You don't start with the standard chess set. You build your own army.
Chess Draft is part army-builder, part bluff, part chess: draft your pieces
from a points budget, hide them on your half of the board, and the instant
both sides lock in, the full board is revealed — then you battle under real
chess rules. That blind setup, committing your whole formation with no idea
what your opponent is planning, is something no other chess game gives you.
HOW A MATCH WORKS
- DRAFT — You get a budget. Spend it your way: stack a queen and two rooks
for raw power, or swarm the board with pawns and knights. Every piece has
a price; every army is its own strategy.
- BLIND SETUP — Place your pieces anywhere on your half. Your opponent does
the same, unseen. Rushing your king? Loading one flank? You're betting
your whole formation on a single read.
- REVEAL — Both armies snap into view at once. Your read just paid off…
or blew up in your face.
- BATTLE — Now it's chess. Full standard rules: castling, en passant,
promotion. Outplay them on the board.
TWO WAYS TO PLAY
- CLASSIC — Balanced budget, standard piece limits. Pure draft-and-bluff.
- ARCADE — Break what a normal chess set even is. Bigger budgets, wild
armies — field up to NINE queens, swarm with knights, or take on
piece-ban challenges. Still 100% legal chess the moment the board reveals.
WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT
- No openings to memorize — every match is a brand-new position
- A real test of nerve: read your opponent before a single move is made
- Difficulty that scales across drafting, setup AND tactics — not just
engine depth
- Smart named AI opponents — honest practice partners, never fake "players"
- Built on a full standard-chess engine, so the endgame is the real thing
100% offline. Free to play. No ads interrupting your match. Single-player
vs AI, built for a quick session or a deep one.
Whether you're a chess veteran tired of memorized lines or a strategy fan
who loves drafting an army and outguessing an opponent, Chess Draft is a
fresh take on the oldest game of tactics.
Build. Hide. Reveal. Win.
(Online multiplayer and tournaments are on the way.)
Draft an army, deploy it in secret, reveal the board, and win at real chess