Chess
The game of kings: sixteen pieces a side and one object — trap the other king. Offline against an engine with three levels, or online against another player on a clock, on any of eight boards in 2D or 3D.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →Chess & Checkers by Vanikar™ · In your browser
Chess & checkers, in your browser
Twelve games on one account: chess and four of its variants — Chaturanga, Chess960, Crazyhouse and Atomic — draughts under four rules, Chinese checkers, shogi and hnefatafl. Play offline against the computer at three levels, or online against other players on a clock — 2D or 3D, on boards you can change in the middle of a game.
One account
Chess & Checkers by Vanikar™ and Card Games by Vanikar™ share one sign-in. Subscribe to Card Games and all twelve games here are included — there is nothing separate to buy.
See Card Games plans →- 12
- games
- 2–6
- players at the board
- 3
- difficulty levels for CPU opponents
- 0
- ads
The games
Twelve games, one set
Every game plays today, in your browser, offline against the computer or online with a clock — and all twelve are included in one subscription.
Chaturanga
Where chess began, in sixth-century India: the same board and pieces under the older moves — the counsellor steps one square, the elephant leaps two, foot soldiers have no double step, there is no castling, and a bare king has lost.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →English draughts
The checkers most players grew up with. Men move one square diagonally forward, captures are compulsory, and a man that reaches the far row is crowned king and can move backwards too.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →International draughts
The tournament game played from the Netherlands to West Africa. A bigger board, men that capture backwards, flying kings that sweep the length of a diagonal — and you must always take the most pieces you can.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →Chess960
Chess with the back rank shuffled: before every game the eight back-rank pieces are drawn into one of 960 arrangements, the same for both sides. Every piece moves as in chess, and castling still lands the king on g or c.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →Crazyhouse
Chess in which a captured piece changes sides: it goes into your pocket, and on a later turn you may drop it on any empty square instead of moving — a pawn never on the first or last rank.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →Atomic chess
Chess where every capture blows up the taker, the taken and every piece but a pawn around them. A king may never capture, and exploding the other king wins at once.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →Russian checkers
Shashki: the English board with White first, men that capture backwards, kings that fly the length of a diagonal, and a man crowned in the middle of a capture that carries on as a king.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →Suicide checkers
English draughts with the result turned round: the first player to lose every piece, or to have no move left, wins. Captures are compulsory, so you win by making your opponent take.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →Chinese checkers
The race across the star: ten marbles a side, stepping or hopping over any marble in the way, and the first camp filled wins. Two to six at the board, against the computer or online, with Standard or Long-jump rules.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →Shogi
Japanese chess: twenty pieces a side, most of them promoting in the far three ranks, and every piece you capture is yours to drop back onto the board. No stalemate — a player with no move has lost.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →Hnefatafl
The Viking game: twenty-four attackers surround a king and twelve defenders. The king wins by reaching a corner; the attackers by closing in on him from four sides. Copenhagen rules — shieldwall, edge fort and encirclement.
▶ Play in your browser How to play →Nothing separate to buy: a Card Games by Vanikar™ subscription includes all twelve.
What you get
Everything a board should do
The rules are the same on every board. Everything else is yours to change.
Offline, against the computer
Pick a side and a level — Easy, Medium or Hard — and play. Undo a move, and come back later: the game is kept in your browser exactly where you left it.
Online with another player, timed with a clock
Create a board, choose White, Black or a random draw, and set the clock: a one-minute bullet game, sixty minutes of classical, or no clock at all. Share the code or an invite link. Only the side to move’s clock runs, and a clock that runs out loses.
2D or 3D, with one switch
Lay the board flat or stand it up: the board tilts away from you and every piece rises to stand on its square. Flip it whenever you like, mid-game included.
Eight boards
The classic felt and seven eras — Renaissance marble, Stone Age sandstone, Ice Age glacier, Jurassic amber, a Crustacean tide pool, a medieval stone chamber and a Traditional Indian court of sandstone and marble. Switch boards during a game and the position stays.
Pieces to match, or to mix
Every era has a piece set of its own. Choosing a board chooses its pieces, but any set goes on any board — Ice Age pieces on Jurassic amber, if that is how you like it.
The medieval chamber
Torchlight and drifting mist over carved pieces that walk to their squares and strike. A captured piece is smashed to rubble where it stood, the board shakes with the blow, and — sound on — you hear the grind of stone, the crack, and the toll at the end.
The boards
Eight boards, twelve games
Each era is a material — the squares, the frame and the pieces — with a voice of its own over the board.
Classic
The felt, the Staunton pieces, and the computer across the table.
Renaissance
Carrara marble and a Florentine court. Play as if the Medici were watching.
Stone Age
Sandstone and basalt, ochre on the walls. The oldest game there could have been.
Ice Age
Glacier and frost. Make your move before the thaw.
Jurassic
Amber and fern over old lava. Something large is watching from the trees.
Crustacean
Sand, shell and tide. What the tide takes, it keeps.
Medieval
Command your pieces. What they take, they break.
Traditional Indian
Red sandstone and white marble, ivory in the raja’s court. The game as the old sets carved it.
Classic
The felt, the Staunton pieces, and the computer across the table.
Renaissance
Carrara marble and a Florentine court. Play as if the Medici were watching.
Stone Age
Sandstone and basalt, ochre on the walls. The oldest game there could have been.
Ice Age
Glacier and frost. Make your move before the thaw.
Jurassic
Amber and fern over old lava. Something large is watching from the trees.
Crustacean
Sand, shell and tide. What the tide takes, it keeps.
Medieval
Command your pieces. What they take, they break.
Traditional Indian
Red sandstone and white marble, ivory in the raja’s court. The game as the old sets carved it.
Classic
The felt, the Staunton pieces, and the computer across the table.
Renaissance
Carrara marble and a Florentine court. Play as if the Medici were watching.
Stone Age
Sandstone and basalt, ochre on the walls. The oldest game there could have been.
Ice Age
Glacier and frost. Make your move before the thaw.
Jurassic
Amber and fern over old lava. Something large is watching from the trees.
Crustacean
Sand, shell and tide. What the tide takes, it keeps.
Medieval
Command your pieces. What they take, they break.
Traditional Indian
Red sandstone and white marble, ivory in the raja’s court. The game as the old sets carved it.
Classic
The felt, the Staunton pieces, and the computer across the table.
Renaissance
Carrara marble and a Florentine court. Play as if the Medici were watching.
Stone Age
Sandstone and basalt, ochre on the walls. The oldest game there could have been.
Ice Age
Glacier and frost. Make your move before the thaw.
Jurassic
Amber and fern over old lava. Something large is watching from the trees.
Crustacean
Sand, shell and tide. What the tide takes, it keeps.
Medieval
Command your pieces. What they take, they break.
Traditional Indian
Red sandstone and white marble, ivory in the raja’s court. The game as the old sets carved it.
Try it
Change the board while you play
Pick a game and a board, pick the pieces, and stand it up — the same controls the game gives you.
Ruy Lopez, after 3. Bb5
Learn & Play
Explore all guides → History, strategy and your next good move
History · 3 min
History of chess: from chaturanga to your browser
Explore chess’s journey from India through Persia to modern play, discover how its pieces changed, and learn what that history means at the board.
Read the guide Strategy · 3 minChess opening principles for beginners
Learn to control the centre, develop pieces and castle with a purpose. A practical opening guide with an Italian Game example and a pre-move checklist.
Read the guide History · 3 minHistory of checkers: draughts, variants and computers
Discover the history of checkers and draughts, why different boards developed, and what the 2007 solution of English checkers actually means for players.
Read the guide Questions
Frequently asked
Do I need an account to play chess?
Yes. Chess uses the same account as Card Games by Vanikar™, and you sign in once for both. If you already have a Card Games account, you are ready to play.
Is chess included in my Card Games subscription?
Yes. A Card Games by Vanikar™ subscription includes Chess & Checkers by Vanikar™. There is nothing separate to buy.
Where can I play?
In your browser, at play.vanikar.games — on a computer, a tablet or a phone — every game, offline or online. The Chess & Checkers app for iOS and Android is on the App Store and Google Play and uses the same account. The store app can trail the browser: today it has 4 games — Chess, English Draughts, International Checkers and Chinese Checkers — and the newer games reach it with its next update.
Can I change the board or the pieces in the middle of a game?
Yes. The board picker, the piece picker and the 2D/3D switch all work during a game, and the position stays where it is.
How strong is the computer?
Three levels: Easy, Medium and Hard. Easy is for learning the moves; Hard will punish a careless middlegame. Every level plays by the full rules — castling, en passant and promotion included.
What happens when my clock runs out?
You lose the game, as in over-the-board chess. Only the side to move’s clock runs. Choose “No clock” when you create a board if you would rather play without one.
Is a finished online game kept?
No. A finished board is gone and an old link will not open it. Your offline game against the computer, though, is kept in your browser between visits until you end it.
How many can play Chinese checkers?
Two, three, four or six — five is not a legal count on the star. Any seat can be the computer, online as well as offline, and a timed board gives every seat its own clock.
Your move.
Open a board, pick an era, and play — offline in a moment, or online against another player in a timed game with a clock.
▶ Play in your browser