Chess Folk

Just Updated

Make Chess Folk your own. Discover community-made chess sets, puzzle collections, board styles and annotated games—or create your own and share them with other players.

Build puzzles directly on the board, design your ideal chess setup, and collect games worth studying.

About the Game

Your next rival. Your first brilliant move. Your own chess club.

Settle in for a friendly game, chase a tournament victory, or discover the ideas behind a famous masterpiece. Chess Folk brings offline chess to life with hundreds of fictional rivals, guided practice with Susu the Panda, historical adventures, and a club that grows with your progress.

Play a quick match or take your time over every move. Your next opponent is always ready.

Meet rivals you’ll remember

Discover more than 300 fictional opponents with portraits, nationalities, biographies, and playing styles. Challenge patient defenders, bold attackers, promising youngsters—and a rather formidable panda.

Find opponents by country, continent, or in-game rating. Save your favorites, revisit recent opponents, and turn a close defeat into your next rematch.

Learn with Susu the Panda

Pull up a chair for an untimed practice game with Susu. Ask for hints, explore alternative moves, and retry a decision to see what changes. Choose guidance at key moments, after every move, or whenever you ask.

Build your understanding through guided lessons, chess puzzles, and the Opening Explorer. After a game, use Game Review to revisit mistakes, missed opportunities, and better continuations—then play on from an interesting position to try the ideas yourself.

Step into chess history

Travel to Paris in 1858, Havana in 1921, and New York in 1956 through illustrated historical quests.

Meet the players, discover the setting, and take your place at the board for key moments from celebrated games. Find the attacking ideas of Paul Morphy, explore Capablanca’s precision, and tackle decisions from a thirteen-year-old Bobby Fischer’s remarkable encounter with Donald Byrne.

Each campaign combines storytelling with chess challenges, with hints and explanations to help you understand why the moves matter.

Compete for your next victory

Enter offline tournaments or create your own round-robin, Swiss-system, or knockout competition with up to 64 players.

Choose the field and time control, follow pairings and standings, and return to finish your campaign. Recurring events and illustrated venues bring variety to your tournament calendar.

Track your in-game rating, climb the Chessfolk Club leagues, and build a record of results, opening statistics, and memorable games. Separate local profiles let everyone keep their own chess journey.

Create, collect, and share

Make Chess Folk your own with Steam Workshop:

• Design chess piece sets using your own artwork.

• Build puzzle collections with the in-game position and solution editor.

• Create board styles with custom colors, textures, and backgrounds.

• Put together annotated game collections with commentary and alternative lines.

Share your creations, discover other players’ work, or exchange collections directly through files.

Find your favorite place to play

Choose a clear 2D board or a 3D view, then personalize the atmosphere with different pieces, boards, and scenery. Try warm woodgrain or a translucent Frosted Glass board, and adjust background visibility to suit your taste.

Earn Club Tokens through play and learning to unlock additional cosmetics. Tokens are earned in-game and are not sold for real money.

Play your way

Enjoy bullet, blitz, rapid, classical, or custom time controls, including increment, delay, and multi-period clocks. Share the same computer for local two-player chess, or sit back and watch computer opponents compete.

Play with mouse, keyboard, or controller. Computer matches and offline tournaments work without an internet connection; Workshop browsing and downloads require one.

Import and export PGN games, set up positions, and keep exploring whenever a move sparks your curiosity.

There’s always another rival to meet, another idea to discover, and another reason to return to your chess club.

Ratings represent progress within Chess Folk and are not official federation ratings.