Android Central reported today that Facebook Messenger has a hidden chess game, allowing you to play the game with any of your friends.
To play, simply start a conversation with someone, then type in “@fbchess play” (without the quotes). Then you’ll need to use algebraic chess notation to move, so for instance if you want to move your King’s pawn forward you’ll type “@fbchess e4.” Then wait for your friend to move, and once they do you can be Von Miller to their Cam Newton.
I taught my kids chess years ago, but never bothered teaching them notation. This seems like a good chance to do that, and give my teenage daughter a reason to have a conversation with me. (Wikipedia has a good primer on notation if you need it.)
Disclaimer: Android Central’s editor-in-chief, Phil Nickinson, is my cousin. However, we did not discuss my plans to write this post.
Rob Huddleston
Rob, GeekDad's Gaming Editor, is a technical writer for Google (provided by HCL). He is alo college professor teaching design, programming and 3D printing, watches a ridiculous number of movies, plays as many board games as he can, and loves history, from the medieval period to the technological age. He's also the Umpire-in-Chief for his local Little League, and is a Little League Certified Tournament Umpire. His kids are a 20 year old college junior and a 16 year old high school senior. (Although there's a good chance that they're older now and this just hasn't been updated.)