Chess Variants

Introduction alt=An image showing the initial setup of Gliński’s hexagonal chess.|thumb|302x302px|Gliński’s hexagonal chess is the most popular of the hexagonal chess variants. It had around half a million players at its prime. Chess variants are a family of board games derived from chess. These variants can involve only a slight modification to the rules of chess, or can involve more drastic changes. There are lots of chess variants - the number is in the thousands. The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants, a chess variant catalogue created in 1994 by chess player David Pritchard, has around 2,000 chess variants listed in its catalogue and notes many more variants were considered too trivial for inclusion. History of chess If one wishes to delve into the world of chess variants, it will be a good idea to understand how chess originated and evolved. The most common theory of the origin of chess states that the game originated in India in the sixth century CE, under the name chaturanga. Chaturanga was a strategy game simulating a war between two Indian factions, with pieces representing the four arms of the ancient Indian army - the infantry (pawns), cavalry (knights), elephants (bishops) and chariots (rooks) - as well as two pieces for the king and his advisor. Much like the modern game, the goal of chaturanga was to checkmate the enemy king, although at the time stalemate was also considered a win for the player delivering the stalemate. Around 600 CE chaturanga spread to Sassanid Persia, where the name became shatranj. Following the conquest of Persia by Islamic forces, the game spread throughout the entire Islamic world, which served as the springboard for shatranj to reach Europe by the 9th century, spreading throughout the entire continent by 1000. At the same time, shatranj and chaturanga were spread by trade along the Silk Road to East Asia, giving rise to chess's Asian cousins - xiangqi in China, janggi in Korea and shogi in Japan. Back in Europe, chess went through further development. Some of the pieces were reinterpreted in Catholic eyes - the piece representing the Indian elephant was recast as a Catholic bishop, and coinciding with the strong female leaders arising around this time, the king's advisor was recast as a queen. Another major development occurred in Germany, also in the 12th century, where a chess variant known as Courier Chess was created, which introduced the chess-playing world to the diagonal move used by the modern bishop (which in Courier chess was used by that game's titular piece). This move was swiftly granted to the bishop on the 8 by 8 board to speed up the game, and in around 1475 the queen was granted her modern powers (previously, she could only move one square diagonally), creating a variant known as "Mad Queen Chess". By the 15th century, a few more modifications had been made to the rules of Mad Queen Chess, such as the pawn double-step, castling and en passant, creating the game of chess as we know it today (although the rules wouldn't be universally standardised until the end of the 19th century). Types of variants There are many different types of chess variants, and variants are usually created with the standard game as a starting point. Variant creators often create chess variants to fix an issue they perceive with the standard game or to create new games of interest for chess players. Here are some ways in which chess variants differ from the standard game: +Some ways in which chess variants differ from the standard game:Difference from standard chess:Example:     Board differencesBoard with a different size or shapeChess on a 12 by 12 board - As its name suggests.Board with a different topologyCylindrical chess - uses a cylindrical board.Board with a non-square latticeGliński’s hexagonal chess - Uses a board made up of 91 hexagon-shaped cells.Board with more than two dimensions of movementRaumschach - Uses a 5 by 5 by 5 board.Multiple boardsAlice chess - Pieces switch between two boards when they move.     Movement differences Different basic piece movement rules Push chess, Simultaneous chess, and Quantum chess - Very different movement rules.Different castling rulesShafran's hexagonal chess - Four different types of castling. Different pawn promotion rulesBalbo's chess - Piece replacement types available depend on the file the promoted pawn is in.Different piece capture/restore rulesCirce chess - Pieces taken from the opponent are resurrected on their starting square.Non-standard piecesAlmost chess - The queens are replaced with chancellors, which can move like a rook or a knight.     Player differencesMore than two playersFour-player chess - Four players play on a cross-shaped board.Non-identical setup for both playersDunsany's chess - Black has a regular chess army, while White has a horde of 32 pawns.Players cooperateCooperative chess - The players play for a mutual win.     Win/lose rule differencesDifferent check/checkmate rules3-Check chess - The first player to put the other in check 3 times wins.Different victory conditionsLosing chess (also known as suicide chess, antichess or giveaway chess) - The objective is to lose all of one's pieces.     Information differencesIncomplete game informationKriegspiel - Players cannot see each other's pieces.     Randomness differencesRandom starting positionFischer random chess (a.k.a., Chess960) - Starting configuration is randomly selected from among 960 possible options.Use of cardsKnightmare chess - Players are dealt cards that can be used to change the rules of the game.Use of diceDice chess - Dice rolls determine which pieces can move on a given turn. Some chess variants have sub-variants of their own - for example, Dunsany's chess has a subvariant named Horde chess. Playing chess variants There are many chess variants that can be played with standard equipment, but there are also many variants that require special computer software to play (perhaps because they use non-standard boards or pieces). Some of those variants (such as Gothic chess) have been made into commercially available products, however. Also, the two most notable chess websites online, Chess.com and lichess.org, both offer support for a handful of variants. There are also softwares that have been made specifically to play chess variants, such as Chess Remix, Zillions of Games, Fairy-Max and ChessV. A catalogue of variants The variants in this catalogue are sorted by whether or not they use a standard board, pieces and rules. Standard Rules Different Starting Position Fischer Random Chess Different Number of Pieces Dunsany's Chess Non-Standard Board Balbo's Game Chess on a 12 by 12 Board Circular Chess Cross Chess Cylinder Chess Double Chess Grid Chess Hexagonal Chess Infinite Chess Los Alamos Chess Masonic Chess Minichess Raumshcach Triangular Chess Non-Standard Rules, Standard Pieces Standard Board Atomic Chess Beirut Chess Checkless Chess Chessplus Circe Chess Crazyhouse Extinction Chess Hostage Chess King of the Hill Knight Relay Chess Legan Chess Losing Chess Monochromatic Chess Patrol Chess Three-Check Chess Multi-Move Variants Avalanche Chess Marseillais Chess Monster Chess Progressive Chess Elements of Chance Dark Chess Dice Chess Knightmare Chess Kriegspiel Non-Standard Board and Rules 5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel Alice Chess Chad Diplomat Chess Parallel Worlds Chess Rollerball Chess Non-Standard Rules and Pieces Standard Board Anti-King Chess Berolina Chess Cavalier Chess Cheskers Chess with Different Armies Falcon Hunter Chess Grasshopper Chess Knightmate Musketeer Chess Pocket Mutation Chess Racing Kings Ultima Compound Pieces Almost Chess Capablanca Chess (and other 10x8 variants) Chancellor Chess Grand Chess Maharajah and the Sepoys Modern Chess Tutti-Frutti Chess Non-Standard Board and Pieces Caïssa Britannia Chess on a really big board Eurasian Chess Omega Chess Wildebeest Chess Multi-Player Variants Bughouse Chess Four-Player Chess Three-Player Chess Historical Variants Chaturanga and Shatranj Courier Chess Tamerlane Chess Related Wikibooks Chess provides an introduction to the standard game. Chess variants Chess variants Chess variants Chess variants Chess Chess C 50%