Moddable Chess · Variant 4 of 54

Andernach Chess

8×8Board 2Players

Andernach Chess

When a piece captures, it switches sides — the capturing piece becomes the opponent’s piece on the captured square. Kings are exempt from colour change.

Andernach Chess — starting position a b c d e f g h 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Andernach Chess — starting position

Setup

Board: Standard 8×8.

Setup: Standard chess starting position.

FEN: rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

Rules

  • All pieces move as in standard chess.
  • When a piece captures an enemy piece, the captured piece is removed and the capturing piece changes colour (becomes the opponent’s piece).
  • Kings are exempt — a King that captures does NOT change colour.
  • The converted piece belongs to the opponent starting from their next turn.
  • Check and checkmate work normally.
  • Castling and en passant follow standard rules.
  • Pawns that capture on the promotion rank change colour first, then promote as the new owner’s piece.

Win Condition

Checkmate (standard).

Strategy

Every capture is double-edged — you remove an enemy piece but hand them the capturer. Material advantages are nearly impossible to build through captures alone. Non-capturing moves (pawn advances, positional manoeuvres) become relatively more valuable. Forks and pins have radically different implications because winning material by capture gifts the capturing piece to the opponent.

Attribution

Created for a chess composition event in Andernach, Germany, 1993. Public domain rules.