How to play chess with a friend on the same device

Lay the phone flat between you or sit side by side at a laptop, open a two-player board in the browser and take turns. The free 1vs1 board needs no account and comes with a chess clock and three ways to sit. It’s one screen only, so if you each want your own phone you need an online game and a link.

Can you play chess with a friend on the same phone or computer?

Yes. You share one screen and take turns, same as over a real board. The board only takes legal moves, so nobody castles out of check. It also calls mate and stalemate by itself, which saves a lot of arguing.

You can do it in the browser or in an app. The browser is quicker, since there’s nothing to install and nobody has to sign in.

How do you play two on one screen?

Open the board

Go to the 1vs1 board on the phone, tablet or laptop you’re sharing.

Pick a clock, or no clock

Choose a time control like 3+2 or 10+0, set your own minutes and increment, or play with no clock at all.

Pick your seats

Same side, Pass the phone or Face to face. There’s a table for that below.

Start and move

White moves first. Drag a piece, or tap it and then tap the square it goes to. The lit name plate shows whose turn it is.

Misclicked? Take it back

Take back undoes the last move and puts both clocks back where they were, paused. Nobody loses time over a slip of the finger.

How should you sit at one phone or laptop?

That depends on the table. Pick the right seat and nobody has to read the position upside down.

If the phone is lying flat between you, go for Face to face. It feels the most like sitting across a real board, because you each get your own pieces the right way up and your own clock facing you.

Which clock should you pick?

For a relaxed game with a friend, 10+0 gives you time to think and is over in twenty minutes at most. If you both play a lot of blitz online, 3+2 will feel familiar. There’s also 1+0, 5+0, 15+10 and 30+0, or you can set your own.

Black’s clock starts after White’s first move, and the side to move always has the lit clock. When you get low on time the clock turns red, and in the last ten seconds it shows tenths. Pause stops both clocks. They also stop if you switch app or tab, so taking a call won’t get you flagged.

If your flag falls you lose, unless your opponent has nothing left to mate with. Then it’s a draw, same as over the board.

How do you play a friend in person on the chess.com app?

In the chess.com app, go to Play, then More, then Play in Person. It works on iPhone and Android, but you need the app installed. On a laptop, or on a phone without the app, the browser board does the job.

Can you play a friend on two different devices?

Not with a board you share on one screen. For two phones or two computers you need an online game, where one of you sends the other a link or a challenge, and you both need a connection.

Can you play chess with a friend without the internet?

With a real set, of course. The browser board has to load, so you need a connection to open it. If you often play somewhere with no signal, keep a cheap travel set in your bag.

What happens when the game ends?

Checkmate, stalemate, threefold repetition, the 50-move rule and insufficient material all end the game on the spot, so nobody has to claim a draw. The result comes up on screen and you can step back through the moves.

Nothing is saved, so closing or reloading the page ends the game. If one position keeps bugging you, set it up on the analysis board and see what the engine would have played.