Skip to content
ChessPlayX

How to play Racing Kings: rules and setup

Racing Kings is played by 2 players on a board with 8 × 8 squares. White moves first. Race your king to the eighth rank without giving check.

Written by Last updated
Play Racing Kings

Quick answer

Racing Kings is a chess variant in which both kings race to the eighth rank of an 8×8 board. There are no pawns and no checks. Both armies start side by side on the first two ranks, and the first king to arrive wins. No move may give check or walk into check. If White arrives first and Black can arrive on the very next move, the race is drawn. This guide covers Racing Kings. Check the movement, capture and game-ending rules below before applying rules from another variant.

Players
2
Board
8 × 8 squares
First move
White moves first.

Ruleset and sources: Racing Kings

Setup

Game illustration
Game illustration. Follow the setup instructions to prepare a new game.

Base rules: chess. Both armies start side by side on the first two ranks: Black's pieces on files a–d, White's on files e–h. There are no pawns and no castling. White moves first.

Board
8 × 8 squares
Players
2
First move
White moves first.
Rules used here
Racing Kings

Moves and captures

  • Legal moves

    Pieces keep their chess moves. Neither moving into check nor giving check is allowed. Captures are allowed when they respect these restrictions.

  • Using the board

    Select a piece to see its legal destinations, then select a highlighted square.

Special rules

  • The reply rule gives Black an equal number of turns.

  • Blocking a route must never create check.

Winning and draws

  • Reach the eighth rank first.

  • If White arrives first and Black can reach that rank immediately in reply, the race is drawn.

  • Stalemate is a draw.

  • A player may claim a draw after threefold repetition or 50 moves by each side without a capture.

  • A race with only the two kings left continues.

Example

Sources and rule verification

Ruleset covered
Racing Kings
  1. Lichess — Racing Kings rules
  2. Fairy-Stockfish variants (implementation reference)
  3. Fairy-Stockfish — variant definitions (43b66c8, implementation reference)

This guide describes play on ChessPlayX. Platform-specific conventions are stated in the relevant sections; tournament administration may differ.

A separate rule-review date is not recorded for this guide. The update date is not a verification date.