STEKIUS
Chess online at STEKIUS: play with no clock
Play nowChess is the king of board games: two players, sixteen pieces each, no luck, only thinking. It has been played for centuries all over the world, and every game is different.
At STEKIUS you play chess online for free, on a beautiful board, with no clock for the whole game: you think about every move as long as you like. You play with a friend or with bots on three levels, from beginner to strong. Below you will find the rules and how the game works here.
The board and the pieces
Two players play by the well-known rules of chess. The host plays white and makes the first move. Your pieces are always at the bottom of the screen and the opponent’s at the top.
Each player has a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. Every piece moves in its own way, and the aim is to checkmate the opponent’s king.
How you make a move
On your turn you tap a piece and then the square where you want it to go, or you drag it there. Where it can go a dot appears, and whatever it can capture is marked with a ring. Only legal moves are allowed, so you do not need to worry about making a wrong move by accident.
Castling, en passant and promotion
All the special moves of chess are there. Castling moves the king and a rook together to protect the king. En passant lets a pawn capture an opponent’s pawn that has just passed next to it with a double step.
Promotion happens when a pawn reaches the last row: it becomes the piece you choose, usually a queen.
No clock, with a time per move
There is no clock for the whole game, so that you do not have to hurry. Every move, though, has a maximum number of minutes, so that nobody waits forever. An hourglass shows how much time is left and warns you in the last minute. If the time runs out, a sensible move is made for you.
Mate, draws and resigning
The game ends with checkmate. A draw happens in these cases:
- Stalemate: the player to move has no legal move, but their king is not in check.
- The same position appears three times.
- Fifty moves each without a capture or a pawn move.
- Too few pieces are left for a mate.
- One player offers a draw and the other accepts it.
The bots
The bots have three levels: easy, for beginners, medium and hard. They are the best way to learn, to try openings or to play a game whenever you like. You can also resign whenever you think the game is decided.
Play with a friend
To play with a friend, you open a table with a seat for a person and get a room code and an invitation link. You send them over and your friend joins from their own device, wherever they are, with their own account. Since there is no clock for the whole game, you can play at your own pace, as if you were sitting at the same table.
You can also open a public table, so that anyone looking for an opponent at that moment can ask to sit down. The board works just as comfortably on a phone, a tablet and a computer.
Chips and leaving
The winner wins virtual chips, while the loser loses fewer. With bots, the chips for a win depend on their level, and a draw with bots also gives something. After the first moves, whoever leaves pays a leave penalty. When the game is over, you leave freely.
Questions
Does chess have a clock here?
Not for the whole game. There is only a maximum time for each move, with an hourglass that warns you.
Who plays white?
The host, that is whoever opened the table, and they make the first move.
Are castling and en passant there?
Yes, all the special moves: castling, en passant and promotion to any piece you choose.
How strong are the bots?
They have three levels: easy for beginners, medium and hard.
