Twelve free chess bots on one ELO ladder
Playing real games is still the fastest way to improve at chess, but you do not always want a human on the other side of the board. That is exactly what Play Bots is for. You get twelve handmade chess bots, each with its own animated chess piece and rating, spread across one clean ELO ladder that runs from 0 all the way up to 3000. And every one of them is completely free.
PipPawn0
BramblePawn200
MossPawn400
JuniperKnight600
WrenKnight800
QuillKnight1000
EmberRook1200
AtlasRook1400
VesperRook1600
HalcyonKing1800
RegentKing2000
NoxKing3000Meet Pip and Nox
Pip the pawn is rated 0, and she earns that number honestly. She really does play the worst possible move, every single time. Before each move she looks at every legal option and picks the one that is worst for her own position. She hangs her pieces, walks straight into mate and ignores free material. That makes her the perfect very first opponent: you will almost certainly win, and you get to see how a game of chess is won from the first move to the last.
At the other end of the ladder waits Nox the king, rated 3000. Nox is the strongest bot on ChessRank and the biggest challenge we have. Save it for the day you want to test yourself against the very best. Even a draw against Nox is something to be proud of.
How the chess bot rating ladder works
Every bot targets a specific playing strength, so you can play against a computer opponent that matches your level. From Pip at 0 up to Regent at 2000, the bots sit exactly 200 ELO apart. The low rungs, Bramble at 200 and Moss at 400, hang pieces and let you punish them, which makes them perfect bots for your first real games. Climb higher and the resistance tightens: Quill and Ember play principled, solid chess, while Halcyon and Regent make you earn every single point. After Regent comes one big jump, a full 1000 points, straight up to Nox.
Which chess bot should you play?
Pick the bot just above your comfort zone. If you are winning easily, move up a rung. If you are getting crushed, drop one down. Close games against a bot near your own rating teach you the most, and that is where real chess improvement happens. Brand new to chess? Start with Pip. And every result is shareable, so you can show off the moment you finally beat Regent or survive a game against Nox.
Get hints from Chess Coach
Stuck on a move? Press Hint and Chess Coach, the coach built into ChessRank, points you in the right direction. That way a bot game is never just a loss, it is a lesson. Chess Coach writes in all 19 languages we support and reads its advice aloud in almost all of them. Read how Chess Coach coaches you across the whole app.