r/chessvariants is a subreddit with 12k members. The most common kinds of discussions are ideas and advice requests, and the community frequently discusses chess, variant, game, queen, and knights.
A subreddit dedicated to sharing and discovering different styles of chess.
1. No promotion of the same app/site/event/channel more than once every two weeks.
2. A variant is defined as "chess, but with modifications". Not a different game entirely, but with elements of chess.
3. When discussing a particular variant, put its name clearly in the title of the post.
4. Discord links are by default not trusted.
5. No AI slop.
6. Rules must immediately visible and easily accessible.
Popular Themes in r/chessvariants
#1
Ideas
: "I built Void Chess — every capture creates a permanent void on the board, and there's a new Minister piece that can heal them"
42 posts
#2
Advice Requests
: "Built a chess website with custom rules and looking for players to test it & give feedback!"
9 posts
#3
Self-Promotion
: "PyChess.org now supports user-defined variants!"
9 posts
#4
Solution Requests
: "I’m building a chess variant editor with extreme customization (not just presets)"
5 posts
#5
Pain & Anger
: "What? How did I lose to camp mate? What even is that?"
1 post
#6
News
: "The 2025 Atomic World Champion Was Just Banned"
1 post
Popular Topics in r/chessvariants
#1
Chess
: "I made a 5×6 mini-Chess variant with 144 starting positions, Chess144.com"
68 posts
#2
Variant
: "I made a 5×6 mini-chess Variant with 144 starting positions, Chess144.com"
29 posts
#3
Game
: "I made a chess inspired browser Game with deck-building elements and I’m looking for a few chess variant players to test whether the Game is fun to play"
8 posts
#4
Queen
: "Queens fight first variant"
5 posts
#5
Knights
: "6 Knights chess"
4 posts
#6
Random
3 posts
#7
Hidden
3 posts
#8
Board
3 posts
#9
Skill
2 posts
#10
Evaluation
2 posts
Flair Used in r/chessvariants
#1
New Variant
: "I built Void Chess — every capture creates a permanent void on the board, and there's a new Minister piece that can heal them"
36 posts
#2
Discussion
: "Made an Enochian Chess iOS app"
8 posts
#3
others
: "Are you a chess player but also a weeb? try shogi today!!!"
3 posts
#4
Puzzle
: "Explaining chinese chess (xiangqi) to all you chess lovers! ❤️"
1 post
#5
Removed: Rule 2
: "I spent the past 6 months building a chess MMO"
1 post
Member Growth in r/chessvariants
Yearly
+2k members(23.4%)
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About
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This page gives a focused view of r/chessvariants, including current member size, discussion patterns, product reviews, and related communities to explore.
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Last updated: July 23, 2026