swap_horiz Makruk Alternatives

1

Chess960 (Fischer Random Chess)

Chess960, also known as Fischer Random Chess, presents a modern variation of chess where the initial board arrangement i...

Modern Competitive Randomized Setup Variant

9.8 Brilliant

2

Shogi

Shogi is a traditional Japanese strategy game resembling chess. It’s notable for its ‘drop’ rule: captured pieces can be...

Traditional Japanese Promotion Regional

9.7 Brilliant

3

Xiangqi

Xiangqi is a traditional board game originating in China. It utilizes a 9x10 grid with a prominent river dividing the pl...

Traditional Regional Chinese River Boundary

9.5 Brilliant

4

Janggi

Janggi is a Korean chess variant distinguished by its larger 9x10 board and unique piece movements. It retains strategic...

Korean Traditional Palace Regional

9.1 Excellent

5

Blitz Chess

Blitz Chess presents a dynamic adaptation of chess utilizing significantly reduced time controls. Typically employing th...

Modern Speed Competitive Time Control

9.1 Excellent

6

Correspondence Chess

Correspondence chess offers a unique approach to playing chess. It’s a variant designed for remote play, typically utili...

Modern Historical Long Distance Slow

9.0 Excellent

7

Crazyhouse

Crazyhouse is a dynamic chess variation introducing strategic complexity through piece capture. Captured pieces are imme...

Online Tactical Modern Drop Pieces

8.9 Great

8

Capablanca Chess

Invented by world champion José Raúl Capablanca in the 1920s, this variant is played on a 10x8 board and adds the archbi...

Modern Classic Extended Archbishop 10x8 Board

8.8 Great

9

Grand Chess

Grand Chess, invented by Christian Freeling in 1984, is played on a larger 10x10 board and introduces the marshal and ca...

Modern Classic Competitive Extended 10x10 Board

8.8 Great

10

Chu Shogi

Chu Shogi is a historical Japanese variant played on a 12x12 board that originated in the 14th century, distinguished by...

Japanese Historical 12x12 Shogi Family

8.8 Great

11

Bughouse

Bughouse is a fast-paced, four-player team variant played on two boards where captured pieces are passed to teammates fo...

Team Tandem Four Player Drop Pieces

8.7 Great

12

Seirawan Chess

Co-invented by Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan in 2007, this variant introduces the hawk and elephant pieces, which enter th...

Modern Elephant Hawk Drop On Capture

8.6 Great

13

Atomic Chess

Atomic Chess is a tactical variant where capturing a piece triggers an explosion that destroys both the capturing piece...

Online Tactical Modern Explosive

8.5 Great

14

Crazyhouse960

Crazyhouse960 is a hybrid merging the drop mechanics of Crazyhouse with Chess960's randomized starting positions, elimin...

Online Hybrid Combined Randomized

8.5 Great

15

Kriegspiel

Kriegspiel is a blind variant where players cannot see their opponent's pieces and must rely on a referee to announce il...

Classic Traditional Hidden Incomplete Information

8.0 Great

16

Shatranj

Shatranj is the medieval Persian form of chess that introduced the game to the Islamic world and medieval Europe, lackin...

Classical Medieval Historical Arabic

7.8 Good

17

Suicide Chess

Suicide Chess is a sub-variant of Losing Chess where capturing opponent pieces is mandatory, and the ultimate goal is to...

Online Traditional Misere Reversed Goal

7.7 Good

18

Ouk Chatrang

Ouk Chatrang is the Cambodian form of chess, distinguished by an opening move called the king's leap and its early evolu...

Classical Traditional Regional Cambodian

7.6 Good

19

Sittuyin

Sittuyin is traditional Burmese chess, uniquely notable for its flexible initial setup phase where players position thei...

Traditional Regional Southeast Asian Burmese

7.5 Good

20

Shakhmaty

Shakhmaty is the Russian word for international chess, reflecting a cultural tradition where the game was deeply institu...

Classical Russian 19TH Century Historical

5.3 Mediocre