Rook+
Corners suddenly matter
Moves like a normal rook, plus a 1-square diagonal step. Move-only — that step can never capture.
GitHub
Classic chess. New escape routes.
Checkmate? Not if your king can teleport.
Chess Upgraded begins with the board you know, then bends it. Every capture upgrades the capturing piece, unlocking a new power: diagonal rooks, orthogonal bishops, gap-filling knights, jumping queens, sidestepping pawns, and a king teleport that turns certain doom into a comeback.
Inspired by the Way of the Knight chess variation.
Teleport ready
A familiar checkmate position becomes a puzzle again when upgraded pieces enter the board.
Upgrade the rules. Upgrade the tactics.
Capture a piece and your attacker upgrades on the spot. The original moveset stays — a new tactical option appears on top of it. One catch: every bonus move is move-only. Upgraded pieces slide onto squares they could never reach, but the bonus itself can never capture. (Kings and queens don't earn an upgrade for snacking on an unupgraded pawn — the strongest pieces have to work for theirs.)
Bishop+
No longer trapped by color
Moves like a normal bishop, plus a 1-square orthogonal step. Move-only — that step can never capture.
Knight+
Fills the gaps
Keeps the L-shape and adds a 1-square orthogonal step — covering the four squares a knight could never touch. Move-only, no captures.
Queen+
She learns to jump
Already the strongest piece on the board, the queen gains the knight's L-jump on top. Move-only — she still cannot capture via the bonus.
King+
Checkmate gets complicated
Teleports exactly 2 squares orthogonally — north, south, east, or west — and can even hop over a single piece. The landing square must be empty.
Pawn+
Sidestep and retreat
Keeps every standard pawn move, including the diagonal capture, and adds a 1-square sideways or backward step to an empty square.
♛
Promotion, upgraded
A diagonal capture into the back rank crowns a queen who is already upgraded.
Pawns still auto-queen on the last rank. A quiet promotion gives you a plain queen — but if you promote by capturing on the back rank, the same auto-upgrade-on-capture rule fires and the new queen lands with the knight L-jump already unlocked. Game-over detection respects every bonus move: an upgraded king can teleport out of would-be mates, and an upgraded rook's diagonal step can block a check.
Support the next evolution
Chess Upgraded is still growing. Donations help fund new powers, better visuals, mobile versions, and smarter computer opponents.
Multiple upgrade levels
New pieces and powers to bend the board in fresh directions.
Original art
A custom visual identity beyond classic chess symbols.
iPhone & Android
Native-feeling mobile versions for quick matches anywhere.
Stronger computer play
Better bots that understand upgraded pieces and wild endgames.
Frequently asked questions
What is Chess Upgraded?+
Chess Upgraded is a free, browser-based chess variant. It follows all standard chess rules, but every time a piece captures, the capturing piece is upgraded and gains an extra move-only ability on top of its normal moves.
How does a piece become upgraded?+
A piece is upgraded automatically the moment it captures another piece. The one exception: a king or queen capturing an unupgraded pawn does not earn an upgrade. The upgrade stays with the piece until that piece is itself captured.
What extra moves do upgraded pieces get?+
An upgraded rook also steps one square diagonally, a bishop one square orthogonally, a knight one square orthogonally, the queen gains a knight's L-jump, the king gains a two-square teleport, and a pawn can step sideways or backward. Every bonus move is move-only and can never capture.
Is Chess Upgraded free to play?+
Yes. Chess Upgraded is completely free, runs in any modern web browser, and needs no sign-up or installation.
Can I play Chess Upgraded against the computer?+
Yes. You can play another person in a public or private room, or play a built-in computer opponent that understands the upgrade rules.
Ready to escape checkmate?
Try the demo, upgrade your first piece, and discover how quickly a familiar board becomes a brand-new battlefield.
Launch game