Google has a new chess game that lets you design the pieces with AI

28 November 2024, 21:15 published

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GenChess lets you design the pieces with AI then play the board
It uses the Imagen 3 image-generation engine from Google Gemini
GenChess is free to play and you can redesign the pieces as many times as you like

As well as being a main event sponsor of the 2024 World Chess Championships, Google has just released a free chess game called GenChess that brings something new to the table. GenChess is unique because it allows you to design the chess pieces you play with, using AI.

To play GenChess, simply go to the GenChess website in your browser and start designing your chess set. You can choose either a classic or creative set and then type in an AI prompt to describe the type of set you want to see.

You’ll see the prompt ‘Make a classic chess set inspired by’ at the top of the screen, and you can complete the sentence with whatever you like. So, if you fancy seeing a chess set made of ice cream, type in ‘ice cream’ and hit the ‘Generate’ button.

GenChess will then think for a few seconds as the AI generates some sample chess pieces for your approval. If you don’t like what you see, hit the ‘Regenerate Set’ button, and it will have another go. If however you do like what you see then hit the ‘Generate opponent’ button to progress to the next stage.

Don’t be afraid to let your imagination run wild with your AI prompts, since there’s no limit to how many chess sets you can design.

Cyberpunk Ninjas

ChenChess playing on a MacBook

We won! Proof if ever it was needed that man is mightier than machine (Image credit: Google/Apple)

The computer then picks a prompt to design the opponent’s piece that it thinks will go well with what you’ve chosen already, and generates the opposing chess pieces to play against you. For example, when we typed in ‘Space Soldiers’ for our chess set, the computer picked ‘Cyberpunk Ninjas’ as a good counter set.

You can now play a game of chess using the pieces, against the computer. Simply choose a difficulty level and a time for the timer, then click ‘Play chess’ to start. You’re white and it’s your go first.

To design the pieces, GenChess uses the Imagen 3 image generator that is inside the latest version of Google Gemini, and which rolled out in October. At the time we said, “Imagen 3 has a range of features that are worth exploring. For example, you can ask it to create photorealistic landscapes, richly textured oil paintings, or even claymation scenes.” All these powerful image manipulation features can be seen in action in GenChess.

The 2024 World Chess Championships are in full swing in Singapore, running from 25 November to 13 December, where we can expect to see current champion Ding Liren defending his title against the 18-year-old challenger Gukesh Dommaraju. Sadly, they will be playing with a standard chess set, not one designed by AI.