History Main / VariantChess

* ''Tom Corbett, Space Cadet'' has [[RecycledInSpace space chess]], played in three dimensions using a cube of intersecting light beams and neutral-buoyancy balloon pieces.

* In ''WebComic/YokokasQuest'', Fahrin is playing a solo game of what appears to be chess with unorthodox pieces, when first introduced at the end of chapter 4.

** Sergeants are a pawn varian that can both move and capture horizontally and diagonally, instead of just moving horizontally and capturing diagonally.

* ''Webanimation/BattleForDreamIslandThePowerOfTwo'': The episode ''[[Recap/BattleForDreamIslandS5bE4 Gardening Zero]]'' introduces "yoyle chess". It looks like normal chess at first, but the rooks look like vans, there are "strongest" and "weakest" squares on the board, "traps" the players can put up and also "points" to gain. Pillow mentions they have to play it on the tracks of a rollercoaster, although she might be using it as an excuse for her to cheat, whenever a cart is going towards them, she grabs the game and the other player, jump up high to avoid the cart and when they are back down she changes the pieces' places on the board. Her saying losing points is one of the consequences of getting cursed by Yellow Face's skeleton also might be an excuse.

* ''TabletopGame/GameOfTheGenerals'': In a drawn-out endgame, the focus of gameplay can shift so heavily to clever maneuvering that it almost resembles a game of chess, especially when the flag is on the move.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has dragonchess, a variant played on three different boards at once, representing the sky, land, and Underdark. It also uses (mostly) its own pieces based on traditional D&D races, classes, and monsters, each with its own unique rules.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' characters are likely to play Conqueror instead, which is described as "chesslike" in the ''Five Nations'' sourcebook that introduced it.
* ''Tabletopgame/Chess2'' introduces five different armies with each piece having its own unique moveset. And a player can immediately win if their king moves past the center of the board.

** Compound pieces, which combine the qualities of two or more other pieces, are common. For instance, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_(chess) princess/archbishop/cardinal]] piece can move like either a bishop or a knight at will, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(chess) amazon]] can act like either a knight or a queen, and the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_(chess) empress/chancellor]] can act as either a knight or a rook.

* ''Series/DoubleTheFist'' had Steve Foxx travel back in time to make the world better by killing Captain Cook, but Cook's crew had force fields and rayguns and fought Steve's allies to a standstill (don't ask) so Steve accepted an offer to settle things peacefully over a game of chess. Holographic 3D chess where moves and captures were declared by announcing Cluedo-style murders.

* The page image with the circular board is [[http://www.3manchess.com/ 3 Man Chess.]] And yes, there are rules keeping you from taking the rook right next to yours at the beginning, among other things. Some other quirks that arise due to the board include diagonal and horizontal moves sometimes allowing the piece to move in a full circle.

** Compound pieces, which combine the qualities of two or more other pieces, are common. For instance, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_(chess) princess/archbishop/cardinal]] piece can move like either a bishop or a knight at will, while the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(chess) amazon]] can act like either a knight or a queen.

* Custom pieces, referred to as "fairy pieces", are a popular way to try gameplay. In board notation, they're often represented by inverted or rotated icons of regular pieces. There are about as many fairy pieces as there are people to think them up, but certain categories are notable:

Most Board Game companies have "unsolicited submissions" piles filled with new Chess Variants. At least one of the 5 biggest RPG manufacturers in America automatically rejects them. While they are neat in fiction, and may even be fun to play, they never sell well enough to be worth it unless there is a popular license attached.

* Tile Chess, where the board is made of multiple free-standing tiles, thus allowing a non-standard board that keeps changing shape, and allows up to SIX players at the same time. It's very fun.

* In ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'', there is a variant of chess called Three-Dimensional Chess, which consists on standard chess but with two extra boards above and below the main board, and there are rules for moving the classic chess pieces from one board to the other. [[FridgeBrilliance Actually makes awesome sense if you analyze it]], since, with the advent of space battling, the third dimension has become an important component of military strategy, and this future's version of chess reflects it.

* ''VideoGame/{{Chess Evolved Online}}'' is an ambitious online chess variant that adds over 300 pieces to the game, with players choosing 15 pieces and a king using a [[PointBuildSystem Point Buy system]]. New pieces range from relative mundane upgrades to existing pieces (Bishop+ can move one square orthogonality, as long as this doesn't capture an enemy piece) to completely original pieces that change the game completely (Liches can CastFromHitPoints to summon skeletons, [[BlowYouAway Wind Mages]] can push both allied and enemy pieces around.)
* The FramingDevice for ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' involves a vaguely chess-like game between Xehanort and Eraqus during their youth. Unbeknownst to them, their moves just happen to correspond to the battle between Sora's allies and Xehanort's various incarnations. [[spoiler: In the epilogue, Eraqus starts up a new game, resembling the coming conflict between Sora and the Foretellers.]]

* ''VideoGame/ShotgunKingTheFinalCheckmate'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. You play as the Black King, have no other pieces, and can't capture normally... but the Black King has a shotgun which they can use to aim and shoot at the White pieces to damage and kill them, while also being able to move and shoot each round. Killing White's king ends the round, while it's GameOver if the Black King is captured. White starts out with few pieces, but every round they gain more. At the end of a successful round, the player selects a card that gives an advantage to the Black King [[ChooseAHandicap and an advantage to White's pieces]], changing up the gameplay strategy -- such as one that gives the Black King the ability to respawn once if checkmated, but also gives White's Pawns the ability to attack 2 squares forward.

* In the pilot of ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'', two villagers from Tirharad are seen playing an unnamed fantasy variant of chess. "Caraes" seems to be InUnivers word for "checkmate".

* ''Creator/HarryTurtledove'' puts one in his Videssos books in which the pieces representing coins get more valuable the farther into 'enemy' territory they get.

Very much present in RealLife -- The Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} article on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_variant Chess Variants]] puts the number at over 2000 (and that's only counting published ones), with the amount perhaps unlimited. Some of these even enjoy a fair following. Since WWI a subgroup, which includes unusual problems as well as non-standard pieces, known as "Fairy Chess" has been popular, engendering multiple international organizations of players and theorists. See also [[http://www.chessvariants.org/ this page]].

* ''VideoGame/ShotgunKingTheFinalCheckmate'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. You play as the Black King, have no other pieces, and can't capture normally... but the Black King has a shotgun which they can use to aim and shoot at the White pieces to damage and kill them, while also being able to move and shoot each round. Killing White's king ends the round, while it's GameOver if the Black King is captured. White starts out with few pieces, but every round they gain more. At the end of a successful round, the player selects a card that gives an advantage to the Black King [[ChooseYourHandicap and an advantage to White's pieces]], changing up the gameplay strategy -- such as one that gives the Black King the ability to respawn once if checkmated, but also gives White's Pawns the ability to attack 2 squares forward.

* ''VideoGame/ShotgunKingTheFinalCheckmate'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. You play as the Black King, have no other pieces, and can't capture normally... but the Black King has a shotgun which they can use to aim and shoot at the White pieces to damage and kill them, while also being able to move and shoot each round. Killing White's king ends the round, while it's GameOver if the Black King is captured. White starts out with few pieces, but every round they gain more. At the end of a successful round, the player selects a card that gives an advantage to the Black King and an advantage to White's pieces, changing up the gameplay strategy -- such as one that gives the Black King the ability to respawn once if checkmated, but also gives White's Pawns the ability to attack 2 squares forward.

Fromnarrative and world-building standpoint, this strange, alien board game serves to establish the setting as different from our own in a simple way, while maintaining some verisimilitude by showing the characters do, in fact, play board games. This may be why layered boards are a common choice, as they are visually distinctive ([[DeadHorseTrope or were, at some point]]). The game may not even be much like chess or any other game of ours, but as a visual trope the rules often won't come up anyway.

From a sssssssssssssssssssnarrative and world-building standpoint, this strange, alien board game serves to establish the setting as different from our own in a simple way, while maintaining some verisimilitude by showing the characters do, in fact, play board games. This may be why layered boards are a common choice, as they are visually distinctive ([[DeadHorseTrope or were, at some point]]). The game may not even be much like chess or any other game of ours, but as a visual trope the rules often won't come up anyway.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/Amphibia Amphibia]]'' has the game Flipwart.

* ''WesternAnimation/Amphibia'' has the game Flipwart.

From a narrative and world-building standpoint, this strange, alien board game serves to establish the setting as different from our own in a simple way, while maintaining some verisimilitude by showing the characters do, in fact, play board games. This may be why layered boards are a common choice, as they are visually distinctive ([[DeadHorseTrope or were, at some point]]). The game may not even be much like chess or any other game of ours, but as a visual trope the rules often won't come up anyway.

* Games like TabletopGame/{{shogi}} (Japanese chess) and TabletopGame/{{xiangqi}} (Chinese chess) are related and similar to international chess; both Western/international chess and these games themselves started as variants of the Indian game ''chaturanga''. Some of these games, like makruk (Thai chess) can be played on an international chess board with the same pieces.

* In ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'', there is a variant of chess called Three-Dimensional Chess, which consists on standard chess but with two extra boards above and below the main board, and there are rules for moving the classic chess pieces from one board to the other. [[FridgeBrilliance Actually makes awesome sense if you analyze it]], since, with the advent of space battling, the third dimension has become an important component of military strategy, and this future's version of chess reflects it.