Recently Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) announced financial and operational results and revealed for the first time that more than 800 users were using its Messenger App on a daily basis. Even though Facebook mentioned that it would gradually work on making Messenger more engaging, it never revealed it had an inbuilt chess game.
Reports claim that there’s a hidden chess game in Facebook Messenger that works on the app, Facebook Web Interface and Messenger Web client.
How Does It Work
Unlike a host of stickers and emoticons, users can’t find this game in the Messenger App as long as they aren’t fully aware of how things work. To access it, they need to type “@fbchess play” and press enter. They can open Messenger App and select friends to play chess with, and then type this command in the message box for the game to appear.
Even though it sounds great to have a chess game in the Messenger App, users need to know certain Standard Algebraic Notation commands to move their pieces. Here K refers to King, Q represents Queen, N represents Knight, B represents Bishop, P represents Pawn and R represents Rook. Whenever someone types “@fbchess Pd3” his pawn will move to d3 box.
Assuming that many users will get stuck while playing the chess game, Facebook has made available a command “@fbchess help” for instant help. As soon as one types this command, a list of instructions and commands will pop up on the screen. The game will try its best to protect your king; however, if users feel like giving up in the ‘Check’ situation, they can type “@fbchess resign” and end the game right away.
Within a month of getting discovered by Reddit users, it has created a lot of buzz around the web and social media channels. Chess is not the first game that Facebook launched on its Messenger App. The first game is Draw Something, which was launched last year. Going forward, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) will look to make more such attempts to engage users and lure them to spend more time online.
