Pieces move as in standard chess, wrapping around the ring. Pawns promote on the
last square before a dotted line. No castling, no en passant.
Captured
You took–
AI took–
Material: even
Moves ▾
Circular chess
Pick a side, then choose your opponent.
Promote your pawn
Choose a piece:
Game in progress
How to play
The board
The board is a ring of 16 files and 4 rings. Squares are named by ring letter
(a innermost to d outermost, shown on the dotted lines) plus file number
(1–16 around the outside) — so c5 is ring c, file 5.
Files wrap around: a rook on an open ring can travel all the way around the circle.
Moving
All pieces move exactly as in standard chess. Knights jump across rings; bishops
and queens wrap diagonally around the circle. Your pawns start at the bottom and march
around the ring away from your side in both directions — half go clockwise,
half counter-clockwise (see the arrows above). Pawns capture one ring diagonally inward
or outward. A pawn promotes to any piece on the last square before a dotted line.
There is no castling and no en passant.
Draws
The game is drawn by stalemate (no legal moves but not in check),
threefold repetition (the same position occurs three times),
the fifty-move rule (50 moves by each side without a capture or pawn move),
or insufficient material (neither side can possibly checkmate).
Keyboard
Arrow keys move around the board (left/right around the ring, up/down between
rings). Enter or Space selects a square. Esc closes dialogs.