Google’s new chess game lets you customize pieces with AI

Google has released a new chess website that puts 1 nosy twist connected the game: it uses civilization pieces that are created each clip by generative AI. The crippled starts by letting you type successful a short explanation for what the achromatic pieces should look like; it’ll make the group utilizing its Imagen 3 AI model, past automatically travel up pinch a related thought for black. When I asked for sci-fi-themed pieces for myself, it made fantasy-themed pieces for the opponent.

From there, you tin play the game. It’s functional, but it’s acold from a afloat featured chess app. You tin take 3 trouble settings and 2 clip controls, but you can’t reappraisal past moves aliases spot what pieces person been captured. The crippled besides defaults to an isometric position of the committee that is cool to look astatine but disorienting to play on, since astir chess apps are top-down. You tin alteration to a top-down position successful the game’s settings.

The crippled was released this week, timed alongside the commencement of the 2024 World Chess Championship, wherever reigning champ Ding Liren is defending his title against the 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju. Google is the event’s main sponsor, and it seems to beryllium utilizing the infinitesimal to announce a bunch of new chess products and initiatives.

Google’s different large chess announcement this week is the committedness of a forthcoming chess bot wrong Gemini. You’ll beryllium capable to play by typing your moves, and Gemini will show an updated chess committee arsenic the crippled progresses. Google doesn’t opportunity whether Gemini will beryllium gaining immoderate different chess smarts, though — right now, the AI chatbot consistently fails to accurately measure the position connected a chess committee erstwhile you upload an image of one. The caller characteristic will beryllium disposable successful December for Gemini Advanced subscribers.