Master Chess Unblocked — Play Free Online

Code This Lab built Master Chess, and its credits screen links to the studio's website. CrazyGames lists the release as 2018. All the standard rules of chess are coded in, and there are two kinds of match: you against the computer, or two people sharing one screen and taking turns.

The two ways to play

After the start button, the menu asks you to choose a game mode:

• Player against computer: you take White and the program answers as Black. Three difficulty toggles sit below the button: Easy, Medium and Hard. Each step makes the computer look further ahead before it moves, so Hard is the toughest of the three.
• Two players on one device: both sides are human and you share the mouse or screen, taking turns.

The copy of the game on this page offers only those two modes. It does not connect you to opponents over the internet.

Moving the pieces

Click or tap one of your pieces and the squares it can legally reach light up. Click a highlighted square to move there. Illegal moves are simply not offered, which makes the game a decent place to learn how each piece travels. The special rules are all handled: castling on either side, en passant captures, check, checkmate and stalemate. A pawn that reaches the last rank opens a promotion panel where a human player picks the new piece; when the computer promotes, it always takes a queen. A game is also drawn when fifty moves pass without progress, and when the material left is too thin for anyone to force mate, such as bishops of the same colour.

Clock and score

Each side has a running clock that only ticks during its own turn, so the panel beside the board shows how long White and Black have each spent thinking. Each side also has a score that drains steadily while its clock is running. Quick, confident play keeps more of it; long pauses cost you. The end screen announces checkmate and the winning colour, or stalemate for a draw.

Practical tips

• Start on Easy. At that level the computer searches only one move deep, which leaves room to try opening ideas.
• On Medium and Hard, check every capture it offers you. A loose piece that looks free is often bait for a reply one move later.
• If you are teaching someone, use the two-player mode. The highlighted squares show a beginner where each piece may go without anyone explaining it.
• Because your score falls with your own thinking time, decide your plan during the computer's turn rather than after it.