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Standard chess, with one rule added: every time 4 pieces are captured in total — across both players, cumulative — both players swap the colour they're controlling. White becomes Black, Black becomes White. The board reorients so your pieces are always facing you. This repeats throughout the game until checkmate.

Everything else — how pieces move, check, castling, en passant, promotion — is identical to standard chess.

4 total. It doesn't matter which player is doing the capturing. The counter ticks up with every piece taken by either side. So if White takes 3 pieces and Black takes 1, that's the first swap. Then the clock resets and counts to 4 again.

Skill absolutely still matters — better players tend to win. But the game changes how skill matters. Because both players spend time on both sides of the board, a strong player can't just build one dominant plan and execute it. They have to adapt constantly, which is a genuinely different challenge.

In practice: beginners last longer, get more meaningful moments, and occasionally win. Experts get properly tested. Everyone has more fun.

Currently, games end by checkmate or stalemate only. There's no manual draw or resign option — partly by design, since EqualChess games tend to resolve more decisively than standard chess (the swap keeps introducing new dynamics), and partly to keep the leaderboard meaningful.

If a game genuinely goes on too long and both players want to stop, the simplest solution is to close the tab — the game won't save unless it reaches a natural conclusion. No harm done.

Go to Online. Enter your name and click Create New Room. You'll get a 4-letter code — share it with your opponent. They open the same page, enter the code, and the game starts automatically. No accounts, no downloads, no faff.

Yes — go to Online, enter the same room code and the exact same name you used originally. The game recognises you by name and lets you back in at the position you left. Your opponent's moves will have been saved in the meantime.

This happens if you try to join with a different name to the one you originally used. Use exactly the same name as when you created or first joined the room, and it'll let you back in without complaint.

The room stays open — the board state is saved, so if they come back later (same code, same name) the game can continue from where it left off. If neither of you returns, the room just sits there quietly until it's cleaned up automatically.

Unfinished games are not saved to the leaderboard. Both players need to reach checkmate or stalemate for the result to count.

The Stats page tracks all completed games. It shows total wins per player, win percentage, and recent results. Games are matched to players by name — so if you always use the same name, all your results build up against the same profile over time.

This means your leaderboard standing grows automatically across every game you play — local and online — as long as you use a consistent name.

Only when it reaches a natural conclusion — checkmate or stalemate. Games that are abandoned, closed mid-way, or left unfinished are not saved to the leaderboard. This keeps the stats clean and meaningful.

Not automatically — the system is name-based with no accounts. The fix going forward is simple: pick one name and stick to it. From that point all your wins will build up consistently.

No — ELO is purely for display on the player bars and in the stats page. It doesn't change how the game plays, and it doesn't get updated automatically based on results. It's just a useful reference so everyone knows roughly who they're up against.

Enter whatever your chess.com or Lichess rating is, or leave it blank. Entirely up to you.

Yes, with the standard conditions. If the king and the relevant rook haven't moved, and the squares between them are clear, and the king isn't passing through check — castling is available regardless of how many swaps have happened. The engine tracks castling rights per colour, not per player.

Promotion happens first — choose your piece — then if that move was the 4th capture, the swap triggers. You'll briefly own a shiny new queen, then it belongs to your opponent. Choose wisely and philosophically.

Yes — and this is one of the spicier parts of EqualChess. The position you were attacking as White might leave your own king exposed when you suddenly become Black. The game checks for this and will flag it immediately after the swap. Pay attention to your king's safety on both sides of the board.