supports match play, a doubling cube, gammons, backgammons and the Crawford rule.6 topics
- LudoChessPlayX Ludo uses its own rules based on the Vietnamese two-dice game cờ cá ngựa, for two to four players. Deploy horses, race around the track and bring all four home. A 1, a 6 or a double lets a horse out; doubles grant another roll; horses cannot be jumped.6 topics
- Chinese CheckersChinese Checkers is a race across a star-shaped board with 121 holes. Move a marble one step or chain jumps over neighbouring marbles; jumped pieces remain in place. ChessPlayX supports 2, 3, 4 or 6 players, with ten marbles per player.6 topics
- MonopolyMonopoly is a property-trading game for two to four players on ChessPlayX. Travel around 40 spaces, buy or auction properties, collect rent and manage debts. The last player who has not gone bankrupt wins.6 topics
After the rules
Getting started & guides
All articles
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