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Chess Variants/Losing Chess

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a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black kingd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black bishopc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 white bishopc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black kingf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 black kingd4 black kinge4 black kingf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 white pawnf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 black kingf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 black kingg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
In this position, with White to move, the rules of losing chess force White to capture the black pawn on d7 with the bishop. Black must then make a capture, and can choose between Qxd7, Kxd7, Nxd7 or Bxg2.

Introduction

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Losing Chess (also known as Antichess, Suicide Chess or Giveaway Chess) is an eccentric variant that inverses the normal rules of chess - you win by losing all of your pieces. It is one of the most popular chess variants out there.

History

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The origins of losing chess are unknown, but the earliest version of the variant was played in the 1870s. The variant began to gain popularity in the 20th century, facilitated by publications about the variant in the UK, Germany and Italy, and a new surge of popularity came when the variant was implemented on the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) in 1996.

In 2016 the most commonly played version of losing chess was weakly solved as a win for White, beginning with 1. e3.

Rules

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There are slight variations in the rules from source to source, but this is the most common ruleset -

Losing chess is played mostly like the standard game. However, in losing chess captures are compulsory - if a player can make a capture, they must. If multiple captures are available, the capturing player may choose which capture to make.

The king in losing chess does not have royal power. Therefore a king may capture and be captured just like any other piece, there is no check or checkmate, and a pawn may promote to a king if that player wants.

A player wins by losing all of their pieces, or by being stalemated.

Sub-variants

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This chess variant does not not have any notable sub-variants.


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