Welcome! This is a collection of circular chess variants that I've implemented for Tabletop Simulator, consisting of Circular Chess for 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 players. All these variants can be played under one of two sets of rules: Modern or Byzantine. You'll find each set of rules below:



* All the circular chess variants included here can be played in free-for-all mode (everyone vs. everyone).

* The 4 player and 6 player variants can also be played in teams (specific rules are included later).

* Players decide, however they want, who goes first. In the 2 player variant, white goes first.

* Turn order goes anti-clockwise. Each player makes one move on their turn.

* All the pieces move just like in classic chess.

* There is NO castling, Pawns have NO initial double move, and thus there is NO en passant.

* A Pawn promotes when it has travelled a total of 6 spaces by moving and/or capturing. You'll know one of your Pawns can promote when the piece ends up in a space which is touching one of the dotted lines.

* On your turn, moving a piece so that it ends up in the exact same space where it started (i.e. a 'null' move) is NOT allowed. For instance, on your turn, moving a Rook all around the board so it ends up in the same square where it started is NOT permitted.

* No piece can cross through the center of the board.

* Optional: To make the game more interesting, players are not allowed to communicate in any way about the game, until the game has ended. Witty banter is ok though :)



* Regicide: The objective of the game is to have the last King standing on the board, by actually capturing the Kings of all your opponents - not just checkmating them. Classic check and checkmate take place only when there's only two players left in the game.

* If a player loses his/her king, that player is eliminated from the game, but his/her pieces remain on the board. Those pieces become "cannon fodder" - obstacles that nobody can move, but which can still be captured to clear space.

* Players can move their Kings into check, or not move their Kings out of check on their turn, if they wish to do so.

This is a risky decision that can pay off when you establish a temporary alliance with another player. But be careful, because the other player can stab you in the back, and capture your King anyways!



* Once again, you can only play in teams when playing the 4 player and 6 player variants.

* In the 4 player variant, you can form teams of 2 vs 2, where Red+Yellow form a team against Blue+Green.

* In the 6 player variant, you can form teams of 2 vs 2 vs 2, or 3 vs 3.
On 2 vs 2 vs 2 the teams are: Black+Red vs Blue+Green vs Yellow+Purple.
On 3 vs 3 the teams are: Black+Blue+Yellow vs Red+Green+Purple.

* If you play in teams, you cannot capture your teammate's pieces.

* Pawn swap: Your Pawns and the Pawns of your teammate have a special move: During your turn, before making any other move, if one of your Pawns is blocked by one of your teammate's Pawns, you can swap their places. Doing that special move ends your turn.

* A team loses the game only when said team loses ALL of their kings. If, say, player A loses his/her king, but his/her teammate player B still has his/her own king, then player A is NOT eliminated from the game. Instead, player A is still in the game, and still moves one of his/her pieces on his/her turn as usual.

However, if player A loses ALL of his/her pieces, then player A is eliminated by default.

Note: This previous team rule needs more playtesting. If when trying it out you feel it doesn't work, use instead the rule of eliminating any player that loses his/her king, and leaving their pieces on the board as "cannon fodder".



* One final rule I like to use is what I like to call the Mercy mode:

If a player moves his/her King into check, or doesn't get out of check on his/her turn, that player should declare "I move into check" or "I stay in check" respectively.

If a player moves into check or doesn't get out of check, and he/she doesn't declare what he/she is doing, other players HAVE to tell that player something along the lines of "Are you sure you want to move into check?" or "Are you sure you want to stay in check?" respectively.

If the player says he/she doesn't actually want to do any of those, he/she can take his/her move back and make a different one.

* Please note: If on his/her turn, the only legal moves a player can do result in his/her king ending up in check, that player MUST STILL make one of those legal moves.


* Now, if you wish you could instead play on Hardcore mode, which would be the opposite of Mercy:

If a player moves into check, or doesn't get out of check on his/her turn, there is absolutely no warning for that player, and no second chances. If that player loses his/her king due to his/her oversight, too bad so sad, he/she is eliminated from the game.

Decide with your playgroup which of these "modes" to play on.



ALL of the previous rules for playing the Modern Circular Chess variants apply to the Byzantine variants as well, with the following exceptions:

* The Pawns, Knights, Rooks and Kings move and capture just like in classic chess, but...

* The Bishops (actually Elephants) move and capture by jumping two spaces in any diagonal direction.

* The Queens (actually Generals) move and capture by moving one space in any diagonal direction.

* Pawns never promote. Instead, they can keep traveling around the board indefinitely.

* When two Pawns belonging to the same player, going in different directions, meet on opposing squares, thus blocking each other, an opponent can remove both of them at any time. This does not count as a move.

* Bare king: When playing free-for-all, if a player loses all of his/her pieces except for his/her King, that player is eliminated from the game.



These are my favorite sets of rules for playing these chess variants, but you are welcome to modify the rules as you and your playgroup see fit.

Thank you very much for taking the time to check out this collection, and I hope you enjoy these chess games with friends :)

Circular Chess at Wikipedia[en.wikipedia.org]
Byzantine Chess at The Chess Variants Pages[www.chessvariants.com]
Boards by Uray M. János[zoldsakk.hu]