Which Are the Best Free Online Chess Websites?
Free online chess is the easiest way to play competitively against players of your level. Not only that, they host official tournaments, provide interactive training, contain entire opening books, and allow you to analyze your games with powerful engines.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the best chess websites you can use for free and their features.
Top Competitors
The two largest free chess websites are Chess.com and Lichess. Online chess players are sometimes diehard fans of one or the other, while many enjoy both since each has strengths worth exploring. Let’s take a look at the two top competitors in online chess.
Chess.com
Chess.com is the world's most popular chess website. With over 100 million users, it is a vast community of chess players and enthusiasts.
This browser-based platform is the most comprehensive and beginner-friendly available for free online chess. It provides a straightforward way to access and learn about the world of chess, while playing the game in a manner that suits you.
Gameplay
One of the main selling points of Chess.com is a professional and effective interface for online play. Even without making an account, you can be paired in seconds with another player. Both on the website and as a mobile chess app, Chess.com is exceptionally intuitive and easy to navigate.
Here are some of the main benefits of gameplay:
- The games load quickly and progress with minimal lag.
- You can edit the board and pieces, changing their appearance, movement, sound, and haptics.
- There are applicable settings, such as showing you legal moves, optional premoving, and move confirmation, to avoid misclicks.
- They use an effective pairing system that matches you with players of a similar rating.
- You can choose from a wide variety of time controls, including the most common in Rapid, Bullet, and Blitz chess. Or, you can create a custom time control.
- Immediate options for game analysis. Self-analysis is free for all users, who also get one of the interactive “Game Reviews” per day.
Other Ways to Play
Chess websites offer a range of resources to learn and enjoy chess in various ways. Chess.com has the most extensive selection.
Puzzles
Chess puzzles are positions that present a unique calculation challenge, which is one way to practice your skills. Chess.com provides a daily puzzle, puzzle banks, and timed “puzzle rush” challenges.
Chess Bots
Chess.com has a wide variety of characters you can play against, who are powered by engines of different strengths. They are programmed with specific playing styles. Some even have adaptive difficulty, meaning they modify the engine strength based on your moves.
You can play these chess bots in three different ways: Assisted, Friendly, and Challenge. Assisted gives you access to all analytic tools while you play. Friendly gives you take-backs and hints, and Challenge is a straightforward game with no assistance.
Chess Lessons and Articles
Every chess term, opening, concept, and famous game will have some kind of article, blog post, or lesson on Chess.com. Whatever you are hoping to learn, you can easily find a clear and helpful explanation.
Interactive lessons are also available in which you learn via an AI “coach”.
Chess Variants
A chess variant is a version of chess with slightly different rules. For example, Chess960 randomizes the starting position of the pieces on the back rank. Another example is Duck Chess, in which a duck piece acts as a blocker, preventing pieces from moving over or through it.
Chess.com offers 3-Check, Bughouse, Chess960, Crazyhouse, Fog of War, Horde, King of the Hill, and others. These are fun ways to test your ability to grasp new rules and adapt your chess skills.
Social Features and ChessTV
Chess is a social game, and good chess websites also cover this aspect. Chess.com offers a chat function during games, which can be blocked or deactivated if desired. There are also online clubs, groups, and chats accompanying live chess games. It’s also a great place to find a chess coach.
You can also follow streams, professional chess players, and tournaments on ChessTV. Games can also be followed with live analysis and commentary.
Your Account and Statistics
You can personalize your account with a profile picture, caption, and emojis or symbols for paying members. Under the same tab, you can find your personal statistics. This includes the number of games you play, your ELO rating over time, top wins, wins vs losses and draws, and much more. Accurate statistics like these can provide you with important insights into your game.
Analysis and Engine Power
The analysis and game review features on Chess.com are powered by the strongest chess engine available: Stockfish.
The game review, board editor, and analysis functions are very intuitive and easy to use. You can load any game using the PGN analysis board, immediately analyze games you’ve just played, and explore games from history and live matches.
Fairplay
Cheating is one of the most significant problems facing online chess. Fortunately, Chess.com uses robust fair play software and allows you to report players you suspect of cheating. They frequently ban accounts aiming to ensure a fair playing field.
Pay Walls
Chess.com is free to use and offers a vast array of features. However, some features, such as unlimited game reviews, puzzle rush, and personalized lessons, are reserved for paying members. Additionally, non-paying members will see banner advertisements and promotional pop-ups for Chess.com membership.
Lichess
The main competitor to Chess.com, Lichess, has a dedicated fan base and as many as 4 million users. The website is designed to be accessible to everyone and ensure fair play.
Lichess is an incredible free platform. While it takes more time to get accustomed to its features, the website offers excellent options in gameplay, analysis, and online chess clubs.
Gameplay
While Chess.com offers a more finished, user-friendly interface, Lichess has a minimal and functional design. This allows it to load extremely quickly, even on older devices. Like Chess.com, it can host millions of games every day.
It offers a wide variety of time controls, including Classical, which is only available as a custom option on Chess.com. They also provide a wide range of daily tournaments. Official chess federations also often host tournaments on Lichess.
Other Ways to Play
Lichess also offers features for puzzles, studying chess, and watching chess live. While less diverse and complete than Chess.com, Lichess has an excellent selection of features.
Puzzles
Lichess offers a variety of ways to play puzzles for free. This includes Puzzle Streak, in which players progressively solve more difficult puzzles for as long as possible with no time limit. Next up is Puzzle Storm, in which you solve puzzles against the clock. Finally, Puzzle Racer allows you to play against friends or online players by solving puzzles as fast as possible.
AI Chess Opponent
While the Lichess bots lack some of the personality of Chess.com, they still have a great variety, mimicking different engines at different strengths. The simple “Play Against AI” function has a 1 to 8 strength setting, allowing you to easily test your abilities against the engine.
Chess Variants
Lichess also offers a wide selection of chess variants, including Crazyhouse, Chess960, King of the Hill, Three-check, Antichess, Atomic, Horde, and Racing Kings.
Learning on Lichess
The “Learn” tab on Lichess is where the website falls short compared to its competitors. While Chess.com offers a wide selection of lessons, Lichess primarily includes basic lessons on the rules of chess, focusing on piece movement, fundamental concepts, and special moves.
Correspondence Chess
Lichess also features a detailed correspondence chess option, which replicates the traditional method of playing chess via correspondence. Here, you can find players for long-form games with set time limits of at least one day.
Your Account and Statistics
Lichess also offers personalization options for the profile and a detailed set of player statistics. It takes a bit longer to learn how to navigate the page, but it is comprehensive and insightful. The “insights” function allows you to see specific data, like percentage accuracy, material imbalances, and game termination.
Analysis and Engine Power
While it takes a bit more getting used to, the Lichess analysis functions are incredibly strong and useful. You can analyze games using a powerful engine, replay the game from various positions, and explore variations using an effective interface.
Lichess is also powered by Stockfish and utilizes neural networks for many of its evaluative functions, offering some of the best chess computer analysis available.
Fairplay
Lichess has exceptionally strong anti-cheating software that identifies accounts that require review. You can also report a player you suspect via a link on their profile.
No Paywalls
One of the great things about Lichess is that it is entirely free. There are no paywalls, and every feature it offers is available to everyone.
Other Top Chess Websites
Chess.com and Lichess are the two chess websites best at providing a broad platform and free services. However, there are some other notable websites with free features, helpful databases, and regular chess news.
FIDE Online Chess Arena
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) offers this platform to host tournaments that can contribute to your official FIDE chess rating, the FIDE Online Chess Arena. This means that advanced players can even collect the norms required to earn an official chess title.
It is worth noting that these tournaments are usually only available to paying members. Nevertheless, the free arena and tournaments still give you a good sense of what professional online play is like. You can also use the platform to watch professional matches and follow FIDE tournaments.
The Internet Chess Club (ICC)
This is one of the oldest online chess platforms available. It offers free gameplay, puzzles, and lessons on an attractive and easy-to-use interface. However, many of its features are only available to paying members or those who benefit from the 30-day free trial.
Chessgames.com
While this is not a website where you can actively play chess, it has a vast database of chess games. Every day, they pick a player and a game for the front page. It is a great place to find and study historic chess games.
Conclusion
The online chess landscape is becoming more interesting, competitive, and exciting. One of the best parts is that you can play and learn about chess for free.
For those seeking a polished and comprehensive website, Chess.com is the ideal choice. On the other hand, Lichess offers an entirely free experience with almost everything that Chess.com offers. The good news is you don’t have to pick one or the other – make an account on both!