ChessChess › How to play ›
Computer opponents and levels
How strong each of the four levels plays, which one to start with, and what loads the first time.
The computer opponents here adjust to the level you pick — open free online chess to take them on.
The four levels
| Level | Opponent | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | AI that plays like a human | Like someone who has just learned the game: misses threats and often gives pieces away |
| Intermediate | AI that plays like a human | Like a regular club-level amateur, with sensible openings |
| Advanced | AI that plays like a human | Like an experienced player: rarely hangs pieces, but still makes mistakes |
| Master | Chess engine | Far stronger than any human, and almost never makes a mistake |
What "plays like a human" means
The AI behind the first three levels was trained on a huge number of games between real people. Its goal isn't to win; it tries to guess how a person at that level would play in the position. So it makes the same kind of mistakes real people make, instead of playing a random bad move on purpose to go easy on you, as many chess programs do.
It picks each move from a few likely candidates, so it won't always play the same move in the same position. The higher the level, the more often it picks the best one.
Master
Master is a top chess engine. It thinks for only a second or two per move, and that is already far beyond any world champion. Beating it is close to impossible. It's useful for testing your openings, or for seeing what it feels like to be completely outplayed.
Which level to choose
- New to chess: start with "Beginner". Get used to how the pieces move, and when you lose, press "Undo" and look for a better move.
- Once you can beat a level regularly, move up one.
- Losing to Master is normal.
The first load
The AI for the first three levels runs in your browser, without a server. The first time you choose one of these levels, a model of a dozen or so megabytes has to be downloaded first, and the screen shows the progress. Until it is ready, a simple practice opponent plays for it. After that it loads straight from this device and doesn't download again. If you're on mobile data, you may want to connect to Wi-Fi first.
Master needs only about 2 MB.
If this device can't run the AI, you'll see this message: "The AI could not load on this device, so a simple practice bot is playing instead." If the Master engine fails to load, you'll see: "The master engine could not load on this device, so Advanced is playing instead." Either way, you can still finish the game as usual.
Picked a level? Start your game against the computer from the chess home page.
NextGood habits for beginners →