List of chess variants

The rules can be grouped into categories, from the most innocuous (starting position) to the most dramatic (adding chance/randomness to the gameplay after the initial piece placement).

Many variants employ standard chess rules and mechanics, but vary the number of pieces, or their starting positions.

In most such variants, the pawns are placed on their usual squares, but the position of other pieces is either randomly determined or selected by the players.

[24] These variants introduce changes in the mechanics of the game, such as movement of pieces, rules for capturing, or winning conditions.

In most cases an extra spatial dimension is represented by multiple boards being laid next to each other.

Some extra-dimensional variants attempt to reflect the 3D nature of modern warfare (e.g. Raumschach, designed to reflect aerial and submarine warfare), while others incorporate fantasy or science fiction ideas such as parallel worlds and time travel.

[93][94] An example of the latter is the variant introduced by the 2020 computer game 5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel, which uses a varying number of boards all being played in parallel.