Chess on your own devices
Start a room, send the link, and you and a friend each play from your own phone, tablet or computer, across the table or across the country. Neither of you needs an account. It is the same board as our one-device chess, and if the host picks a clock in the lobby, our server keeps the time, so both screens show the same clock and the flag falls on the server, not on either phone.
Every rule works as it does face to face: castling, en passant, promotion to any piece, and the draws by stalemate, threefold repetition, the 50-move rule or too little material. The server checks each move before it reaches the other screen, so an illegal move can’t be played, and either player can resign at any time. After the game the host can start a rematch with the colors swapped, and the score carries over.
Free for 2 players, each on your own phone, tablet or computer. Share a link or a 6-character code; nobody needs an account or a download.
How to play chess online with friends
Whoever creates the room is the host and sits at White. The first friend to open the invite link takes the Black seat, with no login or app needed, and anyone who opens it after that joins the room as a watcher: they see every move but have no pieces to touch. It is chess multiplayer with nothing to install: one link, and you each play on your own screen. White always moves first, so the lobby has no “who goes first” choice. The colors change hands at the rematch instead.
The Clock is the only option for chess online, and your friend sees it in the lobby under “Options · set by the host” before the first move. In 3+2, each player has three minutes and gets two seconds back after every move; 15+10 gives fifteen minutes and ten seconds per move. That added time is what keeps a long endgame playable on a phone screen. When both seats show a name, the host taps Start. On a timed game, White’s clock starts running at that moment, so say “ready?” on the call first.
What a game of chess is like on two screens
Each phone shows its own army at the bottom: White’s pieces nearest the White player, Black’s nearest the Black player, and White at the bottom for anyone watching. Flip still turns your view if you want to see the position from the other side. You move the way you would on the one-device board, by tapping or dragging, and a pawn that reaches the last rank opens the same piece picker.
The clock lives on our server, not on either phone. Locking your screen or switching to another app pauses nothing: if it is your move, your time keeps running while the screen is dark. When a flag falls but the other side no longer has enough material to checkmate, the game ends as a draw instead of a win on time.
Resign sits in the action bar and always resigns for your own color, even while your friend is still thinking. If your friend’s connection drops, a note on your screen says their seat is kept, and the board waits for them. With a clock on, their time keeps ticking while they are away. If someone is watching, the host can give the empty seat to them from the Room button straight away; after two minutes, the host can also end the game there.
Tips for chess with a friend who is far away
- Keep a call open alongside. The room has no chat, so a phone call or your usual message thread carries the “nice move” and the post-game chat. Afterwards, Show all moves in the More menu lists the whole game in notation, which makes it easy to go back over a turning point together.
- Match the clock to the time you have. 5+0 or 3+2 fits a coffee break, and 15+10 or no clock suits a slow evening of chess with friends. Rematch keeps the same clock and the score. Changing the clock means New setup, which takes everyone back to the lobby and starts the score again.
- Play a series. Each rematch gives White to the other player, and the wins follow the people, not the colors. After an even number of games you have both had the first move equally often.
- Play timed games on a steady connection. Because the clock lives on the server, a phone that keeps dropping off a weak signal loses real seconds on its own turn while it reconnects. Wi-Fi is safer for 3+2 than a train journey.
New to the game? The chess rules cover castling, en passant and every way a game can be drawn, and the beginner chess tutorial walks through a first game move by move. To face the computer, or to share one screen with a friend, play chess on one device. Before a timed game, a few simple openings for beginners save clock time in the first moves.
Rooms are private and close by themselves after the game; the server keeps a room’s names and moves only while it is open. See the privacy policy for the details.
