Double Random

The armies do not match. Each side's back rank is shuffled separately, so you and your opponent hold the same pieces standing in different places and the position is asymmetrical from move one. Nothing carries over cleanly from standard chess. It is the most chaotic starting position in the app, and the whole game is evaluation from a blank slate.

Start a free game of Double Random in the browser while you read; no sign-up.

The rules

Each side's back rank is shuffled separately. You and your opponent will have the same pieces in different places, and the position is completely asymmetrical from move one.

Why it is worth playing

Double Random is the most chaotic starting position in the app. Nothing is symmetrical, no principle from standard chess applies cleanly, and the whole game is evaluation from a blank slate.

Four plans that win games

Compare the two arrangements before moving

One of you has a better setup. Working out which, and why, is the most valuable thing you will do all game.

Attack the square their king cannot defend

Asymmetry means their weaknesses are not yours. Find the one their arrangement created.

Play to your structure, not theirs

If your bishops are strong and their knights are, open the position. The imbalance is the game.

Develop toward the imbalance

Every piece should head for the part of the board where your arrangement is better.

Mistakes that lose games

What it teaches you about standard chess

Reading an imbalance

Because the two armies differ, the whole game is about which imbalance favours whom. That is the same skill as judging bishop-versus-knight or rook-versus-two-minors in standard chess, just made unavoidable.

Double Random does what every good variant does: it removes part of chess so that what is left gets your full attention, and the habit comes back with you to the standard game. The full argument, and which variant trains what, is in the coach's guide to variants.

Who it suits

Players who have exhausted Chess960 and want a position nobody in history has ever analysed.

You can play it right now on any device, in a browser, against a full engine, with no download and no account. If you have never tried a variant before, give it three games rather than one: the first is spent learning the rules, and the second is where it starts being chess.

Common questions

What are the rules of Double Random?

Each side's back rank is shuffled separately. You and your opponent will have the same pieces in different places, and the position is completely asymmetrical from move one.

Is Double Random hard to learn?

The rules take about two minutes. Players who have exhausted Chess960 and want a position nobody in history has ever analysed.

What is the best strategy in Double Random?

Compare the two arrangements before moving. One of you has a better setup. Working out which, and why, is the most valuable thing you will do all game.

Where can I play Double Random free?

Grandmaster Gains has Double Random playable in the browser against a full engine, free and with no sign-up, alongside nineteen other variants.

Will playing Double Random improve my normal chess?

Reading an imbalance. Because the two armies differ, the whole game is about which imbalance favours whom. That is the same skill as judging bishop-versus-knight or rook-versus-two-minors in standard chess, just made unavoidable.

What is the biggest mistake beginners make in Double Random?

Do not copy their plan. Their setup justifies it. Yours may not.

More variants

• Peasants' Revolt: One side has a king and eight pawns; the other has a king, four knights and a pawn.
• Light Brigade: One side gets a queen and pawns; the other gets minor pieces and pawns.
• Standard Chess: The original, and still the deepest game on the board.
• Crazyhouse: Captured pieces switch sides and can be dropped back on the board.