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Chess and its different variations
Chess is a game that has had great reach all over the world, and it has a community that takes chess as a culture. This is why there is no surprise many other games have been invented and based on chess.
These games are usually called chess variations because they have their foundations on original chess. And, it’s not weird to see, most of these variations keep a consistent style with regular chess.
Playing chess variations can be really fun, and there are lots of them to choose from. Chess variations also have the purpose of making some “suggestions” on how to complete normal chess.
Some even say castling was not allowed in original chess, but it was implemented in the regular game thanks to a chess variation.
Anyway, the main purpose of all chess variations is to have fun, chess is a board game after all. You will know some of the most incredible and crazy chess variations that exist.
Chess variations are good for that reason, classic chess can sometimes be repetitive and boring. But playing a chess variation can completely make your day, and release the pressure that comes with playing classic chess.
Fun Chess variations
We could mention a lot of chess variations, we would need at least, 20 posts to cover just the most popular chess variations. Here are some of the funniest, for me to play at least, and craziest of the board.
Bughouse chess
It's the best chess variation that I always love to play, after we explain the rules you will like it as much as I do.
Bughouse chess is played with a doubled amount of everything than normal chess, meaning, 128 squares, 64 pieces, 2 boards, and 4 players!
It’s chess, but in teams, and everything you do on one board, will affect the other board! This chess variation follows the same rules as normal chess, with some funny little changes.
Every time you take a piece, you give it to your opponent and he could place it on his board! And you can do the same, if your teammate takes a pawn he hands it to you, and you can use it in your game.
Bughouse usually gets crazy and it's pretty fun to play, you don’t have to lose alone at chess, you can blame someone now!
Double chess
How about a bigger board? That’s exactly what the mastermind who invented this beautiful game was thinking about.
We have a 12×16 board now, and a lot more pieces to play. It follows the same rules as normal chess, but the pawns can move four squares in the first move.
Also, we have two kings now, a doubled amount of pieces, for a bigger board. The chessboard of this variation always looks like a total mess, and the games tend to be long and exhausting.
But extremely fun and wacky at the same time, this variation is famous because Jose Raúl Capablanca liked to play it.
Crazy chess
I know the name sound cliché, all of the chess variations are crazy, but really, that’s how is called. Crazy chess is a chess variant in which every time we capture an enemy piece we change its color, cool, right?
When you capture an enemy piece we can place it on the board once again in our turn instead of making a move. Pawns and knights become extremely relevant in this variation because pawns can promote as in normal chess.
The mating nets that you can do here are completely incredible, and the nature of the game is completely unpredictable. Perfecto to escape the monotony of normal chess for a while.
Lose-to-win chess
This is a special chess variation to me, and the reason is, it has a pretty peculiar objective. The main objective of this game is to lose all of the pieces!
You have to lose so you can win, fun, the player who loses all of the pieces first wins. Of course, capturing is forced, if you can capture an enemy piece you have to do it, there is no other option.
You can even have your king captured by the opponent! But this doesn’t mean you already won, lost? whatever…
The game never ends until all of your pieces, or your opponent’s, is out of the board, that’s how you win.
Jeson mor
You know, there are many chess variations, this, in particular, I have never tried it, but it looks really cool. Jeson mor is a chess variation in which the board becomes a little bigger (9×9), and the protagonist of this movie is the knight.
Each player starts with 9 knights all arranged on the first rank, there are no other pieces, the knight moves normally as it always does. And here is the interesting part, the player who occupies the e5 square and abandons its first win.
Looks simple, doesn’t it? After analyzing a little bit the position you will realize is not as easy as it sounds, you will be hooked on this.
Grand chess
For those who would like to add new pieces to the normal chess game, here you go, you will enjoy this chess variation. Grand Chess is played on a bigger board, 10×10, as almost any chess variation.
The same rules as in normal chess apply and all of the pieces move normally, of course, they are arranged differently. And this time we have pieces like the priestess and the princess, which have special movements.
There is a lot more craziness on the board, and you will surely enjoy the new pieces, which are really cool by the way.
Conclusion
Playing chess variations is pretty fun, and gives a wide amount of options for those tired of normal chess. If you are an amateur chess player, getting out of the mold every once in a while and playing something different can be beneficial.
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