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How to play Three-check Chess: rules and setup

Three-check Chess is played by 2 players on a board with 8 × 8 squares. White moves first. Win by giving three checks, or by ordinary checkmate.

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Play Three-check Chess

Quick answer

Three-check Chess is a chess variant with one extra way to win: giving check three times. Checkmate still wins too. It uses the normal 8×8 position, moves and draw rules, and each side has a check counter that starts at zero. Every legal checking move adds one, a double check counts as one, and the third check wins at once. This guide covers Three-check Chess. 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: Three-check Chess

Setup

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

Base rules: chess, except where this guide says otherwise. Use the normal 8×8 chess starting position. Both check counters begin at zero. White moves first.

Board
8 × 8 squares
Players
2
First move
White moves first.
Rules used here
Three-check Chess

Moves and captures

  • Legal moves

    Use normal chess moves, captures, castling and promotion. Each legal move that checks the opposing king adds one to your counter; a double check still counts as one.

  • Using the board

    Select a piece to see its legal destinations, then select a highlighted square. When several promotions are available, choose from the promotion panel.

Special rules

  • Checks must come from legal moves that keep your own king safe.

  • The check counters are part of the game position and replay.

Winning and draws

  • Your third check wins immediately, even if the opponent could answer it.

  • Checkmate also wins.

  • Stalemate is a draw.

  • Only king against king is drawn automatically for lack of material, because a lone bishop or knight can still give checks.

  • A player may claim a draw after the same position occurs three times, or after 50 moves by each side without a capture or pawn move.

  • Neither rule ends the game automatically.

Example

Sources and rule verification

Ruleset covered
Three-check Chess
  1. Lichess — Three-check 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.