The Home Of Chess And Chess Variants
Welcome to EvoChess. Not only a reference for chess variants, but also a platform for online chess play for the chess and chess variant community.
Play Fischer Random Chess (Chess960), Seirawan chess (S-Chess), Atomic Chess, Crazyhouse Chess and many more.
What is EvoChess?
Live chess
Play realtime online chess with chat. Select clocks to suit your preference, or default to Bullet, Blitz, Rapid or Classical time controls.
Correspondence chess
If you are unable to complete game in one session, play at your own pace by playing a correspondence style game. Receive optional move notifications by email.
More...New ways to play chess
Discover and learn new ways to play chess! Some variants require a standard board and pieces, others introduce new pieces and board sizes. All game rules are explained and enforced, from the simple to most complex chess variants.
More...Global community
Compete with a global community of chess playerProfiles! Each player has their own rating
Standard Chess too
If you would rather just play chess using the standard orthodox chess rules you know already, you can do that too! Variants are fun, but you can focus on the standard game if you prefer.
Discover new ways to play chess!
Just some of the supported chess variants.
All chess variants you can play
The growing number of variants you can learn and play right now.
Standard Chess
Orthodox chess played with standard castling and en-passant rules.
Alice Chess
Named after Alice in Lewis Carroll's work Through the Looking-Glass. Chess on two boards with pieces moved between the boards.
Alice Chess 2
A variation of Alice Chess - Black starts on the second board and no longer faces White.
Atomic Chess
Capturing a piece results in an explosion which will destroy surrounding pieces.
Capablanca Chess
Created by José Raúl Capablanca, and played on a 10x8 board with the addition of the chancellor and archbishop.
Chess960
A shuffled back rank to counter strong opening knowledge. Aka Fischer Random Chess.
Crazy House
Similar to Bughouse chess, but for two playerProfiles. Captured pieces are dropped back on to the board.
Cylinder Chess
The board can be imagined as a cylinder with no horizontal edges on either side.
Dodo Chess
A variant of racing kings, with a reduced number of pieces and no queen.
Double Chess
Played on a double width board, 12x16, with a duplicate set of pieces.
Emperor's Game
Played on a 10x10 board with two new pieces - the General and the Adjutant.
Extinction Chess
Remove all of your opponent's pieces of the same species to win.
King of the Hill
Move your king to the center of the board - the hill - to win.
Los Alamos
Play the first chess-like game played on a computer! A reduced size board and piece set.
Maharajah and the Sepoys
Maharajah and the Sepoys is a asymmetrical variant with a full black army against a single Maharajah
Seirawan Chess
After an initial move from the back rank, a Hawk or Elephant piece can be placed into the vacated square.
Transcendental Chess
Back rank is randomly determined, but on the first turn, a player can exchange two pieces.
Viking Chess
Played on a 12x7 board with both armies starting at the bottom of the board.
Wildebeest Chess
Played on an 11x10 board, Wildebeest chess introduces the Camel And Wildebeest which are enhanced jumping pieces.
Bear Chess
A Russian 10x10 variant featuring an additional leaping piece - the Bear!
No Castling Chess
Every rule is the same as chess, except that castling is not allowed.