Ten 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 ten hand-crafted chess bots, each fronted by its own animated emoji and ranked by rating, spread across a clean ELO ladder that runs from a clumsy 200 all the way up to a razor-sharp 2000 — and all of them are completely free to play. Here is every chess bot at a glance:
StinkyPile of poo200
RotterZombie400
JinniGenie600
VladVampire800
MerlinMage1000
ShadowNinja1200
VexSupervillain1400
CapSuperhero1600
NovaAstronaut1800
SherlockDetective2000How 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. The lowest-rated bots — Stinky at 200 and Rotter at 400 — hang pieces and let you punish them, which makes them perfect beginner chess bots for your very first games. Climb higher and the resistance tightens: Merlin and Shadow play principled, solid chess, while Nova and Sherlock at the top make you earn every single point. Because the rungs are just 200 ELO apart, there is always a natural "next" bot waiting the moment you start beating the one in front of you.
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. The goal is close games against a bot near your own rating — that is where real chess improvement happens. And every result is shareable, so you can show off the moment you finally take down Sherlock at 2000.
Get hints from your AI chess coach
Stuck on a move? Tap for a hint and Coach Moji, your built-in AI chess coach, steps in to point you in the right direction — so a bot game is never just a loss, it is a lesson. And because Coach Moji speaks and writes in all 18 languages we support, that coaching always reaches you in your own language. Read how Coach Moji now coaches you across the entire app.