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What are pre-moves and how do they work?
What are pre-moves and how do they work?
Updated yesterday

Pre-moving is when you make your move before your opponent takes their turn, commonly used in fast-paced games like Bullet and Blitz.

When pre-moves are enabled, you can make a move during your opponent's turn that will automatically be played as soon as it's your turn. Simply move the piece as if it were your turn, and the move will be highlighted in red on the board:

In the above picture, Black's move, d5, is highlighted in yellow. Black then made a pre-move, which is highlighted in red, Nc6. The knight move isn't on the board yet but will play automatically as soon as White moves, no matter what White does! For example, if White captures the pawn with exd5, Nc6 would be a very bad move!


Guidelines

Guideline

Details

Automatic Play

The pre-move will automatically play even if your opponent makes an unexpected move, which could result in a blunder.

Undoing a Pre-Move

To undo a pre-move, simply right-click or tap on the pre-moved piece.

Timing

Pre-moves are executed almost instantly, using only 0.1 seconds of your remaining time.

Illegal Pre-Moves

If your opponent's move makes your pre-move illegal, such as putting your king in check, your pre-move will be canceled, and you'll need to make a different move.

Multiple Pre-Moves

You can make up to five pre-moves during your opponent's turn. They will be played in the order you made them, subject to the limitations described above.


How to enable pre-moves

Web

  • Hover over Settings in the left-hand menu and click on All Settings.

  • Click Live Chess from the Settings menu.

  • Toggle Enable Premoves:

Mobile

Pre-moves are currently limited to one pre-move at a time on the iOS app.

  • To enable premoves on the app go to Home in the bottom menu and Tap Settings.

  • Tap Play and select Live Chess.

  • Toggle Enable Premoves:

  • On the Android app, you can set single or multiple pre-moves:

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