A chess variant is any
game
derived from or related to
chess. In practice, a specific chess variant may be similar to chess or
radically different. The broad definition of chess variants is so universal, it
may include nearly any abstract battle or war game played upon a board.
To experts of chess variants, chess,
shogi,
xiangqi and other chess-related games of great popularity are merely special
cases in a theoretically unlimited universe of possible arrangements involving
boards, pieces, rules, and so on. To date, several hundred chess variants have
been catalogued. With the recent invention in
1998
of a computer program which enables non-experts to quickly design and playtest
chess variants using an AI opponent, the total number has been increasing
constantly and rapidly. This growth is likely to continue for years.
Fantasy variants make significant changes to normal chess rules. Other terms
for fantasy chess variants include heterodox chess and fairy chess.
Some of these variants use pieces not found in orthodox chess, such as Berolina
pawns (pawns which move diagonally and capture straight forward); such pieces
are collectively called fairy pieces.
Advanced Chess: the players are allowed to consult a computer.
See also
Computer Chess
Alice Chess: played with two boards. A piece moved on one board
passes "through the looking glass" onto the other board.
Atomic Chess: any capture on a square results in an "atomic
explosion" which kills (i.e. removes from the game) all pieces in any
of the 8 surrounding squares, except for pawns.
Avalanche Chess: each player moves an opponent's pawn after their
move.
Baroque Chess: (a.k.a. Ultima) the pieces all move like queens
but have various capturing methods.
Bughouse Chess: (a.k.a. Tandem Chess, Siamese Chess) two teams of
two players face each other on two boards.
These games have developed independently from chess by unrelated origins.
Nonetheless, they are definable as chess variants. The popularity of these chess
variants is often limited to their respective places of origin.