Chess variant

A chess variant is any game derived from or related to chess. In practice, a specific chess variant may be similar to chess or radically different. The broad definition of chess variants is so universal, it may include nearly any abstract battle or war game played upon a board. The definition does suppose that any such game can be considered separately from its tradition and culture.

To experts of chess variants, chess, shogi, xiangqi and other chess-related games of great popularity are merely special cases in a theoretically unlimited universe of possible arrangements involving boards, pieces, rules, and so on. Hundreds of chess variants have been devised. With the recent invention in 1998 of Zillions of Games, a computer program which enables non-experts to quickly design and playtest chess variants using an AI opponent, the total number has been increasing constantly and rapidly. This growth is likely to continue for years.

Table of contents

1 Handicap variants
2 Fantasy variants
3 Multiplayer variants
4 Chess-related national games
5 External links

Fantasy variants

Fantasy variants make significant changes to normal chess rules. Other terms for fantasy chess variants include heterodox chess and fairy chess. Some of these variants use pieces not found in orthodox chess, such as Berolina pawns (pawns which move diagonally and capture straight forward); such pieces are collectively called fairy pieces.

Advanced Chess: the players are allowed to consult a computer. See also Computer Chess
Alice Chess: played with two boards. A piece moved on one board passes "through the looking glass" onto the other board.
Atomic Chess: any capture on a square results in an "atomic explosion" which kills (i.e. removes from the game) all pieces in any of the 8 surrounding squares, except for pawns.
Avalanche Chess: each player moves an opponent's pawn after their move.
Baroque Chess: (a.k.a. Ultima) the pieces all move like queens but have various capturing methods.
Bughouse Chess: (a.k.a. Tandem Chess, Siamese Chess) two teams of two players face each other on two boards.
Capablanca Chess: a 10x8 board.
Circe Chess: captured pieces are reborn on their starting sqaures.
Compact Chess: In Compact Chess, you play on a 6x6 board whereby the bishops are moved to replace the king and queen's pawn. All standard chess rules apply, including castling.
Dark Chess: you see only positions attacked by your pieces.
Double and Triple Move Chess: each player moves twice or thrice per turn.
Extinction Chess: you win by extincting a type of piece of your opponent. That is, you win if you capture your opponents king or queen, both his rooks, bishops or knights, or all his pawns.
Fischer Random Chess: the placement of the pieces on the 1st and 8th rank is randomized to enhance the adaptability of chess players.
Grid Chess: the board is overlaid with a grid of lines; for a move to be legal, it must cross at least one of these lines.
Geodesic Chess: Played on a GeoBoard, a hex-based grid of various sizes in the shape of a sphere or icosahedron.
King's Corner Chess: like Fischer Random Chess, the placement of the pieces on the 1st and 8th row are randomized, but with the king in the right hand corner. Blacks starting position is obtained by rotating white's position 180 degrees around the boards center.
Knightmare Chess: played with cards that change the game rules.
Kriegspiel: each player does not know where the opponent's pieces are but can deduce them with information from a referee.
Madrasi chess: a piece which is attacked by the same type of piece of the opposite colour is paralysed.
Martian Chess: played with Icehouse pieces
Omega Chess: a 10x10 board with an extra square dangling off each of the four corners and two new types of chess piece.
Patrol chess: captures and checks are only possible if the capturing or checking piece is guarded by a friendly piece.
Progressive Chess: the first player moves once, the second moves twice, the first moves three times, etc.
Suicide Chess: (a.k.a. Giveaway Chess, Take Me Chess, Losers Chess, Anti-Chess) capturing moves are mandatory and the object is to lose all pieces.
Three-dimensional chess: several variants exist, with the most popular being "Tri-D Chess" from the television series Star Trek.
Three Checks Chess: you also win, if you check your opponent three times.

Multiplayer variants

These variants arose out of the desire to play chess with more than just one other person.

Forchess: a four-person version using the standard board and two sets of standard pieces.
Chess 4: can be played by three or four people and uses a special board and four sets of differently colored pieces.

Chess-related national games

These games have developed independently from chess, from origins that may well reach back to some common proto-chess game. Nonetheless, they are definable as chess variants. The popularity of these chess 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 which is played by overseas Chinese everywhere. They have their own institutions and traditions.

Shogi - Japan (see also shogi variants)
Xiangqi - China
Korean chess