How Play Story Chess works
Play Story Chess is a single-player chess experience built around cinematic adventures. You make the moves against a computer opponent; the opponent is also a character in the story.
1. Choose your story
Open the story selector. The Glass Syndicate is the spy adventure, and its Part One is free with no limit. Knight of the Round Table, a King Arthur story, is free at one board per 24 hours, or included in Story Chess Premium at $4.99 a month. Other announced stories are marked coming soon.
Starting The Glass Syndicate opens level selection for a new player. Simply visiting the library does not start a game or reset an existing mission.
2. Choose a starting level
Choose Beginner, Medium, Hard, or enter a rating you already know. The current options display 300, 800, and 1200 respectively; a custom starting estimate can be from 100 to 3000.
These numbers help set the challenge. They are not a measured rating of the fictional character. Current opponents have a 1900 challenge ceiling; entering a higher rating does not create a stronger opponent beyond that ceiling.
You can change your starting estimate under Profile → Chess level. Changes apply to your next game or rematch, rather than changing the opponent in the middle of an active game.
3. Meet the character and play
The opening story places you undercover at the Aurelia Invitational in Montenegro. Your first opponent, Severin Vey, knows you as an art dealer. You need his introduction.
A briefing and scene establish the meeting. Then you play chess: moving the pieces yourself against the computer.
4. Follow the consequence
In the opening encounter, victory earns Vey's introduction to Adrian Sorel. That result leads to another location and another person whose trust matters to your mission.
The story progresses through authored scenes and encounters. It is not a promise that every individual chess move creates a different plot.
5. Continue at your own pace
In The Glass Syndicate, the operation map shows your place in the story and the sequence of connected encounters. It represents the mission, rather than a territory-conquest game. An unfinished game can be resumed. After a loss or draw, the game offers another attempt against the eligible opponent; those results do not award a victory or complete the encounter.
Without Premium, story boards beyond Part One of The Glass Syndicate are limited to one started per 24 hours. Retrying that same board inside the 24 hours is fine, and the films and replays of boards you have won are never limited.
You can begin The Glass Syndicate, or subscribe to Premium, without creating an account. Guest progress and purchases depend on the browser's guest identity remaining available. Use Save progress to connect them to an account before relying on access from another browser or device.
Read the save and account guide · See pricing and access
Is it a chess course?
The main experience is a fictional adventure played through chess. A lower starting level makes the challenge more approachable, but it is not the same thing as a structured course covering every rule or chess concept.
If you want to learn the rules before playing, see the learning options in our chess website guide.
Is it multiplayer?
Your story encounters are played against the computer. If you want another person across the board, choose a multiplayer chess service. If you want characters, a mission, and something to discover after the game, choose a story.