Help Video
Youtube video demo of how to play limchess!Learning to play?
The game of chess is a fun and complicated adventure where 2 armies fight a grand battle to capture the opponent's king! Along the way, their soldiers will have to stand guard, fight other soldiers, or position themselves for a strategic strike.
If you're getting started with the game, we recommend using the buttons on the site to explore and try moving the pieces around. Once you've won or lost a game or two, you should have an idea of how the pieces move and what they can do. If you want to dive into the rules, you can check out Chess Kid's How to Play Chess.
The important thing is to have fun!
Playing with Left/Right Arrow Keys
Using a keyboard? Try the Right arrow key to move around, and the Left arrow key to press a button or follow a link! If you are focused on a slider (i.e. number of moves or difficulty), press the Left arrow key to begin adjusting the slider. Then use the Right arrow key to perform the adjustment (if you reach the end of a slider and you press the Right arrow key again, the value goes back to the minimum value). Hit Left again to confirm you adjustment to the slider. See below for button descriptions.
All the page elements support focus and click events.
What is a Gamepad Device?
A Gamepad device is simply any sort of physical controller. This could be an old-school singular joystick, a PS4 or Xbox controller, controllers for wheelchairs such as a BJOY Ring or the CJSM2, or anything in between. Any device that has at least one joystick, can be used on the site. If a device has multiple joysticks, only one of them will be used.
Playing with a Gamepad Device
Using a Gamepad Device? The website has been built such that a single joystick can navigate the entire webpage and the game can be played to its fullest extent! Simply plug in your Gamepad device to your computer and the site will display a message on all pages at the top that says, "Gamepad device has been connected!" when it is ready to use. You may have to press or move anything on your Gamepad for the site to initially recognize your device.
Push left or right on your joystick to navigate left and right through all selectable items on a given page. Push down to scoll the page down. Push up to click on a button or link. If you are on the "Number of Player Choices" or "Difficulty" slider, push up to begin adjusting the slider. After pushing up, push left and right to adjust the slider. Push up again to confirm your choice and go back to regular use of the Gamepad device on the website.
Controls
- Show next move
-
Don't like the current move? Press this button to see another!
Shows another move option by highlighting your piece and the square it will move to.
- Accept current move
-
Like the current move? Press this button to play it!
Plays the currently highlighted move and waits for the opponent to move
- Generate new moves
-
Unhappy with your move options? Press this button to get more!
Generates a new list of move options
- New game as (Black or White)
-
Ready for the next match? Pick your color and press one of these buttons! Remember, White goes first!
Starts a new game as the selected color
- Number of player choices
-
Need more or fewer options? Pick a number here!
Controls how many moves the player is allowed to pick from
- Difficulty
-
Is the computer player too easy or too hard? Change the difficulty!
Controls how hard the AI (Stockfish) is
Found a problem? Have a question?
Please report all problems and questions to our issues page.