Questions to Ask Before You Try Chess Variants

Before you try a chess variant, ask five questions: what does it change, what does it teach, what does it cost, how long does it take to learn, and what should you play afterwards. On this site the third answer is nothing, all 20 variants are free in the browser, so the questions that matter are the other four, and the guides in the Library answer them for each variant.

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

What does it change?

One thing, always. The start, a rule, the goal or the armies. Chess960 shuffles the back rank. Crazyhouse adds drops. King of the Hill adds a second way to win. Horde swaps one army for thirty-six pawns. Knowing which kind of change it is tells you how far from standard chess you are stepping, and the variants hub says it in a line for each of the 20.

What does it teach?

The skill that is left when the change is made. Remove the openings and Chess960 teaches principles. Add drops and Crazyhouse teaches tactics under constant threat. Start in a won ending and Endgame Arena teaches conversion. If you cannot say what a variant teaches, you cannot say why you are playing it, and the guide for each one answers that question in its own section.

What does it cost?

Nothing here. Every variant runs in the browser with no account, against four computer levels or live with clocks and analysis. The only paid lines on the site are the coaching tools and the private sessions, and neither is needed to play a variant. Anywhere that charges to try Chess960 is charging for something given away here, which is worth knowing before paying.

How long does it take to learn?

The rules, two minutes. The feel, three games. A plan, ten minutes with the guide. Competence, a few weeks of occasional play for the ones close to standard chess, longer for Antichess and Racing Kings, which are almost separate games. Nobody should expect to play a variant well on the first evening, and nobody should need more than a week to know whether it is teaching them anything.

What should you play afterwards?

A standard game, the same evening, with the drilled skill in mind. The variant is the practice and the standard game is the test, and the habit transfers best while it is fresh. A player who drills conversion in Endgame Arena and then plays a slow standard game will feel the difference in the first winning position they reach.

Is it fun?

An underrated question. A drill that is boring does not get done, and a variant that is fun gets played without being scheduled. For children especially, choose by fun first: Horde, Really Bad Chess and the odds games are all favourites and all teach something. For an adult, the fun is usually in the variant closest to the weakness, because winning at the thing you were bad at is its own reward.

Does it suit the player in front of you?

A beginner needs to win some games, so odds games and Horde. A club player needs a specific drill, so the variant that isolates the weakness. A strong player needs a sharpener before an event, so Crazyhouse or Endgame Arena. A coach choosing for a group needs one the whole room can learn in a minute, so King of the Hill or Three-Check. The right variant depends on who is playing it.

Who decides which one?

You, if you can name your weakness. A coach, if you cannot. A coach on a trainer plan assigns the variant as homework and sees who played it; a private session here can be set to the variant so the coach can watch what it reveals. The variants are free either way. The choosing is where the value is, and it is the part a coach is for.

The checklist

• You can say what the variant changes.
• You can say what it teaches, and that is a skill you need.
• It is free, so nothing is lost by trying.
• You will give it three games before judging.
• You will play a standard game afterwards with the skill in mind.
• It is fun enough to get played without being scheduled.

Common questions

Which chess variant should I try first?

The one that isolates a skill you lack. If you cannot name one, King of the Hill or Chess960, which are close to standard chess and teach central control and opening principles respectively.

Are chess variants free to try here?

Yes, all 20, in the browser with no sign-up, against four computer levels or live with clocks and analysis. Each one also has a full guide in the Library with the rules and the plans that win.

How long does it take to learn a chess variant?

Two minutes for the rules, three games for the feel and a week of occasional play to know whether it is teaching you anything worth keeping. The strange ones, Antichess and Racing Kings, take longer to play well.

What should I play after a chess variant session?

A standard game the same evening, with the drilled skill in mind, so the habit transfers while it is fresh. If nothing transfers after a few sessions, change the variant, because the drill was aimed at the wrong skill.

Read next in this cluster

• How Long Do Chess Variants Take to Learn?
• Chess Variants by Yourself or With a Coach?

Where to go from here

Everything above is the practical layer, the part that decides whether a club survives, whether a child keeps playing, and whether a coaching business pays. It is also the part almost nobody writes about, because it is less interesting than opening theory and far more useful.

If you are teaching, the two things that move the needle fastest are structure and measurement: a session that has the same shape every week, and a number each student can watch go up. Neither requires you to be a strong player. Both require you to be organised, and organisation is the thing you can actually control.

The rest of this Library covers the chess itself: twenty-one openings written from both sides, seven complete guides to tactics, endgames, checkmate patterns and strategy, and twenty variants with a guide each. All of it is free, and all of it is playable on a live board, which matters more than reading it.

More on coaching and scholastic chess

• How to Start a Chess Club at Your School
• What Age Should a Child Start Chess?
• Chess Ratings Explained: A Guide for Parents