Chess by Upstory

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Chess by Upstory is chess on a plain board, designed for iPhone and iPad. Play the computer, or pass the device across the table to a friend. Open the app and the game is where you left it, with no menu in the way and no clock running.

The computer plays at seven levels, from Beginner, gentle enough for a first game, to Relentless. Each level shows an approximate rating, so you can find your footing. Play as White, Black or a random side. The computer takes a moment over each reply, so its moves read as considered rather than instant.

Tap a piece to see its legal moves, then tap where it should go, or drag it there. A pawn that reaches the last rank promotes through a small picker on the board itself. Castling, en passant, checkmate, stalemate, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule and insufficient material are all handled.

Undo is unlimited. The moves are written out under the board in standard notation; tap an earlier move to look at that position, then return to the game. Captured pieces and the material lead sit beside each player. When a game ends, the result is one sentence under the board, with a button for the next game. Resigning is in Settings.

Options Choose the opponent, your side and the level for the next game. Pick one of four board colors: Stone, Slate, Sage or Walnut. Turn coordinates, legal-move markers and the last-move highlight on or off. Flip the board at any time, or have it turn each move in a two-player game. Haptics can be switched off.

On iPad the board is large, and in landscape the full move list sits beside it. With a hardware keyboard, Command-Z undoes a move, Command-N starts a new game, Command-F flips the board and Command-comma opens Settings.

Accessibility Every square has a VoiceOver label naming the square and the piece on it, and pieces can be selected and moved with VoiceOver. Text follows Dynamic Type, including accessibility sizes. With Reduce Motion on, pieces fade into place instead of sliding. Touch targets are large, text is high-contrast ink, and the app follows your device's light or dark appearance.

Chess by Upstory is one of seven Quiet games from Upstory.