Play chess against bots — 19 characters from 250 to 3200

How the ChessMess bots work: human-like characters from beginner to grandmaster strength, an adaptive bot that grows with you, and full-strength Stockfish.

Updated 28 October 2026 · 2 min read

ChessMess has 19 bot characters, each with a rating, a playing style and favourite openings — plus Echo, an adaptive bot that adjusts to you after every game.

Bots that play like people

Most chess bots play strong moves and then throw in a random blunder to seem weaker. ChessMess bots work differently: they look at several candidate moves with Stockfish and choose among them the way a person at that level would — usually a sensible move, sometimes a slip, and more accuracy as the rating goes up. Beginners grab material; club players set traps; masters squeeze small advantages.

We test the ladder by playing the bots against each other: every bot must beat the one rated just below it.

The ladder

Styles

• Aggressive — attacks the king early and likes captures.
• Solid — safe, careful, rarely hangs a piece.
• Tricky — gambits, traps and tactics.
• Positional — slowly improves pieces and grinds endgames.

Echo, the adaptive bot

Echo starts near your level and moves up 50 points when you win and down 50 when you lose, so every game stays close.

Options in every bot game

Time controls from 1 minute to 30 minutes (or no clock), play as White, Black or random, hints, takebacks, draw offers, an optional evaluation bar, and a free Game Review at the end.

Choose a bot →