Borrowing a line from Black Eyed Peas, chatting with your family and friends on Facebook is “so 2008.” If you want to take your Facebook conversation one step further, challenge your FB contacts to a game of chess through Facebook Messenger.

This is the in thing right now, thanks to some pretty smart hacking. The chess game feature was discovered by “jargonaught,” a Reddit user. The Reddit thread indicated that the chess game has already been discovered for over a month now.

Let the Game Begins

To begin with, post this line into any of your Facebook Messenger conversation: @fbchess play. From that point, you will need to acquaint yourself with the standard chess notation to move the pieces. Getting familiar with these movements is necessary because its how you’ll command Facebook on your next move. For instance, if you want to move your pawn to space E4, you need to type in this command: @fbchess Pe4.

It’s worth noting that while youre using a touchscreen device (for most mobile gadgets), the interface is not as user-friendly as you can hope for. You need to rely on text commands for every chess move you make, so its imperative that you learn these notations if you wish to beat your Facebook friends in this game.

While chess is a fun game to play, this new Facebook Messenger game could’ve presented a much better experience if it utilized the touchscreen feature. But, to keep things fair for those using their desktop, the text commands are logical.

That’s pretty much all you need to do to enjoy a game of chess. Now, if you’re having trouble with the game or figuring out the movement commands, just type this in your chat window: @fbchess help. Once you send the command, Facebook will come to the rescue.

Additional Features

You may also send out some other commands to @fbchess. For example, if you’re getting bulldozed by your opponent, just type in “resign” to let your virtual chess king fall over. Now, if you want to see your numbers or check how well you’ve been playing, the game “Stats can provide you with a rundown of your previous and current matches. You can even choose what

color you prefer before you start playing. Just remember, if you’re the one who initiated the game, white always plays first. Additionally, if you want to play using a larger chess board, just click the icon of the chat menu settings and select the “See Full Conversation” option.

Facebooks Easter Eggs

Through the years, Facebook has had quite a few hidden Easter eggs that give sheer joy and entertainment to the people who find them. Whether via your favorite browser or through its mobile app, the most popular social network appreciates that users have been paying attention every step of the way. Experts who sell electronics find these little nuggets of games and entertainment a clever way of appealing to old Facebook users to be more active and luring non-FB users in to finally make an account.