Moddable Chess · Variant 46 of 54

Racing Kings

8×8Board 2Players

Racing Kings

No checks allowed. Race your King to rank 8. A pure positional race with no violence.

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

Racing Kings — starting position

Setup

Board: Standard 8×8.

Setup: All pieces start on ranks 1–2 in a specific non-standard arrangement. No pawns.

FEN: 8/8/8/8/8/8/krbnNBRK/qrbnNBRQ w - - 0 1

Rules

  • No move may give check (to either King). Any move that would place either King in check is illegal.
  • No castling. No pawns. No pawn promotion.

Win Condition

First player to move their King to rank 8 wins. If White reaches rank 8, Black gets one more move — if Black also reaches rank 8, the game is a draw.

Strategy

Block your opponent’s King path while clearing your own. Rooks and Queens control files; Bishops control diagonals. The constraint against giving check makes many “obvious” blocking moves illegal.

Attribution

Vernon R. Parton, 1961. Public domain.