GEO CHESS
Claim countries with your friends. Declare wars. Settle every border over the board.
Two to eight players share a real world map. Draft an empire, then grow it one war at a time, and every war is decided by a single game of chess.
Sample campaign
- Ada39 countries
- Ben44 countries
- Cleo53 countries
- Alpha(bot, level 3: Casual)52 countries
Battle for Italy
Last move 12… Rxe6 · White to move
- Ada stakes
- France 13 + Andorra 1 = 14
- Cleo holds
- Italy 12
Fight this battle yourselfA five-step tutorial on this sample campaign. No account needed.
How it works
Draft, fight, score
Step 1: Draft an empire
Take turns claiming real countries until the whole map is taken, growing out from your first pick. Every country is worth 1 to 20, from its economy, population and area.
Step 2: Risk territory in chess battles
Spend a war token to attack a neighbor, staking countries of your own. One game of chess settles it: win and the target is yours, lose and your stake is theirs.
Step 3: Complete missions and compete for titles
Score points for public missions, a secret mission of your own, and titles for leading on population, land, GDP and military might. The first to 10 points wins.
A battle, by example
The battle for Italy
In the sample campaign, Ada declares war on Italy, which Cleo holds, attacking from France next door. One game of chess will decide it, with Ada, the attacker, playing White.
What the attacker risks
A stake: the country the attack comes from, plus any of the attacker’s countries connected to it, worth at least 110% of the target, rounded up. Italy is worth 12, so the stake must be worth at least 14.
12 × 110% = 13.2, rounded up toat least 14: France 13 + Andorra 1
If Ada wins
Ada takes Italy.
If Cleo wins
Cleo takes the whole stake: France and Andorra.
If it’s a draw
The defender holds: nothing changes hands, and Italy stays with Cleo.
Cleo could instead have raised the stakes or redirected the attack to a country next to Italy, and either side can offer peace terms until the game ends. How answers work
Ways to play
Live, by correspondence, or with bots
The host chooses the pace when starting a campaign, and the time control in the lobby.
Live
Everyone online at once. Battles are played on the clock, 5+3 as standard (hosts choose 3+2 to 15+10), and the board opens by itself when it’s time to play. Declarations are answered within 5 minutes.
Correspondence
Play when it suits you, on a phone or a computer. Each move is due within 24 hours as standard (hosts choose 12 to 72 hours), and answers within 24 hours. Turn on notifications to hear when it’s your move.
Bots
Short of players? The host can fill seats with bots, from Beginner (about 750) to Engine (about 3000). They draft, declare, answer and play their own games, and a bot can stand in for a player who goes quiet.
The rules
The rules in brief
- A campaign
- The host creates it and shares the invite link. Once two or more players are in, the host starts the draft, and after it the campaign moves in rounds, each one started by the host.
- War tokens
- Everyone gains 1 war token a round, up to 3, and declaring war costs one. Players declare in turns round the table, and can fortify a country instead.
- Answers
- A defender can accept, raise the stakes, or redirect the attack, and either side can offer peace terms. Silence means the war goes ahead as declared.
- Diplomacy
- Talk in the campaign channel or in private, and sign accords that stop two players declaring war on each other. Breaking one costs 20 reputation, and everyone sees it.
- Winning
- The first to 10 victory points wins, or whoever has the most once round 25 is over.
Read the complete rulesEach round step by step, every answer, deadline, mission and setting.
Ready to draw the borders?
Start a campaign, choose its settings and send the invite link to your group. Got an invite already? Open the link to join.