Chessarena io is a real-time multiplayer chess strategy where pieces move without taking turns and champion abilities can mess with a position that looked completely safe a second ago.

How to play

The pieces still follow familiar chess movement, so bishops go diagonally, rooks take straight lines and knights jump. The big change is timing. Several pieces can be moving around the board while your opponent is planning another move, so staring at one attack for too long is a good way to miss something on the other side. Keep your king covered, watch cooldowns and don't throw every piece forward just because the game lets you move fast.

Chessarena io also gives each champion a passive and active abilities. Q and E trigger the two active skills shown on the screen. They can turn a normal chess exchange into something much less predictable, so burning both abilities on the first decent chance is usually pretty mid.

Game modes

There are 1v1 duels, Battle Royale with many kings on one huge board, four-player King of the Hill and an endless single-player Survival mode. Practice is useful for testing movement, abilities and weird positions without having to learn them during a real match.

Tips

• Keep an escape square available for your king
• Watch more than one part of the board because moves happen at the same time
• Save an ability for the moment when it actually changes an exchange

Controls

• Mouse to select and move pieces
• Q for ability
• E for ability
• Tab for options
• Space to pause in Practice
• R to reset Practice
• S to set up Practice
• [ ] to change Practice speed