The Best Chess Bots on Chess.com to Play Against for Improvement

You can’t spend five minutes on chess.com without being asked if you want to play against their newest chess bot. For beginners, this is often an appealing prospect. A stress-free game of chess, where takebacks are allowed, and there is no judgment from your opponent. You may think of playing a bot, but then have no idea which one to choose! There are way more options these days on chess.com, especially if you have a premium account. So let's break down which bots you can and should be playing against, and also learn a little about other ways to practice and play chess.

What are Chess Bots?

What even is a chess bot? Is it an AI always playing the best move, or a computer calculating endlessly to best you? A chess bot is a chess computer tailored in a specific way. Often, they are limited in scope or ability in order to better replicate a specific rating range. A beginner should theoretically be able to play a chess bot within their general rating range and experience a fair fight. For many years, if you wanted to play a chess game without another human, you would play against a machine or computer designed for that person; now you can just hop onto chess.com.

Who Should Use Chess Bots?

Most advanced players avoid using chess bots for several reasons. The higher a computer is rated, the closer it is to just playing against Stockfish itself. Playing against Stockfish, the most famous chess engine that can reliably find pretty much the best move every time, has its uses in training, but it's not the same as getting real games against other people. Chess bots can be a good, low-stress entry point for someone who might be stressed out about playing chess.

What Makes Playing Chess Bots Low Stress

First, you don’t have another person waiting on you to play a move. It can be difficult to find beginner games without a time limit, and sometimes new players really shouldn’t limit their games with a clock because they need all the time they can get to remember the rules and find a move they want to play. Also, there is a take-back button! This can be a useful tool for a beginner as they practice not blundering. If they do blunder, there is less stress because they can just undo their last move and continue playing.

The Dangers of Chess Bots

On the other hand, having an easily accessible undo button can make it difficult to learn from your mistakes. In a real tournament game, or even a regular online match, you won’t have that back button there to help erase your mistake. It poses the risk of teaching new players bad habits, like playing recklessly, because they can always go back. Another problem with playing chess bots is that they are, unsurprisingly, not human.

Chess Bots Don’t Play Like Us!

In prepping for this article, I had some beginner students play against chess bots with the express purpose of having them notice when the low-rated bots make mistakes. I then noted whether those mistakes felt like moves real players in that rating range would make. Most of the time, the bots would play fairly good moves, even as a 100-rated bot, and then it would realize, somewhere in its program, that it was playing too well and play an inexplicably bad move. A human will usually make a mistake because of a flaw in their interpretation of the position. They moved to an unsafe square they thought was safe, but if it had been safe, the move would have made sense. They missed a fork that their opponent could play because they forgot to look at the checks in the position. But a bot, especially the very low-rated ones, will sometimes play inexplicable moves just to make sure their accuracy score is registered low enough.

Random King Moves

In a game I watched a student play, the bot played fine for a few moves, then randomly played a king move. It wasn’t prompted by their opponents' last move or to escape a check. It just moved over one square. Human beginners don’t play like that unless the king is the only piece they know how to move. This is the type of move a low-rated computer engine will play to ensure it complies with its need to avoid a high accuracy moves. I would almost expect any other move from a real beginner than king f8. I find that real beginners play very reactively. They will often respond to whatever their opponent just did. But Kf8 is a non sequitur. It comes out of nowhere.

Inexplicably Bad!

Another problem is that a low-rated bot will sometimes randomly give away material. This can happen by not playing obvious recaptures or just bizarre blunders. I think the recaptures are egregious for players who want to get better at chess, because, as I said before, most players, even very new beginners, are reactive. If you take their piece, they will likely recapture. This, of course, is not always true, but I think most new players understand that concept. So it is shocking when a low-rated bot sometimes doesn't recapture, or, worse, randomly gives away their best piece! The position below happened in the same game as above, and they moved their queen to f1, without even capturing a piece.

Chess Bot Rating

Okay, but those positions were against a level 100 chess bot. Zach, to be exact. He plays at a low enough level that I think even a very complete beginner could eventually win a game or two off him. If you know how checkmate works, you could definitely get a win. So, what rating bot should you play? I think a player rated under 1000 could, on their best day, beat all the chess bots labeled “new to chess” and even “Beginner.” It gives the highest beginner bot, rated 850. I think in reality, this is probably a little high. I think a human rated 850 is probably more difficult to beat.

What Chess Bots You Have For Free

If you don’t have a Premium Chess.com account (which you certainly don’t need in order to play online chess) There are still a number of chess bots on chess.com that you can play. On the bots page, each bot level will have a few available to play for free. There isn’t much difference between the bots besides what they say or how they look, aside from some of them having a tendency to play certain openings.

Which Chess Bots are Best?

The toughest chess bots on chess.com are probably under the “Top Player” category, where you can play against a bot of Magnus Carlsen, which is apparently rated 2882. These types of bots should also play in the style of these players, mimicking their openings and other moves. Give it a try and see how long you can survive against Magnus. You can also just play straight up against the “Engine,” which can go up to 3200 level, supposedly.

What Are Adaptive Chess Bots?

The Adaptive bots have a certain rating, but also play up or down to your skill level. So if you are making lots of mistakes, they may start blundering too. While this may lead to a closer match, I don’t think it is particularly helpful in practice. But if you are still struggling with some of the beginner bots, you could give the easiest adaptive bot a shot and see if that helps.

How to Integrate Chess Bots into Your Practice

When I have students who really enjoy playing chess bots, I tell them to keep playing! Don’t shy away from what is fun in your studying. But make sure you aren’t just playing bots as a way to escape other anxieties of playing real people. When I first started playing chess in 2020 as an adult, the simple chess.com bots were a nice, stress-free way for me to practice moving the pieces before I felt comfortable playing an online-rated chess game. Once you are ready, try a rated game and make sure you aren’t relying on the crutches that playing against bots provides.

Fun Chess Bots to Play

There are more than just Top Player bots on chess.com. You can probably find some of your favorite chess content creators as bots, or even some celebrities will have fun tie-ins. You can even play against my favorite basketball player, Luka Doncic’s bot “Luk.AI.”  

Remember the Difference Between People and Bots

If you get used to playing against low-rated bots, you might expect your opponents to give the game away or not convert their advantage. Remember, real players can find obvious moves, and their mistakes are often more nuanced than just giving away a piece on a silver platter. When you play a real game, be on the lookout for those forcing moves that can help you spot tactics, and always expect your opponent to find the best move. When I had my students playing the lower-rated bots, they wanted to play insane sacrifices because they were betting that the bot wouldn’t even recapture. That builds bad habits! Instead, make sure you play your best, no matter who your opponent is.