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Well, it's been a few days since the big 'ol merge between chess.com/variants and chess.com/4-player-chess. It seems like the coders/devs are busy running around patching bugs, updating things (a million thanks!), and just putting out fires in general, so I don't expect any of this to be listened to that carefully any time soon, but I thought I'd start a conversation, and place for general suggestions to be posted. I have a few of my own, which I'll plop down in the comments, but others are welcome to contribute as well, so long as A) You're actually making an earnest suggestion of something you think would be to the benefit of the playerbase at large, and B) You're not suggesting a reversal of any changes which were made with the update. We get it, you don't like change. Go home and cry to someone else. I'm hereby giving (and requesting) for the forum admins to remove comments which don't adhere to those two criteria. That being said, I'll try to keep this list updated, based on what's been suggested. I'll also mark the list with the following icons: =Suggested and meets my two criteria listed above =Admin/staff response =Approved in theory, implementation may take some time (if ever). =Implemented =Rejected So here's the list (will be updated with my own, and others' suggestions from the comments): Links to leaderboards from profile boxes Rating history archive "Hide deal offers" toggle switch En Passant = 1 pt. Eggshell Chess Variant Fewer listed variants "Hide arrows from spectators" option Disable chat by default Recent rating change indicators Anonymous spectators in anonymous games Games played restriction on queues Include "4PC" prefix for 4PC FFA and Teams games with icon Point leaders auto-accept deal offers Filters for watch list Attribution to custom positions' creators New "Landmine" variant Dynamic page links to appropriate forums Tournament (combined) leaderboard Multiple promotion ranks, with different promotion options Walls which only apply to certain colours Movable "Hill" squares in KotH Autojoin next arena game Reports revamp Custom ruleset filters on play tab Daily games Sharable analysis boards Customisable play order within gamerules All one-point promotions gamerule "Bouncing Chess" rule

Hello! I'm one of the people working on Variants and I'm posting on behalf of the team. Variants has had a lot of changes over the last few years and in the spirit of transparency we wanted to do a sort of official Q&A. The current team will do its best to answer any questions that you have about the Variants project. We are going to collect questions here over the next week and work to get them answered by Friday, December 1st. Post your own questions and upvote questions you want answered! I know it's been a bumpy ride, but the passion of the community is a huge reason I enjoy working on this project and I hope that we can use this to get aligned and get back to enjoying the awesomeness of Variants.

Hi everyone! I was curious to see which variants players find most interesting/diverse/fun I'm expecting to see similar trends to player count per variant, but I might be surprised. : D Looking forward to seeing your responses! Edited a year later to include my own response haha Chaturaji/Hyper-fiesta Crazyhouse Bughouse Four-player-chess (FFA/teams) Atomic Spell chess Cross Derby

Please, report any bugs you may find on the Variants server in this thread.Do not report bugs in the club notes, where they may not be noticed and will get lost and be forgotten about.When reporting bugs, please: Describe exactly what you were doing and how to reproduce the bug (if you can). Include links to games or screenshots where applicable. It may be useful to include which browser you were using (particularly for UI bugs, as different browsers may sometimes render elements differently). Check the browser console for any errors when the bug occurs and include a copy or screenshot. (Ignore ad-tracker messages.) Old 4PC bug thread

Variants gives players the opportunity to design new variants themselves, play them (unrated), and submit for review by team CGA (custom game admins), for a chance to have one’s game listed. How to create custom games: Hit 'A' on your keyboard (or open any game), click the Edit Position icon at the bottom right. Create a starting positionChoose board dimensions (anything from 2x2 to 14x14), and set up pieces (including 23 fairy pieces) for up to 4 players. Bricks and transparent bricks are also available, as well as dead pieces (serve as removable obstacles), or bounty pieces (live pieces that belong to a dead player, the difference to dead pieces being that they give points when captured). Additionally up to 2 players can be set to be zombies, eg a computer will move them, according to the zombie type. Zombies can be made immune, meaning their pieces cannot be captured (these are extremely powerful “moving walls”). (The blue knight will make random moves and cannot be captured.)The royal piece must not be a king, it can be set to any one piece for each player.Add rules:There are some two dozen rules available which can be combined. Of course there are limits, if a variant requires additional rules (say something like ‘backwards pawns’), those would need to be coded by us first. New rules are coded in a way that they can be used as building blocks. For example, Racing Kings can be ‘added’ to any game, so you could create 3player atomic racing kings or whatever.Any player can create such a game and play it casual. Admins can add games to the list of variants, and listed games may be played rated. For listed games, admins can set up a variety of further properties, such as name, url, icon, teaser text, how-to-play descriptions, sorting, categories, which rating to use, etc.Team CGA has become increasingly strict and only accepts very well thought out and fun games. They also remove games again that don’t get much attention. Join the Custom Variants Club to share your New Custom Variants (NCV) ideas: Please read the requirements carefully before submitting your variant.

Welcome to the Chess Variants discussion forum. This club is a resource for anyone looking to dive deeper into the ideas, theory, and community of the Chess.com Variants server, and for its players to meet, share thoughts, and discuss specifics of the variants. To better allow for a productive and healthy exchange of ideas, there are a few rules that we ask all club members and commenters to follow. 6 Simple rules: Comments shared on the forum must have purpose and be related to the Chess.com Variants server. Do not advertise on this forum. No spam. Be kind to one another. Do not use this forum as a means to accuse another player of rule-breaking. This forum is moderated at the discretion of the admins, and by the admins alone. Posts and comments which do not follow these rules may be removed, edited or locked. Frequent abusers of these rules may be temporarily or permanently muted within this forum, or banned from this club entirely with or without warning. All rules and community guidelines for chess.com must be followed on this forum, even if not explicitly listed here. 1. Comments shared on this forum must have purpose and be related to the Chess.com Variants server. New post content must be discussion-worthy. Don't simply post a game link. There are many variant games played daily, so there isn't room for everyone to share his game. If you're showcasing a particular game, be sure to add your commentary! We want to hear what about this game makes it special, unusual, tactically-advanced, etc. Consider whether or not other members of this club will have useful contributions to your chosen topic. If your purpose is simply to "show and tell," perhaps your topic would be better suited as a post on your personal profile, or as a blog post. Check to see if there are existing similarly-themed threads before creating a new one. Use the searchbar to lookup keywords related to your topic. In many cases, questions being asked through new threads have already been answered and discussed more fully than what you'll receive by starting a new post. This is most-often applicable for threads addressing specific questions related to gameplay mechanics, gamerules, tactics, opening principles, and the like. However, this can also be the case for game showcases, puzzles, or other topics. With questions on how the game is played, the rules, or mechanics, your questions can be forwarded directly to any club admin. Don't create new threads about lag or bugs. This is the singular most-posted about topic, and those complaints have been addressed thoroughly many times over. You may add comments to any of the hundreds of already-existing threads on these topics, including our pinned bug thread. This forum is devoted to Chess.com Variants discussions. There must be some tie between your forum post or comment relating to the variant gamemodes available on Chess.com or the Chess.com Variant community. 2. Do not advertise on this forum. Forum threads or comments inviting members to other clubs are not allowed. Forum threads or comments sharing information about YouTube / Twitch / Discord channels or servers are permitted if those channels frequently share Chess.com Variant content. If sharing content from these channels, be sure that it's relevant, and supported by commentary. Do not simply post a link without context. Please add a disclaimer if the content from these channels may not be suitable for younger audiences. You are not allowed to explicitly ask for subscriptions / follows / memberships or anything else requiring payment. Do not offer products, to work for hire, or ask others to do so. If interested in private or group coaching, you may ask the club admins if we know of any opportunities. 3. No spam. Threads and comments must support a larger overall discussion related to Chess.com Variants. Meaningless comments are not welcome. One- or two-word responses are meaningless. Comments such as "+1," "agree," or "lol" must be supported with further commentary. State why you agree or disagree with ideas, or what points you specifically support. Quote other users only when needed either in response, or to support / refute his words. Edit quotations to only the most pertinent excerpts, so as not to flood pages with words that have already been said. There is hardly ever significant enough reason to quote a user's entire posting in full. If commenting, share your opinions within one post. Posting multiple replies within the same thread sequentially is considered spam. If you need to add to your previous statements, edit that comment instead of creating a new one. If absolutely necessary, you are permitted to bump your own post once, and only once. "Bumping" refers to leaving a new comment on a thread in order to bring it back to the top of the list of recent posts in an effort to renew interest in it. If bumping your thread, please make an effort to add some new context or discussion to the topic. 4. Be kind to one another. If the purpose of your discussion points is to be spiteful, is targeting another player / a group of players, this is not the place to share those ideas. We recommend resolving disputes privately through direct contact, but you still must be kind in these private communications or you may face punishment from chess.com support staff. If the situation calls for more immediate action, you may contact any club admin, or chess.com support. Do not use vulgar / sexually-explicit / unfriendly language, or promote hateful ideas. This includes the racial, homophobic, and xenophobic slurs. This includes references to any illegal activity. This includes links to websites or channels which frequently violate this rule. This rule, and all others, applies no matter the language in which it's posted. Private information should not be shared. Be respectful of the information other players have decided to share about themselves. Sharing personal details about yourself is not a good idea and is discouraged, but sharing personal details about someone else without his/her consent is strictly prohibited. Do not solicit this information from other players. 5. Do not use this forum as a means to accuse or report another player of rule-breaking. Rule-breakers within Chess.com Variants can be reported directly to admins. More information on how to do so can be found here (Note: this thread is for the Four-Player Chess reporting process, but variant reporting is very similar). Rule-breakers within this forum can be reported by directly messaging an admin. 6. This forum is moderated at the discretion of the admins, and by the admins alone. If we choose to take action or not take action on a forum thread, comment, or user, that action cannot be appealed. Having said that, if you are unsure about why an action was taken against you or your content, you may privately message an admin with inquiries. However, realise that we may not respond, or we may not answer your question fully. Our decisions are final, and will hardly ever be reversed. The rules listed above are given as guidelines for forum content. They are not the only rules we enforce, nor are they all enforced at all times. We act in the best interest of the community at large, and will, in most cases, be discrete and restrained in our moderation efforts. Do not mini-mod. If someone is breaking these rules deliberately, you may report them to the admins. Please include a link to where a rule was broken. The admin team is active on these forums, and uses discretion when enforcing these rules. Unless you believe a user is knowingly and purposefully breaking rules, or is doing so in a manner causing significant damage to this community, you may assume that it will be dealt with in due time, and according to the judgement of the admins. If reporting incidents to the admins, you may not receive a response, although we appreciate your suggestions an vigilance. The rules above may be changed at any time.

How do I set up a custom position in the variants w

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN CHESS HISTORY I DONTYOUDARECHECKME REPRESENT A VERY POWERFUL THATS WORTH 9 POINT I PRESENT TO YOU........ THE BISROOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This piece combines the movement of a bishop and rook I'm a genius for making this piece

Well, on the official Variants server, whenever I invite a bot (Randobot and Futers), it says "All bots are busy." Somebody told us we could use the Variants Test Server if we want bots to get involved yet when I start a game in the Test server I cannot move any pieces and the game just simply freezes. 

Hello guys , i am asking this question because there is no announcement about the W4PCC

idk why I play variants all the time

Design your weirdest but balanced (ie not Amazon adjacent) piece! How would it move, take, promote (if it does), and how many points is it worth?

Hi, I made a basic guide to chaturaji openings today, please check it out https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-variants/chaturaji-basic-opening-theory

Post removed — revising concept before sharing again.

Custom pieces creator: making people able to create custom pieces will make variants way better, you Will be able to combine 2 or more pieces that already exist or/and drawing arrows on a board to set custom moves, you will need to add a name to the piece, a description (optional) and a icon (for the icon you can use a Png image or the icon of a piece that already exist) then you can save your custom pieces to edit them or delete or use in a variant.publishing variants: you will be able to publish your own variants to everyone be able to play.

I know this might seem like a fairly random question, but is your favorite chess piece? This could include fairy chess pieces too. Mine is the Fuge’s shield: any piece adjacent to it is protected from capture—including the king! Answer in the comments!

I am writing to formally appeal a recent ban from the Variants platform. While playing with friends, I discovered that my account was restricted for "too many aborts"; however, I have only aborted one or two matches. I would appreciate a clarification of the specific reason for this action or an explanation of any policy I may have inadvertently violated, as I am eager to resume playing.

When I play atomic, the most popular time control is 3 | 2. Just the default, and is the main source of most skill levels for the variant. However, there are less popular time controls that are played from time to time, namely 10 min, 1 min, 15 sec, etc. I play 10 min at times.Here’s the problem: These ratings are all separated. No matter your skill in one control of the variant, your rating in all other time controls will still be 1500 until you play some games. This is a large problem when playing players whose skills aren’t reflected.For example: Players like Applepie-314, a 2300 and literally #37 on the blitz leaderboards, is only 1669 rapid (1649 when I played them). I played them on 3/18/26 and, quite obviously lost, losing 42 ELO IN THE PROCESS. And that wasn’t even the only example.I’m not asking to fully abolish the separate rating for separate time controls. Simply asking for a more accurate representation of skill based on the most popular time control of that variant. Like giving a 23 freaking hundred ELO player a 1900 or even 2000 default rating in rapid.

If i try to play a game against a futer/rando bot it says: all bots are busy, but there are no bots playing. How is this possible?

R