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I've found another way to play this. Set that in the custom variants. If your Ahab gets killed, please resign! Why that's suitable? - Because the fake king can be killed, and the legal king will be never in check. - Stalemate in Ahab chess 8*8 isn't affected by unmoveable king. Therefore, we can set and play it online! With bare piece rule we can avoid the denial from Chess.com. It also doesn't affect because it can only be active when all your real pieces get killed (include your Ahab).

As of right now, we actually have two sets of rules. @arctevious_the_3rd came up with the concept for this game under the name Secret Kings in April 2023, and I independently came up with the concept under the name Ahab Chess in May 2023. The two of us discovered each other and decided to work together to come up with one variant and campaign for chess.com to include it on the Variants server. Our two ideas had different rules to them, though they both operate on a similar foundation. We intend to decide on one set of rules, but we want to test out both our ideas first to see the pros and cons of each. So below, I will write out the Actevious Rules, followed by the Green_Sleeves Rules. Ahab Chess: Arctevious Rules Each player begins by picking one of his pieces to be the hidden royal piece, unknown to his opponent. He may pick any one of his pieces to be his royal, even the actual king piece. White goes first and all pieces move the same as in original chess, including the royal. If the royal piece is a pawn that succeeded in promoting, the piece still retains the same rules as the new piece. Even though the king is not usually royal, it can still castle, in order to help with developing pieces. All checking rules apply to the chosen royal piece, but will not to the actual king piece (unless the king was chosen by the player to be the royal), which means you may let your king piece be taken. You may not tell the opponent if they are checking your royal. A player wins by checkmating his opponent's hidden royal. This is not a capture-the-royal variant. Bare piece rule: Players with only one remaining piece are forfeit. Description: In this variant, you can pick a secret king and hide it from players! The strategy for which piece is better to choose and endgame results would be fun to investigate! And you could switch it up a little by doing any of the following, choosing a pawn to give low suspicion of the piece for low power, doing the queen for ultimate power but high suspicion, and doing a knight to leap out of checkmates! You could confuse them with picking the original king! This would spark even more love for the chess variant section and would be fun to find the hidden king in the crowd! Ahab Chess: Green_Sleeves Rules Each player begins by picking one of his pieces to be the hidden royal piece, unknown to his opponent. He may not pick his king or queen to be the royal. Any other piece may be picked. White goes first and all pieces move the same as in original chess, including the royal. If the royal piece is a pawn that succeeded in promoting, the piece still retains the same rules as the new piece. Even though the king is not royal, it can still castle, in order to help with developing pieces. The game is capture-the-royal, meaning that the hidden royal piece may move in and out of danger at will, and must be captured to end the game. Checking rules do not apply. Bare piece rule: Players with only one remaining piece are forfeit. Description: My idea is that the board would have a standard chess setup, and at the beginning of the game, each player selects any one of his pieces (even a pawn if he really wants to) to be his royal piece (his "Ahab," if you will). Neither player would be able to know which piece his opponent has selected as a royal. Since this is a capture-the-royal variant, you can knowingly put yourself in "check" pretending your piece isn't the royal, taking the risk of possibly losing, or just throwing your opponent off. The only pieces that cannot be royal are the king and queen. (The king cannot be royal because, in the Bible story, the enemy realized that the king was just a decoy; and the queen cannot be royal because it would be very difficult to capture a royal queen (thanks @noahfavelo for that suggestion), plus Ahab was very obviously not pretending to be a queen 😆). Even though the king is just a decoy and is not royal, it can still castle like a normal king in standard chess. Though castling is normally meant to protect the king in standard chess, the purpose of castling in Ahab Chess would be to get your rooks into a better position.

Game: Status/Result: Rule Set: 001 Green_Sleeves vs. phillip100 ongoing Green_Sleeves Rules 002 Little Brother vs. Green_Sleeves 1-0 Green_Sleeves Rules 003 arctevious_the_3rd vs. Green_Sleeves 1-0 Green_Sleeves Rules 004 Green_Sleeves vs. arctevious_the_3rd ongoing Arctevious Rules 005 Green_Sleeves vs. TTY_500 ongoing Green_Sleeves Rules 006 Brudo_the_Chess_King vs. MapleSyrup4444 ongoing Green_Sleeves Rules 007 thenomalnoob vs. Green_Sleeves ongoing Green_Sleeves Rules 008 thenomalnoob vs. jackityjackjack 0-1 Green_Sleeves Rules (no castling) [1] 009 thenormalnoob vs. Waredude ongoing Green_Sleeves Rules 010 Typewriter44 vs EvidentRoad ½-½ Green_Sleeves (no castling) 011 idkwutocalmself vs Arjun1516 ongoing Green_Sleeves Rules 012 Green_Sleeves vs TheCheeseDuck ongoing Green_Sleeves Rules 013 Little Brother vs. Green_Sleeves 1-0 Green_Sleeves Rules Updated: 07/27/23

To play Ahab Chess over the board, all you need is a standard chess set and a little bit of tape. Before the game starts, have one player turn his back while the other places a piece of tape on the bottom of the hidden royal piece. Then repeat with the roles reversed. Write down the notation of all the moves, and then create a forum thread in this club to share the game so we can analyze it together. Playing games of Ahab Chess online is a little trickier. Because Ahab Chess requires the king piece to be able to move like an ordinary piece and ignore checking rules, we have to work around the normal methods for playing chess here on chess.com. But I've found a system that works pretty well, so if you just follow the steps below, it shouldn't be much of a problem. Create a new forum thread in this club. This thread will be dedicated to a game between two people. Post a chess position. Don't post an analysis board with moves and such. Simply post a chess board setup, like so: When it's your turn to move, copy the FEN from the board of the previous move, and paste it into a new one. Move the one piece that you want to move, and then post the updated position in the forum. The GIF below demonstrates how step 3 works. If you have any questions about how to do this, please ask below and I'll try to help!

These rules are based on the Forum Rules for the official Variants club. Comments shared on the forum must have purpose and be related to Ahab Chess. Please do not make posts about other chess variants, or standard chess. This club is solely for the development of Ahab Chess. Do not advertise on this forum. Please do not post links to other clubs, unless they are official chess.com clubs, such as Variants. Do not post links to YouTube videos/channels, or any other outside links that do not directly pertain to developing Ahab Chess. No spam. Threads and comments must support a larger overall discussion related to Ahab Chess. Meaningless comments are not welcome. Relegate all general chatter to the club chatroom. Reserve the notes and forums for content specifically related to Ahab Chess. Be kind to one another. No swearing, vulgarity, or inappropriate images. Treat others with respect, and do not belittle other players. Do not use this forum as a means to accuse another player of cheating. As of right now, the only way Ahab Chess can be played online is using the Honor System, meaning that players will have to take each other at their word when they reveal at the end which piece they picked as their hidden Ahab royal. Do not publicly accuse your opponent of cheating during test games. This forum is moderated at the discretion of the admins, and by the admins alone.

I'm a Messianic Jew (a Jew who believes in Jesus, see my profile for more info), so I read the Bible regularly. The idea for this variant was sparked in my mind after reading 1 Kings 22:29-35, which gives the account of the death of Ahab, a wicked king who ruled over the nation of Israel. Ahab had allied himself with King Jehoshaphat of the neighboring nation of Judah, and the two of them went together to fight against the armies of Syria. Here's the passage describing Ahab's final battle: So [Ahab] the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes." And the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, "Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel." And when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "It is surely the king of Israel." So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out. And when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded." And the battle continued that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot. 1 Kings 22:29-35, ESV Seeing that chess is a game portraying a battle, I thought it more than appropriate for this specific battle to be an inspiration for a chess variant. So I called the game "Ahab Chess" since it's inspired by his death. For those who are interested, there is a similar account of this same event found in 2 Chronicles 18:28-34. Also, I found out after making this variant that the righteous King Josiah of Judah also died while disguised as a common soldier, fighting against the army of Egypt, as found in 2 Chronicles 35:20-24.

White's Ahab: Ra1 Black's Ahab: Bf8 Rule Set: Green_Sleeves Rules (NOTE: This game was played otb. Moves 8. Ke2 through 12. Rf1 in the original game was simply 8. O-O.) [StartFen4 "R-0,1,0,1-1,1,1,1-1,1,1,1-0,0,0,0-0-{'dim':'8x8','wb':true,'noCorners':false,'boxOffset':0,'zombieType':('','','',''),'zombieImmune':(false,false,false,false),'pawnBaseRank':5,'enPassant':('','','',''),'royal':('d4','','i11',''),'royal8x8':('','','',''),'lives':(false,false,false,false),'setupPoints':(0,0,0,0),'setupComplete':(false,false,false,false),'stalemated':(false,false,false,false),'promotedFrom':{},'resigned':(null,null,null,null),'spells':('','','','')}-x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x/x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x/x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x/x,x,x,yR,yN,yB,yQ,yK,yB,yN,yR,x,x,x/x,x,x,yP,yP,yP,yP,yP,yP,yP,yP,x,x,x/x,x,x,8,x,x,x/x,x,x,8,x,x,x/x,x,x,8,x,x,x/x,x,x,8,x,x,x/x,x,x,rP,rP,rP,rP,rP,rP,rP,rP,x,x,x/x,x,x,rR,rN,rB,rQ,rK,rB,rN,rR,x,x,x/x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x/x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x/x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x"][Variant "FFA"][RuleVariants "CaptureTheKing EnPassant Play4Mate"][CurrentMove "83"][TimeControl "5 | 2"] 1. h5-h7 .. h10-h82. Nj4-i6 .. Ne11-f93. g5-g7 .. i10-i94. Bi4-f7 .. Nj11-h105. Ne4-f6 .. h8xg76. Ni6xg7 .. Nf9xNg77. Qg4xNg7 .. e10-e98. Kh4-h5 .. Kh11-i109. Rk4-h4 .. Ki10-h1110. Kh5-i4 .. Kh11-i1011. Ki4-j4 .. Ki10-h1112. Rh4-i4 .. f10-f813. Qg7-g6 .. Bf11-e1014. Ri4-g4 .. g10-g815. h7xg8 .. d10-d916. g8-g9 .. Nh10-j917. g9-g10 .. Kh11-h1018. Nf6-g8 .. Nj9-h819. Qg6-g5 .. Nh8xBf720. Qg5-h5 .. e9-e821. Ng8-f6 .. e8-e722. Qh5xNf7 .. e7xNf623. Qf7xf6 .. Kh10xg1024. Qf6-g6 .. Be10-f925. Bf4-i7 .. j10-j826. Bi7-j6 .. Bi11-j1027. Qg6-h6 .. Qg11-h1028. Qh6-f6 .. i9-i829. Qf6-d6 .. i8-i730. Bj6xi7 .. j8xBi731. j5-j6 .. Rd11-e1132. f5-f6 .. i7xj633. k5xj6 .. Bf9-i634. Rg4-g5 .. Rk11-h1135. Rg5-f5 .. Qh10-h4+36. Rf5-f4 .. Qh4-g537. Rf4-e4 .. Rh11-h438. Re4xRh4 .. Re11-h1139. Rh4-e4 .. Bi6-h740. Re4-g4 .. Qg5-f541. Rg4xKg10+ .. Qf5-e4+42. Rg10xBj10#

Rule set: Arctevious Rules White: Green_Sleeves Black: @arctevious_the_3rd e4

Rule Set: Green_Sleeves Rules White: thenomalnoob Black: Green_Sleeves

1. d4

I started this game in PMs, so I'm copying over our current progress to this forum thread. I'll be making a ton of comments in a row. Rule Set: Green_Sleeves Rules White: @Green_Sleeves Black: @phillip100 e4

White: @Green_Sleeves Black: @TTY_500 Rule Set: Green_Sleeves Rules e4

Rule Set: Green_Sleeves Rules White: @Green_Sleeves Black: @TheCheeseDuck 1. e4

Pick the Queen, and even if you are completely lost you can just run forever... the Queen is so slippery, its hard to come up with a strategy to force capture the queen

010 Typewriter44 vs EvidentRoad https://www.chess.com/variants/custom/game/51500255/120/3 So, I got a message from @EvidentRoad (Devon) sending me this test game that he played. Both players selected their rooks as Ahabs, and the game became a draw at the end, even when Devon was down by a full queen. The concern (which I believe another member also foresaw, @thenormalnoob if memory serves) is that the rook is powerful enough that a draw could be forced every time no matter how badly a person plays, because in an endgame it would be almost impossible to corner and capture. This also brings up concerns for the bishop, because it has similar mobility. I'd like multiple people to watch through this game and analyze it, and also consider this while playing test games of your own. We may need to adjust the rules to where you can only select from the minor pieces. But we also need to test with the bishop, because if you can't pick rook or bishop, then this variant would be down to just pawns and knights (and possibly the king), at which point the variant would be essentially gutted. Thanks Devon and Type for the test game and finding this potential flaw, and thanks everyone else for helping me look into it more and see what we can do to address any issues.

Rule Set: Green_Sleeves Rules White: thenomalnoob Black: waredude

Rule set: Greensleeves Brudo_The_Chess_King white - Mayplesyrup4444 black

i don't exactly understand the rules, and im bad at english plz use real english and not paragraph english

Anybody got good tips for finding opponents royal?

https://www.chess.com/variants/custom/game/51455641/95/1 I just recognized that rook can be captured by 5 queens!, so rook can be ahab GREEN_SLEEVES EDIT: Both players picked rook as royal