What this article covers:
- What is Chess in the Park?
- Starting Chess in the Park in Discord
- How to Play Chess in the Park
- Chess in the Park FAQ
What is Chess in the Park?
Chess in the Park is an Activity that we've developed here at Discord for playing chess with your friends!
Starting Chess In The Park In Discord
There are many different ways you can launch Chess in the Park in the Discord app for you and your friends! Whether in a server’s voice channel, in a direct message (DM), or a group message, you can check out How to Use Apps for instructions on how to start any Activity.
Before starting any Discord Activity on the desktop app, please make sure to turn on Hardware Acceleration in User Settings > Advanced.
How to Play Chess in the Park
These instructions may look slightly different on mobile devices.
1. After opening up the game, you can tap on Create Game to create your own game or Join Game to join an existing one. If there are existing checkers games in your server, you can view or join them by selecting them.
2. If you’re creating your own game, you’ll see the following options:
- Game Name: Select Generate Game Name to generate a new name.
- Unlocked Game: If your game is unlocked, anyone can join. Locked games require a table code to join.
- Timed Game: Enabling Timed Game limits the time spent by each player on their turn.
- Color: Pick what color piece you’d like. White, black, or you can select the question mark for it to be randomly selected for you.
- Piece Set: Select a game piece style you’d like to use.
- Theme: Choose the chessboard and background theme you want.
3. After you’ve decided on everything above, tap on Create Game to create your game!
4. Each player gets a turn to move one of their chess pieces on the board. Your game piece can only move based on the type of piece it is:
- King: moves one square at a time in any direction to a neighboring square.
- Pawn: moves one square straight forward, but can move two squares on their first move. It can only move diagonally when capturing an enemy piece.
- Knight: moves in a capital L-shaped path.
- Rook: moves any number of squares within its line or row.
- Bishop: moves any number of squares diagonally.
- Queen: moves any number of squares using similar movements to both a Rook or a Bishop.
5. When you move one of your game pieces, the game will disclose to you which spaces you can move a specific piece to with a dark opaque dot and which pieces are available for capture with a red opaque dot.
6. While playing, you can also enable the Planner mode to plan and review your next moves.
7. The goal of the game is to be the first person to set up your chess pieces so that it is inevitable for you to capture the opponent’s King with your next move. If a player cannot save their King from capture, this would be called a Checkmate.
8. Need a refresher of how to play the game while in a match? Press the cogwheel in the top right corner and then tap on How to for instructions.
Chess in the Park FAQ
Q: Why is Discord adding games into voice channels?
A: We started Discord because we are all about bringing people together around gaming. As Discord has grown, we've seen more and more people use Discord to come together around games. For instance, we’ve seen people use Discord to not only play League but also to hang out and play more casual, social games with friends like Jackbox and Among Us.
Q: Is there an age requirement?
A: There is no age requirement for Chess in the Park
Q: How do I play?
A: To start a game, first join one of the voice channels. Once there, you should see the Activity Launcher (it looks like a rocket ship) in the voice channel controls. Click the Activity Launcher to open the Activity Shelf, " and then select "Chess in the Park".'
Q: How many players can play Chess in the Park?
A: An unlimited number of users can play a game of Chess at the same time, but there is a limit of 2 players per Chess game, with an unlimited number of spectators to watch. There is a limit of 2 “open” games that can be created per person (open meaning games that are waiting for another player to join.)
Q: Where can I report bugs and problems with the game?
A: You'll be able to submit a bug report by going to https://dis.gd/bugreport
For instructions on how bug reports should be submitted, please see our Help Center article: https://dis.gd/bugs
Q: How do I view/delete my Activities on Discord data? What data is tracked?
A: You can view data for Discord-developed Activities like Chess in the Park through the Discord Privacy and Safety settings. To enhance the gameplay experience, Discord Activities access and temporarily store the following user data once a user joins the Activity:
- Discord ID
- Avatar
- Username
For Activities played in a single session, user data is stored so long as the Activity remains active, even if the user leaves the Activity. Once all users leave the Activity and it is determined the Activity has ended, the user data is deleted and no longer retained.
For Activities that can be played across multiple sessions (like with Chess in the Park or Checkers in the Park), the user data above is retained.
Note: Deleting your data will remove all of your progression across these Discord-developed activities.
Q: My question isn't listed, what do I do?
A: If all is lost, please submit a ticket to our support team at https://dis.gd/contact