Hridayeshwar Singh Bhati (3 September 2002 – 15 June 2021) was an Indian student who invented a six-player variant of chess at the age of 9 with assistance from his father.

[8][9] He since designed and received patents for twelve- and sixty-player versions of his game, with his boards capable of 100 distinct variations altogether.

[10] Besides circular chess, Bhati developed a ramp system enabling easy access to vehicles for disabled people.

Non-pawn pieces start in their normal positions on the back ranks (the 8×1 extensions at the board perimeter), with queens always placed to the left of kings.

The king, knight, and pawn have their standard chess moves, unaffected when crossing the central null space, where a cell directly across is considered adjacent.

When a queen or bishop moves diagonally and then crosses the central null space to the opposite side, it must continue from a cell of the same colour it started from: it is moved one cell clockwise or anticlockwise after passing the null space, consistent with whether it began its diagonal movement in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction.