Chess - Variants

Variants

Chess variants are forms of chess where the game is played using a different board (e.g. hexagonal chess or 3D chess), different rules, or special fairy pieces. There are more than two thousand published variants, the most popular being xiangqi in China and shogi in Japan. Chess variants can include, but are not limited to:

• direct predecessors of chess (chaturanga and shatranj);
• traditional national or regional variants like xiangqi, shogi, janggi (Korea), and makruk (Thailand), which share common predecessors with Western chess;
• modern variants such as Chess960, where the starting position is selected randomly, rendering advance preparation of opening lines impracticable and compelling players to rely on talent and creativity instead.