The rules of CheckMess
CheckMess plays like chess: same board, same pieces, same moves. Each player adds a hidden hand of five spells chosen from fifteen, casts at most one per turn, before their move, and wins by taking the enemy king.
Updated November 9, 2026
What stays the same as in chess?
Everything you already know. The 64-square board, each side’s sixteen pieces and their moves are those of chess, castling, en passant and promotion included. If you know how a knight moves, you’ve done the hard part.
How does a turn work?
- A spell, if you like. You can cast a spell from your hand, one at most, always before your move.
- Then your move. Then you make a move, just like in chess.
- The card recharges. A played card recharges over the turns, and every capture gives you a recharge.
How do you win a game?
By taking the enemy king. Here you don’t corner the king: you take it. No check to escape. The game ends when a king falls.
The rule that changes everything. On a turn when you cast a spell, you can’t take the king. One exception: a Time Bomb can destroy it when it explodes.
How do you build your deck?
Before the game, build your hand: five cards out of fifteen spells. Your opponent will never see it.
That makes 11,628 possible hands. Five spells are free: Freeze, Potion, Trap, Tornado and Apple. The other ten unlock with Mana, earned by playing with an account or bought.
The 15 spells and what they do
Names stay in English, as in the game. Each sheet matches the card as it appears in a match. The spellbook will open up season by season: new spells will join today’s fifteen.
Freeze
Immobilize and protectFree
Freeze their best piece. Or save yours.
- Target
- Any piece, yours or the opponent’s, except a king, an already frozen piece or an enemy piece under Magic Shield.
- Effect
- It cannot move and nobody can capture it.
- Duration
- Your turn, the opponent’s turn and your next turn; on your own piece, one more opponent turn.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king.
- Good to know
- A new Freeze releases your previously frozen piece. A frozen piece survives Time Bomb. Dispel can remove the freeze.
Potion
Speed up your pawnFree
The pawn that wanted to be a queen. Right now.
- Target
- One of your pawns that is not immobilized.
- Effect
- It can move straight ahead 3 squares if it has never moved, otherwise 2, if the path is clear.
- Duration
- This turn only.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king.
- Good to know
- This advance cannot capture, gives no en passant and can reach promotion.
Trap
Set a surpriseFree
The square is empty. Or is it?
- Target
- An empty square, not a Tornado.
- Effect
- Sets a hidden trap: the opponent knows it exists, not where. The first piece that stops on it, even yours, is immobilized.
- Duration
- Armed until the start of your 3rd turn from now, that is 3 opponent turns; a caught piece is stuck for 2 of its turns.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king.
- Good to know
- A trapped piece can still be captured, king included. Castling, Swap, Backstep, Apple and Jedi also trigger the trap; passing over it does not.
Tornado
Create a moving obstacleFree
A tornado on the board. Good luck predicting it.
- Target
- An empty square with no Swamp or Tornado.
- Effect
- No piece can enter or cross this square, and no spell can target it.
- Duration
- Stays put during the opponent’s turn, then moves before every turn; vanishes at the start of your 3rd turn from now.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king.
- Good to know
- It blocks your pieces too and moves at random to an adjacent empty square, diagonals included.
Apple
Lure an enemy pawnFree
Bite. Step forward. Regret it.
- Target
- An enemy pawn that is not frozen, trapped or under Magic Shield, with a free square in front of it.
- Effect
- The pawn immediately steps one square toward your side.
- Duration
- Instant.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king, for example that pawn.
- Good to know
- Impossible onto its last rank (no promotion) or onto a Tornado. A trap on its new square triggers.
JumPack
Jump over a pawn
Your rook just learned to fly.
- Target
- One of your rooks or bishops that is not immobilized.
- Effect
- When it moves, this piece can jump over a single pawn, yours or the opponent’s.
- Duration
- This turn only.
- After the spell
- You then make your move, but none of your pieces can capture this turn.
- Good to know
- It cannot jump over another piece, two pawns, a Swamp or a Tornado.
Fog
Reduce movement range
The fog hides nothing. It disarms everything.
- Target
- An enemy rook, bishop or queen without Magic Shield or an active Fog.
- Effect
- This piece can only move one square, in its usual directions.
- Duration
- The opponent’s next 2 turns.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king.
- Good to know
- It can still capture on an adjacent square. A fogged rook cannot castle.
Swamp
Block a path
A swamp right in the middle of their path.
- Target
- An empty square with no Swamp or Tornado.
- Effect
- No piece can cross this square: a piece moving through must stop on it.
- Duration
- Until the start of your 3rd turn from now, that is 3 opponent turns.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king.
- Good to know
- Knights jump over it, a piece standing on it leaves freely, and your pieces are blocked too.
Skew
Move diagonally
The pawn that steps off the straight line.
- Target
- One of your pawns that is not immobilized.
- Effect
- It can also step one square diagonally forward onto an empty square, without capturing.
- Duration
- This turn only.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king.
- Good to know
- Its diagonal captures still work, and this step can lead to promotion.
Jedi
Push an enemy pawn back
The pawn blocking your way just stepped back.
- Target
- One of your pawns that is not immobilized, with an enemy pawn right in front of it.
- Effect
- The enemy pawn is pushed back one square toward its side; your pawn stays put.
- Duration
- Instant.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king.
- Good to know
- Impossible if the enemy pawn is frozen, trapped or under Magic Shield, or if the square behind it is occupied, a Tornado or its back rank.
Swap
Swap two neighboring allied pieces
Swap places. Swap roles.
- Target
- Two of your adjacent pieces, diagonals included, no king, neither frozen nor trapped.
- Effect
- They exchange squares and keep their effects.
- Duration
- Instant.
- After the spell
- Swap counts as your move: your turn ends at once, with no capture.
- Good to know
- No pawn may land on its last rank. Swapped pieces lose castling and the double step.
Backstep
Move a pawn back one square
In chess, a pawn never steps back. Here, it does.
- Target
- One of your pawns that is not immobilized, with a free square right behind it.
- Effect
- It steps back one square on its file, toward your side.
- Duration
- Instant.
- After the spell
- Backstep counts as your move: your turn ends at once, with no capture.
- Good to know
- It does not regain its double step and triggers a trap on its new square.
Dispel
Remove a chosen magical effect
You froze my rook? Not anymore.
- Target
- A piece, yours or the opponent’s, except a king, that carries an effect; not an enemy piece under Magic Shield.
- Effect
- Removes the chosen effect: Freeze, trap restraint, Fog or your Magic Shield.
- Duration
- Instant.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king, even the enemy piece you just unfroze.
- Good to know
- One effect per cast. Never a hidden trap, a Swamp, a Tornado or a Time Bomb.
Magic Shield
Protect against targeted enemy spells
Safe from magic. Not from pieces.
- Target
- One of your pieces, except the king.
- Effect
- The opponent can no longer target it with a spell: Freeze, Fog, Apple, Jedi or Dispel.
- Duration
- The opponent’s next 2 turns.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king.
- Good to know
- It can still be captured and still suffers traps and bombs. Recast, the shield starts again from zero, without stacking.
Time Bomb
Explode after five moves
Tick. Tock. Boom.
- Target
- An empty square with no Tornado or other bomb.
- Effect
- Places a visible bomb that does not block movement. When it explodes, it destroys the piece on its square, from either side, king included.
- Duration
- Explodes at the end of your 2nd turn from now: the opponent gets 2 turns to react.
- After the spell
- You then make a normal move; you may capture, except the king.
- Good to know
- Only its square is hit. A frozen piece survives; Magic Shield does not protect. A destroyed king loses the game; both kings at once: draw.
Which modes can you play?
Find an opponent
One search, and every duel counts toward your CheckMess Elo rating.
Your friends, one tap away
Add your friends, see who’s online, chat and invite them to play. Or share a private duel code.
Against the AI
Five levels, from Discovery to Expert, to break in a deck before taking it online.
Interactive lessons
Learn every spell move by move, on the board. Your opponent will teach you the rest.
Classic chess
No spells, three levels. To catch your breath between duels.
No account needed
Choose “Play without an account”: solo and lessons are open. A free account, with email, Google or Apple, unlocks online play, friends, the shop and Mana.
The gates are open. Your move.
Available on the App Store and Google Play.
Free, optional in-app purchases.