Rules & quick start
Spell Chess keeps the familiar board and pieces, then adds two tactical powers: Freeze and Jump. You may cast one spell before your move, and its effect remains on the board through your opponent’s reply.
Play Spell Chess against AIEach player starts with five Freeze spells and two Jump spells. On your turn, you may cast one available spell and then make a chess move. Each spell enters a three-turn cooldown after use. You win by checkmating or capturing the opposing king.
Select a 3×3 area. On your opponent’s next move, pieces inside that zone cannot move or give check. Your own bundled move is not frozen. One limit survives every spell: the two kings can never stand on adjacent squares, even when one of them is frozen.
Select one occupied square. Pieces that move in a line can pass over that blocker during your turn and your opponent’s next turn.
Available spells are lit. A spell on cooldown shows how many turns remain before you can cast it again.
Choose Freeze or Jump and select its target before touching the piece you want to move. Casting is optional, and you can use at most one spell per turn.
Move normally, taking the active spell effect into account. Your opponent also plays one reply while that effect is active.
After the reply, the temporary board effect expires. The spell itself remains unavailable until its three-turn cooldown finishes.
Checkmate still wins, but Spell Chess also allows a direct capture of the enemy king. That makes threats more immediate than in ordinary chess: a spell can open a line to the king even when the position does not look like a conventional checkmate.
Ready to practice?
Choose your color, engine strength, thinking time, and starting position. After each move, use the evaluation and principal variation to study the engine’s plan.