Chess Variations and House Rules
The rules of chess have been the same around the world for well over a century, yet almost every family plays a little differently at home. Maybe stalemate counted as a win in your house, or nobody had ever heard of en passant. That's fine at the kitchen table, as long as everyone agrees before the game starts. This page explains the common house rules, which of them you can use in our online chess game, and a few fun ways to change the game itself.
Stalemate: Draw or Win?
Under the standard rules, a player who has no legal move but is not in check is stalemated, and the game is a draw. Many people are sure it should be a win for the stronger side. After all, the lone king has nowhere to go.
They are in good company. Stalemate has not always been a draw. Over the centuries it has been counted in different places as a win for the player who caused it, as a lesser kind of win, and, for a time in England, even as a loss for that player. The draw rule only became settled everywhere in the 1800s. Today it gives a losing player a last chance to save the game, and makes the winner finish the job properly.
In our game: stalemate is a draw unless you switch on the house rule Stalemate wins in Settings. With it on, the player who stalemates the other wins the game. It applies to the computer too.
Touch-Move and One Tap to Move
In tournaments, players follow touch-move: if you deliberately touch one of your pieces, you must move it, and if you touch an opponent's piece, you must capture it if you legally can. To straighten a piece on its square without moving it, you say "I adjust" first. Once you let go of a piece on a new square, the move is made.
Most families are kinder. At home, picking a piece up, thinking better of it and putting it back is usually allowed, as long as you haven't let go of it on its new square.
In our game: moving works like the friendly home habit. You tap a piece, tap a square, and then tap the square again or press Move Here to confirm. Until then you can change your mind, so a slip of the finger never costs you. If you prefer moves to happen right away, switch on One tap to move in Settings, and the first tap on a square moves the piece.
Take-Backs
"Can I have that one back?" is heard at every family chess table. Some households allow take-backs freely, some allow them only for beginners, and some never allow them. When teaching a child or a newcomer, letting them take back a blunder and pointing out what went wrong is one of the best ways to learn.
In our game: Undo My Move is on unless you turn it off in Settings. Against the computer it takes back your move and the computer's reply together.
Draw Rules: Claimed or Automatic
Two draw rules surprise people. A game is a draw if the same position comes up three times with the same player to move, or if each player makes 50 moves with no capture and no pawn move. In tournaments, neither is automatic: a player has to claim the draw, and if nobody claims it, the game goes on.
Games could, in theory, go on forever that way, so the official rules now add a backstop. If the same position comes up five times, or 75 moves each go by without a capture or pawn move, the game is drawn automatically, whether anyone claims it or not.
In our game: the threefold repetition and 50-move draws happen automatically, so you never need to know you could claim them. Draws by stalemate, by too few pieces to checkmate, and by agreement work as usual. Against the computer, Offer a Draw is accepted unless the computer thinks it is ahead.
Rules Many of Us Learned Wrong
Home chess has passed down a few habits that aren't in the real rules:
- No en passant. Plenty of players never learned it, and some think it is a trick. It is a full part of the rules and has been for centuries.
- Castling only on the king's side. You can castle on either side, as long as the conditions are met.
- Only one queen. A pawn that reaches the far row may become a queen even if you still have one. Some sets come with a spare; at home, an upside-down rook often stands in.
- The king can castle out of check. It can't. But having been in check earlier doesn't stop you castling later.
Our game plays all of these by the standard rules. The full rules page explains each one with an example.
Quick-Play Time Limits
Club and tournament games use a chess clock, two clocks in one case where each player's time runs only on their own turn. Fast games may give each player just a few minutes for the whole game, sometimes with a few seconds added after every move. Running out of time loses, much like being checkmated. Our game has no clock: take as long as you like over every move.
Shuffled Starting Positions
Some players enjoy a game where the back-row pieces are shuffled before play. The pawns stay where they are, the two bishops must end up on squares of different colors, and the king must stand somewhere between the two rooks so castling still works. Black's pieces mirror White's. There are 960 possible arrangements, so opening knowledge is useless and both players must think from move one.
Giving Odds
When a strong player meets a beginner, the stronger player can start without a piece. Common handicaps, from smallest to largest, are a pawn, a knight, a rook or the queen. It's a good way for a grandparent to play a grandchild on fair terms.
The Pawn Game for Beginners
A lovely way to teach children is to play with pawns only, each side's eight pawns on their usual row. The first player to get a pawn to the far row wins, and a player with no legal move loses. It teaches how pawns move and capture, including en passant, in a few minutes. After that, add the kings, then one piece at a time.
House Rules at a Glance
| Habit or rule | Standard rules | In our game |
|---|---|---|
| Stalemate | Draw | Draw, or a win with Stalemate wins on |
| Touching a piece | Touch-move in tournaments | Confirm with a second tap, or One tap to move |
| Take-backs | Not allowed in tournaments | Undo on unless you switch it off |
| Repetition and 50-move draws | Must be claimed | Automatic |
| Clock | Used in clubs and tournaments | No clock |
Whichever way your family played, the heart of the game is the same. Our chess strategy guide has practical tips, and if you'd like another game of pure skill, try checkers.