Chess Variants

Orthodox chess played with standard castling and en-passant rules.

Named after Alice in Lewis Carroll's work Through the Looking-Glass. Chess on two boards with pieces moved between the boards.

A variation of Alice Chess - Black starts on the second board and no longer faces White.

Lose all your pieces to win.

Capturing a piece results in an explosion which will destroy surrounding pieces.

Created by José Raúl Capablanca, and played on a 10x8 board with the addition of the chancellor and archbishop.

A shuffled back rank to counter strong opening knowledge. Aka Fischer Random Chess.

Similar to Bughouse chess, but for two playerProfiles. Captured pieces are dropped back on to the board.

The board can be imagined as a cylinder with no horizontal edges on either side.

A variant of racing kings, with a reduced number of pieces and no queen.

Played on a double width board, 12x16, with a duplicate set of pieces.

Variant of Grand Chess played on an 8x10 board.

Played on a 10x10 board with two new pieces - the General and the Adjutant.

Remove all of your opponent's pieces of the same species to win.

The Cardinal and Marshal pieces are introduced on a 10x10 board.

The horde - 36 white pawns - vs black!

Move your king to the center of the board - the hill - to win.

Play the first chess-like game played on a computer! A reduced size board and piece set.

Maharajah and the Sepoys is a asymmetrical variant with a full black army against a single Maharajah

The kings must race to the other side of the board.

After an initial move from the back rank, a Hawk or Elephant piece can be placed into the vacated square.

The original persian chess game from which modern chess evolved.

Check an opponent three times to win.

Back rank is randomly determined, but on the first turn, a player can exchange two pieces.

Chess played on a 12x12 board.

Played on a 12x7 board with both armies starting at the bottom of the board.

Played on an 11x10 board, Wildebeest chess introduces the Camel And Wildebeest which are enhanced jumping pieces.

Pieces transform into a different piece on every move.

A Russian 10x10 variant featuring an additional leaping piece - the Bear!

Unknown Variant

Played on an 2 x 3 boards with 3 sets of pieces.

Every rule is the same as chess, except that castling is not allowed.