Schness

Play · watch · experiment

Bot arena

Your move

White to move

Black reserve
White reserve

Position editor

Set the board

Choose a piece, then a square. Each missing rook, bishop, or knight goes to its owner’s reserve.

How to play

Schness in four rules

  1. The board is 4 × 4Files a–d, ranks 1–4. White moves up the board, Black moves down.
  2. Kings go down firstWhite places their king anywhere on rank 1, then Black places theirs on rank 4. Play begins with White.
  3. Move or deployOn your turn, either move a piece on the board by normal chess rules, or take a piece from your reserve and place it on any empty square. A deployed piece may not immediately check the opposing king.
  4. Captures come backCapturing does not remove a piece. It goes to the reserve of the player who owned it, ready to be deployed again, so material never leaves the game. Win by checkmate.

You can reopen this from Rules in the header at any time.