Chess variant
A chess variant is a game played on a chessboard with pieces that move as in chess but with at least one changed rule, setup or goal, such as Chess960, Crazyhouse or Three-check.
Also called: variants
A chess variant keeps the board and most of the pieces of ordinary chess but alters something important. The change can be the starting position, as in Chess960 where the back rank is shuffled, the way pieces enter play, as in Crazyhouse, or the winning condition, as in King of the Hill or Three-check. Many websites offer variants alongside standard chess, and some tournaments and online events feature them.
Variants are good fun and can sharpen certain skills. Chess960 reduces memorized opening theory, so it rewards general principles such as development, king safety and piece activity. Games with unusual goals teach you to calculate forcing lines carefully because the usual assumptions about safety no longer hold.
For a student working toward a rating in standard chess, variants are a pleasant supplement rather than a substitute. Opening knowledge, endgame technique and the tactical patterns you drill are specific to the standard rules, and some habits from a variant can mislead you in a normal game. Treat variants as a way to stay curious and loosen up, and keep your serious study time on standard chess, especially before a rated event.
Compare it with Horde chess. Horde chess is a variant in which White has a large mass of pawns instead of the usual army, while Black plays with the normal set of pieces, and Black tries to capture them all.
It sits close to Bughouse. Bughouse is a four-player chess variant on two linked boards, where each capture hands the taken piece to your partner, who may later place it on their own board instead of making a move.
If "Chess variant" is the format you play most, the improvement plans by rating band give a weekly routine for your rating range.
Related terms
Crazyhouse is a chess variant in which a captured piece changes sides and joins your reserve, and on any later turn you may drop it onto an empty square instead of moving.
Bughouse is a four-player chess variant on two linked boards, where each capture hands the taken piece to your partner, who may later place it on their own board instead of making a move.
King of the Hill is a chess variant in which a player wins immediately by moving their king onto one of the four central squares, d4, d5, e4 or e5.
Three-check chess uses the normal rules with one added way to win: the first player to put the opposing king in check three times wins at once, in addition to winning by checkmate.
Chess960 is a variant that begins from one of 960 randomly chosen back-rank setups, with the king between the rooks and the bishops on opposite colors, and is otherwise played with the usual rules.
Guides that go further
See whether a base time and increment counts as bullet, blitz, rapid or classical.
Average chess rating and a good chess rating
What share of active Lichess players are rated above 800, 1200, 1500, 1800 or 2000, by time control.
What a rating measures, how FIDE, Lichess, US Chess and chess.com compute theirs, and why the numbers differ.
Want to spot this in your own games?
A first lesson starts with your games: George reviews them and builds a study plan around what he finds.