Peasants' Revolt

Quantity against quality. One army is a king and eight pawns; the other is a king, four knights and a single pawn. Standard rules, standard win conditions. The pawn side has to break through with weight of numbers and the knight side has to blockade and pick them off, and which one works comes down entirely to technique.

Start a free game of Peasants' Revolt in the browser while you read; no sign-up.

The rules

An asymmetrical starting position: one army is almost all pawns, the other is a small force of knights with a single pawn. Standard rules, standard win conditions.

Why it is worth playing

A classic composed handicap position. The pawn side must break through with a mass; the knight side must blockade and pick off. It is a study in whether quantity beats quality, and the answer depends entirely on technique.

Four plans that win games

As the pawns: advance as a phalanx

Connected pawns supported by the king are extremely hard for knights to stop. Isolated ones are free food.

As the knights: blockade, do not chase

A knight in front of a pawn is immovable by pawns. Set the wall and hold it.

As the pawns: use the king

Your king is a strong attacking piece here. He escorts the breakthrough.

As the knights: win the pawns one at a time

There is no rush. Knights defend each other; pawns cannot.

Mistakes that lose games

What it teaches you about standard chess

Blockading

The knight side has to learn that a piece in front of a pawn is worth more than a piece attacking it. Blockading is a genuine skill, it is rarely taught, and this position drills it from both sides at once.

Peasants' Revolt 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

Anyone who wants to practise blockading and pawn-mass technique in the same session.

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 Peasants' Revolt?

An asymmetrical starting position: one army is almost all pawns, the other is a small force of knights with a single pawn. Standard rules, standard win conditions.

Is Peasants' Revolt hard to learn?

The rules take about two minutes. Anyone who wants to practise blockading and pawn-mass technique in the same session.

What is the best strategy in Peasants' Revolt?

As the pawns: advance as a phalanx. Connected pawns supported by the king are extremely hard for knights to stop. Isolated ones are free food.

Where can I play Peasants' Revolt free?

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

Will playing Peasants' Revolt improve my normal chess?

Blockading. The knight side has to learn that a piece in front of a pawn is worth more than a piece attacking it. Blockading is a genuine skill, it is rarely taught, and this position drills it from both sides at once.

What is the biggest mistake beginners make in Peasants' Revolt?

As the pawns: do not advance on a wing alone. The knights simply gather and eat them.

More variants

• 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.
• Chess960 (Fischer Random): The back rank is shuffled: 960 possible starting positions, no opening theory.