Chess
Chess: you vs the whole chat
One board, one streamer, and a chat that votes on every move. Viewers type a move like e2e4, the most-voted legal move is played when the timer expires, and chat can also vote to resign or offer a draw. Full rules — castling, promotion, en passant, stalemate, threefold repetition and the fifty-move rule. Too easy for one side? Give odds. Want chat to work together instead? Start a puzzle streak.
Free · viewers need nothing · works on any Twitch stream
How a round works
- 1
Pick your colour
White, black, or a coin flip with a three-second animation before the game starts.
- 2
Your move
You drag a piece on the board. Easy mode can highlight the legal destination squares for both sides.
- 3
Chat votes
Viewers type a move in long algebraic notation — e2e4, g1f3, e7e8q for a promotion. Votes can be changed until the timer ends.
- 4
The majority is played
When the timer expires the most-voted legal move goes on the board. If nobody voted, chat gets a short grace period, then a random legal move is played.
- 5
Somebody wins
Checkmate, resignation, a draw, or the clock — and only the streamer can lose on time. Chat never does.
What viewers type in chat
e2e4 | A move: the from-square then the to-square. Promotions add a piece letter, like e7e8q. |
O-O / 0-0 / ooo | Castling, short or long, in any of the usual spellings. |
resign | Vote to resign. It takes more than 60% of this turn's voters. |
draw | Vote to offer the streamer a draw. Also needs more than 60%. |
accept / decline | When the streamer offers a draw, more than 50% accepting ends the game in a draw. |
Streamer settings
Real chess rules
Castling, promotion, en passant, stalemate, insufficient material, threefold repetition and the fifty-move rule are all handled.
Turn timer
10 to 600 seconds per move, 120 by default, with a short grace period whenever chat votes nothing at all.
Easy mode
Highlights every legal destination for the side to move, so a chat that has never played can still find a move.
Move history and captures
An SAN move list and the captured pieces with the running material difference, both switchable from chat.
Puzzle streak
Chat solves puzzles together by voting moves. A wrong move costs a heart (1, 3 or 5), and the puzzles get harder as chat solves them. 319 puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0), rated 606 to 2595, or paste your own.
Handicaps
Knight, rook or queen odds, pawn and move, or time odds with half the turn time, by the classic odds rules. You give them to chat, or chat gives them to you.
Questions streamers ask
How does chat write a move?
Long algebraic notation: the square the piece is on, then the square it goes to, like e2e4 or g1f3. A promotion adds the piece letter, e7e8q. Castling also accepts O-O and 0-0-0.
What if chat votes for an illegal move?
Illegal moves are rejected and the last few are shown on screen, so chat can see the mistake. Only legal moves collect votes.
What happens if nobody votes?
Chat gets one grace period of about 10% of the turn timer, between 3 and 10 seconds. If there is still no vote, a random legal move is played.
Can chat resign?
Yes, if you leave that on: more than 60% of the voters this turn typing resign ends the game. The same threshold offers a draw.
Can I lose on time?
Only the streamer can. Chat's clock never flags — it falls back to a grace period and then a random move.
Can chat solve puzzles instead?
Yes. Pick Puzzle streak in the menu, or a mod types !puzzle on. Chat votes the moves together, a wrong move costs a heart, and the run ends when the hearts are gone.
Keep reading
Chess: you vs the whole chat