SL CHESS SYSTEM by NIKOTIN

Brand new to chess itself? Start with our 10-minute beginner's guide before using the board — you'll understand every piece and rule before your first game.

Rez the chess board in-world. Click the engraved "Click to start" plate that sits above the controller. A start menu opens with the following options:

Start Menu

• Solo — Play both sides yourself. Great for practice or studying openings.
• Duel — Challenge another player in a 1v1 match. A dialog lists all avatars within 10 meters so you can pick your opponent. After you choose, you are prompted to pick Ranked (counts on the leaderboard) or Casual (private game, not recorded). Your opponent gets an Accept / Decline dialog before the game starts.
• AI — Play against the built-in chess engine. You will be asked to choose a difficulty level (Rookie / Smart / Genius) and your color (White, Black, or Random).
• Timer — Quick access to the Timer menu, so you can pick your time control before choosing a game mode.
• Showcase — Toggle ambient display mode that arranges the pieces around the board for decorative use when not playing. Available between games only.
• Leaderboard — Opens the online leaderboard directly in your browser.

Moving Pieces

Click a piece to select it, then click the destination square to move. If Hints are enabled, blue highlights will show all legal moves for the selected piece.

Special Moves

• Castling — Click your King, then click the square two squares toward the Rook. The Rook moves automatically.
• En Passant — Capture an opponent's pawn that just moved two squares forward by moving diagonally behind it. The system handles it automatically.
• Pawn Promotion — When your pawn reaches the last rank, a dialog lets you choose which piece to promote to (Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight). If you don't pick within 60 seconds, it auto-promotes to Queen.

Game End Conditions

• Checkmate — The game ends automatically when a King is checkmated.
• Stalemate — Automatic draw if the player to move has no legal moves but is not in check.
• Insufficient Material — Automatic draw when neither side can possibly checkmate (e.g. King vs King, King + Bishop vs King).
• Threefold repetition — Auto-detected draw when the same position is reached three times.
• 50-move rule — Auto-detected draw when 50 moves pass without a pawn move or capture.
• Fivefold repetition / 75-move rule — FIDE automatic stop conditions for runaway games. Triggered when the same position repeats five times, or 75 moves pass without a pawn move or capture, even without a draw claim.
• Resign — Forfeit the game at any time via the controller.
• Draw — Propose a draw to your opponent via the controller. They can accept, decline, or simply make a move — any move automatically declines the offer.
• Timeout — If the timer is enabled, running out of time loses the game.

When you select AI mode, you will be asked to pick a difficulty level and your color (White, Black, or Random). Each level has its own play style:

• Rookie — Easy and unpredictable. Makes surprising moves, perfect for casual play or beginners.
• Smart — Medium difficulty. Avoids blunders and plays solid, consistent chess.
• Genius — Strong club-level AI. Plays opening theory (60+ moves across 17 main lines), looks several moves ahead with quiescence search, evaluates pawn structure, and finishes technical endgames (K+Q vs K, K+R vs K). Capable of tactical play but not master-strength — expect an occasional misstep, just like a strong club player.

The controller is a small object next to the board with 3 interactive buttons. Each button opens a different settings menu:

Hints menu (light bulb icon)

The Hints menu groups three independent visual toggles:

• HINTS — the move-suggestion orbs that appear when you click a piece. Yellow for the selected piece, blue for legal moves, red for enemy pieces you can capture.
• PREVIOUS — the warm-gold tint on the from and to squares of the previous move. Helps you see what just moved.
• CEMETERY — the captured pieces display on the side of the board. Sorted by piece type. Toggle off if you prefer a cleaner board.

Timer (hourglass icon)

Set the chess clock with Fischer-style time controls (base time + per-move increment). The Timer menu groups time controls into 4 categories plus options:

• Bullet — 1-2 minute games (1+0, 1+1, 2+1)
• Blitz — 3-5 minute games (3+0, 3+2, 5+0, 5+3)
• Rapid — 10-15 minute games (10+0, 10+5, 15+10) — default 10+5
• Classic — 30-60 minute games (30+20, 60+0)
• Custom — type any base (up to 60 min) and increment (up to 120 sec) for formats outside the presets
• Floating / Built-in — choose between the legacy floating-text timer and the new built-in mesh clock embedded in the board
• On/Off — enable or disable the timer entirely

Reset menu (arrow icon)

Opens the in-game options dialog:

• Confirm — Confirm and reset the board to its starting position.
• Draw — Propose a draw to your opponent. They can accept, decline, or simply make a move (which auto-declines).
• Resign — Forfeit the current game. Your opponent wins.
• Cancel — Close the menu without doing anything.

Notation (wood base)

Toggle algebraic notation display. When enabled, each move is displayed in standard chess notation (e.g. e4, Nf3, O-O for castling).

How it Works

• Every new player starts at 1200 Elo.
• Only Ranked Duel games between two human players affect your rating.
• Solo, AI, and Casual games are never ranked.
• Ratings are updated automatically after each ranked game using the standard Elo formula (K=32).

Accessing the Leaderboard

• Click the board and select Leaderboard from the game menu.
• Or visit sl-chess.com directly in your browser.

After a ranked Duel game ends, each player receives a personalized link that opens directly to their profile page with updated Elo, game history, and stats. Casual games do not trigger this link since they are not recorded.

Every ranked Duel game is recorded move by move. You can replay any past game from a player's profile and review exactly what happened. Casual games are not recorded and cannot be replayed.

Opening the Replayer

• On the website, open a player profile and click any game in the Recent Games list. The interactive replayer opens with the full match.
• Use the navigation buttons (or the ← / → keyboard arrows) to step through the moves. Click any move in the side list to jump directly to that position.
• Each game has its own shareable URL like sl-chess.com/#game/72 — perfect for sharing interesting matches with friends or in chat.

Download PGN

PGN (Portable Game Notation) is the universal chess file format. The "Download PGN" button exports a .pgn file containing the full game, compatible with Lichess, chess.com, ChessBase, Stockfish, and every other chess tool.

Analyze on Lichess

The "Analyze on Lichess" button imports the game into Lichess with one click. You get free Stockfish computer analysis, move-by-move evaluation, blunder detection, and opening identification — all without needing a Lichess account.

• The board owner always has full access to the controller and settings.
• During a game, only the active players can use the controller and interact with the board.
• Spectators can watch the game but cannot move pieces or change settings.
• Game messages (move confirmations, check alerts, etc.) are sent privately to the players only — spectators will not see them in chat.