On this site you can play chess against JESTER, a Java chess program written by Stéphane Nguyen.

Please note that JESTER is careware: if you enjoy using it Stéphane (and I) would appreciate it if you made a donation to a humanitarian or healthcare charity. For more details visit his website, where you'll also find a lot more Java chess goodies.

Before you start, JESTER is far too strong for beginners. But there are many ways in which you can use it to improve your chess.

Here are some ideas:






To practise the Rook move set up this position and play against JESTER.






To practise the Bishop move set up this position and play against JESTER.






To practise the Knight move set up this position and play against JESTER.






To practise the Queen move set up this position and play against JESTER.






Play an odds game against JESTER: try White in this position.






If that's too easy, give JESTER some Knights and Bishops and try again.






If you can still win, give JESTER a Rook or two and have another go.

Keep on trying until you find the right handicap level.

You can also use JESTER to practise endings.





To practise the TWO ROOK CHECKMATE set up this position. Give JESTER white and see whether it can beat you. Then take white yourself and see if you can get checkmate. You should be able to do it without using your King.






Then you could practise King and Queen against King. Here's the starting position. Can JESTER beat you? Can you beat JESTER?






You can then do the same thing with King and Rook against King. Try out this position with both colours.