Five-Check

Five-Check

An extended version of Three-Check. Deliver five checks to win. More room for strategic play while still rewarding aggressive checking sequences.

Five-Check — 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 standard chess rules apply, plus:

• Each player’s checks are counted (regardless of how the opponent responds — block, evade, or capture the checking piece).
• Reaching five checks wins the game immediately.
• Checkmate also wins (as normal).
• Stalemate is a draw.

Win Condition

Deliver checkmate OR deliver five checks total.

Strategy

Similar to Three-Check but with more breathing room. The higher threshold means you can’t win by brute-force sacrificing into checks — you need sustained pressure. Pieces that deliver repeated checks (especially Queen and Rooks on open files) are strong. Trading your opponent’s checking pieces while preserving your own is a key strategic layer beyond normal chess.

Attribution

Traditional variant (extension of Three-Check). Public domain.