#1 · Ger Hanssen
3 Feb 2026
Who wants to join?
This an attempt to organise a tournament of Barebone Chess. I have introduced this chess variation, because I couldn't find it anywhere else. If there is ever a place where this could land it would Little Golem. Please give me a sign if you are interested.
Context
It is called Barebone Chess, because it doesn't have any of the extra rules outside of the way the pieces normally go. The main reason why I want to introduce this is because I want to find a natural way to reduce the number of draws, especially on a high level. In my view chess has been developed by gentlemen that wanted to avoid conflicts so much that it found its place in the game itself. This is an effort to turn that back.
Other people find it interesting to rethink the opening patterns. Everything quickly becomes different.
Results so far
We have played 3 games so far:
All games ended in a win, but not necessarily because of the rules, errors were involved. It was an interesting experience, but we would need many more games to say something conclusive.
It can be played with the regular settings of standard chess, but the players have to remember not to play any of the excluded moves. It is not that difficult. Only the last rules can cause some trouble in the standard settings, because you can't turn back a move. Let's try to remind each other of possible excluded moves.
Briefly the rules
To keep it concise, the standard rules of chess apply but:
- no pawn jumps
Pawns just move one step at a time at any point in the game. They do promote of course to avoid draws.
- no castling
If one wants to castle, do it the laborious way, step by step, just like in shogi.
- no stalemate
The game ends when a king is taken (not necessarily when it is checkmated). Moving yourself into check is no longer illegal, it is just stupid or forced, so that stalemate loses.
- no repetition
Repeating a position becomes a no go area, like in shogi. If the opponent notices the repetition, you have to choose a different move.