Chess Variants
Same board, same pieces, different rules — seven established variants that put a genuinely different spin on the game.
Antichess (Losing Chess)
The objective is completely reversed: try to lose all your pieces, or get stalemated, as fast as possible.
Atomic Chess
Every capture is a small explosion — and it can take out far more than just the two pieces involved.
Bughouse Chess
A team variant played on two boards at once: capture a piece on your board, and your partner can drop it onto theirs.
Chess960 (Fischer Random Chess)
Invented by Bobby Fischer to make memorized opening theory worthless — the back rank is randomized before every game.
Crazyhouse
Nothing is ever really captured — every piece you take joins your own reserve, ready to be dropped back onto the board as your own.
King of the Hill
A second way to win: march your own king into the center and it's over, checkmate or not.
Three-Check Chess
Checkmate still wins — but so does simply checking the opponent's king three separate times over the course of the game.