Google Labs, the experimental arm of the tech giant, has introduced a new online project that offers an interesting variation on the game of chess.
The web experiment is called GenChess, and as the name suggests, it uses Gemini Imagen 3, Google's image generation model, which allows players to customize their own chess pieces using text prompts.
To try the game, users must sign in with their Gmail account. Once logged in, you can select the Generate button and enter the theme you want for your chess set, such as something inspired by sushi or pizza.
GenChess offers two styles: Classic and Creative. The classic version resembles a traditional chess set, while the creative version is more abstract. After the model generates a complete set, players have the option to edit individual parts. For example, if the king does not meet expectations, the user can provide additional text prompts to adjust its appearance.
Once a player is satisfied with their customized chess set, they can generate opponents. In our tests, Google matched a sushi-themed set with a bot's taco-inspired chess set. Players can choose from three difficulty settings (Easy, Medium, Hard) and two timer options (5/3 or 10/0).
Image credit: Google
Google's latest web experiment is simple yet functional. A spokesperson said it is primarily “designed to demonstrate the collaboration between AI, design, and chess, allowing anyone to play with image generation.”
As part of the GenChess announcement, Google unveiled four additional chess-related initiatives to coincide with the kickoff of the World Chess Championship, which began on Monday. This includes a partnership between Google and the International Chess Federation (FIDE). FIDE is inviting people to participate in a coding challenge to create an AI chess engine on Kaggle, a Google-owned platform for data scientists and machine learning engineers.
Additionally, the Chess Gem game for Gemini will be released next month. This new conversational service allows players to participate in chess games within the Gemini app, where they can test their skills against a language model and even exchange some lighthearted banter. However, this feature is only available to Gemini Advanced subscribers.