How many updates has chess received? (the game, not the site)

Chess Patch History

Patch notes v1.3

• Checkmate is now required to win. You can no longer win by capturing all pieces other than the King.

Patch notes v1.4

• Pawn buff: Pawns that reach the other side of the board can now be promoted to a Vizier, so they can move one diagonal step at a time.

Developer note: We think pieces that can't move aren't fun, so we're giving the Pawn a bit of extra flexibility in the late game.

Patch notes v1.4.1

• The Vizier has been replaced by the Queen: Queens can now move any number of spaces in all 8 directions, instead of just one diagonal step.

• Bishop buff! Bishops can move any number of spaces diagonally, instead of 2 spaces diagonally.

Developer note: We wanted to open up the game in a more aggressive direction. We'll be monitoring gameplay and making adjustments as needed.

Patch notes v1.4.2

• New King Ultimate Ability: Once per game, the King can make a knight's move or move two spaces in one direction.

Developer note: We've heard some complaints about the Queen, calling us SJWs for making an OP female character, or complaining that promoting a pawn to a second Queen supports bigamy. Our only concern is to bring you the best game possible, and we have no plans to nerf the Queen.

However, the Queen and Bishop buffs in conjunction have make the King a bit too vulnerable in the center of the board, so we're buffing the King in response by giving it a one-time ult.

• Pawns that reach the other side of the board can now be promoted to any piece, not just the Queen.

Developer note: The Vizier to Queen change was a stealth buff to the Pawn. We're happy with that change, but we wanted to provide a bit more flexibility by allowing the Pawn to become any piece.

Patch notes v1.5

• Pawn buff: Pawns can now move two spaces forward if they have not yet moved.

Developer note: We wanted to speed up the early game and make sure players can get right into the action, so we're buffing the early game Pawn.

Patch notes v1.5.1

• New Pawn Special Ability "En Passant": Immediately after a pawn moves two spaces, if it could have been captured by an opposing pawn if it had only moved one space, that opposing pawn can still capture it as if it had only moved one space.

Developer note: We expect this to be a controversial patch. We want to keep the pawn's special two-space move, but we're seeing that players are using it to bypass their opponent's defenses. We think this will strike the right balance between mobility and defense. Please let us know what you think!

Patch notes v1.6

• King Ultimate Ability, now called "Castling": Once per game, if the King and a Rook have not yet moved, the King can move two spaces toward the Rook, and the Rook can be placed on the other side of the King.

Developer note: This is a refinement of the King's ult that further protects the King while preventing it from using the ult offensively.

Patch notes v1.7

• Pawn nerf: Pawns can now be promoted only to any already captured piece.

Patch notes v1.8

• Pawn buff: Pawns can now once again be promoted to any piece, regardless of whether it's been captured.

Patch notes v1.9

• BUG FIX: We discovered a bug where the King could use its Castle ability with a newly promoted rook on the other side of the board. This was unintended and has been patched. Kings can now only Castle with rooks on the same rank.

Patch notes v2.0

• BUG FIX: We discovered an exploit where players could promote pawns to a piece of the opponent, potentially blocking the opponent's King and forcing wins or stalemates in obscure situations. This bug has been removed, and pawns can now only be promoted to a piece of the same color, as originally intended.

[Loosely based on various online sources. First two digits of version numbers reflect years / 100. Not complete and not totally accurate.]

[Edit: Added v1.9.]