Hexagonal Chess
The best-known hexagonal chess variant, invented by Władysław Gliński and once played by hundreds of thousands of people. The armies are familiar, but on a board of hexagons every piece moves in six or twelve directions.
How to play Hexagonal Chess
- The hexagonal chess board has 91 cells in three shades, arranged in 11 files (a to l, skipping j). White starts at the bottom and moves first.
- Each side has a king, a queen, two rooks, two knights, three bishops (one on each shade) and nine pawns.
- Rook: slides any distance straight across cell edges — in six directions. Bishop: slides along the six diagonals through cell corners, staying on its own shade. Queen: rook plus bishop, twelve directions.
- King: one step in any of those twelve directions. Knight: one rook step followed by one bishop step outward, landing on one of up to twelve cells; it jumps over pieces.
- Pawns move one cell straight up their file and capture one cell forward at an angle (on the two edge-sharing neighbours beside the forward cell). A pawn on its starting cell may move two cells. En passant works as in normal chess.
- A pawn reaching the far edge of the board promotes to a queen, rook, bishop or knight. There is no castling.
- Checkmate wins. Stalemate is not a draw in Glinski’s rules: the side that delivers it scores ¾ point and the stalemated side ¼. The game is drawn when only the kings remain, by threefold repetition, or after 50 moves each with no capture or pawn move.
Controls
- Tap or click a piece to see its moves, then tap a highlighted cell. A red ring marks a capture.
- Keyboard: press Tab to reach your pieces and targets, and Enter to select or move.
- Undo takes back your last move and the computer’s reply. Flip turns the board around.
Tips
- Count directions, not squares: a rook in the middle of a hex board covers six lines, and a queen twelve.
- Knights are strong here — they reach up to twelve cells and fork pieces easily.
- Your three bishops each own one shade of the board. Losing one leaves a third of the cells unguarded.
- Stalemate gives the stronger side most of the point, so when you are ahead, cornering the enemy king without checkmate still pays.
FAQ
How does hexagonal chess work?
It is chess played on a board of 91 hexagons. Pieces keep their usual roles, but rooks move in six directions across cell edges, bishops in six directions through corners, the queen and king in twelve, and the knight has up to twelve jumps. Each side also gets a third bishop and a ninth pawn.
What are Glinski’s hexagonal chess rules?
Glinski’s version uses an 11-file hexagon of 91 cells in three shades, nine pawns and three bishops per side, no castling, pawns that capture at an angle, and a special stalemate rule worth ¾ point to the player who delivers it.
How do pawns move in hexagonal chess?
Pawns step straight forward along their file and capture on the two cells that touch the front edges of their cell. From the starting position a pawn may advance two cells, and en passant capture is allowed.
Is there castling in hexagonal chess?
No. Glinski’s rules have no castling, so the king and rooks start on their working cells.
Is it the same as normal chess openings?
No. The board and moves are different enough that standard chess openings do not apply. Start by developing knights and bishops toward the center and watch for knight forks.