Losers Chess

Initial setup

e1, e8: King
d1, d8: Queen
a1, a8, h1, h8: Rook
c1, c8, f1, f8: Bishop
b1, b8, g1, g8: Knight
a2-h2, a7-h7: Pawns

Moves at a Glance

Click on a piece below to see its moves

Sliding capture or non-capture,
can be blocked on any square along the ray

Unblockable leap (capture or non-capture)
Non-capture only
Capture only

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Piece ID value Moves (Betza notation) Remarks
King K - K Can castle with Rook, moving 2 steps towards it
Queen Q 9.5 RB or Q
Rook R 5 R
Bishop B 3.25 B Color-bound
Knight N 3.25 N
Pawn P 1 mfWcfF Promotes to Q, R, B, or N on reaching last rank

Pawn peculiarities

Castling

A King that has not moved before can move two squares in the direction of a Rook that has not moved before, in which case that Rook is moved to the square the King skipped over. This is only allowed if all squares between King and Rook are empty, when the King is not in check on the square it came from, and would not be in check on any of the squares it skipped over.

General rules

Differences with FIDE

Capture is mandatory. You win by being checkmated in stead of checkmating, or by having a bare King.

Strategy issues

Initially having more and stronger pieces makes you more likely to win.

When the opponent has only King and Pawns left, blocking one of his Pawns (e.g. with Knight or Bishop), and then carefully refraining from attacking it while using your powerful pieces to shephard his King towards your own Pawns, and then finally sacrificing your mobile material to it, is a good way to win.