This article contains everything you need to know about Arkadium’s Multiplayer Chess Online Game.
Multiplayer Chess Online is a game of Chess that you can play against other real opponents through
the Internet. You can play with strangers, play privately with friends, or even play with other people next to you in your own device.
How to play
This is the game's starting screen. You will have several different options.
- Quick Play allows you to start a new game right away without any sort of complication. Simply press it, and you'll arrive at a room to play chess against an online opponent.
- New Room will create a brand new room, where you can await an opponent. This can be an online stranger should you decide to open your room's access, or should you like a private match, you can set one up with a friend.
- Local Play allows you to play the game of chess with someone next to you.
- Rooms. These are the public rooms already created by other players. You can see the player count on the side. You can join a room to play a match, or to watch two players play their own match.
- Sound options allows you to control the sound of the music and game actions to your liking.
Quick Play
By selecting Quick Play, you will open the quick menu. Here, you can pick on whether you'd like to play a public or private game which refers to being open to other public players or not, and in case no players quickly respond for a match, you're placed with a computer opponent, called a "bot". You can pick out the bot's difficulty in the menu.
The bot has a wide range of difficulty values to choose from, all selected from professional chess rankings.
New Room
By selecting New Room, you'll be able to choose through a number of options to make your match to your liking. Selecting between Public or Private opens your room to other players or only to those of your liking. You can select "Bot Count" to choose the number of bots in the room.
By choosing between Presets and Advanced, you can choose whether you'd like the room to have particular match rules, or simply be the default.
By choosing Advanced, you can pick between a few options. You can choose how much time a player has to make a move in the game, the maximum number of players allowed in a room, and by picking the Host vs Everyone Else option, you'll be able to have as many users as you'd like in a room, and play against all of them in turn.
Selecting Save as Preset will save your preferences as an extra preset, so that you can choose it directly when creating a new room, to avoid having to set the rules each time. You'll be asked to name your preset if you choose to.
It will then be available from the Presets. You can delete it by pressing the trash can icon on the top right of it.
Local Play
When choosing Local Play, you'll have the same options to choose from as before, but you will not be creating a new online room. Instead, you'll be playing with a local opponent, someone next to you. Click Play to begin the match.
The game
When playing the game, you will see this screen. It's important to recognize all of the game's play elements, in order to have better control over your match.
- In this area, the player and the opponent are marked. You can see each player's piece color, as well as each one's display pictures. In this case, one of the players is a bot.
- This is the board. Each player may, in their own turn, move the pieces according to the rules. You achieve this by clicking on the piece, and clicking where it needs to go. In the below image, a pawn was clicked at the beginning of the match. It may move one or two spaces, as indicated.
- In this area, all of the past plays are described. You may click on each of them to move the entire board to that specific play should you choose, so that you may best strategize your next move.
- By choosing to Spectate, you can watch the match instead of playing. This will forfeit the current match that you're playing in your opponent's favor.
Tips
Basic Tips
Control the Center: Aim to control the center of the board (the d4, d5, e4, and e5 squares) with your pawns and pieces. This gives your pieces more mobility and control over the game.
Develop Your Pieces Early: Get your knights and bishops out early, so they can control key squares and prepare for an attack. Avoid moving the same piece multiple times in the opening unless necessary.
King Safety: Castle early to protect your king. Castling also connects your rooks, making them more powerful.
Watch Your Opponent's Moves: Always keep an eye on your opponent's threats. Before making a move, ask yourself what your opponent's last move accomplished and if they are setting up a threat.
Avoid Moving the Queen Early: Moving your queen out too early can make it a target for your opponent’s minor pieces and pawns, which can gain valuable tempo by attacking your queen.
Intermediate Tips
Look for Forks and Pins: A fork is when one piece attacks two or more of your opponent's pieces at once. A pin is when one piece can't move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it. Both are powerful tactics.
Control Open Files with Rooks: Place your rooks on open files (columns with no pawns) where they can control more squares and potentially penetrate your opponent’s position.
Pawn Structure: Be mindful of your pawn structure. Avoid creating isolated, doubled, or backward pawns, as they can become weaknesses.
Piece Coordination: Ensure your pieces are working together. A coordinated attack is much stronger than pieces acting independently.
Endgame Awareness: As you approach the endgame, focus on king activity. In many endgames, the king becomes a powerful piece, and getting it to the center of the board is often crucial.
Advanced Tips
Study Opening Theory: Familiarize yourself with a few key openings that you enjoy playing. Understanding the main lines and typical ideas can give you a strong start.
Understand Key Endgame Principles: Learn basic endgame principles, such as opposition, the rule of the square, and how to checkmate with a king and rook versus a king.
Use Tactics Trainers: There are many online tools available that help you practice tactics. Regular use can improve your ability to spot tactical opportunities.
Analyze Your Games: After each game, take some time to review your moves and your opponent's moves. Look for mistakes and missed opportunities. Many online platforms offer computer analysis to help with this.
Stay Calm and Focused: Avoid rushing your moves, especially in critical positions. Take your time to think through your options and stay calm, even under pressure.
Scoring
The Multiplayer Chess game has no scoring system. There is no way to save score in the Multiplayer Chess game. This game is meant to be a fun competitive game experience to play chess online with a variety of people, without a specific scoring system or leaderboard. The game is incompatible with the regular competitive Arkadium leaderboards, and it's meant for simple fun, strategic matches.