![Hexagonal chess](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Hexagonal_chess.svg)
This is a list of
chess variant
A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways.
"International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be co ...
s. Many thousands of variants exist. The 2007 catalogue ''The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants'' estimates that there are well over 2,000, and many more were considered too trivial for inclusion in the catalogue.
Chess-derived games
These chess variants are derived from chess by changing the board, board setup, pieces, or rules.
Standard rules and standard piece types
Many variants employ standard chess rules and mechanics, but vary the starting position of the pieces or number of pieces.
Standard rules, standard piece types, variant board
![Infinite chess](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Infinite_chess.png)
In these variants, the same pieces and rules as in chess are used, but the board is different; It can be smaller or larger, the shape of either the board or individual spaces can be non-square or modular,
or it can even be extra-dimensional or
unbounded. The movement of pieces in some variants is modified in concurrence with the geometry of the gameboard.
* Active Chess: Played on a 9×8 board, adding a queen with an extra pawn in front. Invented by G. Kuzmichov (1989), whose students tested the game, deciding that the optimal starting position was to place the second queen on the eighth or ninth files.
*
Balbo's Game: A novel-shaped board with 70 squares. Full armies for each player, minus one pawn. No castling. By G. Balbo (1974).
* Chess on a 12 by 12 board: Played on a 12×12 board. Pawns promote on the third and tenth ranks. By D. Vogel (2000).
*
Circular chess: Played on a circular board consisting of four rings, each of sixteen squares.
*
Cross chess: Cross-shaped cells, board geometry like hex chess but moves akin to normal chess (e.g. bishops have four directions, not six; queens eight, not twelve). Extra rook, knight, and pawn per side. By George Dekle Sr.
*
Cylinder chess
Cylinder chess (or cylindrical chess) is a chess variant. The game is played as if the board were a cylinder, with the left side of the board joined to the right side. Cylinder chess is one of six chess variants described by the Arabic historian A ...
: Played on a cylinder board with a- and h-files "connected". Thus a player can use them as if the a-file were next to the h-file (and vice versa).
* Decimal Chess: Played on a 10×10 board, usually add extra pieces. Some decimal chesses use only standard pieces, but others such as
Decimal Falcon-Hunter Chess use fairy pieces.
** Decimal Rettah chess: Adding a king, queen and two pawns. Invented by
V. R. Parton.
*
Double Chess: Two full armies per side on a 12×16 board, the first to mate an enemy king wins. Pawns advance up to four steps on their first move.
Capablanca found the game "remarkably interesting". Invented by Julian Hayward (1916).
* Doublewide chess: Two regular chessboards are connected for a 16×8 play surface. Each player plays with two complete sets of chess pieces.
* Flying chess: Played on a board of 8×8×2, giving a total of 128 cells. Only certain pieces can move to and from the additional level.
*
Grid chess
Grid chess is a chess variant invented by Walter Stead in 1953. It is played on a ''grid board''. This is a normal 64-square chessboard with a grid of lines further dividing it into larger squares. A single additional rule governs Grid chess: for ...
: The board is overlaid with a grid of lines. For a move to be legal, it must cross at least one of these lines.
*
Infinite chess
Infinite chess is any variation of the game of chess played on an unbounded chessboard. Versions of infinite chess have been introduced independently by multiple players, chess theorists, and mathematicians, both as a playable game and as a mod ...
: Numerous players and mathematicians have conceived of chess variations played on an unbounded chessboard.
In one example, when using "Converse's rules," the pieces and their relative starting positions are unchanged—only the board is infinitely large.
[Infinite Chess](_blank)
at ''The Chess Variant Pages''. An infinite chess scheme represented using ASCII characters.
*
Los Alamos chess
Los Alamos chess (or anti- clerical chessAnderson (1986), p. 105) is a chess variant played on a 6×6 board without bishops. This was the first chess-like game played by a computer program. This program was written at Los Alamos Scientific Lab ...
(or Anti-Clerical chess): Played on a 6×6 board without bishops. This was the first chess-like game played by a computer program.
*
Masonic Chess: Every other board rank is indented. Same as chess, with moves adapted to the new brickwork-like board. By George Dekle Sr.
*
Minichess
Minichess is a family of chess variants played with regular chess pieces and standard rules, but on a smaller board.
The motivation for these variants is to make the game simpler and shorter than standard chess. The first chess-like game implement ...
: A family of variants played with regular chess pieces and standard rules, but on a smaller board.
* Polgar reform chess: In his book ''Reform-Chess'' (1997),
László Polgár
László Polgár (born 11 May 1946) is a Hungarian chess teacher and educational psychologist. He is the father of the famous Polgár sisters: Zsuzsa, Zsófia, and Judit, whom he raised to be chess prodigies, with Judit and Zsuzsa becoming ...
proposed several variants played on board of size 5×8, 6×8, 8×6, or 9×6. The initial piece setup is determined by players in the same way as in Benko's Pre-chess. There are special rules for castling depending on the board. Polgár recommended these variants to train creativity and to speed up the game.
* Polgar Superstar Chess: Hexagonal variant played on a special star-shaped board. Invented by
László Polgár
László Polgár (born 11 May 1946) is a Hungarian chess teacher and educational psychologist. He is the father of the famous Polgár sisters: Zsuzsa, Zsófia, and Judit, whom he raised to be chess prodigies, with Judit and Zsuzsa becoming ...
(2002).
*
Rhombic Chess
Rhombic chess is a chess variant for two players created by Tony Paletta in 1980.Pritchard (1994), p. 255 The gameboard has an overall hexagonal shape and comprises 72 rhombi in three alternating colors. Each player commands a full set of stand ...
: Uses a hex-shaped board comprising 72 rhombus cells. Normal set of chess pieces move ''edgewise'' or ''pointwise''. Checkmate objective as usual. By Tony Paletta (1980).
*
Spherical chess
Spherical chess is any of several chess variants played on boards composed of fields arranged on the surface of a sphere
A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is ...
: A family of variants played on a chessboard wrapped around a sphere. The a- and h-files are adjacent. The poles are circular or octagonal and may or may not be occupied according to the variant. There are no board edges, so kings always have eight adjacent squares. Trans-polar diagonal moves mostly differentiate between variants.
Different starting position
These variants use standard boards and pieces, but the pieces start on nontraditional squares. In most such variants, the pawns are placed on their usual squares, but the position of other pieces is either randomly determined or selected by the players. The motivation for these variants is usually to nullify established
opening
Opening may refer to:
* Al-Fatiha, "The Opening", the first chapter of the Qur'an
* The Opening (album), live album by Mal Waldron
* Backgammon opening
* Chess opening
* A title sequence or opening credits
* , a term from contract bridge
* , ...
knowledge. The downside of these variants is that the initial position usually has less harmony and balance than the standard chess position.
*
Fischer Random Chess
Fischer random chess, also known as Chess960 (often read in this context as 'chess nine-sixty' instead of 'chess nine hundred sixty'), is a variation of the game of chess invented by the former world chess champion Bobby Fischer. Fischer announ ...
(or Chess960): The placement of the pieces on the first
rank
Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as:
Level or position in a hierarchical organization
* Academic rank
* Diplomatic rank
* Hierarchy
* H ...
is randomised, with the opponent's pieces mirroring it. Invented by
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11 ...
(1996).
*
Displacement chess
Displacement chess is a family of chess variants in which a few pieces are transposed in the initial standard chess position. The main goal of these variants is to negate players' knowledge of standard chess openings.
Variations
The followi ...
: Some pieces in the initial position are exchanged but the rules remain exactly the same. Some examples of this may be that the king and queen are flipped, or the knight on the b-
file
File or filing may refer to:
Mechanical tools and processes
* File (tool), a tool used to ''remove'' fine amounts of material from a workpiece
**Filing (metalworking), a material removal process in manufacturing
** Nail file, a tool used to gent ...
is traded with the bishop on the f-file.
* Pre-chess: The game starts with white and black pawns set as usual, but the initial position of other pieces is selected by the players. White first places one of their pieces on their first rank, and then Black does the same. Players continue to alternate in this manner until all pieces have been placed, with the only restriction being that bishops must be on opposite-colour squares. The game then proceeds in the usual way. Proposed by
Pal Benko
Pál C. Benkő ( hu, Benkő Pál; July 15, 1928 – August 26, 2019) was a Hungarian-American chess player, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.
Early life
Benko was born on July 15, 1928 in Amiens, France, where his ...
in 1978.
*
Transcendental Chess: Similar to
Chess960
Fischer random chess, also known as Chess960 (often read in this context as 'chess nine-sixty' instead of 'chess nine hundred sixty'), is a variation of the game of chess invented by the former world chess champion Bobby Fischer. Fischer announ ...
, but the opening white and black positions do not mirror each other.
* Upside-down chess: The white and black pieces are switched so that White's pieces are on the 8th rank, with pawns on the 7th rank, one step away from promotion. The starting position looks like a standard chess starting position, but from the other player's perspective. As the pawns are blocked by pieces in the starting position, the game always starts with a knight move, and
smothered mate
In chess, a smothered mate is a checkmate delivered by a knight in which the mated king is unable to move because it is completely surrounded (or ''smothered'') by its own pieces.
The mate is usually seen in a corner of the board, since fewer pie ...
s are common.
=Different number of pieces
=
These variants use standard chess pieces on a standard board, but players begin with unorthodox numbers of pieces. For example, starting with multiple queens or fewer pawns. Many such games use unbalanced starting positions, with one player having more or fewer of particular pieces than the other player.
* Charge of the Light Brigade: Apart from the usual king and pawns, one side has three queens and the other has seven knights.
*
Dunsany's Chess (and the similar Horde chess): One side has standard chess pieces, and the other side has 32 pawns.
* Endgame chess (or The Pawns Game): Players start the game with only pawns and a king. Normal check, checkmate, ''
en passant
''En passant'' (, "in passing") is a method of capturing in chess that occurs when a pawn captures a horizontally adjacent enemy pawn that has just made an initial two-square advance. The capturing pawn moves to the square that the enemy paw ...
'', and pawn promotion rules apply.
*
Handicap chess (or Chess with odds): Variations to equalise chances of players with different strength.
* Peasants' Revolt: White has a king and eight pawns (the peasants) against Black's king, pawn, and four knights (the nobles). Black has the advantage. To narrow the contest, the game has also been played with three knights (on b8, c8, and g8) instead of four. By R. L. Frey (1947).
* Sixteen Pawns: White plays without their queen, but chooses where on the third and fourth ranks to place eight extra pawns. By
Legall de Kermeur
François Antoine de Legall de Kermeur (1702–92) was a French chess player, and was possibly the world's best player from about 1730 to 1755.
His name is variously written ''Kermur, Sire de Legalle'', by Twiss, and ''Kermur'' and ''Kermuy, ...
(18th century).
Alexandre Deschapelles
Alexandre Deschapelles (March 7, 1780 in Ville-d'Avray near VersaillesOctober 27, 1847 in Paris) was a French chess player who, between the death of François-André Danican Philidor and the rise of Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais, was prob ...
and
Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais
Louis-Charles Mahé de La Bourdonnais (1795 – December 1840) was a French chess master, possibly the strongest player in the early 19th century.
Early life
La Bourdonnais was born on the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean in 1795. He w ...
later established that eight extra pawns favour White too much, and hence played the game with only five, six, or seven extra pawns for White instead.
*
Really Bad Chess: A
mobile video game
A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to h ...
by
Zach Gage
Zach Gage is an indie video game developer based in New York City and best known for his iOS games, including '' SpellTower''.
Gage learned to code throughout his youth and studied art at Skidmore College and Parsons School of Design, where he ...
; Each player has one king and fifteen other pieces selected at random.
* Weak!: White has the usual pieces, Black has one king, seven knights, and sixteen pawns. This game was played at a Columbia University chess club in the 1960s.
Variant rules and standard piece types
These variants introduce changes in the mechanics of the game, such as movement of pieces, rules for capturing, or winning conditions, using standard chess pieces.
Variant rules, variant set of standard piece types, variant board
These use standard pieces, but the quantity of one or more types of piece from a standard set is non-standard.
![Jeson Mor gameboard & init config](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Jeson_Mor_gameboard_%26_init_config.png)
*
Alice Chess
Alice chess is a chess variant invented in 1953 by V. R. Parton which employs two chessboards rather than one, and a slight (but significant) alteration to the standard rules of chess. The game is named after the main character "Alice" in Lewis C ...
: Played with two boards: a piece moved on one board passes "through the looking glass" onto the other board. By
V. R. Parton (1953).
*
Apocalypse
Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...
: On a 5×5 board, each side has two knights and five pawns, win by eliminating all enemy pawns. Prepared moves are executed simultaneously. By C. S. Elliott (1976).
*
Brusky's hexagonal chess: Chess on an irregular board of 84 hex cells. Same as Gliński's Hexagonal Chess, but with ten pawns instead of nine, linear startup, two forward move directions for pawns, pawns capture forward diagonally, and castling. By Yakov Brusky (1966).
*
Star Captain Dread's Castle Chess: Castle Chess is a variant with 4 different game boards, that introduce Castles & Siege Warfare mechanics to a board game Classic. New Pieces include Archers, Assassins, Mages, and in Castle Chess, pawns who capture an enemy opponent are upgraded to Knights, while the Classic Horse piece is referred to as Cavalry.
*
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
: Kings are limited to 3×3 "castles" on a 12×12 board dominated by eight rooks per side which can promote to queens. By Christian Freeling (1979).
*
Chessence
Chessence is a chess variant invented by Jim Winslow in 1989. The board is a 6×9 rectangle of squares with eight squares missing (blackened out in the diagram). Each player has a king and nine men with initial setup as shown, including three men ...
: Nine pieces per player move according to their relative positions to each other on a 6×9 board with missing squares and kings immobile in the corners. By Jim Winslow (1989).
* Colour Chess: Played on a multicoloured board of six colours, with the order of turns taken as in Marseillais chess but with rules indicating which colour each piece may move to. The game is won by capturing the opponent's king (rather than checkmate) and kings may remain in check. Similar variants include Sequence Colour Chess, and Swarm Colour Chess. By Tom Norfolk (2017).
*
Congo: Kings (lions) are limited to 3×3 "castles" on a 7×7 board. By Demian Freeling (1982).
*
De Vasa's hexagonal chess: Chess on a rhombus-shaped board of 81 hex cells. Same as Gliński's Hexagonal Chess, but linear startup, two forward move directions for pawns, pawns capture forward diagonally to the side, and castling. Invented by Helge E. de Vasa (1953).
*
Diplomat chess: Played on a circular board with 43 cells, including the centre circle which is considered
orthogonal
In mathematics, orthogonality is the generalization of the geometric notion of ''perpendicularity''.
By extension, orthogonality is also used to refer to the separation of specific features of a system. The term also has specialized meanings in ...
''and'' diagonal to every adjacent cell. Includes a 'diplomat' piece which instead of capturing can suborn enemy pieces.
*
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...
: Played on a 7×7 or hex board, no queens, captured non-pawn pieces never die (à la Chessgi) and can be dropped on any open square. By Christian Freeling.
*
Gliński's hexagonal chess
Hexagonal chess is a group of chess variants played on boards composed of hexagon . The best known is Gliński's variant, played on a symmetric 91-cell hexagonal board.
Since each hexagonal cell not on a board edge has six neighbor cells, there ...
: The most popular version of chess for the hex board. Includes three bishops, nine pawns, 91 hex cells. Invented by Władysław Gliński (1936).
*
Hexagonal chess
Hexagonal chess is a group of chess variants played on boards composed of hexagon . The best known is Gliński's variant, played on a symmetric 91-cell hexagonal board.
Since each hexagonal cell not on a board edge has six neighbor cells, there ...
: A family of variants played on a
hexgrid
A hex map, hex board, or hex grid is a game board design commonly used in wargames of all scales. The map is subdivided into a hexagonal tiling, small regular hexagons of identical size.
Advantages and disadvantages
The primary advantage of a h ...
with three colours and three bishops.
*
Hexapawn
Hexapawn is a deterministic two-player game invented by Martin Gardner. It is played on a rectangular board of variable size, for example on a 3×3 board or on a regular chessboard. On a board of size ''n''×''m'', each player begins with ''m' ...
: Played on a rectangular board of variable size with only pawns. The goal of each player is to advance one of their pawns to the opposite end of the board or to prevent the other player from moving.
*
Jeson Mor
Jeson Mor (English: "Nine Horses") is a two-player strategy board game from Mongolia. It is considered a chess variant. The game is played on a 9×9 checkered gameboard. Each player has nine chess knights initially lined up on the players' fi ...
: Nine knights per side on a 9×9 board. The first to occupy square e5, and then leave it, wins the game. From Mongolia.
*
McCooey's hexagonal chess: Chess on the same hexagonal board as Gliński's Hexagonal Chess, but using a different starting array, seven pawns instead of nine, and pawns capture forward diagonally. By Richard Honeycutt and David McCooey (1978–1979).
*
Parallel Worlds Chess
Parallel worlds chess is a three-dimensional chess variant invented by R. Wayne Schmittberger in the 1980s. The gamespace comprises three 8×8 chessboards at different levels. Each side commands two full chess armies on levels 1 and 3. Level 2 b ...
: A 3D variant using three boards, each player commands two armies, capturing either enemy king wins. The middle board is a sort of "twilight zone" obeying its own rules. By R. Wayne Schmittberger (1980s).
* Regimental Chess: This variant is played on 1-6 adjacent 12×16 boards, with one white and black division for each board signified by accent colours. Each division starts with 14 infantrymen, similar to pawns but only moving one space at a time straight or diagonally forward until promoted to move one space in any direction, four bishops, four knights, four rooks, two queens and one king, and players may place their pieces into their own formation before the game starts. When a division's king is captured, all other pieces from that division are removed from the battlefield. Pieces can move together as formations, which are connected by any compatible pieces that are adjacent or mutually supportive with one another, and capture pieces by broadsiding with walls of pieces or piercing inferior ranks with superior firepower. Pieces are mutually supportive if they are identical and are within reach of their move style; for example, two bishops are mutually supportive if they are on an adjacent diagonal path unobstructed by other pieces.
*
Rollerball: Inspired by the sci-fi film of the same name, pieces move clockwise around a Roller Derby-like track. By Jean-Louis Cazaux (1998).
*
Shafran's hexagonal chess
Hexagonal chess is a group of chess variants played on Board game, boards composed of hexagon . The best known is Gliński's variant, played on a symmetric 91-cell hexagonal board.
Since each hexagonal cell not on a board edge has six neighbor c ...
: Chess on an irregular hex board of 70 cells. Same as Gliński's Hexagonal Chess, but differs by starting position, pawn first-move options, pawns capturing forward diagonally, and castling. Invented by Grigorevich Shafran (1939).
* : This variant is played on a 16×16 board. In addition to the standard black and white pieces, the board is also encircled by 80 other coloured pieces (10 colours of 8 pieces each). Coloured squares near the center of the board correspond to the coloured pieces around the board, and when a player's piece occupies a coloured square, that player gains control of the matching coloured pieces. If a piece on a coloured square is moved or captured, control of the matching pieces is lost (transferred to the other player in case of capture). Players may also switch the color of their initial army through "regime change". By Mark Bates.
*Thrones Chess: Uses a board that combines a circular component and a square component, which allows long-range pieces to attack from three sides. The board is divided into two castles and a battlefield. A piece cannot cross more than two castle walls in the same move, and a king in check may not leave a castle except to capture the piece giving check. Knights have additional non-capturing moves. By Richard Van de Venter (1999).
![Thrones Chess initial setup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Thrones_Chess_initial_setup.png)
* : A variant inspired by the
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...
played on a 91-cell hexagonal board. Pieces are named after characters from the myth.
* Zonal chess: Board has triangular wings or "zones" on either side of the main 8×8 board. Queens, bishops, and rooks that start from one of the squares in either zone may change direction and keep going on the same move. A queen, for example, could zig around an obstruction and attack a piece in the opposite zone. The power to change direction only applies when a piece's move starts from a zonal area. It is possible (using the queen and rook) to cross the board from one zone to another, but any piece entering a zone cannot make use of the extended move.
Variant rules, standard set of standard piece types, standard board
* Absorption chess (also called cannibal chess, power absorption chess, or seizer's chess): Pieces gain the abilities of the pieces they capture.
*
Andernach chess Andernach chess is a chess variant in which a piece making a capture (except kings) changes colour. For instance, if a white bishop on a2 were to capture a black knight on g8, the end result would be a black bishop on g8. Non-capturing moves are p ...
: A piece making a capture changes colour.
* ASEAN chess: Pawns start on the 3rd ranks. Queens can only move 1 square diagonally and Bishops only 1 square diagonally or 1 square directly forward.
*
Atomic chess
Atomic chess is a chess variant. Standard rules of chess apply, but all captures result in an "explosion" through which all surrounding white and black pieces other than pawns are removed from play. Some variations additionally remove rules conc ...
: Capture on any square results in an "atomic explosion" which kills (i.e. removes from the game) all pieces in the eight surrounding squares, except for pawns.
*
Beirut Chess: Players secretly equip one of their men with a "bomb", which can be detonated at any time, wiping out all pieces on surrounding squares. Win by checkmating the opponent, or blowing up their king. By Jim Winslow (1992).
* Benedict chess: Instead of capturing by displacement, players may convert an enemy piece they attack to their own color.
* Checkers chess: Pieces can only move forward until they have reached the far rank.
*
Checkless chess: Players are forbidden from giving
check
Check or cheque, may refer to:
Places
* Check, Virginia
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Check'' (film), a 2021 Indian Telugu-language film
* ''The Checks'' (episode), a 1996 TV episode of ''Seinfeld''
Games and sports
* Check (chess), a thr ...
except to
checkmate
Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game.
In chess, the king is ...
.
* Chessplus: Commercial variant. Up to two of any friendly piece save the King may occupy the same single square. Either piece may choose to carry the other with it if or when it moves.
*
Circe chess: Captured pieces are reborn on their starting squares.
*
Crazyhouse
Crazyhouse (also known as drop chess, mad chess, reinforcement chess, turnabout chess and schizo-chess) is a chess variant in which captured enemy pieces can be reintroduced, or ''dropped'', into the game as one's own. The drop rule resembles th ...
: Captured pieces change colour to match the capturing player and can be returned to any unoccupied square on a later turn. There are two variations of this variant, known as Loop chess and Chessgi.
*
Cubic Chess: Piece cubes display the six piece types; a player can promote any pawn by rotating its cube to match a captured piece type. By Vladimír Pribylinec (1977).
*
Dynamo Chess: Capturing is replaced by pushing or pulling enemy pieces off the board. By Hans Klüver and Peter Kahl (1968). A close variant of Push Chess (by
Fred Galvin
Frederick William Galvin is a mathematician, currently a professor at the University of Kansas. His research interests include set theory and combinatorics.
His notable combinatorial work includes the proof of the Dinitz conjecture. In set theory, ...
, 1967).
* Einstein chess: Pieces transform into more or less powerful pieces when they move.
*
Extinction chess: To win, a player must capture all of any one type of pieces of the opponent (for example, all the knights an opponent has, or all their pawns, etc.).
*
Five Dimensional Chess with Multiverse Time Travel (or simply 5D Chess) is a video game that implements the concept of time travel and parallel universes into classic chess. Players can move their pieces through "time", interacting with the board as it existed earlier in the game - this creates alternate "timelines" which pieces can be moved between. The game is won if at least one king from one time or timeline is in checkmate.
* Gravity chess: After every turn, all pieces other than pawns fall towards the higher ranks of the board, until they either reach the eighth rank, or another piece or pawn in the way.
* Guard chess (or Icelandic chess): Allows captures only when a piece is completely unprotected by friendly pieces. Checkmate occurs when the piece forcing the mate is protected and therefore cannot be captured.
* Haft Schrödinger Chess: Every piece starts in a
quantum superposition
Quantum superposition is a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics. It states that, much like waves in classical physics, any two (or more) quantum states can be added together ("superposed") and the result will be another valid quantum ...
initially able to be any piece until the waveform is collapsed by observation. As in chess, Haft Schrödinger Chess does not have
hidden information, whereas Schrödinger's Chess is regarded as a game of hidden information.
* Hierarchical chess: Pieces must be moved in the order: pawn, knight, bishop, rook, queen, king. A player who has the corresponding piece but cannot move it loses.
*
Hostage chess: Captured pieces are held in the capturer's "prison", and can be released by the opponent and dropped into play (like shogi) via a "hostage exchange". By
John Leslie (1997).
* Jedi Knight chess: Knights may move three steps diagonally or horizontally or both, depending on the rules accepted.
* Jump chess: The rook, bishop and queen may move from one side of any piece (friend or foe) to the other side in their normal direction of movement. No change for the King and Knight. Jump move is exactly two squares, and can be used to give check or to capture. Jump moves are notated using '^'. In the starting position, 1.R^a3 and 1.B^a3 are both legal. By former Pentamind champion Alain Dekker (2004).
*
Kamikaze chess (or Hara-Kiri chess): When capturing, the capturing piece is removed from play also. This means a king cannot defend itself by capturing an attacker. A capture is not allowed if it exposes one's own king to
discovered check
In chess, a discovered attack is a direct attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. Discovered attacks can be extremely powerful, as the piece moved can make a threat independently of the piece it reveals. Like many chess t ...
. Idea from B. G. Laws (1928). The king is royal and removing a check takes precedence over capturing. The king must be lost last; moving into check is permitted after all other pieces have been captured.
* King of the Hill: In addition to checkmate, a legal move that moves one's own king to one of the center squares (d4, d5, e4, e5) wins. This is analogous to
sannin shogi
Sannin shōgi (三人将棋 three-person chess), or in full kokusai sannin shōgi (国際三人将棋 international three-person chess), is a three-person shogi variant invented ''circa'' 1930 by Tanigasaki Jisuke and recently revived. It is played ...
's rule that allows a player to win by legally moving their king to the center.
*
Knightmare Chess
''Knightmare Chess'' is a fantasy chess variant published by Steve Jackson Games (SJG) in 1996. It is a translation of a French game ''Tempête sur l'échiquier'' (''Storm on the Chessboard''), designed by Pierre Cléquin and Bruno Faidutti. ...
: Played with cards that change the game rules.
*
Knight relay chess Knight relay chess (also called N-relay chess) is a chess variant invented by Mannis Charosh in 1972. In this game, knights "relay" their power to friendly pieces.
Rules
The rules are the same as those of orthodox chess except as follows.
Any pie ...
: Pieces defended by a friendly knight can move as a knight.
* Knightmate (or Mate The Knight): The goal is to checkmate the opponent's knight (initially on e-file). The kings on b- and g-files can be captured as other pieces. Pawns can promote to kings but not to knights. By Bruce Zimov (1972).
*
Legan chess: Played as if the board would be rotated 45°, initial position and pawn movements are adjusted accordingly.
*
Losing chess (or Antichess, Giveaway chess, Suicide chess, Killer chess, Take-all chess, Take-me chess, Reverse chess): Capturing moves are mandatory and the objective is to lose all one's pieces. There is no check; the king is captured like an ordinary piece.
*
Madrasi chess
Madrasi chess is a chess variant invented in 1979 by Abdul Jabbar Karwatkar. The game uses the conventional rules of chess with the addition that when a piece is attacked by a piece of the same type but opposite colour (for example, a black qu ...
(or Weird chess): A piece which is attacked by the same type of piece of the opposite color is paralysed.
*
Monochromatic chess
Monochromatic chess is a chess variant with unknown origin. The initial board position and all rules are the same as in regular chess, except that pieces that begin on a black square must always stay on a black square and pieces that begin on a ...
: All pieces must stay on the same color square as they initially begin.
* No-castling chess: standard rules except that castling is not allowed, which means king safety is reduced. Proposed in 2019 by
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Cha ...
with the aim of reducing draws and uninteresting games, and tested on
Alpha Zero
AlphaZero is a computer program developed by artificial intelligence research company DeepMind to master the games of chess, shogi and go. This algorithm uses an approach similar to AlphaGo Zero.
On December 5, 2017, the DeepMind team rel ...
br>
*
Patrol chess
Patrol chess is a chess variant in which captures can be made and checks given only if the capturing or checking piece is guarded (or ''patrolled'') by a friendly unit. Non-capturing and non-checking moves are played as normal.
The variant was in ...
: Captures and checks are only possible if the capturing or checking piece is guarded by a friendly piece.
*
PlunderChess
PlunderChess is a commercial chess variant, first sold in 2004, in which the capturing piece is allowed to temporarily take the moving abilities of the piece taken. The game is played with colored plastic rings to mark which abilities have been ado ...
: The capturing piece is allowed to temporarily take the moving abilities of the piece taken.
* Pocket Knight Chess (or Tombola Chess): Players have an extra knight they keep at the side of the board. Once during the game, a player may place the knight on any empty square for their move. Play then proceeds as normal.
*
Portal Chess: Any of a number of games that involve pieces or squares for teleportation around the board(s).
*
Racing Kings: Players race kings to the 8th rank. Captures, but no checks or checkmate.
* Refusal chess (or Outlaw chess, Rejection chess): A played move can be refused by the opponent, forcing the first player to change to another move, which must be accepted.
* Replacement chess: Captured pieces are not removed from the board but relocated by the captor to any vacant square.
* Rifle chess (or Shooting chess, Sniper chess): When capturing, the capturing piece remains unmoved on its original square, instead of occupying the square of the piece captured.
* Stalemate-win chess: Normal chess, but stalemate is considered a win.
* Three-check chess: Standard rules of chess apply, but a player can win by putting their opponent in check three times.
In ''The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants'',
David Pritchard notes it being of probable Soviet origin, and that
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Ches ...
was an "invincible" player in his youth.
=Multimove variants
=
In these variants one or both players can move more than once per turn. The board and the pieces in these variants are the same as in standard chess.
*
Avalanche chess
Avalanche chess is a chess variant designed by Ralph Betza in 1977. After moving one of their own pieces, a player ''must'' move one of the opponent's pawns forward one square.
Game rules
Rules are as normal chess except that after making a le ...
: Each move consists of a standard chess move followed by a move of one of the opponent's pawns.
* Doublemove Chess: Similar to Marseillais chess, but with no ''
en passant
''En passant'' (, "in passing") is a method of capturing in chess that occurs when a pawn captures a horizontally adjacent enemy pawn that has just made an initial two-square advance. The capturing pawn moves to the square that the enemy paw ...
'', check, or checkmate. The objective is to capture the king. By
Fred Galvin
Frederick William Galvin is a mathematician, currently a professor at the University of Kansas. His research interests include set theory and combinatorics.
His notable combinatorial work includes the proof of the Dinitz conjecture. In set theory, ...
(1957).
* Double-Take Chess: Each player, once per game, can make two moves during one of their turns. These two moves cannot be used to place the opponent's king in checkmate.
*
Kung-fu chess
Kung-Fu Chess is a chess variant that removes the concept of turns and allows multiple pieces to move simultaneously. It was created by Shizmoo Games as a "real-time" in the early 2000s and remained on the company's website until the website shu ...
: A variant without turns. Any player can move any of their pieces at any given moment.
*
Marseillais chess
Marseillais chess (also called Double-Move chess) is a chess variant in which each player moves twice per turn. The rules of the game were first published in Marseillais local newspaper ''Le Soleil'' in 1925. The variant became quite popular in t ...
(or Two-move chess): After the first turn of the game by White being a single move, each player moves twice per turn.
*
Monster chess (or Super King): White has the king and four pawns against the entire black army but may make two successive moves per turn.
*Multimove Chess (''i'', ''j''): A class of chess variants where white gets ''i'' moves per turn and black gets ''j'' moves per turn. Check is not enforced, and victory is by capturing the enemy king. The games are described and analysed logically in a 2015 journal article. The authors
weakly solved the game for all (''i'', ''j'') pairs except for (1, 1) (functionally, regular chess) and (2, 2).
*
Progressive chess
Progressive chess is a chess variant in which players, rather than just making one move per turn, play progressively longer series of moves. The game starts with White making one move, then Black makes two consecutive moves, White replies with thr ...
(or Scottish chess): White moves once, then Black moves twice, then White moves three times, and so on.
* Swarm chess: During each turn, each piece that a player can move they must move.
=Chance and incomplete information
=
In contrast to classical chess which is a game of
complete information
In economics and game theory, complete information is an economic situation or game in which knowledge about other market participants or players is available to all participants. The utility functions (including risk aversion), payoffs, strategies ...
, these either have elements of chance or players do not have
perfect information
In economics, perfect information (sometimes referred to as "no hidden information") is a feature of perfect competition. With perfect information in a market, all consumers and producers have complete and instantaneous knowledge of all market pr ...
as to the state of the board.
* ChessHeads: Played with cards that change the game rules.
* Choker: A combination of chess and
poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
, with players betting on cards made up from pieces of a standard chess set.
*
Dark chess: The player sees only squares of the board that are attacked by their pieces.
*
Dice chess: The pieces a player is able to move are determined by rolling a pair of dice.
* Fantasy Chess: Chess with wargaming added. Players fight for squares (which can be co-occupied) using dice. Can be expanded to four players; piece capability can improve each game.
*
Kriegspiel: Neither player knows where the opponent's pieces are but can deduce them with information from a referee.
* No Stress Chess: Marketed for teaching beginners, the piece(s) a player is able to move are determined by drawing from a deck of cards, with each card providing the rules for how the piece may move. Castling and ''
en passant
''En passant'' (, "in passing") is a method of capturing in chess that occurs when a pawn captures a horizontally adjacent enemy pawn that has just made an initial two-square advance. The capturing pawn moves to the square that the enemy paw ...
'' are disallowed.
* Panic Chess: Player selects a piece to move, but the target square is randomized from all possible options. Captures are prioritized over non-capture moves. King, if no capture is possible, prioritizes a square not attacked by the opponent. Play ends with capture of king.
*
Penultima
Penultima is a game of inductive logic, played on a chess board. It was invented by Michael Greene and Adam Chalcraft in Cambridge in 1994. The game is derived from the chess variant Ultima (otherwise known as ''Baroque chess''), and played with ...
: An inductive variant where the players must deduce hidden rules invented by "Spectators".
* Poisoned Pawn Chess: Each player secretly chooses one of their own non-central pawns to be "poisoned" for the length of the game. If a player captures their opponent's poisoned pawn with their own poisoned pawn, they win the game, but if they capture it with any other piece, they lose the game. Otherwise, standard chess rules apply. If a poisoned pawn is promoted, the piece it becomes behaves as a standard chess piece, with no variant conditions. An optional rule exists which states that a poisoned pawn may not capture any piece which is not their opponent's poisoned pawn. This variant was introduced by
Samay Raina
Samay Raina is an Indian stand-up comedian, YouTuber, and chess enthusiast. He was the co-winner of the second season of the stand-up comedy contest Comicstaan. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he began streaming chess games along with multiple ...
.
* Schrödinger's Chess: Players' minor pieces are concealed so the opponent does not know what they are until revealed. When covered, pieces move in a restricted way (as queens that can only move two squares).
* Synchronous Chess: Players try to outguess each other, moving simultaneously after privately recording intended moves and anticipated results. Incompatible moves, for instance to the same square with no anticipated capture, are replayed. Alternatively, two pieces moving to the same square are both captured, unless one is the king, in which case it captures the other. Play ends with capture of king.
* WeGo Chess: Like synchronous chess, but with added rules that avoid replay. Players move simultaneously after privately recording intended moves. A piece cannot be moved two turns in a row. Two pieces moving on the same line, but in opposite direction, are both captured if they end up on the same square or cross each other. It follows that two knights would avoid simultaneous capture. Play ends with capture of king.
* Viennese Chess: A barrier or screen between the two halves of the chessboard, two players then place their pieces on their half of the board. The barrier is then lifted and the game is then played as in orthodox chess.
Variant (fairy) pieces
Variant rules, pieces and board
* Bear chess
[About Bear chess](_blank)
on chessvariants.com.[About Bear chess](_blank)
on evochess.com.
from The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (D. B. Pritchard, ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1, 2007). — 10x10
chess variant
A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways.
"International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be co ...
, proposed by Mikhail Sosnovsky in 1985 in
Kalinin.
[«Медвежьи шахматы могут подвинуть тверского козла»](_blank)
— article in Komsomolskaya Pravda (in Russian)
— article in Moskovskij Komsomolets (in Russian) Board 10x10; extra pieces are Bears, which leap as N or two squares as R or B; baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10) RNBBeQKBeBNR. Pawns can move up to three squares initially (e.p. permitted). In castling, K moves to c/h files.
* Bomberman chess: Inspired by the ''
Bomberman
is a video game franchise originally developed by Hudson Soft and currently owned by Konami. The original game, also known as ''Bakudan Otoko'' (''爆弾男''), was released in Japan in July 1983 and has since spawned multiple sequels and sp ...
'' video game series. Played on a 10×8 board with special bomb and defuser pieces. The bomb can be exploded on its turn in vertical and horizontal directions (similar to the movement of a rook), destroying any pieces in the blast range. The defuser can capture a bomb.
*
Chesquerque: Played on four
Alquerque
Alquerque (also known as Qirkat from ar, القرقات) is a strategy board game that is thought to have originated in the Middle East. It is considered to be the parent of draughts (US: checkers) and Fanorona.
History
The game first appea ...
boards combined. Includes an extra pawn and
archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
per side. By George Dekle Sr.
*
Chess on a Really Big Board: Played on a 16×16 board, with twelve piece types (six being the orthodox chess pieces). Has many subvariants, including a larger 24×24 version and a three-dimensional 16×16×16 version.
*
Dragonchess
Dragonchess is a three-dimensional fantasy chess variant created by Gary Gygax, co-creator of the famed role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The game was introduced in 1985 in issue No. 100 of '' Dragon Magazine''.
Boards and pieces
The ...
: Three 8x12 boards with some standard chess pieces and many other pieces, some of which move between the levels. Created by Gary Gygax.
*Duck Chess: In addition to the usual pieces, the two players have joint control of a small rubber duck which acts as a “blocker” (i.e. nothing can move onto or through it), and which must be moved to a new square after every turn. The goal is to successfully capture the opponent’s king. The
stalemated player wins.
*
Duell: Dice are used instead of pieces. Played on a 9×8 board.
*
Gess
Gess is an abstract strategy board game for two players, involving a grid board and mutating pieces. The name was chosen as a conflation of "chess" and " Go". It is pronounced with a hard "g" as in "Go", and is thus homophonous with "guess".
...
: Chess with variable pieces, played on a
Go board.
*
Jetan
Jetan, also known as Martian Chess, is a chess variant first published in 1922. It was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs as a game played on Barsoom, his fictional version of Mars. The game was introduced in ''The Chessmen of Mars'', the fifth book ...
: A "Martian chess" invented by
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
for his novel ''
The Chessmen of Mars
''The Chessmen of Mars'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fifth of his Barsoom series. Burroughs began writing it in January, 1921, and the finished story was first published in '' Argosy All-Story Week ...
'' (1922), played on a 10×10 board. None of the pieces are orthodox chess pieces.
*Metamachy: On a 12×12 board with 30 pieces each, 12 piece types (6 being the orthodox chess pieces) and 12 possible starting arrangements. New pieces are the cannon and the elephant (like in Shako), the prince (a non-royal king, can be promoted), the camel (long range leaper), the lion (any 1 or 2 squares) and the eagle (inspired by Tamerlane chess). By Jean-Louis Cazaux (2012).
*
Omega chess: On a 10×10 board with four extra squares, one per corner. Includes the champion and wizard fairy pieces. Both are leapers, with different ways of leaping.
* Shako: Played on a 10×10 board. New pieces are the cannon from
xiangqi
''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as '' shogi'', '' janggi'', Western chess, '' ch ...
(Chinese chess) and an elephant moving as a fers+alfil of old
shatranj
Shatranj ( ar, شطرنج; fa, شترنج; from Middle Persian ''chatrang'' ) is an old form of chess, as played in the Sasanian Empire. Its origins are in the Indian game of chaturaṅga. Modern chess gradually developed from this game, as i ...
(ancestors of queen and bishop), so diagonally one or two squares with jumps allowed. By Jean Louis-Cazaux (1997).
*
Stealth chess: Played in the fictional
Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild
Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which features prominently in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' fantasy novels.
Overview
Pratchett describes Ankh-Morpork as the biggest city in Discworld and its corrupt mercantile capital.
In ''The Art o ...
from the ''
Discworld
''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat pla ...
'' series of books; played on an 8×10 board. The fairy piece is the
Assassin
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or VIP, important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not ha ...
.
*
Stratomic: Adds nuclear missiles to the standard chess array on a 10×10 board. When launched they irradiate any 3×3 area (friendly pieces included) except kings. By Robert Montay-Marsais (1972).
*
Triangular Chess: Board comprises 96 triangles. The rook and bishop have three directions; the queen, six. Three extra pawns and a unicorn. By George Dekle Sr.
*
Tri-Chess: A variation of Triangular Chess. The rook and bishop are increased to six directions; the queen, to twelve. By George Dekle Sr.
*
2000 A.D.: Played on a 10×10 board, features the empress, capricorn, gorgon, chimaera, dragon, minotaur, unicorn, and fury fairy chess pieces. By V. R. Parton.
*
Wildebeest Chess: Uses an 11×10 board, each player has two camels and a wildebeest (camel + knight). Pawns move one, two, or three squares initially. By R. Wayne Schmittberger (1987).
*
Wolf Chess: On an 8×10 board, with fairy pieces wolf (empress), fox (princess),
nightrider, sergeant (almost a
Berolina pawn), and elephant (amazon). By Arno von Wilpert (1943).
Movement in higher dimensions
![Parallel Worlds Chess init config](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Parallel_Worlds_Chess_init_config.png)
A number of variants have been developed where the playing area is in three
dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a Space (mathematics), mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any Point (geometry), point within it. Thus, a Line (geometry), lin ...
s or more. In most cases an extra spatial dimension is represented by multiple boards being laid next to each other. Some extra-dimensional variants attempt to reflect the 3D nature of modern warfare (e.g. ''
Raumschach
Three-dimensional chess (or 3‑D chess) is any chess variant that replaces the two-dimensional board with a three-dimensional array of cells between which the pieces can move. In practical play, this is usually achieved by boards representing d ...
'', designed to reflect
aerial and
submarine warfare
Submarine warfare is one of the four divisions of underwater warfare, the others being anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare and mine countermeasures.
Submarine warfare consists primarily of diesel and nuclear submarines using torpedoes, missi ...
), while others incorporate fantasy or science fiction ideas such as
parallel worlds and
time travel
Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...
. An example of the latter is the variant introduced by the 2020 computer game ''
5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel'', which uses a varying number of boards all being played in parallel.
Fairy pieces on a standard board
Most of the pieces in these variants are borrowed from chess. The game goal and rules are also very similar to those in chess; however, these variants include one or more
fairy pieces
A fairy chess piece, variant chess piece, unorthodox chess piece, or heterodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some chess problems. Compared to conventional pieces, fair ...
which move differently from chess pieces.
* Anti-King chess: Features an anti-king. The anti-king moves in the same way as a king. This piece is in check when not attacked. If a player's anti-king is in check and unable to move to a square attacked by the opponent, the player loses (checkmate). The anti-king cannot capture enemy pieces, but can capture friendly pieces. A king may not attack the opponent's anti-king. The anti-king may not check its own king. Other rules the same as in standard chess, including check and checkmate to the regular king. By Peter Aronson (2002).
*
Baroque chess
Baroque chess is a chess variant invented in 1962 by Robert Abbott. In 1963, at the suggestion of his publisher, he changed the name to Ultima, by which name it is also known. Abbott later considered his invention flawed and suggested amendment ...
(or Ultima): Pieces on the first row move like queens, and pieces on the second row move like rooks. They are named after their unusual capturing methods. For example, leaper, immobilizer and coordinator.
*
Berolina chess
Berolina chess is a chess variant using a popular fairy chess piece called the Berolina pawn (also known as ''Berlin pawn'', ''Anti-pawn'', or simply ''Berolina''). The Berolina pawn was invented by Edmund Nebermann in 1926''Funkschach'', August ...
: Which uses the Berolina pawn instead of the normal pawn, all other things being equal.
*
Chess with different armies
Chess with different armies (or Betza's Chess or Equal Armies) is a chess variant invented by Ralph Betza in 1979. Two sides use different sets of fairy pieces. There are several armies of equal strength to choose from, including the standard FI ...
: Two sides use different sets of fairy pieces. There are several armies of approximately equal strength to choose from including the standard FIDE chess army.
*
Falcon-Hunter Chess: A falcon moves forward as a bishop; backward as a rook. The hunter moves forward as a rook; backward as a bishop. Players introduce the fairies as the game progresses. By Karl Schulz (1943).
*
Grasshopper chess
Grasshopper chess is a chess variant, in which the pawns are allowed to promote to a fairy chess piece, fairy piece, the ''Grasshopper (chess), grasshopper''. The grasshopper (shown as an inverted queen) must hop over other pieces in order to move ...
: The pawns can promote to grasshopper, or grasshoppers are on the board in the initial position.
*
Pocket Mutation Chess: Player can put a piece temporarily into the pocket, optionally mutating it into another (including fairy) piece.
*Super X Chess: Players can combine their own pieces by capturing them. King or queen can't combine. A combined piece has the ability to move as both pieces that got combined. Same kind of pieces can combine into new pieces. Pieces can't uncombine or combine again. By Miika Pihkala (2018).
* Spartan chess: Black (the Spartans) has an army headed by two kings, which otherwise consists exclusively of unorthodox pieces, and battles the standard FIDE army (the Persians) of white.
* Torpedo chess: Which uses the torpedo pawn, which can move two squares forwards anywhere on the board, instead of the normal pawn, all other things being equal.
* Way of the Knight: Invented by
Ralph Betza
Ralph Betza (born 1945) is a FIDE Master and inventor of chess variants such as Chess with different armies, Avalanche chess, and Way of the Knight.
Invented chess variants
* Multiplayer Chess (date unknown)
* High-Low Chess (1968)
* Strang ...
, incorporating two elements from
tabletop role-playing game
A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...
s. Begins with the standard starting position and pieces, however through capturing and advancing up the board pieces can earn "
experience
Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...
", and a sufficiently experienced piece is upgraded to a more powerful one. Upgrades include various fairy pieces, and involve player choices of "
alignment
Alignment may refer to:
Archaeology
* Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks
* Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones
Biology
* Structu ...
".
=Empress, amazon, or princess pieces
=
There are a number of variants which use the
empress
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
(rook + knight) and
princess
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
(bishop + knight) compound pieces. The empress is also called marshall or chancellor. The princess is also called cardinal, archbishop, janus, paladin, or minister. Another compound piece is the
amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
(queen + knight). To adapt to the new pieces, the board is usually extended to 10×8 or 10×10 with additional pawns added.
*
Almost Chess: Uses an 8×8 board, with the conventional starting position, but queens are replaced by chancellors (empresses). By Ralph Betza (1977). A related variant is
Sort of Almost Chess (Ralph Betza, 1994), where one player has a queen and the other has a chancellor.
![Grand Chess init config](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Grand_Chess_init_config.PNG)
*
Capablanca Chess
Capablanca chess (or Capablanca's chess) is a chess variant invented in the 1920s by World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca. It incorporates two new pieces and is played on a 10×8 board. Capablanca believed that chess would be played out i ...
: A variant by the former world chess champion,
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play.
Capablanc ...
. Played on a 10×8 board with chancellor (empress) and archbishop (princess).
*
Capablanca Random Chess: Generalises all possible variants of
Capablanca Chess
Capablanca chess (or Capablanca's chess) is a chess variant invented in the 1920s by World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca. It incorporates two new pieces and is played on a 10×8 board. Capablanca believed that chess would be played out i ...
with random starting positions following a method similar to that used in
Chess960
Fischer random chess, also known as Chess960 (often read in this context as 'chess nine-sixty' instead of 'chess nine hundred sixty'), is a variation of the game of chess invented by the former world chess champion Bobby Fischer. Fischer announ ...
. By Reinhard Scharnagl (2004).
*
Embassy Chess
Grand Chess is a large-board chess variant invented by Dutch games designer Christian Freeling in 1984. It is played on a 10×10 board, with each side having two additional pawns and two new pieces: the ''marshal'' and the ''cardinal''.
* The ...
: Uses a 10×8 board with Marshall (Empress) and Cardinal (Princess). The starting position is borrowed from
Grand Chess
Grand Chess is a large-board chess variant invented by Dutch games designer Christian Freeling in 1984. It is played on a 10×10 board, with each side having two additional pawns and two new pieces: the ''marshal'' and the ''cardinal''.
* The ...
. By Kevin Hill (2005).
*
Gothic chess: A commercial variant played on a 10×8 board with Chancellor (Empress) and Archbishop (Princess).
*
Grand Chess
Grand Chess is a large-board chess variant invented by Dutch games designer Christian Freeling in 1984. It is played on a 10×10 board, with each side having two additional pawns and two new pieces: the ''marshal'' and the ''cardinal''.
* The ...
: Uses a 10×10 board with marshall (empress) and cardinal (princess). Invented by
Christian Freeling
Christian Freeling (born 1 February 1947, in Enschede, Netherlands) is a Dutch game designer and inventor of abstract strategy games, notably Dameo, Grand Chess, Havannah, and Hexdame.
Freeling's designs cover a range of game types. Several of ...
(1984).
*
Janus Chess
Janus Chess is a chess variant invented in 1978 by Werner Schöndorf from Bildstock, Germany. It is played on a 10×8 board and features a fairy chess piece, the '' janus'', with the combined moves of a bishop and a knight. The janus piece is n ...
: Uses a 10×8 board with two januses (princesses). By Werner Schöndorf (1978).
*Gemini Chess: Uses a 10×8 board with two Archbishops. From an idea of Dr Zied Haddad in 2016. The difference from Janus Chess is the initial setup where the archbishops are sandwiching the queen and king remaining in the center of the board.
![Gemini-setup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Gemini-setup.png)
*
Maharajah and the Sepoys
Maharajah and the Sepoys, originally called Shatranj Diwana Shah and also known as the Mad King's Game and Maharajah chess, is a popular chess variant with different armies for White and Black. It was first played in the 19th century in India. It i ...
: Black has a complete army, and White only one piece: the maharajah (a royal amazon).
*
Modern Chess
Modern chess is a chess variant played on a 9×9 board. The game was invented by Gabriel Vicente Maura in 1968. Besides the usual set of chess pieces, each player has a prime minister and an additional pawn:
: The prime minister (M) combines ...
: Played on a 9×9 board, with an extra pawn and a prime minister (princess). By Gabriel Vicente Maura (1968).
*
Seirawan Chess
Capablanca chess (or Capablanca's chess) is a chess variant invented in the 1920s by World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca. It incorporates two new pieces and is played on a 10×8 board. Capablanca believed that chess would be played out ...
: A commercial variant. Uses a standard 8×8 board with elephant (empress) and hawk (princess). By
GM Yasser Seirawan
Yasser Seirawan ( ar, ياسر سيروان; born March 24, 1960) is a Syrian-born American chess grandmaster and four-time United States champion. He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1979. Seirawan is also a published chess author an ...
and
Bruce Harper
Bruce Harper (born June 20, 1955) is a retired American football running back and kick returner for the New York Jets of the NFL. He was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Kutztown by the Jets in 1977. Bruce Harper is the all-time kick ...
(2007).
*Musketeer Chess: A commercial variant, inspired from
Seirawan Chess
Capablanca chess (or Capablanca's chess) is a chess variant invented in the 1920s by World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca. It incorporates two new pieces and is played on a 10×8 board. Capablanca believed that chess would be played out ...
. This variant introduces 10 fairy pieces: archbishop, chancellor, hawk (different rules from Seirawan Chess), elephant (different rules from Seirawan Chess), leopard, cannon (different from Xiangqi), unicorn, fortress, spider, and amazon (also called dragon in this game). Players have a choice of 2 pieces among the 10 possible and method used to introduce them during the game.
=Other fairy pieces
=
The pieces in these variants are borrowed from both chess and another game. The game goal and rules are either the same or very similar to those in chess. However, these variants include one or more
fairy pieces
A fairy chess piece, variant chess piece, unorthodox chess piece, or heterodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some chess problems. Compared to conventional pieces, fair ...
which move differently from chess pieces.
* Chessers: Played on a regular chessboard but with
checkers
Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...
integrated with standard chess pieces. By Christopher Schwartz and Sander Beckers.
* Etchessera: Played on a regular chessboard but where players build their own chess army from a collection of 17 different pieces.
* Playing cards on a chessboard: A card game allowing open play on a board with rectangular sectors, just as in chess or
checkers
Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...
, but with the application of playing cards.
* Prince & Princess: The chess variant that uses the criterion of succession, where the king or queen are replaced in favor of the prince or the princess, created by
Antonio Maravi Oyague.
* Proteus: A chess variant using dice to represent normal chess pieces, created by
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''.
History
Founded in 1980, six years after the cr ...
.
Single-player variants
Similar to
solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself, usually with cards, but also with dominoes. The term "solitaire" is also used for single-player games of concentration and skill using a set layout tiles, pegs or stones. These game ...
, there are a few chess variants for a single player. Unlike
chess puzzle
A chess puzzle is a puzzle in which knowledge of the pieces and rules of chess is used to solve logically a chess-related problem. The history of chess puzzles reaches back to the Middle Ages and has evolved since then.
Usually the goal is to f ...
s, these variants have a random starting position. Some of these are similar to
permutation chess problems, for example the game Queen's Quadrille, which was invented by Karen Robinson in 1998. All chess pieces (except pawns) are randomly placed on a 4×4 board. Then one of the queens is removed and the game is started. Pieces move as usual, however capturing is not allowed. A player can move white and black pieces in any order, without regard for colour. The goal is to move the queen along a predetermined pattern; for example from one corner to the other, or visit all squares on the board only once. The same idea is found in the game Hippodrome, which was invented by Andy Lewicki in 2003. The initial position is obtained by placing four knights on the first row and all other pieces from a chess set (except pawns) on the remaining fields. Then one of the pieces (except knights) is removed and the game is started. The goal is to move all knights to the opposite rank.
In 1998 Robinson also invented a game which Hans Bodlaender named Chess Contradance, as the setup is like a contradance with the two lines facing each other. The pieces are set up as in regular chess, but without pawns. The first and eighth ranks are safe havens, i.e., no piece can be captured on these ranks. The objective of the puzzle is to move the pieces such that all pieces move to the opposite back row without ever putting any piece in danger of being captured. Black and White alternate moves.
Variants for more than two people
![Bughouse game](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Bughouse_game.jpg)
*
Bosworth: A four-player variant played on 6×6 board. It uses a special card system with the pieces for spawning.
*
Bughouse chess (or Exchange chess, Siamese chess, Swap chess, Tandem chess, Transfer Chess): Two teams of two players face each other on two boards. Allies use opposite colours and give captured pieces to their partner. The two-player version of the game, played with only one board, is
Crazyhouse
Crazyhouse (also known as drop chess, mad chess, reinforcement chess, turnabout chess and schizo-chess) is a chess variant in which captured enemy pieces can be reintroduced, or ''dropped'', into the game as one's own. The drop rule resembles th ...
.
*
Business chess: Played with two teams using normal chess playing rules but allowing up to five variations of the game. The team may discuss and play alternative moves freely.
*
Djambi
Djambi (also described as "Niccolò Machiavelli, Machiavelli's chessboard") is a board game and a chess variant for four players, invented by Jean Anesto in 1975. The rulebook in French describes the game, the pieces and the rules in a humorous an ...
: Can be played by four players on a 9×9 board and four sets of special pieces. Pieces can capture or move those of an adversary. Captured pieces are not removed from the board, but turned upside down. There are variants for three or five players (''Pentachiavel''). (1975)
*
Duchess
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...
: Notable for its wide variety of player counts; supports 2, 3, 4, or 6 players in a free-for-all, as well as 2v2, 2v2v2, or 3v3 team play. The board consists of one 4×5 "petal" for each player. These surround a core hexagonal board, which itself has two rings of squares around a central hexagonal "vortex" space. Three Fairy Chess pieces are used, the titular
Duchess
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...
(princess), the
Fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
(empress), and the Wizard, capable of teleporting friendly pieces.
*
Enochian chess: A four-player variant with magical symbolism, associated with the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ( la, Ordo Hermeticus Aurorae Aureae), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th ce ...
.
*
Forchess
Forchess is a four-player chess variant developed by T. K. Rogers, an American engineer. It uses one standard chessboard and two sets of standard pieces.
History and motivation
Forchess was developed around the year 1975. Its inventor T. K. Rog ...
: A four-player variant using the standard board and two sets of standard pieces.
*
Fortress chess
Fortress chess (also known as Russian Four-Handed chess) is a four-player chess variant played in Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries. The board contains 192 squares including the fortresses at its corners. The fortresses contain 16 squares a ...
: A four-player variant played in Russia in 18th and 19th centuries.
*
Four-player chess
Four-player chess (also known as four-handed chess) is a family of chess variants played with four people. The game features a special board typically made of a standard 8×8 square, with 3 rows of 8 cells each extending from each side, and req ...
(or Four-handed, 4-Player): Can be played by four people and uses a special board and two sets of differently coloured pieces.
*
Quatrochess
Quatrochess is a chess variant for four players invented by George R. Dekle Sr. in 1986. It is played on a square 14×14 board that excludes the four central squares. Each player controls a standard set of sixteen chess pieces, and additionall ...
: A four-player variant, in addition to the standard chess army, each side controls a chancellor, archbishop, mann, wazir, fers, two camels, and two giraffes. By George Dekle Sr.
*
Three-Man Chess: Three chessboard halves fused into one, first to checkmate wins. By George Dekle Sr.
*
Three-player chess: A family of variants specially designed for three players.
*
Tri-Chess: For three players; 150 triangular cells;
chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
(empress) and
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
(princess) replacing queen. By George Dekle Sr.
Games inspired by chess
These variants are very different from chess and may be classified as
abstract strategy
Abstract strategy games admit a number of definitions which distinguish these from strategy games in general, mostly involving no or minimal narrative theme, outcomes determined only by player choice (with no randomness), and perfect information ...
board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a comp ...
s instead of chess variants.
*
Arimaa
Arimaa () is a two-player strategy board game that was designed to be playable with a standard chess set and difficult for computers while still being easy to learn and fun to play for humans. It was invented in 2003 by Omar Syed, an Indian-Ame ...
: A game designed in 2002 to be easy for people to understand but difficult for computers to play well. The
Arimaa Challenge
Arimaa () is a two-player strategy board game that was designed to be playable with a standard chess set and difficult for computers while still being easy to learn and fun to play for humans. It was invented in 2003 by Omar Syed, an Indian-Ame ...
was a cash prize offered for developing a program able to defeat the top human Arimaa players; this was claimed in 2015.
*
Hive: a bug-themed
abstract strategy
Abstract strategy games admit a number of definitions which distinguish these from strategy games in general, mostly involving no or minimal narrative theme, outcomes determined only by player choice (with no randomness), and perfect information ...
game designed by John Yianni and published in 2001 by Gen42 Games. The object of ''Hive'' is to capture the opponent's queen bee by completely surrounding it, while avoiding the capture of one's own queen.
*
Martian chess: Played with
Icehouse pieces
Icehouse pieces, or Icehouse Pyramids, Treehouse pieces, Treehouse Pyramids and officially Looney Pyramids, are nestable and stackable pyramid-shaped gaming pieces and a game system. The game system was invented by Andrew Looney and John Cooper i ...
.
*
Navia Dratp: A cross between
shogi
, also known as Japanese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, ''chaturanga, Xiangqi'', Indian chess, and '' janggi''. ''Shōgi'' ...
and
miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
.
*
The Duke: An abstract strategy game where the board, pieces, and gameplay mechanics have some strong parallels with chess.
Chess-related historical and regional games
Some of these games have developed independently while others are ancestors or relatives of modern chess.
The popularity of these variants may be limited to their respective places of origin (as is largely the case for shogi), or worldwide (as is the case for xiangqi). The games have their own institutions and traditions.
Historical
![Shatranj](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Shatranj.jpg)
*
Chaturaji
Chaturaji (meaning "four kings") is a four-player chess-like game. It was first described in detail c. 1030 by Al-Biruni in his book ''India''. Originally, this was a game of chance: the pieces to be moved were decided by rolling two dice. A ...
: Four-handed version of
chaturanga
Chaturanga ( sa, चतुरङ्ग; ') is an ancient Indian strategy game. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that it is the common ancestor of the board games chess (European), xiangqi (Chinese), ...
, played with dice.
*
Chaturanga
Chaturanga ( sa, चतुरङ्ग; ') is an ancient Indian strategy game. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that it is the common ancestor of the board games chess (European), xiangqi (Chinese), ...
: An ancient East Indian game, presumed to be the
common ancestor of chess and other national chess-related games.
*
Courier chess
Courier chess is a chess variant that dates from the 12th century and was popular for at least 600 years. It was a part of the slow evolution towards modern chess from Medieval Chess.
Medieval rules
Courier chess is played on an 8x12 board (i. ...
: Played in Europe from 13th to 19th century. Probably was one step in evolving modern chess out of
shatranj
Shatranj ( ar, شطرنج; fa, شترنج; from Middle Persian ''chatrang'' ) is an old form of chess, as played in the Sasanian Empire. Its origins are in the Indian game of chaturaṅga. Modern chess gradually developed from this game, as i ...
.
*
Grant Acedrex
Grant Acedrex is a medieval chess variant dating back to the time of King Alfonso X of Castile. It appears in the ''Libro de los Juegos'' of 1283.
Rules
The following rules are from the reconstruction given on the website of Jean-Louis Cazaux, ...
: Medieval Spanish variant from 13th century.
*
Shatranj
Shatranj ( ar, شطرنج; fa, شترنج; from Middle Persian ''chatrang'' ) is an old form of chess, as played in the Sasanian Empire. Its origins are in the Indian game of chaturaṅga. Modern chess gradually developed from this game, as i ...
: An ancient Persian game, derived from
chaturanga
Chaturanga ( sa, चतुरङ्ग; ') is an ancient Indian strategy game. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is that it is the common ancestor of the board games chess (European), xiangqi (Chinese), ...
.
*
Short assize
"The short assize" (French ''court assize'' = "short sitting") is H. J. R. Murray's name for a chess variant that was played in medieval Europe. It was somewhat like sittuyin but developed independently, probably to get the armies into contact ...
: Played in England and Paris in the second half of the 12th century.
*
Tamerlane chess: A significantly expanded variation of
shatranj
Shatranj ( ar, شطرنج; fa, شترنج; from Middle Persian ''chatrang'' ) is an old form of chess, as played in the Sasanian Empire. Its origins are in the Indian game of chaturaṅga. Modern chess gradually developed from this game, as i ...
.
Regional
*
Banqi
Banqi () or Half Chess, also known as Dark Chess (暗棋) or Blind Chess (盲棋), is a two-player Chinese board game played on a 4×8 grid, or half of the xiangqi (Chinese chess) board. Most games last between ten and twenty minutes, but advanced ...
(or Chinese Half chess) (China)
* Chandraki (Tibet)
*
Game of the Three Kingdoms
Game of the Three Kingdoms ( Chinese: , Pinyin: ''Sān-guó-qí'' ; also called Sanguo Qi, Three Kingdoms Chess, or Three-Handed Xiangqi) is a three-player variant of the game xiangqi ("Chinese chess"). The game symbolizes the Three Kingdoms per ...
(China)
*
Hiashatar
Hiashatar is a medieval chess variant played in Mongolia. The game is played on a 10×10 board. The pieces are the same as in chess with the exception that there is an additional piece which is called the "bodyguard".http://www.chessvariants.org ...
(Mongolia)
*
Indian chess
Indian chess is the name given to regional variations of chess played in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is distinct from chaturanga. There are several such variations, all quite similar to modern rules, with variants regarding castl ...
(India)
*
Janggi (Korea; see also
janggi variant Many variants of janggi have been developed over the centuries. A few of these variants are still regularly played, though none are nearly as popular as janggi itself.
Gwangsanghui
Gwangsanghui (廣象戱, 광상희) is an 18th-century janggi v ...
s)
*
Jungle
A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century.
Etymology
The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...
(or Dou Shou Qi, The Jungle Game, Jungle Chess, Animals Chess, Oriental Chess, Children's Chess) (China)
*
Ka Ok
''Makruk'' ( th, หมากรุก; ; ), or Thai chess, is a board game that is descended from the 6th-century Indian game of ''chaturanga'' or a close relative thereof, and is therefore related to chess. It is part of the family of chess va ...
(Cambodia)
* Main chator (Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines)
*
Makruk
''Makruk'' ( th, หมากรุก; ; ), or Thai chess, is a board game that is descended from the 6th-century Indian game of ''chaturanga'' or a close relative thereof, and is therefore related to chess. It is part of the family of chess ...
(Thailand)
*
Ouk Chatrang (Cambodia)
*
Rek Chess (Cambodia)
* Samantsy (Madagascar)
*
Senterej
Senterej (Amharic: ሰንጠረዥ sänṭäräž or Ethiopian chess) is a form of chess traditionally played in Ethiopia and Eritrea, cousin of international Chess and the last survival form of Shatranj. According to Richard Pankhurst, the game ...
(Ethiopia and Eritrea)
*
Shatar
Shatar ( Mongolian: ''Monggol sitar-a'', "Mongolian shatranj"; a.k.a. shatar) and hiashatar are two chess variants played in Mongolia.
Game rules
The rules are similar to standard chess; the differences being that:
* The ''noyan'' (, ''lord'' ...
(Mongolia)
*
Shogi
, also known as Japanese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, ''chaturanga, Xiangqi'', Indian chess, and '' janggi''. ''Shōgi'' ...
(Japan; see also
shogi variant
A shogi variant is a game related to or derived from shogi (Japanese chess). Many shogi variants have been developed over the centuries, ranging from some of the largest chess-type games ever played to some of the smallest. A few of these variant ...
s, especially
chu shogi
Chu shogi ( or Middle Shogi) is a strategy board game native to Japan. It is similar to modern shogi (sometimes called Japanese chess) in its rules and gameplay. Its name means "mid-sized shogi", from a time when there were three sizes of shogi ...
)
*
Sittuyin
Sittuyin ( my, စစ်တုရင်), also known as Burmese chess, is a strategy board game created in Myanmar. It is a direct offspring of the Indian game of chaturanga, which arrived in Myanmar in the 8th century thus it is part of the sa ...
(Burma)
*
Xiangqi
''Xiangqi'' (; ), also called Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. ''Xiangqi'' is in the same family of games as '' shogi'', '' janggi'', Western chess, '' ch ...
(China; see also
xiangqi variant {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
Many variants of xiangqi have been developed over the centuries. A few of these variants are still regularly played, though none are nearly as popular as xiangqi itself.
Two-player variants
* ...
s)
See also
*
Advanced chess, Centaur chess or Cyborg chess
*
Blindfold chess
Blindfold chess, also known as ''sans voir'', is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces and do not touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces. Moves are commu ...
*
Correspondence chess
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less common ...
*
Blitz chess
Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz ...
*
Chess as mental training
*
Chess boxing
*
The Chess Variant Pages
''The Chess Variant Pages'' is a non-commercial website devoted to chess variants. It was created by Hans Bodlaender in 1995. The site is "run by hobbyists for hobbyists" and is "the most wide-ranging and authoritative web site on chess variants". ...
*
Fairy chess
Fairy chess is the area of chess composition in which there are some changes to the rules of chess. The term was introduced by Henry Tate in 1914. Thomas R. Dawson (1889–1951), the "father of fairy chess", invented many fairy pieces and new c ...
*
Fairy chess piece
A fairy chess piece, variant chess piece, unorthodox chess piece, or heterodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some chess problems. Compared to conventional pieces, fair ...
s
*
Infinite chess
Infinite chess is any variation of the game of chess played on an unbounded chessboard. Versions of infinite chess have been introduced independently by multiple players, chess theorists, and mathematicians, both as a playable game and as a mod ...
(a class of chess games)
*
Janggi variant Many variants of janggi have been developed over the centuries. A few of these variants are still regularly played, though none are nearly as popular as janggi itself.
Gwangsanghui
Gwangsanghui (廣象戱, 광상희) is an 18th-century janggi v ...
*
List of abstract strategy games
An abstract strategy game is a board, card or other game where game play includes no random chance and provides perfect information. Many abstract strategy games include no theme. Some games can also be played on pen and paper.
Chess and chess-li ...
*
Outline of chess: Chess variants
*
Shogi variant
A shogi variant is a game related to or derived from shogi (Japanese chess). Many shogi variants have been developed over the centuries, ranging from some of the largest chess-type games ever played to some of the smallest. A few of these variant ...
*
Xiangqi variant {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
Many variants of xiangqi have been developed over the centuries. A few of these variants are still regularly played, though none are nearly as popular as xiangqi itself.
Two-player variants
* ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
Shogi
*
*
Xiangqi
*
*
Others
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
British Chess Variants Society(archive)
Java Applets, which allow playing many chess variants against computer
''The Chess Variant Pages''The Chess Variants wikiComparison of Material Power in Variant Chess GamesVariety and history of Chess in ancient world
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chess variants
Chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...