How to play Half Chess
Chesspresso is chess on half a board. You know every piece already - the new part is that you build your own starting position, in secret, before the first move.
1. The board
The board has 4 columns (a to d) and 8 rows (1 to 8). White owns rows 1-4, Black owns rows 5-8. Each half has exactly 16 squares - one for every piece - so when the game starts, both halves are completely full and the two armies stand face to face in the middle.
2. Your army
Each player has the usual chess set: 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights and 8 Pawns.
3. The secret setup
Before the game, both players place all 16 pieces on their own half, in any order they like. There is only one placement rule:
- The King must start in your back two rows (rows 1-2 for White, rows 7-8 for Black). In the game these squares are tinted, so you can see where the King is allowed.
Everything else is up to you: pawns can stand in the back row, rooks in the front, both bishops on the same colour - it is your army. You cannot see your opponent's setup, and they cannot see yours. When both players press I'm ready, the two armies are revealed at the same moment.
In a hurry? The Random button fills the empty squares for you. When playing online or against the computer you can also agree on Both random, and both setups are dealt by chance.
Example setup (White)
This is one of the strongest setups our computer opponent found while teaching itself the game:
Read more about why it works on the strategy page.
4. Playing the game
Once the armies are revealed, it is normal chess. White moves first, players take turns, and every piece moves and captures exactly as in standard chess. Giving check, checkmate and stalemate all work as usual.
A few rules are simpler than in standard chess:
- Pawns move one square forward - never two - so there is also no en passant. They capture diagonally forward, as usual.
- Pawns become a Queen automatically when they reach the far end of the board (row 8 for White, row 1 for Black).
- There is no castling. Your King's safety comes from where you placed it.
5. Action from move one
Because both halves are full and touch in the middle, the front rows face each other from the start. White can capture on the very first move, and a first-move checkmate is allowed - for example a knight that jumps into the enemy half and checks a King that has no free square to escape to. Guarding against that is part of building a good setup.
6. How a game ends
- Win by checkmate, when your opponent resigns, or when their clock runs out (games can have 3, 5 or 10 minutes per player, or no clock).
- Draw by stalemate, by the same position appearing three times, when neither side has enough pieces left to checkmate, by the 50-move rule (50 moves by each player without a capture or a pawn move), or when both players agree.
7. Ways to play
- Against the computer - 8 levels, from beginner to a strong opponent that trained itself.
- Pass and play - two players on one screen; the device is handed over between the two secret setups.
- With a friend - send a link and play in the browser, no download needed.
- Online - find an opponent, earn a rating and climb the leaderboard.