BrainKing - Select Game Type

The right column shows examples of starting position for each game. The real starting position can look a little different for some game types because it depends either on a random factor (Corner Chess, ...) or on player's own choice (Battleships, ...).

Chess (37)

Checkers (18)

Lines (21)

Backgammon (10)

Reversi (4)

Ships (3)

Go (3)

Espionage (5)

Other (27)

Chess The most classic of the classic two player board games. (read all rules)
Chinese Chess Chinese Chess (or Xiangqi) is one of the more popular games in Asia, currently played by millions (or tens of millions) enthusiasts. (read all rules)
Japanese Chess Japanese Chess (or Shogi) is another great and popular chess game which was played in Japan since the 16th century. (read all rules)
Corner Chess Chess variation which requires slightly different strategy to win. Your king is placed in the down-right corner of the board and positions of other pieces (except pawns) are randomly changed. (read all rules)
Fortress Chess This game is very similar to Corner Chess. The only difference is that each player has three extra pawns placed over his king. (read all rules)
Horde Chess White has the standard chess start position, black's army contains only a horde of pawns. White wins by capturing all black pawns, black must checkmate the white king. (read all rules)
Loop Chess Very popular chess variation which brings lots of new strategies. The difference between classic Chess and this game is that captured pieces can be placed back to the board as player's own pieces. (read all rules)
Anti Chess Another well-known variation of Chess. Who loses all pieces first or cannot make a move, wins. There is no check or checkmate and pawns can promote to kings. (read all rules)
Extinction Chess Very original chess variation invented by R. Wayne Schmittberger. The player who loses all pieces of one kind (e.g. both knights), loses the game. There is no check or checkmate and pawns can promote to kings. (read all rules)
Maharajah Chess This is not much known variant of Chess game. The white player plays with only one piece - Maharajah, that can move like queen and knight together. The black player has the standard set of chess pieces. (read all rules)
Three Checks Chess This game adds one extra rule to the classic chess. A player wins (besides the standard chess winning possibilities) if his/her opponent's king is in check for the third time of the game. (read all rules)
Dark Chess Classic chess where a part of the board is invisible to each player (depending on the current position). There is no check or checkmate. The player who captures the opponent's king, wins the game. (read all rules)
Atomic Chess Interesting chess variation with lots of blasts and explosions. There is no check or checkmate. A player wins if he/she blasts the opponnent's king away! (read all rules)
Janus Chess Janus Chess is popular German chess variation. It is played on 10 x 8 board and brings a new piece - Janus - which can move like a knight and a bishop together. (read all rules)
Embassy Chess Embassy Chess (by Kevin Hill) is a variant of Bird's or Capablanca's Chess that has the Cardinal (Knight + Bishop) and Marshall (Knight + Rook) set up slightly different. It is played on an 8 x 10 chessboard. (read all rules)
Screen Chess Screen Chess are the classic chess with only one difference - both players can set up the start position and place the pieces anywhere on their half of the board. There are some restrictions for placing pawns and bishops. (read all rules)
Crazy Screen Chess Crazy Screen Chess are almost identical to Screen Chess but there are no restrictions for placing of pieces. (read all rules)
Cylinder Chess Cylinder Chess are a Chess variant played on a "cylinder" - A and H columns are connected, which brings a lot more of moving abilities. (read all rules)
Amazon Chess Amazon Chess are played with the same rules as standard Chess. There is only one difference - a queen is replaced by an amazon which combines move options of a queen and a knight. (read all rules)
Berolina Chess Berolina Chess are specific with pawn moves. In this variant, pawns move diagonally and capture opponent's pieces vertically forward. (read all rules)
Fischer Random Chess Classic chess with a random starting position. Certain position rules are applied, in order to make the game well balanced. (read all rules)
Legan Chess A chess variant with modified start position and several changed rules (pawns move diagonally, another promotion zone). (read all rules)
Knight Relay Chess Very interesting chess variant, invented by Mannis Charosh in 1972. A piece moving abilities can be extended by a guarding knight. (read all rules)
Grand Chess Grand Chess (by Christian Freeling) is a chess variant played on 10x10 board. The game uses two extra pieces - "marshall" (moves as a rook and a knight) and "cardinal" (moves as a bishop and a knight). (read all rules)
Capablanca Random Chess Capablanca Random Chess (by Reinhard Scharnagl) is a variant of the former 10x8 chess created by Jose Raoul Capablanca, the ex world chess champion. The start position is randomly generated and certain position rules are applied, in order to make the game well balanced. (read all rules)
Los Alamos Chess This is an easy 6x6 chess variant without bishops, which was formerly used to test the first chess computers in the middle of 20th century. (read all rules)
Ambiguous Chess Ambiguous Chess (by Fabrice Liardet) is a modern original variant of classic Chess. Instead of making moves, a player only marks a square where he wants to move and the opponent chooses which piece will actually make the move. The goal is to capture the opponent's king, there is no check or checkmate. (read all rules)
Minishogi Minishogi is a modern variant of Shogi (Japanese Chess). It is played on 5x5 board and each player's promotion zone consists only of the rank furthest from the player. (read all rules)
Dice Chess Dice Chess is a chess variant which adds a random factor to the game strategy. A die is rolled for every move and the number determines which piece can be used to make a move. (read all rules)
Recycle Chess Recycle Chess is a chess variant of the loop category. A player can capture own pieces (except the king) and place them to the board in next moves. Opponent's captured pieces cannot be reused. (read all rules)
Ice Age Chess Ice Age Chess is an original variant by Köksal Karakus. The initial empty squares are filled with ice cubes and players must capture them to make a space for moving. After every 20th move of black player, an ice age comes, empty squares are filled with ice cubes are isolated pieces are frozen and removed. (read all rules)
Behemoth Chess Behemoth Chess is a chess game created by Donald Seagraves and belongs to the category of variants with a random factor. A new indestructible piece - Behemoth - moves 1-4 spaces in a random direction after every player move and destroys everything in its path. (read all rules)
Cheshire Cat Chess Cheshire Cat Chess is a chess variant created by Vernon Rylands Parton in 1970. The game is played with standard Chess rules but there are two important changes: 1) When a pieces moves to another square, the former square disappears and no piece can move to it (but pieces can move or give a check over disappeared squares). 2) When a king moves for the first time, it can move as a queen (it also means that there is no castling in this game). (read all rules)
Knightmate Chess This chess game, created by Bruce Zimov in 1972, introduces an interesting goal - to checkmate a knight instead of a king. It means that each player has one knight (at the standard king position) and two kings (at the standard knight positions). A castling move can be done with the knight and a rook, and a pawn can promote to a king. (read all rules)
Racing Kings This is a very popular and original Chess variant, invented by Vernon R. Parton in 1961. The game is played with no pawns, all pieces are positioned at the first two rows and the goal is not to checkmate the enemy king, but to be the first one who moves owns king to the last row. (read all rules)
Dice Chess 10x10 This game is a variant of Dice Chess. It follows the same rules but it is played on a bigger board (10x10 squares) and each player starts with 3 kings instead of 1. The player, who captures all opponent's kings, wins the game. (read all rules)
Massacre Chess Massacre Chess (by Andy Lewicki) is a new chess variant of the random initial position category. Each player starts with 8 queens, 8 rooks, 8 bishops and 8 knights (so there are no empty squares) and players are obliged to capture an opponent's piece in every move. The player who cannot make a legal move or loses all pieces, loses the game. (read all rules)