Chess originated in northern India around the 6th century as a game called chaturanga. It spread through Persia, where it was known as shatranj, and reached Europe by the 10th century. The modern rules — including the queen's long-range movement and castling — settled in the 15th century and have remained largely unchanged ever since.
Chess is one of the oldest and most studied games in the world. Professional play is governed by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), and the current computer era — starting with IBM's Deep Blue defeating world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997 — has deepened rather than diminished human fascination with the game.
Our browser version lets you play against a computer opponent with adjustable difficulty. Whether you are learning basic openings or practicing your endgame, chess rewards patience, calculation, and pattern recognition built up over many games.
Controls: Click a piece to select it, then click a highlighted square to move. White always moves first.
Objective: Checkmate the opponent's king by placing it under attack with no legal escape. A stalemate, where the player to move has no legal moves but is not in check, results in a draw.
Promote pawn to: