Quantum Chess hit 1.0 today. The remaster soft-launched in May and has been under continuous development since. Sound, replays, in-game guides, puzzle packs, correspondence, keyboard-only play, a proper mobile pass. And with it, a feature that we've always wanted to create. A way to experiment with different ways to play Quantum Chess... The Alchemy League ships today.
The Alchemy League
A seasonal online ladder where every season changes the rules of quantum chess, without touching the standard game you already know. Fresh rating each season, live or correspondence.
Season 1 removes merge moves and adds a phase dial beside the board. The dial puts a quarter-turn phase rotation on your next move. Phase is invisible on its own, but split a piece back onto one of its own halves and the two halves interfere. In the simplest case, with the interference played right after the split, the dial at rest gives a coin flip, one click lands the piece wholly on one square, and three clicks wholly on the other. That is specific to the most basic state, though. Other moves can change the phase or entanglement between pieces, and mastering the effect means learning to read the phase and entanglement overlays on the board. The dial turns a coin flip into a choice. And with merges gone, a phased split is the only way to make a split piece whole again.
Season 1 runs October 1 to January 1. The queue is open now for unrated games under the season rules, and there's a pass-and-play practice board for learning the dial. Playing rated league games earns the Alchemy board theme when the season ends.
Badges
Play now earns badges you wear beside your name in matches, on the leaderboards, and on your profile. Click any badge anywhere to see it full size and wear it.
- The league ladder: Nigredo for playing, Albedo and Citrinitas for wins. Once the community plays 500 rated league games, everyone who took part earns Prima Materia and eight rank badges go live, from Vitriol at top 100 to Magnum Opus for reaching #1.
- Lifetime tracks: online games from Bell Pair to Einstein-Rosen Bridge at 500, AI games from Turing Test to Maxwell's Demon for beating the Hard AI, and leaderboard positions from Ground State to Quantum Supremacy for #1.
- Feats: quantum moments like Copenhagen, a win by measuring the enemy king out of existence, and Decoherence, the badge of shame for measuring your own king to death. Win streaks earn Coherence, Phase Lock, and Pure State.
Every game you've already played counted. Badges you earned before badges existed are waiting the next time you sign in (if possible).
Achievements
The whole badge set mirrors into Steam achievements.
What your Steam copy includes
Your purchase is the full desktop game, every achievement, friend challenges through Steam's own invite picker, and six months of premium included. Link your Steam account in the game to redeem it.
Premium unlocks:
- Wearing every badge you earn. Free accounts can wear some of them; premium wears them all.
- The full puzzle library: every official pack plus unlimited community puzzles.
- Unlimited correspondence games. The free tier runs one at a time.
- The Hard AI, and uploading an engine of your own to play against.
- Analysis mode with the full quantum state at every ply, and deeper engine evaluation.
- Alchemy League rules after a season ends. Season 1's phase dial stays playable for premium members after January 1.
And the rest of 1.0
- Premoves actually work: they queue, show on the board, and tell you if they became illegal.
- The AI plays on past move 64 and no longer resigns instead of moving in lost positions.
- Online games show both players' real usernames on the nameplates.
- The whole game is playable from the keyboard, and phones got a full usability pass.
- Undo in pass-and-play games, two new puzzle packs, and a long list of fixes to online rooms, draw offers, and correspondence play.
Season 1 starts October 1. Nobody has ever been good at this variant, and for about five more weeks, nobody is. See you on the ladder.