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Game · Strategy

Pawns

Pawns is a board game, available on Linux.

  • Completely free
  • Linux
  • Open source

At a glance

Pawns is completely free: it is open source software, and every feature is available without paying or subscribing.

Its licence (GPL-3.0+) is a copyleft open source licence: you may use, study, modify and redistribute it, including commercially; modified versions must keep the same licence.

Strengths

  • Open source code
  • Commercial use allowed

About

Pawns is a feature-rich chess application that lets you play against Stockfish engine, challenge friends in local or remote p2p play, create custom scenarios, and analyze games. Game Modes: Human vs Human - Play with a friend on the same computer Human vs Engine - Challenge Stockfish at adjustable difficulty (0-20) Engine vs Engine (E2E) - Watch two chess engines battle it out Remote Play (P2P) - Play against a friend over the network with SSL encryption Visual Customization: Multiple piece sets (Celtic, Fantasy, Eyes, Skulls, Spatial, and more) Board color themes (Classic, Wood, Green, Blue, Gray, Brown) Customizable background color behind the board Zoom with Ctrl+Mouse Wheel Toggle board markings (rank and file labels) Time Controls: Customizable time controls (1-60 minutes) Increment options (0-30 seconds) Visual clock display with progress bars Time-out detection (flag falls) Clock synchronization in remote play Tools: Scenario Builder - Create and save custom board positions Save and Load games in .chess format (full state with clocks and difficulty) PGN export for sharing games Move history with table view in the dock Game replay with media-style controls Console for engine output and UCI commands Remote Play: SSL-encrypted P2P connection Contact list with IP/port storage In-game chat DTLS encrypted push-to-talk audio LAN peer discovery via UDP broadcast UPnP port forwarding support Resign, draw offer, and stop game functionality Engine Support: Stockfish engine with Skill Level control (0-20) GNU Chess engine support (XBoard mode) Move validation and position analysis Checkmate, stalemate, and draw detection Audio Feedback: Move sounds Check notification Checkmate sound Toggle sound on/off

Description from Flathub — AppStream (Flathub)

Sources and checks

  • Facts collected from Flathub (credit card, source code, publisher, licence, free status, platforms, commercial use, version) —
  • Last technical check: 8 November 2026
  • Description from Flathub — AppStream (Flathub)

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