How to Play Gangster King: Rules, Kings and Tips
· Gangster King
Gangster King is chess with one change: both kings move like a different piece, and that piece changes every day. One day the kings jump like knights. The next they slide like rooks. All your chess knowledge still counts, but the piece you have spent your chess life hiding behind a wall of pawns can suddenly cross the board in one move.
This guide explains the rules, shows how each of the seven kings moves, and gives you practical tips for your first games. You can play Gangster King free online or against the computer, with nothing to install.
The rules of Gangster King
The board, the starting position and all the other pieces are the same as in ordinary chess. Pawns, knights, bishops, rooks and queens move as usual, and a pawn that reaches the far side still promotes. Only the kings are different:
- Both kings move the same way. Neither side gets a better king, so the game stays fair.
- The king's movement changes every day, at midnight UTC. In an online game the piece is fixed when the game starts, so it cannot change while you play.
- It is still the king. It can be checked and checkmated, and it may not move into attack. Checkmate wins the game, as always.
- The enemy king attacks like the piece it moves like. If both kings move like rooks, your king may not step onto an open file or rank shared with the enemy king.
- There is no castling. You do not need it: your king can get to safety by itself, and sometimes in a single move.
- The old king step is gone. A king that moves like a knight can only make knight jumps. It cannot step one square to the side, unless the piece of the day allows it.
The seven kings and how they move
The kings come from a pool of seven. They were chosen by having the computer play itself many times, keeping the kings that give a real game. Very weak kings were mated in nearly every game, and very strong ones such as a queen king were almost impossible to mate.
Knight king
The highlighted squares are where this king can go from e4. Jumps in an L shape, over anything in its way. It escapes many checks that would trap a normal king, but it can be mated on squares a knight cannot leave. From e4 this king can go to c3, c5, d2, d6, f2, f6, g3, g5.
Bishop king
The highlighted squares are where this king can go from e4. Slides along diagonals, and so it stays on one colour of square for the whole game. Attack the other colour to give it nowhere to go. From e4 this king can go to a8, b1, b7, c2, c6, d3, d5, f3, f5, g2, g6, h1, h7.
Rook king
The highlighted squares are where this king can go from e4. Slides along ranks and files. It is very mobile on an open board, and it can be pinned down by your own pawns and pieces on a closed one. From e4 this king can go to a4, b4, c4, d4, e1, e2, e3, e5, e6, e7, e8, f4, g4, h4.
Archbishop king
The highlighted squares are where this king can go from e4. Moves like a bishop or a knight. This is one of the strongest kings, and it takes careful coordination to mate. From e4 this king can go to a8, b1, b7, c2, c3, c5, c6, d2, d3, d5, d6, f2, f3, f5, f6, g2, g3, g5, g6, h1, h7.
Nightrider king
The highlighted squares are where this king can go from e4. Makes knight jumps, and may keep going in the same direction in one move. A piece on one of the landing squares stops it there. From e4 this king can go to a2, a6, c3, c5, c8, d2, d6, f2, f6, g3, g5, g8.
Ferz-Alfil king
The highlighted squares are where this king can go from e4. Moves one square diagonally, or jumps exactly two squares diagonally. Like the bishop king, it stays on one colour. From e4 this king can go to c2, c6, d3, d5, f3, f5, g2, g6.
Wazir-Dabbaba king
The highlighted squares are where this king can go from e4. Moves one square straight, or jumps exactly two squares straight. It can go up, down and sideways, but never diagonally. From e4 this king can go to c4, d4, e2, e3, e5, e6, f4, g4.
The Gangster King page always shows today's king, so you know what you are playing before the first move.
An example: when the king moves like a rook
A rook king slides as far as it likes along its rank and file. On an open board that gives it fourteen squares from any square, against eight for an ordinary king in the middle of the board.
On an open board the rook king on e4 reaches the whole e-file and the whole fourth rank. From e4 this king can go to a4, b4, c4, d4, e1, e2, e3, e5, e6, e7, e8, f4, g4, h4.
Your own pieces stop it, just as they stop a real rook. A king hemmed in by its own pawns can have very few moves, which is exactly how it gets mated.
With its own pawns around it, the same king has only d4 and f4 left: it cannot jump over them or capture them. From e4 this king can go to d4, f4.
After 1.e4 e5 the kings have open squares in front of them. With a rook king, White could play the startling Ke3 or Ke2 on the second move.
In ordinary chess an early king march is a blunder. Here it is a real option, but it is still risky. In one short game with rook kings, 2.Ke3 was met by 2...d5 3.d3 Bc5+, and the king was checkmated on move five after running to g3 and f3. An active king is a strong piece, and also the piece you cannot afford to lose.
Tips for your first games
- Before you move, look at where your king can go. Find its escape squares from the current position. A habit from ordinary chess can leave you with none, because the squares next to your king may not be squares it can reach.
- Check the enemy king's reach before every king move. A long-range king controls whole lines, so moving onto one of them is illegal, and that can take away more squares than you expect.
- Do not bring the king out just because you can. Develop your knights and bishops first, as you would in any game. Good development still wins.
- Attack the squares your opponent's king cannot defend. A bishop king never reaches the other colour, and a knight king in a corner has only two jumps. Each king has a weakness, so find today's before you start the attack.
- Think about blocked moves. A sliding king is stopped by its own pieces, and so is a nightrider. Your opponent's own pawns can finish the mate for you.
- Watch out for stalemate. A king that moves like an unusual piece can run out of moves sooner than you think. If the other side has no legal move and is not in check, the game is a draw.
How to play Gangster King online
Open the Gangster King page and choose to play online or against the computer. Online games have their own Gangster King rating and leaderboard, separate from your normal chess rating, and a game against a friend is unrated. Against the computer you can practise without any pressure, and you can look back over your online games afterwards to see where they turned.
Frequently asked questions
Is Gangster King fair?
Yes. Both players have the same king and the same pieces, so the only difference between the two sides is the same one as in ordinary chess: White moves first.
Can I castle in Gangster King?
No. Castling does not exist in this variant, because the king can usually reach safety by itself.
Can two kings stand next to each other?
It depends on the king of the day. A king may not move to a square the enemy king attacks, and what it attacks depends on how it moves. Two knight kings can stand side by side, but not a knight's jump apart.
What happens when the day changes during a game?
Nothing. An online game keeps the king it started with until the end.
Do I need to be good at chess to play?
No. If you know how the pieces move you can start right away, and everyone is learning a new king each day. For more ideas that help in every kind of game, read our other chess articles.