How it works

Browser chess with no download: how WebXR makes it possible

No app store, no install, no side-loading. Here is how a modern browser runs a sculpted 3-D board, a real chess engine, online play, and even mixed reality.

“No download” is not a marketing trick — a modern browser really can run a full 3-D chess game, a strong engine, live online play, and even virtual and mixed reality, all from a single URL. Three web platform technologies make it possible. Here is what each one does.

WebGL renders the 3-D board

The sculpted pieces, the warm wood board, the lighting, and the capture effects are all drawn with WebGL, the browser's hardware-accelerated 3-D graphics API. It talks to your device's GPU the same way a native game would, which is why the board can look three-dimensional and animate smoothly on a phone, a laptop, or a headset without any plug-in.

WebAssembly runs the chess engine

Analysis and the computer opponent are powered by Stockfish, one of the strongest chess engines in the world, compiled to WebAssembly. WebAssembly runs near-native-speed code safely inside the browser tab, so the engine thinks on your device — your moves are not shipped off to a server to be calculated. You can play the machine at several difficulty levels with nothing to install.

WebXR adds virtual and mixed reality

WebXR is the open standard that lets a web page request an immersive session from a headset — VR, or mixed reality with passthrough — and read tracked hands and controllers. Because it is a standard, the same page works across headset browsers instead of needing a separate store app per device. That is the whole reason a browser tab can put a chess board on your real table. If you have a headset, see the Quest 3 VR & MR guide.

Why no app store?

Native apps ship through stores, need installation and updates, and are built separately for each platform. A web app skips all of that: you always get the current version, there is nothing to update, and one address works on every device with a capable browser. It also means less to trust — the page runs in the browser's sandbox and cannot quietly install anything.

Is it really cross-platform?

Yes. The same account and the same URL work on a phone, a tablet, a desktop, and a headset, in any combination. Start a game on your laptop, share a six-character room code, and a friend can join from a phone while you step into VR — the game state stays in sync across all of them. You can see who is climbing the ranked ladder from any of them.