Google has released a new chess website that puts one fun twist on the game: it uses custom pieces that are created each time by generative AI. The game starts by letting you type in a short description for what the white pieces should look like; it’ll generate the set using its Imagen 3 AI model, then automatically come up with a related idea for black. When I asked for sci-fi-themed pieces for myself, it made fantasy-themed pieces for the opponent.
From there, you can play the game. It’s functional, but it’s far from a fully featured chess app. You can choose three difficulty settings and two time controls, but you can’t review past moves or see what pieces have been captured. The game also defaults to an isometric view of the board…