Chess

How Chess plays

• Checkmate to win. Trap the enemy king so it is attacked and has no legal escape. That ends the game on the spot.
• Only legal moves are offered. Tap a piece and its legal squares light up. You cannot move into check, leave your king in check, or play yourself into an illegal position — the board simply will not let you.
• All the special moves. Castling on both sides, en passant, and promotion — tap to choose queen, rook, bishop or knight when a pawn reaches the last rank.
• Draws are called for you. Stalemate, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule and insufficient material are all detected automatically, so a drawn game ends as a draw rather than shuffling on.
• Or offer one. Tap Offer draw and your opponent accepts or declines — making a move declines it too. Only one offer can be outstanding at a time.
• Colours are drawn at random. White always moves first, but sides are dealt when the game starts, so a rematch on the same table usually swaps you over.

The full rules live under Help → Chess. Every move is validated server-side, so it’s structurally impossible to cheat.

A clock, if you want one

Piece of Cake games are asynchronous by design — a table can sit for days while everyone gets on with their lives. So chess starts untimed, and a clock is something you opt into when you create the table.

When you do, it’s a tournament-standard Fischer increment clock: each side starts with a set time, your clock runs only on your own turn, and the increment is added back after every move you make. Run out and you lose on time — unless your opponent has no way to checkmate you, which is a draw.

See it in action

Never short an opponent

Chess needs exactly two, and the second one isn’t always around. Add an AI opponent from the table settings and play whenever you like — it plays a real game, and it will accept a draw when it judges itself to be worse off.

Or send a join link in any chat app and let a friend take the seat instead. Between games, tap Rematch to go again with the colours reshuffled.

The rules Piece of Cake plays

Standard two-player chess — checkmate your opponent’s king to win.

Goal

Trap the enemy king so it is attacked and has no legal escape. That is checkmate, and it ends the game immediately.

Setup

Two players only. Colours are drawn at random when the game starts, so a rematch on the same table usually swaps sides. White always moves first.

How the pieces move

Pawns advance one square (two from their starting square) and capture diagonally. Knights jump in an L. Bishops move diagonally, rooks in straight lines, and the queen does both. The king moves one square in any direction.

Special moves

Castling moves the king two squares toward a rook that has not moved, with the rook hopping to the far side — only when no square the king crosses is attacked. A pawn that passes an enemy pawn’s double-step can be taken en passant on the very next move. A pawn reaching the last rank promotes; tap to choose queen, rook, bishop or knight.

Check

While your king is attacked you must get out of check. Only moves that leave your king safe are offered — the board never lets you play an illegal move.

Draws

The game is drawn automatically on stalemate (no legal move but not in check), threefold repetition, fifty moves by each side without a capture or pawn move, or when neither side has enough material to mate.

Offering a draw

Tap Offer draw to ask your opponent to agree a draw. They can accept or decline, and making a move declines it too. Only one offer can be outstanding at a time. Against an AI opponent the answer comes straight back — it accepts when it judges itself to be worse off.

Clocks

Tables can be created with a tournament-style Fischer clock: each player starts with a set time, their clock runs only on their own turn, and the increment is added back after every move they make. Run out and you lose on time — unless your opponent has no way to checkmate, which makes it a draw. Controls range from 5-minute blitz to 3 days a move, and No clock (the default) keeps games untimed.

Resigning

Forfeiting resigns the game and hands your opponent the win. Leaving a game in progress does the same.

This is the rulesheet in the app under Help → Chess. Every roll, deal and move is checked on our servers, so nobody can bend the rules.

Longer guides

• Chess rules for beginners
• Chess time controls explained

More games in Piece of Cake

Checkers

Jump, crown and clear the board.

2 players · 3D board

Reversi

Outflank, flip and take the corners.

2 players · 3D board

Four in a Row

Drop discs. Line up four before they do.

2 players · 3D board

See all fifteen games →