This is a and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by with entries.These chess variants are derived from chess by changing the board, board setup, pieces, or rules.Orthodox chess rules Many variants employ standard chess rules and mechanics, but vary the starting position of the pieces or number of pieces.Orthodox rules on a standard 8×8 board 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 knowledge. The downside of these variants is that the initial position usually has less harmony and balance than the standard chess position. Upside-down chess starting position (White sits at bottom).
(or Fischer Random Chess): The placement of the pieces on the first is randomised, with the opponent's pieces mirroring it. Invented by (1996).: 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- is traded with the bishop on the f-file. Pre-chess: Proposed by in 1978. 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 his pieces on his 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.: Similar to, 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 smother checkmates 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 less of a particular piece 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. (and the similar Horde chess): One side has standard chess pieces, and the other side has 32 pawns (or 36 in the case of Horde chess).
Endgame chess (or The Pawns Game): Players start the game with only pawns and a king. Normal check, checkmate, and pawn promotion rules apply. (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).
Free Chess Videos, Funny chess games. Would you like to be alerted about the latest chess news? Enter your email address below and will send you goodies straight into your inbox.
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. Frey (1947).
Sixteen Pawns: White plays without his queen, but chooses where on the third and fourth ranks to place eight extra pawns. By (18th century). And 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.: A by; 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. Knightmate starting position. 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).: Played as if the board would be rotated 45°, initial position and pawn movements are adjusted accordingly. (or Antichess, Giveaway chess, Suicide chess, Killer chess, Take-all 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. (or Weird chess): A piece which is attacked by the same type of piece of the opposite colour is paralysed.: All pieces must stay on the same colour square as they initially begin.: Captures and checks are only possible if the capturing or checking piece is guarded by a friendly piece.: 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 his move. Play then proceeds as normal. Starting position.: Played with two boards: a piece moved on one board passes 'through the looking glass' onto the other board. By (1953).: On a 5×5 board, each side has two knights and five pawns, win by eliminating all enemy pawns. Prepared moves are executed simultaneously.
Elliott (1976).: 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).: Nine men 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).: Kings (lions) are limited to 3×3 'castles' on a 7×7 board. By Demian Freeling (1982).: Played on a circular board with 43 cells, including the centre circle which is considered and diagonal to every adjacent cell. Includes a 'diplomat' piece which instead of capturing can suborn enemy pieces.: Played on a 7×7 or hex board, no queens, captured non-pawn pieces never die (ala Chessgi) and can be dropped on any open square.
By Christian Freeling.: Nine knights per side on a 9×9 board. The first to occupy square e5, and then leave it, wins the game.
From Mongolia.: 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. Wayne Schmittberger (1980s).: Inspired by the sci-fi film of the same name, pieces move clockwise around a Roller Derby-like track. By Jean-Louis Cazaux (1998).: 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. Troy: A variant inspired by the 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.Unorthodox rules using nontraditional pieces Nontraditional (fairy) pieces on a standard 8×8 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 which move differently from chess pieces. Anti-king chess. The is shown as an inverted king. Anti-King chess: Features an. 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 men, but can capture friendly men. 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). (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.: Which uses the Berolina pawn instead of the normal pawn, all other things being equal.: 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.: Dice are used instead of pieces.: 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).: The pawns can promote to grasshopper, or grasshoppers are on the board in the initial position.: 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. Way of the Knight: Invented by, incorporating two elements from. Begins with the standard starting position and pieces, however through capturing and advancing up the board pieces can earn ', and a sufficiently experienced piece is upgraded to a more powerful one. Upgrades include various fairy pieces, and involve player choices of '.Empress and/or princess pieces There are a number of variants which use the (rook + knight) and (bishop + knight) compound pieces.
The empress is also named marshall, chancellor, etc. The princess is also called cardinal, archbishop, janus, paladin, etc. Another compound piece is the (queen + knight).
To adapt to the new pieces, the board is usually extended to 10×8 or 10×10 with additional pawns added.: 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 (Ralph Betza, 1994), where one player has a queen and the other has a chancellor. All pieces are placed randomly, except for the knights.Similar to, there are a few chess variants for a single player. Unlike, these variants have a random starting position. Some of these are similar to, 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 setup 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. The game in progress.: A four-player variant played on 6×6 board. It uses a special card system with the pieces for spawning. (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.: 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.: 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).: A four-player variant with magical symbolism, associated with the.: A four-player variant using the standard board and two sets of standard pieces.: A four-player variant played in Russia in 18th and 19th centuries. (or Four-handed, Four-man, Four-way chess): Can be played by four people and uses a special board and four sets of differently coloured pieces.: 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 chessboard halves fused into one, first to checkmate wins. By George Dekle Sr.: A family of variants specially designed for three players.: For three players; 150 triangular cells; (empress) and (princess) replacing queen. By George Dekle Sr.Games inspired by chess These variants are very different from chess and may be classified as instead of chess variants.: A game inspired by defeat by chess computer. This game is easy for people to understand but difficult for computers to play well. To prove that Arimaa is computer resistant, a $10,000 USD prize is offered for developing a program to defeat the top human Arimaa players.: a bug-themed 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.: Played with.: A cross between and.: 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. Players elect their own starting setups behind the pawns. (or Chinese Half chess) (China). Chandraki (Tibet). (China). (Mongolia).
(Korea). (or Dou Shou Qi, The Jungle Game, Jungle Chess, Animals Chess, Oriental Chess, Children's Chess) (China). (Cambodia, but authenticity is disputed). Main chator (Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines). (Thailand).
(Cambodia). Samantsy (Madagascar). (Ethiopia and Eritrea). (Mongolia). (Japan; see also, especially ). (Burma). (China)See also.
Etsy uses cookies and similar technologies to give you a better experience, enabling things like:. basic site functions. ensuring secure, safe transactions. secure account login. remembering account, browser, and regional preferences. remembering privacy and security settings. analysing site traffic and usage.
personalized search, content, and recommendations. helping sellers understand their audience. showing relevant, targeted ads on and off EtsyDetailed information can be found in Etsy’s and our. Personalized AdvertisingThese technologies are used for things like:. personalized ads.
to limit how many times you see an ad. to understand usage via Google Analytics. to understand how you got to Etsy.
to ensure that sellers understand their audience and can provide relevant adsWe do this with social media, marketing, and analytics partners (who may have their own information they’ve collected). Saying no will not stop you from seeing Etsy ads, but it may make them less relevant or more repetitive. Find out more in our.