Featured Pages
Week ending May 11, 2024
- Smess. Produced and sold in the early 70's by Parker Brothers. Arrows on squares determine direction pieces can move. (7x8, Cells: 56) (Recognized!) Author: Fergus Duniho and David Howe. Inventor: Perry Grant and Reuben Klamer.
- 123'. 123'. Author: 123 and .
Week ending April 29, 2023
- Wildebeest Chess. Variant on an 10 by 11 board with extra jumping pieces. (11x10, Cells: 110) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender and Fergus Duniho. Inventor: R. Wayne Schmittberger.
Week ending March 25, 2023
- Chu Shogi. Historic Japanese favorite, featuring a multi-capturing Lion. (12x12, Cells: 144) (Recognized!) Author: H. G. Muller.
Week ending February 18, 2023
- Spartan Chess. A game with unequal armies. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Steven Streetman.
Week ending September 05, 2020
- Grand Chess. Christian Freeling's popular large chess variant on 10 by 10 board. Rules and links. (10x10, Cells: 100) (Recognized!) Author: Greg Strong and Hans L. Bodlaender. Inventor: Christian Freeling.
Week ending February 08, 2020
- Opulent Chess. A derivative of Grand Chess with additional jumping pieces (Lion and Wizard). (10x10, Cells: 100) By Greg Strong.
Week ending July 28, 2018
- Janggi: Korean Chess. The variant of chess played in Korea. (9x10, Cells: 90) (Recognized!) Author: Fergus Duniho and Jean-Louis Cazaux.
Week ending May 12, 2018
- Giveaway Chess. Taking is obligatory; the first player that loses all his pieces wins. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender and Antoine Fourrière.
Week ending October 21, 2017
- Tridimensional Chess (Star Trek). Three-dimensional chess from Star Trek. (7x(), Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender and Fergus Duniho. Inventor: Andrew Bartmess.
Week ending December 17, 2016
- Chess. Play Chess online with other people, using Game Courier, a PBM system that works with any web browser on any computer. Author: Fergus Duniho.
Week ending November 19, 2016
- Gross Chess. A big variant with a small learning curve. (12x12, Cells: 144) By Fergus Duniho.
Week ending February 27, 2016
- Chess Variant Construction Set. Putting together a set of materials for playing several different Chess variants. Author: Fergus Duniho.
Week ending March 30, 2013
- Alice Chess. Classic Variant where pieces switch between two boards whenever they move. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) (Recognized!) Author: Edward Jackman and Fergus Duniho. Inventor: Vernon Rylands Parton.
Week ending February 11, 2012
- Shogi. The Japanese form of Chess, in which players get to keep and replay captured pieces. (9x9, Cells: 81) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender and Fergus Duniho.
Week ending August 14, 2010
- How to Play Chess: The Rules. YouTube Video on How to Play Chess. Author: Fergus Duniho.
Week ending January 16, 2010
- Great Shatranj. Great Shatranj. (10x8, Cells: 80) By Joe Joyce.
Week ending December 27, 2008
- Exotic Pieces. Menagerie of pieces, old and new. Have fun! Author: Ed Friedlander.
Week ending December 20, 2008
- Xiangqi (象棋): Chinese Chess. Links and rules for Xiangqi (Chinese Chess). (9x10, Cells: 90) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender and Fergus Duniho.
Week ending November 08, 2008
- Crazyhouse. Play this two-player version of Bughouse. (Recognized!) Author: Fergus Duniho.
Week ending October 18, 2008
- Hexagonal Chess, Glinski's. Chess on a board made out of hexagons. Classical variant of Glinski. (Cells: 91) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender. Inventor: Wladyslaw Glinski.
- Hexagonal chess, McCooey's. Chess on a board, made out of hexes. Variant of Dave McCooey. (Cells: 91) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender. Inventor: Dave McCooey.
Week ending June 17, 2006
- Dimension X. Chess on two planes - one with the usual chess pieces, the other with spooky trans-dimensional pieces with strange interactions. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) By Gary K. Gifford.
Week ending March 04, 2006
- Game Courier. Web-based system for playing many different variants by email or in real-time. By Fergus Duniho.
Week ending November 19, 2005
- Rococo. A clear, aggressive Ultima variant on a 10x10 ring board. (10x10, Cells: 100) (Recognized!) Author: Peter Aronson. Inventor: Peter Aronson and David Howe.
Week ending June 18, 2005
- Caïssa Britannia. British themed variant with Lions, Unicorns, Dragons, Anglican Bishops, and a royal Queen. (10x10, Cells: 100) By Fergus Duniho.
Week ending May 07, 2005
- Odin's Rune Chess. A game inspired by Carl Jung's concept of synchronicity, runes, and Nordic Mythology. (10x10, Cells: 100) By Gary K. Gifford.
- Modern Shatranj. A bridge between modern chess and the historic game of Shatranj. (8x8, Cells: 64) By Joe Joyce.
Week ending April 23, 2005
- Marseillais Chess. Move twice per turn. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender and Antoine Fourrière.
- Extinction chess. Win by making your opponents pieces of one type extinct. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender and Antoine Fourrière. Inventor: R. Wayne Schmittberger.
Week ending February 26, 2005
- Eurasian Chess. Synthesis of European and Asian forms of Chess. (10x10, Cells: 100) By Fergus Duniho.
- Capablanca Random Chess. Randomized setup for Capablanca chess. (10x8, Cells: 80) By Reinhard Scharnagl.
Week ending November 06, 2004
- Hostage Chess. Pieces taken are
held hostage and can be exchanged against other pieces and then dropped. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) By John Leslie.
Week ending August 21, 2004
- Contest to design a chess variant on a board with 44 squares. Our annual N-squares chess variant design competition. Author: Hans L. Bodlaender.
Week ending May 15, 2004
- Fischer Random Chess. Play from a random setup. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Terumi Kaneyasu and Fergus Duniho. Inventor: Robert J. Fischer.
Week ending December 13, 2003
- Catapults of Troy. Large variant with a river, catapults, archers, and trojan horses! (8x11, Cells: 88) By Gary K. Gifford.
Week ending September 20, 2003
- Piececlopedia Guidelines. Missing description Author: Fergus Duniho.
Week ending September 13, 2003
- Pocket Mutation Chess. Take one of your pieces off the board, maybe change it, keep it in reserve, and drop it on the board later. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) By Michael Nelson.
Week ending June 07, 2003
- Tamerlane chess. A well-known historic large variant of Shatranj. (11x10, Cells: 112) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender.
Week ending August 24, 2002
- Wikipedia Chess Variants. Collaborative encyclodepia.
Week ending July 06, 2002
- Progressive Chess. Several variants where white moves one time, black twice, white three times, etc. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Alessandro Castelli.
Week ending June 15, 2002
- Los Alamos variant. Chess on a 6 by 6 board from the early days of computing. (6x6, Cells: 36) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender.
Week ending June 01, 2002
- Chess with Different Armies. Betza's classic variant where white and black play with different sets of pieces. (Recognized!) By Ralph Betza.
Week ending May 04, 2002
- Anti-King Chess. Each player has both a King and an Anti-King to protect; Anti-Kings are in check when not attacked. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) By Peter Aronson.
Week ending March 09, 2002
- Tandem Chess. 4 player variant where pieces taken from your opponent are given to your partner. (2x(8x8), Cells: 128) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender.
Week ending December 15, 2001
- Shatranj. The widely played Arabian predecessor of modern chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender and Fergus Duniho.
Week ending November 17, 2001
- Dragonchess. A three-dimensional fantasy variant. (3x(12x8), Cells: 288) (Recognized!) Author: Edward Jackman. Inventor: Gary Gygax.
Week ending November 10, 2001
- Ultima. Game where each type of piece has a different capturing ability. Also called Baroque. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender and Fergus Duniho. Inventor: Robert Abbott.
Week ending October 20, 2001
- Raumschach. The classical variant of three-dimensional chess: 5 by 5 by 5. (5x(5x5), Cells: 125) (Recognized!) Author: Bruce Balden and Hans L. Bodlaender. Inventor: Dr. Ferdinand Maack.
Week ending September 29, 2001
- Avalanche chess. A popular chess variant, where you advance your opponents pawns. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Edward Jackman. Inventor: Ralph Betza.
- Courier Chess. A large historic variant from Medieval Europe. (12x8, Cells: 96) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender.
- Chaturanga for four players.. Oldest multiplayer chess variant. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender.
- Makruk (Thai chess). Rules and information. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender.
Week ending August 18, 2001
- Falcon Chess. Game on an 8x10 board with a new piece: The Falcon. (10x8, Cells: 80) By George William Duke.
Week ending May 12, 2001
- Modest Proposals. An Introduction to Modest variants. By Tony Paletta.
Week ending March 24, 2001
- Crazyhouse. A two-player version of Bughouse. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Fergus Duniho.
- Crazyhouse . A two-player version of Bughouse. (Recognized!) Author: Fergus Duniho.
Week ending February 17, 2001
- Magnetic Chess. Pieces that moved attract and repel pieces like magnets. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) By João Pedro Neto and Claude Chaunier.
Week ending January 06, 2001
- Berolina Chess. Different moving pawns. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender. Inventor: Edmund Hebermann.
- Centennial Chess. 10x10 Variant that adds Camels, Stewards, Rotating Spearmen and Murray Lions to the standard mix. (10x10, Cells: 100) By John William Brown.
Week ending December 02, 2000
- Capablanca's chess. An enlarged chess variant, proposed by Capablanca. (10x8, Cells: 80) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender and David Howe. Inventor: Jose Raul Capablanca.
Week ending June 24, 2000
- Chess. The rules of chess. (8x8, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender.
Week ending March 25, 2000
- Minishogi. On a 5 by 5 board. (5x5, Cells: 25) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender. Inventor: Shigenobu Kusumo.
Week ending May 08, 1999
- Omega Chess. Rules for commercial chess variant on board with 104 squares. (12x12, Cells: 104) (Recognized!)
Week ending April 05, 1997
- Circular Chess. Chess on a round board. (16x4, Cells: 64) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender. Inventor: Dave Reynolds.
Week ending September 21, 1996
- Janus Chess. Variant on 10 by 8 board. (10x8, Cells: 80) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender. Inventor: Werner Schoendorf.
Week ending March 02, 1996
- Kriegspiel. With help of a referee, two players move without knowing the moves of the opponent. (3x(8x8), Cells: 192) (Recognized!) Author: Hans L. Bodlaender. Inventor: Henry Michael Temple.
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