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HOW TO PLAY CHESS AND LADDERS

Chess and Ladders is a chess variant played on a normal 8x8 board with normal pieces — plus snakes and ladders that connect two squares. Every chess rule you know still applies; the portals add a second layer of planning on top of it.

THE BASIC RULES

  1. White moves first, and pieces move exactly as they do in chess.
  2. Castling, en passant, and pawn promotion are all legal.
  3. A move is illegal if it leaves your own king in check — including when a portal moves the piece afterwards.
  4. The game ends by checkmate, stalemate, resignation, agreed draw, or flag fall in timed games.

SNAKES AND LADDERS

Four to six snakes and four to six ladders are generated at the start of every game, so no two boards are alike. Each portal links a lower square to a higher one:

  • Ladders lift a piece from the base square up to the top square.
  • Snakes drop a piece from the head square down to the tail square.
  • Portals work in both directions from either end, and when you land you decide whether to travel.
  • If travelling would expose your king, that option is blocked — and if staying would expose it, staying is blocked instead.

PORTAL STRATEGY

Attack from nowhere

A knight or bishop that lands on a ladder can appear deep in enemy territory the same turn. Look for ladders whose top square attacks the enemy king, queen, or an undefended rook — a quiet developing move can become a fork.

Bait the snakes

Leaving a defended piece next to a snake head tempts your opponent into a capture that immediately drags their attacker back to their own half. Snakes are strongest used as traps, not avoided.

Guard the exits

Portal exits are as important as the entrances. Controlling a ladder's top square means an enemy piece that climbs it simply gets captured, which effectively removes the ladder from your opponent's plans.

King safety changes

A pawn wall is not enough when a ladder reaches behind it. Before castling, check which portals land near your king, and keep a defender on those squares.

PROMOTION

When a pawn reaches the far rank you choose a queen, rook, bishop, or knight. Because ladders can send a pawn forwards, promotions arrive far earlier than in classical chess — watch for pawns one ladder away from the eighth rank.

GAME MODES AND CLOCKS

  • Play vs CPU — easy, medium, or hard, untimed.
  • Play with a friend — online rooms with a code, rated with ELO, in Bullet (under 3 min), Blitz (3-9 min), or Rapid (10-59 min) with optional increments such as 3+2 or 10+5.
  • Pass and play — one device, two players.
  • Daily puzzle — three new positional puzzles each day, built around portal tactics.

TIPS FOR NEW PLAYERS

  • Scan both ends of every portal before you move — the board is different each game.
  • Develop towards ladders you control, and keep your queen away from snake heads.
  • Practise against the easy CPU first, then try the daily puzzle to learn portal patterns.

Ready to play? Start a game of Chess and Ladders, try the daily puzzle, or see the leaderboard.