Play vs computer

Play chess against the computer, free

Pick a side and one of eight levels and play Stockfish 19 right in your browser. It is gentle enough for your first games and strong enough to beat any human, and every game can be reviewed move by move when it ends.

Free · runs in your browser

A game against Stockfish, at your level

Eight levels, from a beginner who misses threats to Stockfish at its strongest
Play White, Black or a random side, with takebacks while you learn
When the game ends, review it with move grades and accuracy

Play now No account, no download.

The eight levels

Every level is the same engine. What changes is how far it looks ahead and how often it settles for a weaker move.

Level	How it plays	Search depth	Candidate moves
1. Beginner	Looks one move ahead and often misses threats.	1	Best 8
2. Novice	Spots simple captures but leaves pieces hanging.	2	Best 6
3. Casual	Plays sensible moves with regular slips.	3	Best 5
4. Intermediate	Sees short tactics; still makes inaccuracies.	5	Best 4
5. Club	Solid and tactical, with the odd inaccuracy.	8	Best 3
6. Advanced	Rarely errs; punishes most mistakes.	11	Best 2
7. Expert	Always plays its best move at a moderate depth.	15	Best only
8. Maximum	Stockfish 19 at full browser strength, up to three seconds a move.	Up to 30	Best only

Depth is how many half-moves ahead the engine searches. At the lower levels it picks at random among its candidate moves that are close enough to the best one, favouring the better ones, which is why it blunders like a person rather than playing perfectly and then throwing a piece away.

How to improve by playing the computer

Find the level where you win half the time

Games you always win teach you little, and games you always lose teach you less. Move between levels until results are roughly even. That is where every game asks a real question of you.

Play slowly

The computer never runs out of patience. Use that: before every move, check what your opponent's last move threatens, then look at checks, captures and threats for yourself. Most games at every level are decided by a move that skipped this check.

Review every loss

When the game ends, press Review this game with Stockfish. The review grades each move, shows your accuracy and points to the moments that decided the game, with the move you should have played.

Why play an engine instead of a person?

Playing people is the real test, and nothing replaces it. The computer is for practice: it is always available, never minds a takeback, does not care how long you think and does not judge your openings. That makes it ideal for trying a new opening, practising an endgame you keep misplaying, or simply playing a calm game without rating points at stake.

Set it a little above your level and it also shows you how stronger players punish loose moves. When it wins a piece, take the move back and find out what you missed.

Your games stay on your device. The engine runs in your browser, and a game in progress is kept in local storage so a reload does not lose it.

Play vs computer questions

Is it really free to play against the computer?

Yes. There is no account, no game limit and no advertising. Stockfish runs inside your own browser, so each game costs us nothing to serve and there is nothing to meter.

Which level should I start at?

Start at level 3 if you know how the pieces move and have played a few games, or level 1 if you are brand new. Move up a level once you win about half your games, and drop back if you lose several in a row. The levels are not tied to a rating, so trust your results rather than the label.

Is this the real Stockfish?

Yes: Stockfish 19, the open-source engine, compiled to WebAssembly with its smaller lite neural network so it can run in a browser. At the lower levels it is the same engine, held back by searching only a few moves ahead and sometimes choosing one of its weaker candidate moves on purpose.

Can I take back a move?

Yes. Takeback removes your last move and the computer's reply, so you can try something else. It is a good way to learn while you are starting out; try to use it less as you improve, because in a real game you cannot.

Is my game saved?

A game in progress is kept in this browser, so if you reload the page you can resume it. When the game ends you can send it to the game review, which grades every move and keeps the report in your browser. Nothing is uploaded unless you choose to share a report.

Does it work on my phone?

Yes. Any modern mobile browser works: drag a piece or tap it and then tap the square you want. Higher levels think for a few seconds on older phones; the lower levels answer almost at once.

Curious how the engine decides? How the chess AI thinks.