Best Chess Games: Beyond the Default Board

Chess is 1500 years old and somehow still the most perfectly designed game ever made. Every year someone tries to "improve" chess by adding new pieces or mechanics, and every year those attempts die while vanilla chess keeps dominating. But there are genuinely great chess video games, and some of the most creative indie games use chess as inspiration for new genres entirely.

Here's what's actually worth your time, whether you want pure chess with modern features, chess-inspired indie innovation, or chess alternatives that capture the strategic depth.

What are the best pure chess apps?

Chess.com and Lichess are the two best chess apps for online play. Chess.com offers millions of players, puzzles, lessons, and tournaments behind a polished interface. Lichess provides the same core features completely free with no ads. For PC learners, the classic Chessmaster series remains excellent, and Tabletop Simulator works well for casual friend groups.

Chess.com is the king of online chess platforms. Millions of players. Puzzles. Lessons. Tournaments. Variants (chess960, bughouse, atomic). If you're serious about chess as a game, this is your home.

Lichess is the free, open-source alternative. Many players prefer it for no ads, better variant support, and principled "chess as a public good" ethics. The two platforms share most features; pick based on which community you prefer.

Chessmaster (the classic series) is more PC-based and focuses on teaching. Older now but still excellent for learning.

Tabletop Simulator has chess available among dozens of other classic games. Less focused chess app but great if you want to play with friends in voice chat.

What are the best chess roguelike games?

Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate is the standout chess roguelike, putting you in control of a king armed with a shotgun against waves of chess enemies. Chessplosion takes a different approach, blending chess with party-game mechanics and explosions for fast, chaotic multiplayer fun.

Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate is a masterclass in "what if chess was also a roguelike?" You play as a chess king with a shotgun, fighting waves of chess enemies. Absurd concept, brilliant execution.

Chessplosion is party-game chess with explosions. Multiple game modes, fast-paced, fun with friends.

What are the best strategy games inspired by chess?

Into the Breach is the top chess-inspired strategy game, offering small-grid mech combat where every move has massive consequences. Advance Wars, its spiritual successor Wargroove, and the Fire Emblem series all build on chess's grid-based tactical roots with deeper campaign layers and unit variety.

Into the Breach is puzzle-strategy from the FTL developers. Small grid, mech combat, every turn requires perfect planning. Chess-adjacent in that every piece movement has massive consequences.

Advance Wars and its spiritual successor Wargroove are turn-based strategy games descended from chess's grid combat ancestry.

Fire Emblem series is turn-based tactics built on chess-like logic. The best tactics games post has more.

Which chess variants are worth playing?

The best chess variants are Chess960 (Fischer Random), Bughouse, Atomic Chess, Crazyhouse, and Three-check Chess. Each one changes the rules enough to create a fresh strategic experience while keeping the core chess feel. All five are available to play for free on both Chess.com and Lichess.

All available on Chess.com and Lichess.

What are the best chess-themed indie games?

Chess Ultra and Pure Chess are the top chess-themed indie games, both offering photorealistic boards and polished presentation. Chess Ultra adds VR support for a premium experience. The Chess Variants Club provides hundreds of variant rulesets for free, making it essential for anyone who wants to explore beyond standard chess.

The Queen's Gambit, a Netflix show rather than a game, is still worth mentioning because it drove the 2020-2021 chess boom that brought millions of new players.

Chess Ultra is a polished modern chess game with gorgeous boards and VR support. If you want premium chess experience, this delivers.

Pure Chess is similar: photorealistic boards and decent AI. More stylish than Chess.com's web interface.

The Chess Variants Club is a free collection of hundreds of chess variants. Not a video game per se but essential for variant enthusiasts.

What are the best deckbuilder chess hybrids?

Hoplite is the best chess-inspired hybrid on mobile, offering minimalist but deep tactical puzzles built around chess movement patterns. Clash of Magic combines chess-style movement with card-based unit spawning for a deckbuilder twist, while Into the Stars borrows chess design sensibilities for tactical space combat.

Clash of Magic combines chess-style movement with card-based unit spawning.

Hoplite is a chess-inspired single-player tactical puzzle game on mobile. Minimalist but deep.

Into the Stars, not chess directly, but tactical space combat that borrows chess design sensibilities.

What are the best chess puzzle modes?

Puzzle Rush on Chess.com is the most addictive chess puzzle mode, challenging you to solve as many puzzles as possible under a timer. Daily puzzles on both Chess.com and Lichess offer quick two-minute warmups, while endgame studies test your ability to find the single winning move in a composed position.

Puzzle Rush on Chess.com: timed puzzle mode. Addictive and genuinely improves your pattern recognition.

Endgame studies: complete chess games where you must find the unique winning move. Chess-focused apps have databases of famous endgame compositions.

Daily puzzles: both Chess.com and Lichess have daily puzzles. Great 2-minute warmup before actual games.

What are the best chess learning resources?

Lichess Studies is the best free chess learning resource, offering user-made courses on openings, strategies, and tactics. Chess.com Lessons provides structured paid courses from beginner to expert. Chessable specializes in flashcard-based opening training, and YouTube channels like ChessMood and ChessNetwork offer free video instruction.

If you're not trying to just play chess but actually get better:

What are the strongest AI chess engines?

Stockfish is the strongest AI chess engine ever made and is completely free. Leela Chess Zero uses neural networks and occasionally produces startlingly creative moves. AlphaZero (DeepMind's engine) taught itself chess in four hours but is not freely available. Most online platforms include engine analysis after games.

Most online chess platforms include engine analysis after games. Use this. Reviewing your games with engine feedback is the single best way to improve.

The chess as art

Chess transcends gaming into narrative art through historic matches like Fischer vs. Spassky (1972) and Kasparov vs. Karpov. Films and shows including The Queen's Gambit and Searching for Bobby Fischer capture the drama of competitive chess, while The Wire's famous chess scene remains one of television's best uses of the game as metaphor.

Chess Stories: memorable games from history. Fischer-Spassky 1972. Kasparov-Karpov matches. Carlsen-Caruana. These are dramas told through chess boards.

The films The Queen's Gambit and Searching for Bobby Fischer show chess as narrative art.

The Wire: Chess Scene (from the HBO show) is one of the best explanations of chess-as-sociology ever filmed.

What we make at Choost

Choost Games doesn't make chess games directly, but our strategic card game Granny's Gambit shares chess's core "plan several moves ahead" thinking. It's abstract card-based combat with deep decision-making layers. For more strategy picks, check out our best turn-based strategy games and best tactics games roundups on the blog.

We don't make chess games. The strategic design space has 1500 years of development behind it and we wouldn't compete with that seriously. But we respect chess's timeless design. Granny's Gambit is our take on strategic card-based combat, which shares some abstract similarity to chess's "plan several moves ahead" thinking. For more strategy content, the best turn based strategy games and best tactics games posts have more.

The short answer

For pure online chess, use Chess.com or Lichess. For the best chess-themed indie game, play Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate. For chess-adjacent tactics, Into the Breach is the top pick. For variants, try Chess960 or Crazyhouse on Lichess. For learning, start with free Lichess Studies or Chessable. For chess drama, follow the World Championship events.

For pure chess: Chess.com or Lichess.

For chess-themed indie gem: Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate.

For chess-adjacent tactics: Into the Breach.

For variants: Chess960 or Crazyhouse on Lichess.

For learning: Lichess Studies (free) or Chessable.

For chess drama: Follow the World Championship events.

Chess isn't going anywhere. It's been 1500 years and we're still finding new things in it. Whether you play at a beginner's level or grandmaster level, the game meets you where you are and gives you endless depth to explore.