Mini chess
A pocket-sized game of chess on a 5×6 board. By default you play White and move first, but you can switch sides — the computer takes the other colour. The opponent is a small alpha–beta minimax engine that runs right here in your browser — nothing is sent to a server.
How it works
It's a form of minichess — the full set of pieces on a 5×6 board. Every piece keeps its normal chess moves, but on the smaller board there is no castling, no two-square first pawn move and no en passant. A pawn that reaches the far rank promotes automatically to a queen. Win by checkmating the computer's king. The game is drawn if a side has no legal move but isn't in check (stalemate), and also by threefold repetition, fifty moves with no capture or pawn move, or too little material left for either side to checkmate.
To move, tap one of your pieces — its legal destinations light up — then tap where you want it to go. The engine looks a few moves ahead (further on the harder levels) and weighs up material and board position before replying. Pick your colour from the controls (the board turns to your side), follow the running move list below the board, and mute the sound or take a move back whenever you like.