Recognized Chess Variant: DragonChess

DragonChess was invented in 1985 by Gary Gygax, who originally invented (Advanced) Dungeons & Dragons. This is reflected in the game, by the fact that a lot of pieces come from the AD&D Monster Manual.

It's a more involved and longer game than orthodox chess, because it's played on three 12 by 8 boards, symbolically the sky, the earth and the underworld, and there are 15 different pieces, as opposed to the more normal 6.

As such, it takes longer to play and to master than more orthodox variants; a typical game can last 70 moves or more.

Many pieces are involved from the flying Dragons in the sky, to the Dwarfs moving through the underworld, as well as many other fantasy pieces, such as elementals and basilisks.

A program is available from the pages which allows you to play a game (against a human opponent). Many people have played the game and found it to be good, including me, so I think it deserves to be a "recognised variant."

On a more personal note, this is in fact the first variant I discovered, and the one which got me into the Chess Variant pages further!

There is a nice quote, on the main page, which reflects the CV pages nicely: "Chess has many forms... but all are similar, too."

Go to

DragonChess main page