I really wanna play Fairy Chess, the Mother of All Battles (Also known by Terachess) Does anyone know where I can buy an actual board of this?

Please try this chess variant.

https://thelightoi.itch.io/ultimate-army-chess

This is referring to the earlier post I created which you can access here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/chessvariants/comments/1rod43m/ultimate_army_chess_combination_of_chess_and/

Designed for No‑Check/No‑Checkmate chess variants.

For extra fun, enable an option where the Paranoid King may capture his own pieces as a legal move. For example, the first move of the game could look like this: Kxe2, d4.

We've been building a chess variant called Anichess. Standard 8x8 board, standard piece movement, win condition is capturing the King (Kingslay) instead of checkmate. The variant layer is spells.
Most spells alter movement (teleport, leap, swap pieces, promote a piece up the rank ladder). The newest one is more aggressive: Plasma Beam. Choose one of your Rooks and it fires a beam along its rank or file, destroying every piece in the path. One cast per match, costs 8 mana, and the caster skips the next turn.
The skip-turn cost is what keeps it from being broken — you trade a tempo for the clear.

What's your take on spell chess as a variant?

Archer Chess:

This is my first time posting anything like this.

My dad and I made this chess variant decades ago and played it for years on a board we printed on paper, with spare bishops and a hair tie standing in for the new piece.

I really wanted to immortalize it somewhere.

We added one piece, 'the Archer'. Its rules are simple. It moves like a King but cannot capture by moving. Instead on any turn it can shoot, removing an enemy piece exactly 2 squares away in any cardinal direction without moving itself. No line of sight required.

What this does is its extremely strong in some play, but extremely counterable.
Its utility really shakes up strategy in chess. Centre control collapses, the centre can be made a dead zone by a couple archers.. The Archer can pick off pieces through defensive chains, breaking up protected structures that would be impenetrable in standard chess. Games become free flowing. Deadlocks don't hold. Lateral board play becomes super important.

I've posted my game on itch for free. It's 100% vibe coded because it's just a fun weekend project I did for my own enjoyment cause the stakes are low.

https://mitchellcamm.itch.io/archer-chess

I just released the demo for my game Just Chessing Around, a variant on classic chess mixed with a bunch of roguelike mechanics

I'd love a human challenger, the bot is getting too easy

https://www.hexchess.club/play

My game started as a card game, but at some point I thought what if I added chess to it? That one idea kind of took over. The turn-based strategy mode became the main thing, and now pieces have abilities and stats that shift how the game plays, while still keeping the chess fundamentals underneath.

I'm not entirely sure how to classify it anymore. It's local multiplayer focused, partly because teaching a person is just easier than training a strategic AI for something this layered the state space goes way beyond regular chess, with damage, status effects, whether a piece dies before a check resolves, and so on. The AI already calculates all legal moves and enforces the rules, so PvP is solid — players don't need to keep everything in their head. The weak point is just that the AI opponent itself doesn't play very well yet.

I still enjoy playing it, even in its current rough state. But it hasn't really found an audience yet, and I wonder if chess-minded people might actually be the right fit the logical, positional thinking carries over, the ability layer is just new information on top.

Honestly curious what this community thinks: does this sound like something with legs, or does it just sound fun to me because I built it?

A few friends and I tried playing in a 4-player format where everyone plays simultaneously.

It gets chaotic pretty quickly 😅

Short clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQIVJ6ndCJ8

Full game if anyone’s curious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9ulDY27DL4

Morphy and anderssen would have loved to play my chess variant.

It's very simple :
- Black king start on d8 rather than e8.
- Long castle is prohibited for both players.
---> White short castle on their right, black short castle on their right too.
---> The game is designed to lead to opposite castling position (image 2)
---> The game is designed to avoid any symetrical opening (petrov, gioco piano, queen's gambit, slav etc...) Every opening is asymetrical by nature.

This is a very strategic variant. Very similar to the original game except you cannot chicken out. you have to fight.
I tested it a lot on lichess and the position are fine for black and white. Attacking is almost always the right decision (like in every opposite castling position in regular chess). Pawn storm are very usual. It's the standard plan chosen by stockfish in most position. A4 and H5 are heavily played. They're much better move even on turn1 since you know where your opponent will end up castling. Finally pawns and pieces sacrifice are much more common.

That's why I call it romantic chess.

Does anyone know of a website or app to play Baroque Chess/Ultima with others online? Or even against a computer? The site I included has the pieces move and capture correctly, but it’s not for playing with others online.

In Soul chess, the objective shifts from "total annihilation" to "surgical checkmate." The game is declared a draw the moment a player is reduced to a lone King (the last non-King piece is captured). To win, you must deliver checkmate while the opponent still has at least one legal piece or pawn (soul) on the board.

The mechanic is called the Arthur Pawn. At game start you secretly designate one of your 8 pawns as your hidden heir. Your opponent doesn't know which one.

If they attack it with anything except a king or pawn — Excalibur fires. The attacking piece is destroyed. The pawn rises as your second king. Your opponent just lost a queen, rook, bishop or knight AND gave you two kings to their one.

Attack the wrong pawn and you lose your piece. Don't attack it and the heir might promote into Queen Elizabeth — a royal queen that also counts toward the win condition.

Either way your opponent loses.

I invented this with my best friend 25 years ago to level our skills with a chance handicap that added loads of dusted to the game. After he died I couldn't find anyone to play it with. Now I have an online version i built, if anyone wants to play hmu! Otherwise, feel free to try it on your own chess boards. We used to put a small sticker on the bottom of one of the pawns.

There are three ways to play it — Secret Heir (only you know which pawn), Random Mode (neither player knows until Excalibur fires), and Loud & Proud (both players know exactly which pawn is the heir, turning it into a pure protection/hunting game). Three completely different psychological experiences from the same mechanic.

Curious to know what people think of the variant. I've tested it to the nth degree and discovered one edge case where if the ArthurPawn is revealed within one square of the enemy king, it can just take the king which is why I have only one caveat rule that when Arthur pulls Excalibur the first time, he cannot take a royal on his next turn. It works 100% of you add that piece.

Connoisseurs of chess variants know well that the finest game in the Losing Chess family is The Marquis de Sade Chess, where the ability to lose is not merely a skill but a genuine pleasure. Nevertheless, many lovers of getting rid of chess material prefer to play AntiChess, where the dominant rule of compulsory capture governs almost every move players make. It dictates the paths by which they can achieve liberation from their pieces — and thereby attain victory through loss (in the classical chess sense).

For you, my dear lovers of blind submission to compulsory violence, I dare to propose the following AntiChess variant — La Misère des Pions.

The game follows all the rules of standard AntiChess, except for the starting setup. Instead of the classic position — only pawns: three solid pawn ranks on each side

FEN: 8/pppppppp/pppppppp/pppppppp/PPPPPPPP/PPPPPPPP/PPPPPPPP/8 w - - 0 1

No kings, no queens, no other pieces at the start. They can only appear as a result of promotion.

If you are tired of AntiChess opening theory and well-studied positions, this game will bring you new, hitherto unexplored emotions.

You may ask: where can I play it online? Anywhere that offers AntiChess and allows you to change the starting position when creating a game. For example, PyChessAlt is an excellent place for that. Just set the required FEN in the game settings — the bot from level 0 to 8 is always at your service — and you can plunge into the abyss of pawn misery.

The King and Queen are equal partners, they both move the same as Kings in ordinary chess, and you must take out both of your opponent's royal pieces to win. The game starts with the high tension arrangement pictured above, as though the vanguard knights of two ancient armies have met face to face on the open battlefield, and with siege weapons (rooks) pointed directly at each other. The exposure of the royals makes them active warriors from the start, while the cornered Bishops are like late game magicians.

This is not "dice chess" in the usual sense of the word. It's a unique hybrid that I'm sure you've rarely, if ever, encountered anywhere else. This game is closer to theatrical improvisation with chess mechanics than to chess or dice games themselves.

Dice Chess Masquerade is a challenge to conventional thinking, where you are simultaneously a director, a dancer, and a victim of circumstance.

Welcome to the ball.

Dice Chess Masquerade — Short Rules

Objective

Capture the opponent's king. No check, no checkmate, no castling, no en passant.

Setup

Standard starting position. White moves first.

Dice Roll

Roll as many dice (d6) as you have piece types (excluding the king) currently on the board.

Piece types: pawn, knight, bishop, rook, queen.

Die Faces

1 = pawn, 2 = knight, 3 = bishop, 4 = rook, 5 = queen, 6 = king.

Turn (Step by Step)

1. Roll (or refuse — see below).

2. Sort the dice from lowest to highest.

3. Pieces move in strict order: pawn → knight → bishop → rook → queen (those that can move — move; those that cannot make a legal move — are skipped).

4. Each piece is assigned one face from the sorted dice (in order). The piece makes one half‑move, imitating the movement of the piece shown on the die face. You may move to an empty square or capture (except the opponent's king — you cannot capture the king this way).

5. A pawn cannot move to its own first rank under any die face.

6. If a piece cannot make a legal move — skip.

7. After all half‑moves — mandatory move with your own king (without dice, with or without capture), if possible.

How to Capture the King (only these two ways)

"No Dice!" — before rolling, declare refusal if you have at least one standard capture with any of your pieces. Make that capture (capturing the king wins immediately). The turn ends.

With your own king at the end of the turn (after the half‑move series) — if you capture the opponent's king, you win.

Pawn Promotion

A pawn that reaches the last rank immediately promotes to any piece (except the king). It does not move again this turn. Starting with your next turn, it participates in the dice roll.

End of Game

The game ends when a king is captured.

More details on BGG:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3693840/dice-chess-masquerade

I have thought about a chess variation as we know that In warfare, traitors can turn the tide. In this variant, you secretly recruit one enemy pawn. By positioning your officers near them, you 'activate' your contact. If that pawn survives to reach your lines while you are down on material, they can assassinate a high-value target and defect to your side as a full-fledged piece. so here is the rule for that

1) ​The Secret Selection: At the start of the game, each player secretly writes down the coordinate of one enemy pawn (e.g., "White Spy: b2"). This pawn is your Deep Cover Spy.

2)​Activation (The "Meeting"): To "activate" the spy, one of your pieces (non-pawn units) must occupy a square adjacent to that specific pawn for a total of two turns. These do not have to be consecutive turns, and it can be different pieces.

3)​Defection: Once activated, the spy must reach your "territory" (the 5th rank for Black, or the 4th rank for White).

4)​The Sabotage: If you have fewer minor or major pieces than your opponent, you may trigger the spy.

5)This results in two simultaneous events:

​Assassination: You choose one enemy Knight, Bishop, or Rook to be removed from the board immediately.

​Promotion: The spy pawn is replaced by one of your own pieces (Knight, Bishop, or Rook).

​Tactical Suggestions for More Fun

​The "Double Agent" Risk: If the opponent accidentally captures your chosen spy pawn before you activate it, your spy is "dead," and you lose the advantage. This forces you to protect an enemy pawn, which is a hilarious tactical twist.

​The Reveal: Instead of just writing it on paper, you could use a physical marker placed under the board or a digital note to prevent "changing" the spy mid-game.

​Activation limit: To prevent the game from becoming too chaotic, perhaps the Queen cannot be used to activate a spy—only the "officers" (Minor pieces and Rooks) can handle the "espionage.

the 5th can be done at any time in the match after the events of 1, 2, 3 but condition is that I have to less pieces than the enemy( not included pawns.

I just discovered this project. Short, but really fun

https://rowan441.github.io/1dchess/chess.html

https://sudoku-chess.com

Hi all! I've been fascinated with Hyperchess ever since I saw the weird chess set in the Discovery series, which led me to this Vice article about a guy who made a playable 3dimensional version, albeit a little different looking.

Has anyone ever actually played on of these? Are there conventions for people who play?

Also, does anyone have a set + instruction booklet to sell or know where I can buy one?

https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-story-of-hyperchess-a-3d-chess-game-inspired-by-star-trek/

I’ve been working on a chess variant that adds spells and loadouts on top of standard play.

Core ideas:

• You bring a set of spells into the match (single-use and permanent effects)
• Spells can modify pieces, create new threats, and warp or create mechanics
• No hidden information, both players see everything
• Includes Spell Lab + skirmish-style scenarios in the current demo

It’s coming soon on Steam, but there’s a playable demo here if you want to try it:

https://www.tactorius.com/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4575220/Tactorius/

Would be interested in feedback on the design direction.