Secret King chess

The piece that looks like a king is a decoy. Your real one is a pawn only you know about, or any piece at all if you pick that rule. It moves like what it is, until it has to run.

Play it now, freeAgainst a bot or online with friends. No download, no account.

How it plays

1. Pick a king. Before move one, secretly pick a pawn to be your real king.
2. Take theirs. No check. Capture their real king to win.
3. The decoy. Your old king is a decoy: losing it loses nothing.

The details

The old king

It steps one square any way and can be taken. Only you see the crossed crown; to them it looks like a king.

It moves as itself

Your real king moves exactly as the piece it is, so nobody can tell it from the rest. A pawn king promotes and stays the king.

Or it runs

It may also step one square any way, as a king. A step its own piece could not make gives it away: from then on they know.

Suspects

Tap a piece of theirs to mark it as a suspect.

Two ways

Pawns: the king hides among your pawns. Any piece: it can be any of yours, a rook, a knight, even the old king himself.

Like this? Try these

• Hidden piece chess: MasqueradeChess with their faces hidden. Take the king.
• Impostor chessOne of their pieces secretly works for you.
• Team chess with a traitor: The TraitorTeam chess. One player is secretly the Traitor.