Hexpiece
Place six chess pieces on the day's board to cover as many squares as you can.
Every day: One numbered chessboard a day with blocked squares, the same for every player, in two modes: Classic for the highest coverage score and Perfect for a board that can be fully covered. New puzzle: Midnight in your local time.
Hexpiece gives you a chessboard with some squares blocked out and one of each chess piece to place. Your score is the number of squares your pieces stand on or attack, and a Perfect mode asks you to cover every open square. After submitting you can see how your score compares with other players that day.
About Hexpiece
Hexpiece is a daily placement puzzle that uses chess pieces, launched in January 2026 with numbered puzzles. Despite the name, the board is a normal eight by eight grid; each day a handful of squares are walled off, and the layout is built from the date so every player sees the same one.
You get a pawn, knight, bishop, rook, queen and king, and must place exactly one of each. A square counts if a piece stands on it or attacks it. Walls cannot hold pieces and stop the bishop, rook and queen from sliding past, and pieces block each other too, while the knight jumps as usual and the pawn attacks diagonally forward as White. You can drag pieces around, undo and reset, then submit when you are happy, and a chart shows how many players reached each score.
Classic mode is about squeezing out the best score you can, while Perfect mode uses a board where a full cover exists and keeps a separate win streak. It suits chess players who like thinking about piece reach, and puzzle fans who enjoy optimisation problems with no time pressure.
How to play Hexpiece
- Pick Classic or Perfect mode at the top of the page.
- Select a piece from the tray, then click or drag it onto an open square; walls cannot be used.
- Place all six pieces (P, N, B, R, Q, K) so that together they occupy or attack as many squares as possible.
- Move or remove pieces until you are happy, then press Submit.
- Compare your score with the day's results chart, or in Perfect mode aim to cover every open square.
Tips
- Put the queen and rook where long open lines run, since walls cut their reach short.
- Keep pieces from blocking each other's lines; overlapping coverage does not add to the score.
- The knight and king are good for filling small pockets that sliding pieces cannot reach.
Questions
Is the board the same for everyone?
Yes. The board is generated from the date, so every player gets the same layout for that day's number.
Is it played on a hex board?
No. Despite the name, it uses a standard eight by eight chessboard with some squares blocked.
What counts towards the score?
Every open square that one of your pieces stands on or attacks.
When does a new puzzle appear?
At midnight in your local time; the page shows a countdown.
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