EvoChess — The Home Of Chess And Chess VariantsPlay chess — and every version of it.
Orthodox chess, plus thirty-three variants with every rule enforced by the engine. Real-time or correspondence. Global ratings. Your clock, your opening, your rules.
The game you already know.
Orthodox chess with the rules you learned as a kid — castling, en passant, promotion, the lot. Play unlimited games against opponents at every level, whenever you have time for another one.
Thirty-three ways to play.
Fischer Random. Atomic. Crazyhouse. Seirawan. Alice. Every variant — with every rule enforced by the engine — so you can focus on the game, not the bookkeeping. Want to know how a piece moves? The board tells you.
Real-time chess. With chat.
Pick your clock — bullet, blitz, rapid, classical — and get matched against a live opponent. Chat built in, move history recorded, every game archived to your profile.
Play at your pace.
Not every game has to fit in a lunch break. Correspondence games let you think for hours or days per move. Email notifications when it is your turn. Your schedule, your tempo.
Discover new ways to play chess!
Just some of the supported chess variants.
Every variant you can play.
All thirty-three, with full rules and a learning board.
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.
Chess 960
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.
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.
No Castling Chess
Every rule is the same as chess, except that castling is not allowed.
Chess variants, answered.
What is EvoChess?
EvoChess is a free online platform for playing standard chess and 33 chess variants against a global community — in real time or by correspondence. Every variant's rules are enforced by the game engine, so you can play unfamiliar variants without memorising them first.
Which chess variants can I play on EvoChess?
You can play 33 variants, including Chess960 (Fischer Random), Crazyhouse, Atomic, Three-Check, Seirawan, Cylinder, Transcendental, Wildebeest, Viking and Extinction chess — each with a learning board and full rule enforcement.
Is EvoChess free to play?
Yes. Every game — standard chess and all variants, live and correspondence — is free, with no limit on how many you can play.
Do I need to know a variant's rules before playing?
No. The engine enforces every rule and highlights the legal moves, so you can learn any variant simply by playing it. Each variant also has its own explainer page.
Can I play live and correspondence chess on EvoChess?
Both. Live games use bullet, blitz, rapid or classical clocks with built-in chat, while correspondence games give you hours or days per move with optional email notifications when it is your turn.
Does EvoChess have ratings for each variant?
Yes. You get a separate global rating for every variant, so you can track and compare your strength in each one across the community.
Do I need to install anything to play?
No. EvoChess runs in your web browser on desktop and mobile — there is nothing to download or install.