Chess.com
The default chess address for most of the planet, with a bot for every skill level and puzzles that will quietly humble you.
Opens in a new tab. We do not control this site and it may have changed since we catalogued it.
How to get the most from it
Chess.com sits in Board Games under Play, filed as a minute.
- Give it one round. There is nothing to finish and nothing lost by leaving.
- It works on a phone or a desktop, so open it on whatever is nearest.
- It works with the sound off, so it is fine on a train or in a quiet office.
- Expect to create an account before you get far.
- Go in expecting something competitive and brainy.
About this category: Chess, draughts, connection games and modern board games ported honestly. Play a stranger or send a link to someone in another country.
Good for
- A one-round break between tasks
- Chasing a better score
- Giving your brain a workout
- A quiet break at your desk
- Killing time on your phone
Chess.com: quick answers
Is Chess.com free?
Yes. Chess.com is free to use, though it asks you to sign up.
Do I need an account to use Chess.com?
Yes. Chess.com asks you to create an account before you get far.
Does Chess.com work on a phone?
Yes. Chess.com works on phones as well as desktop browsers.
Is Chess.com safe for work?
Yes, we file it as safe for work. It also works muted.
How long does Chess.com take?
We file it as "A minute": One quick round, then you can leave.
More in Board Games
All 14 in Board GamesNearly a million recorded games from four centuries of chess, replayable move by move, with the real arguments in the comments.
- 1 hr+
- Desktop
Settlers of Catan in a browser tab, complete with the trade negotiations and the one player who will not give you wheat.
- 10 min
Free chess with no adverts, no account required and an analysis engine better than the paid ones, funded entirely by donations.
- <1 min
A quiet turn-based server for abstract strategy games — Hex, TwixT, Amazons — where matches last months and nobody rushes you.
- 10 min
- Desktop
Same mood: competitive
All competitive sitesClick monsters, hire heroes to click for you, then ascend for souls. The clicker that dragged the whole genre onto Steam.
- 1 hr+
Fill-in-the-blank sentences mined from real corpora, aimed squarely at people who have outgrown the beginner apps.
Match hue, saturation and complementary colours against a target, one exercise at a time, scored out of a hundred.
- 10 min
- Desktop
Team deathmatch with a built-in level editor, played mostly by people who memorised every map years ago.
- 10 min
- Desktop
Keep exploring
Category
Time and mood
Have a site of your own? Suggest it for Detour or browse the AltFTool backlinks hub.