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Chess variant

A chess variant is any game derived from, related to or similar to chess in at least one respect. The difference from chess can include one or more of the following:

  • Different board (larger or smaller, another board form, e.g. hexagonal or circle).
  • Fairy pieces, different from those used in chess.
  • Different rules for capture, move order, game goal, etc.

The national chess variants like xiangqi and shogi are traditionally also called chess variants in western world. They have many similarities with chess and share a common ancestor.

The number of possible chess variants is unlimited. D.B. Pritchard, the author of Encyclopedia of Chess Variants, estimates that there are more than a couple thousand chess variants, confining the number to published ones. The creation in 1998 of Zillions of Games, a Windows compatible software program which enables non-programmers to design and playtest some types of chess variants using an AI opponent, has helped increase chess variant growth within communities that use it.

In the context of chess problems, chess variants are called fantasy chess, heterodox chess or fairy chess. Some chess variants are used only in chess composition and not for playing.

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Chess-derived games

These chess variants are derived from chess by changing board, rules or adding new pieces.

Chess with different starting position

In these variants, the starting position is different, but otherwise the pieces, board, and rules are the same.

  • Fischer Random Chess (or Chess960): the placement of the pieces on the 1st and 8th rank is randomized.
  • 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. Black's starting position is obtained by rotating white's position 180 degrees around the board's center.
  • Randomly opened chess: similar to Fischer Random Chess, except players take turns placing pieces on the board (pawns may go anywhere in the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th ranks, while other pieces may go anywhere)
  • Transcendental chess (or Double Fischer Random Chess): similar to Fischer Random Chess, but the opening white and black positions do not mirror each other.

Chess with unusual rules

These chess variants have the same pieces as chess, but some rules for moving, capturing etc. are changed. The board shape and game goal can be also different from those in chess.

  • Alice chess: played with two boards. A piece moved on one board passes "through the looking glass" onto the other board.
  • Andernach chess: a piece making a capture changes color.
  • Archon: success of piece capture depends on the strength of the attacking piece (with better chances for more powerful piece).
  • 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.
  • Checkers chess: normal rules of chess are followed, however, pieces can only move forward until they have reached the last row.
  • Checkless chess: where players are forbidden from giving check except to checkmate.
  • Circe chess: captured pieces are reborn on their starting squares.
  • Colour chess: A family of alternative chess games that uses the same moves as traditional chess but changed from a competitive to a cooperative game.
  • Crazyhouse: captured pieces change the color and can be dropped on any unoccupied location. There are two variations of this chess variant, known as Loop Chess and Chessgi.
  • Cylinder chess: played on regular 8x8 chessboard with the same pieces, start position and rules as for standard Chess. The only difference is that A and H columns are "connected". Thus a player can use them as A column would be next to H column (and vice versa).
  • Dark chess: you see only positions attacked by your pieces.
  • Dice chess: the pieces a player is able to move are determined by rolling a pair of dice.
  • Extinction chess: you win by "extincting" a type of piece of your opponent. That is, you win if you capture your opponent's king or queen, both his rooks, bishops or knights, or all his pawns.
  • Glinski's hexagonal chess: played on a hexgrid with three colors and three bishops [1].
  • 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.
  • Hexapawn: a simple chess variant played only with pawns.
  • Knightmare Chess: played with cards that change the game rules.
  • Knight relay chess: pieces defended by a friendly knight can move as a knight.
  • Kriegspiel: each player does not know where the opponent's pieces are but can deduce them with information from a referee.
  • Los Alamos chess (or Anti-clerical chess): played on 6x6 board without bishops. This was the first chess-like game played by a computer program.
  • Madrasi chess: a piece which is attacked by the same type of piece of the opposite colour is paralysed.
  • Patrol chess: captures and checks are only possible if the capturing or checking piece is guarded by a friendly piece.
  • Pion coiffé: you need to deliver checkmate with a pawn to win.
  • Suicide chess: (a.k.a. Giveaway Chess, Take Me Chess, Losers Chess, Antichess, Must Kill) capturing moves are mandatory and the object is to lose all pieces.
  • Sun Tzu chess: Starting positions are random like Transcendental chess, the board is hidden as in Dark Chess, and you may place captured pieces as in Crazyhouse.
  • Three checks chess: you win if you check your opponent three times.
  • Three-dimensional chess: several variants exist, with the most popular being "Tri-D Chess" from the television series Star Trek.

Multimove variants

In these variants one or both players can move more then once per turn.

  • Avalanche chess: each move consists of a standard chess move followed by a move of one of the opponent's pawns.
  • Marseillais chess: after the first turn of the game by white being a single move, each player moves twice per turn.
  • Monster chess: white has the king and four pawns against the entire black army but may make two successive moves per turn.
  • Multiple move chess: players make multiple moves each turn according to a few special rules to keep the game fairly traditional.
  • Progressive chess: (a.k.a. Scotch Chess) the first player moves once, the second moves twice, the first moves three times, etc.

Multiplayer variants

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

  • Bughouse chess: (a.k.a. Tandem chess, Double chess, Siamese chess, Swap chess) two teams of two players face each other on two boards. Allies use opposite colours and give captured pieces to their partner.
  • Djambi: can be played by four people with a 9x9 board and four sets of special pieces. The pieces can capture or move the pieces of an adversary. Captured pieces are not removed from the board, but turned upside down. There are variants for three players or five players (pentachiavel).
  • Forchess: a four-person version using the standard board and two sets of standard pieces.
  • Four-handed chess: can be played by three or four people and uses a special board and four sets of differently colored pieces.

Chess with unusual pieces

The most pieces in these chess variants are taken from chess. The game goal and rules are also very similar to those in chess. However these chess variants include one or more fairy pieces, which move differently then in chess.

  • Baroque: (a.k.a. Ultima) pieces on the 1st row move like queens, and pieces on the 2nd row move like rooks. They are named after their unusual capturing methods; e.g., Leaper, Immobilizer, and Coordinator.
  • Capablanca chess: a few game variations played on a 10×8 or 10×10 board with two new pieces: Chancellor (Rook+Knight) and Archbishop (Bishop+Knight).
  • Dragon chess: uses three 8×12 boards atop one another, with new types of chess piece.
  • Gothic Chess: is a commercial chess variant played on a 10x8 board with a Chancellor and an Archbishop as new pieces. It was patented in 2002 by Ed Trice. It is similar to Capablanca Chess.
  • Grand chess: is a popular chess variant played upon a 10x10 board. It was invented in 1984 by Christian Freeling. It is related to Capablanca Chess.
  • Janus chess: played on 10×8 board with a fairy chess piece, (Bishop+Knight) named a Janus.
  • Maharajah and the Sepoys: black has a complete army, white only one piece - Maharajah (Queen+Knight).
  • Omega chess: played on a 10×10 board with a four extra squares, one per corner. Also, there are two fairy chess pieces used.
  • Penultima: an inductive chess variant where the players must deduce hidden rules invented by "Spectators".
  • Stealth Chess: played in the fictional Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild from the Discworld series of books; played on an 8×10 board. The fairy piece is the Assassin.
  • Ultima: Another name for Baroque chess.

Games inspired by chess

These chess variants are very different from chess and can be considered as an own abstract board game and not as a chess variant.

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 potentially definable as chess variants (with some possible difficulties). 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. These games have their own institutions and traditions.

Chess variants software

Some program authors have created stand-alone applications that are capable of playing one or more variants.

See also

References

External links

General

Collections

In addition to individual chess variants with popularity, large collections (generally acknowledged to be of respectable quality) have been created by several inventors.

Internet servers to play chess variants