Chess: Rift Wars: Free Chess Reimagined

Chess: Rift Wars

Everything moves like Chess. Nothing about check or checkmate changes.

Rules

Beta

Every piece moves exactly as you expect. Four squares near the centre do not.

Four rift squares sit at c4, f4, c5 and f5, paired two and two.
Land a piece on a rift and you may exit through its partner instead.
The whole thing is one move. Only one rift per move.
Rift pairings rotate every four complete turns, and the next pairing is always shown.
Kings cannot enter a rift. You cannot capture through one.
A pawn keeps its forward direction and can never promote straight out of a rift.
A rift never opens onto an occupied square.
Win by checkmate, resignation, or the clock, exactly as in Classic.

Public casual and AI practice while we gather balance data. Ranked opens once it passes review.

Board behaviourClassicSixty-four fixed squares.Rift WarsFour rift squares that teleport pieces to a partner square.

InformationClassicAll position, no schedule.Rift WarsA rotating rift schedule you can read four turns ahead.

Risk and rewardClassicThreats build across files and ranks.Rift WarsAny quiet square can become adjacent to a rift exit.

Victory conditionClassicCheckmate.Rift WarsCheckmate, unchanged.

Rift Wars keeps its own record. Separate rating, separate placements, separate leaderboard and separate match history. Nothing you earned in Classic carries across, in either direction.