Chess Variants and Chess-Inspired Games
Not every game that looks like chess is a chess variant. Here is a clear breakdown of the terminology and what each category means in practice.
Three Categories
Chess Variant
A game that explicitly modifies or extends the rules of standard chess. The starting point is chess, and the variant changes specific rules while keeping the core framework. Examples: Chess960 (randomized starting position), Crazyhouse (captured pieces can be re-entered), Antichess (forced to capture, goal is to lose all pieces), Bughouse (two boards played simultaneously).
Chess-Inspired Game
An independent game that draws on chess-like concepts: piece hierarchy, board positioning, tactical combinations. But it is not derived from chess. It stands alone as its own game with its own complete ruleset. Examples: Shogi, Chinese Chess (Xiangqi), Onitama, Raichu.
Abstract Strategy Game
The broadest category. Any perfect-information, no-luck strategy game. Chess variants and chess-inspired games are subsets of this. But abstract strategy games include games with no chess connection at all: Go, Hex, Reversi, Connect Four, Nim.
Popular Chess Variants
Chess960 (Fischer Random)
The back rank pieces are randomized at game start, eliminating memorized opening theory. The middle game and endgame play identically to standard chess.
Crazyhouse
Captured pieces switch sides and can be dropped back onto the board on any future turn. Creates wildly different tactical patterns and very fast games.
Antichess
Captures are mandatory. The first player to lose all their pieces wins. Standard chess strategy is completely inverted.
Atomic Chess
Any capture causes an explosion that destroys all pieces on adjacent squares (except pawns). Kings cannot capture. Games end explosively.
Three-Check
Standard chess with one addition: putting the opponent in check three times wins the game, regardless of material.
Where Does Raichu Fit?
Raichu is a chess-inspired abstract strategy game, not a chess variant.
It was not derived from standard chess by modifying rules. It is an independent game with its own complete ruleset that shares chess-adjacent concepts: an 8×8 board, three piece types with a movement and capture hierarchy, a promotion mechanic, and two-player alternating turns.
Key differences from chess include: no king piece, no checkmate or check, a different win condition (capture all enemy pieces), a capture hierarchy that restricts which pieces can take which, and jump-style captures rather than displacement captures.