Mate In Five

Mate In Five is a daily puzzle for anyone who loves chess, words, or both. Every day brings a new 5x5 board scattered with letters and chess pieces. Your job: make five captures, in the right order, so the letters you land on spell a secret five-letter word. Every move has to be a legal capture for that piece — rooks slide, bishops cut diagonally, knights hop, queens do both — so cracking the word means thinking a few moves ahead, chess-style. There's only one path to the answer, and finding it is the whole game. HOW IT WORKS - Study the board and figure out which pieces can legally capture which letters. - Chain together five captures that spell a real five-letter word. - Along the way, watch for shorter bonus words hiding in your move order — they boost your score without using up your five moves. DAILY PUZZLE, ONE SHOT Like your favorite daily word game, everyone gets the same puzzle each day. Solve it, compare your score with friends, and come back tomorrow for a new board. FEATURES - A fresh hand-checked puzzle every day, with a full archive of past puzzles to catch up on. - A scoring system that rewards efficiency and rewards spotting bonus words along the way. - A daily leaderboard to see how your solve stacks up. - A quick, guided tutorial for each piece type — no chess experience required. - Sign in with Google to sync your progress and streak across devices. - Share your result with a spoiler-free grid, just like you're used to from other daily puzzles. WHO IT'S FOR If you enjoy Wordle, chess puzzles, or logic games that reward pattern recognition, Mate In Five blends all three into a two-minute daily habit. No clocks, no openings theory, no chess rating required — just a board, some letters, and five good moves. New puzzle every day. Free to play.