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Chess Variants
Saved games stay in this browser only.
About the game
Chess has been reinvented many times in its long life. This page collects eight versions, from the medieval ancestors to modern inventions, each one playable against the computer. If you know the rules of chess you can start any of them at once: the Rules button tells you what is different.
| Game | What sets it apart |
|---|---|
| Chess960 (Fischer random) | The pieces on the back rank start in one of 960 random arrangements, so memorised openings are no help. |
| Capablanca chess | A 10x8 board with two extra pieces, the chancellor (rook plus knight) and the archbishop (bishop plus knight). |
| Courier chess | A medieval game on a 12x8 board with twelve pawns a side and pieces such as the courier, the archer and the schleich. |
| Shatranj | The medieval Persian game from which chess descends: the elephant and the minister replace the bishop and the queen. |
| Makruk (Thai chess) | A cousin of shatranj still played in Thailand, with a much weaker queen and a different bishop. |
| Losing chess | Capturing is compulsory and the goal is to lose all your pieces, or be unable to move. |
| Gardner minichess | Chess on a 5x5 board, a small game that is over fast. |
| Chess | The classic game with the standard setup, for reference. |
Playing it here
This page runs Jocly, a free library of board games with a computer opponent that thinks in the background while you wait. Pick a game in the Game menu at the top; You play chooses first, second or both sides (to play against a friend on the same screen), Computer level sets how hard the computer thinks, and New game starts again. Take back undoes your last move together with the reply, and Rules opens the rules of the game you picked. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere. Your choices (game, side, level and board) are kept in this browser; clearing the site's data erases them. The game is in English and has no sound.
Controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Click or tap a piece, then a marked square | move the piece |
| Game menu | choose the game |
| You play | first, second or both sides |
| Computer level | from a one-second search to longer thinking |
| Board | switch between the flat boards and piece sets |
| Take back | undo your last move and the reply |
Tips
Chess960: think from the first move. The opening position is new every game, so start by developing the pieces towards the centre and keeping the king safe, as you would in ordinary chess.
Respect the new pieces. In Capablanca chess the chancellor and the archbishop are strong, and they are easy to lose to a simple fork.
Losing chess is a different game. Giving pieces away is the point; keep one piece back that the opponent cannot take safely and avoid captures you are not forced into.
Credits
Jocly was made by Michel Gutierrez, who wrote the games and the computer player, and Jérôme Choain, who did the graphic design, and it is free software under the GNU Affero General Public License. Only the flat boards of the library are used here, not its 3D views, and its sound files are left out. The artwork of the chess games is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 licence, and the classic piece set and the text of several rules come from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons under the same licence.
FAQ
Can I castle and capture en passant? In the games that have those rules, yes; Rules says which ones do.
Can I play against a friend? Yes: set You play to both sides and take turns on the same screen.