ChessGuardians
Play on boards that challenge the imagination — from a classic office to holographic, post-apocalyptic and more. Face different engines, variants, import your games, and play against millions of players. The chess you know. The excitement you never imagined.
What if chess didn’t always have to look the same? ♟️
The same board. The same pieces. The same screen.
ChessGuardians is here to make every game feel different.
Boards that bring chess to life
From the warmth of a classic office to the quiet atmosphere of a mountain lodge, from a grand palace hall to a room filled with colorful toys — every board is a world of its own.
Explore the Attic, Classic Office, Engineers Room, Mountain Lodge, Palace Hall, Safe House, Vintage Room, and Diagram 3D.
Each board is a complete 3D environment, with its own lighting, atmosphere, and a free camera that lets you admire the game from any angle.
A chess fan until the end of the world? Safe House is your board. Built from scrap in a post-apocalyptic shelter, it’s where the game keeps going when everything else has fallen apart.
Play with the world
With the free Lichess DLC, connect to millions of players from one of the world’s largest free and open chess platforms.
Play rated games, take on challenges, chat with other players, and access your game history — all from inside ChessGuardians.
Choose the brain behind your opponent
This isn’t just a difficulty slider. ChessGuardians features multiple chess engines, each with its own playing style, strengths, and challenges.
With 10 levels of strength ranging from 600 to 3420 Elo, there’s always another challenge waiting for you.
Want to see which engine comes out on top? The Championship mode puts them against each other at maximum strength, while you sit back and watch the battle unfold.
More than classic chess
Explore a world of chess variants, each with its own rules and challenges:
Chess960, Crazyhouse, Atomic, Antichess, Three-check, Horde, Racing Kings, and King of the Hill.
Full rules. Real challenges. Completely different ways to play.
Bring any game into the world
Your games don’t have to stay where they were played.
From a file — Import PGN or FEN.
From — Bring in your games with the free DLC.
From an image — Take a photo or screenshot of a chess diagram, and let the game recognize the position.
From the puzzle library — Filter puzzles by theme and rating range.
Set up your own position — Place the pieces manually and explore ideas, study openings, analyze positions, or prepare your next move.
And every imported game is yours to explore.
Sometimes, the best part is watching and learning
Sit back and enjoy replays, live Lichess games, games, and the engine championship — all brought to life with cinematic cameras.
Watch games from the greatest masters, follow live matches, revisit your old games, or study the moments that made a difference.
With Watch Mode, you can even bring the experience to your TV or project it at an event, turning ChessGuardians into a cinematic way to share the game.
Chess is a game of possibilities.
ChessGuardians is where you discover them.