Four civilizations.
One board.

Chess Reforged is a collection of chess-family variants built around one idea: bring different historical armies onto the same board, not as a novelty but as a real game. The challenge came with rebalancing them to compete evenly, while preserving what makes them distinct.

Future variants will explore the same concept in different ways, including smaller boards where short-range pieces can remain viable with fewer changes.

Learn more about the game on my YouTube channel, and get previews of upcoming updates on Patreon.

Online play

No signup is required. Your browser remembers your player identity; a recovery code lets you restore it. Choose your army before queuing. Colors are random, and the opponent keeps their chosen army. The results of each army pairing are measured over time. Matchups are then determined algorithmically, accounting for both each player’s strength with their chosen army and the strength of the armies themselves. Your ratings are visible only to you in Player info. Set a starting rating in Player info before your first online game.

Clocks continue if you disconnect. Return in the same browser to reconnect. Engine practice offers seven difficulty settings and takebacks; it does not affect ratings.

Variants

Power Creep

Power Creep is the first variant built upon this idea. It uses a larger board and upgraded armies so Chess, Shogi, Xiangqi, and Chaturanga can compete on roughly equal terms without losing their original character. The reforged Chaturanga army departs slightly from this design goal to make it more distinct from Chess, while the reforged Xiangqi and Shogi armies should feel like an enhancement of the original pieces, rather than arbitrary upgrades.

New win conditions

White moves first. Win by checkmate, by stalemating the opposing royal, or by leaving the opponent with only their royal. Threefold repetition and the fifty-move rule end the game in a draw. Online games also support agreed draws and resignation.

Understanding the board

Power Creep’s board has nine files and ten ranks, dimensions borrowed from Xiangqi. For Chess players, the extra file means an extra piece: the Ferz. The odd number of files also required rearranging the bishops so Chess keeps one light-square bishop and one dark-square bishop.

The bold line across the middle marks the river, separating each army’s half of the board. Some pieces change their movement after crossing it, while others must stay on their own side. These restrictions depend on the piece; the river does not block movement by itself.

The thin gold outline and diagonal lines mark a three-by-three palace. It appears for an army that contains a piece required to stay inside its own palace. Only pieces with that rule are confined to it; other pieces can enter and leave normally.

Most pieces cannot jump unless their movement explicitly allows it. Choose a piece to see its legal destinations. Optional promotions and Ninja transformations offer a choice when more than one move reaches the same square.

Know your army