Renaissance Chess is a large Chess variant that includes a number of powerful pieces with unusual movement capabilities. The Prince, Nobleman, Duke, and Cavalier can all be considered even more powerful than the Queen (the most powerful orthodox Chess piece). The object of the game remains the same - checkmate the enemy King.
 
Pawns retain their double-space first move and the ability to perform 'En Passant' moves but the rules for promotion are a bit unusual and a major departure from the promotion rules for orthodox Chess. Pawns which reach the 'next-to-last' rank may, optionally, promote to a Fox. Pawns *must* promote to a previously captured piece when reaching the 'last' rank and may not move to the 'last' rank if promotion is not possible.
 
The Fox also has promotion possibilities, being able to, optionally, promote to a Guard when reaching the 'last' rank.
 
The last major departure from the rules for orthodox Chess is that castling is not permitted.