WatchChess

Ying Wang

About this game

Chinese chess, played entirely on your watch.

A 9x10 board on a watch face gives you squares about three millimetres across, smaller than a fingertip. So WatchChess does not ask you to aim. Turn the rotating crown and the highlight steps through your pieces; tap anywhere on the screen to lock one in. Turn again and it steps through that piece's legal destinations; tap to play the move. Swipe right to change your mind. Nothing needs precision, and because only legal moves are ever offered, you cannot play an illegal one.

The opponent is Fairy-Stockfish, running on the watch itself. No phone, no network, no account. Four levels, from a few thousand positions per move to a quarter of a million, so it will take a game off you if you let it.

- Moves are announced: a call for a capture, another for check
- The opponent's last move is ringed at both ends, so you can see what just happened
- Captured pieces line the sides of the board in the order they fell
- Repetition is adjudicated by the engine under Asian Xiangqi Federation rules, including perpetual check and perpetual chase
- The same position will not draw the same reply twice in one game
- Undo, a clock, a move counter, sound and music, all under a long press

WatchChess is free, has no adverts, collects nothing and sends nothing anywhere. It is open source under the GPL-3.

What’s new

Pieces are back to traditional red and black characters on light faces. Fixed background music staying silent while switched on.