A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways.
"International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be considered variants of each other. Chess developed from chaturanga, from which other members of this family, such as ouk chatrang, shatranj, Tamerlane chess,
shogi, and xiangqi also evolved.
Many chess variants are designed to be played with the equipment of regular chess. Most variants have a similar public-domain status as their parent game, but some have been made into commercial proprietary games. Just as in traditional chess, chess variants can be played over the board, by correspondence, or by computer. Some internet chess servers facilitate the play of some variants in addition to orthodox chess.
In the context of chess problems, chess variants are called heterodox chess or fairy chess. Fairy chess variants tend to be created for problem composition rather than actual play.
There are thousands of known chess variants (see list of chess variants). The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants catalogues around two thousand, with the preface noting that—since creating a chess variant is relatively trivial—many were considered insufficiently notable for inclusion.
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