Chessception

Chess you already know. Combat you've never seen.

Chessception keeps standard chess movement but adds combat. Every piece has damage and HP, so a capture can wound a piece instead of removing it. Play it free in your browser at chessception.com.

What makes it different

• Damage and HP: pawns 2/2, major pieces 2/4, queen 4/4. The first king to reach 0 HP loses, so there is no checkmate or stalemate.
• Area attacks: rooks hit perpendicular to their movement, bishops splash diagonal corners, queens sweep a cone.
• Auras and counters: knights create damage-doubling auras, kings halve incoming damage for neighbours, surviving pawns counter-attack.
• Promotion: restore a lost major piece or add a second queen, at full HP.

Game modes

• vs AI: five difficulty tiers from 600 to 2300 ELO, free, no account needed.
• Casual PvP: real-time multiplayer with a rematch queue and friends list (free account).
• Ranked: Elo/MMR matchmaking and a global leaderboard.

Status

Chessception is currently in open beta. Feedback is very welcome.

AI disclosure

The game was built with the help of generative AI tools (code written with Claude Code) and the soundtrack was created with an AI music toolkit.