Fog of War Chess - Tips

Fog of War has become my favorite chess variant. I often prefer it to regular chess because it demands sharper deductive power and leans heavily into psychology, traps, and the element of chance. I created this post so we can discuss our favorite tips when playing. If you are not familiar with it, give it a try. It is frustrating at first, but with practice and a little deception, you can beat a Grandmaster!

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Life doesn't show you all the facts when you are competing, and Fog of War reflects that reality. Unlike standard chess where every piece is visible, Fog of War requires abductive reasoning: the ability to find the most likely explanation for a missing piece or a sudden change in vision based on incomplete data. While computers are masters of cold logic and perfect information, humans are better suited for the risk-taking and intuitive leaps this variant demands!

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What are your favorite tips when playing Fog of War?
P.S. For those of you unfamiliar with the mechanics of Fog of War, I will be posting a full breakdown of the rules next.
P.S2. In all my chess position examples, I describe the board from White’s perspective (for example, b2 or g4).

Fog of War Chess – Simple Rules

What you can see
• You always see your own pieces and the squares they sit on.
• You can see any square your piece could legally move to.
• You only see an enemy piece if one of your pieces could move to or capture that square.
• Any square none of your pieces can reach is hidden in fog. You don’t know what’s there.

How winning works
• There is no check or checkmate.
• You win by capturing the enemy king.

King safety
• You will not be warned if your king is in danger.
• You are allowed to move your king into danger or leave it there.
• If your opponent doesn’t notice their king is under attack, you can capture it and win.

Pawn vision
• A pawn does not see the square directly in front of it.

• Diagonal squares are only revealed when an enemy piece is present and can be captured.
• If a pawn’s forward move is unavailable, you can infer that something is blocking it, but the blocking piece remains unseen until interacted with.

Special moves
• Castling is allowed even if the king is under attack or passes through danger.
• En passant works as usual. When it’s possible, the skipped square is usually visible for that turn.
• Pawn promotion works normally, but your opponent won’t know what piece you chose unless they can see the promotion square.

Here is my first tip. It is for beginners.
The queen, rooks, bishops, and even the king often can’t see a knight. Because of this, knights are very powerful in Fog of War—often more valuable than bishops in normal chess.
PS. I will try to estimate who the tip is for. I will use beginners, intermediate, and advanced players.

There’s no official rating scale just for Fog of War, but based on how ratings cluster on chess.com and how players generally perform, this is my breakdown when I use the terms beginners, intermediate, and advanced players:

Beginner: below ~1400Players are still learning basic Fog of War mechanics: pawn vision, king safety, replay use, and how fog changes strategy. Many losses come from rushing or missing obvious clues.

Intermediate: ~1400–1700Players understand the rules well, use probing, track pawns somewhat, and know common traps. Games are more deliberate, but mistakes still come from memory lapses, impatience, or misreading hidden information.

Advanced: ~1700–2000This is where Fog of War becomes a different game entirely. Advanced players:
• Think in probabilities, not certainties
• Track pawn structures and king migrations
• Use deception and fake plans
• Replay efficiently and sparingly
• Rarely rush attacks
• Relocate kings intelligently when discovered

Expert: 2000+Players consistently control information, manipulate opponent assumptions, and punish impatience. They change openings frequently, avoid predictable habits, and are hard to trap.

Great topic. FOW is also my favorite variant. A few basic tips:

- As soon as you capture a bishop, remember the color you took and what remains. This is vital information later and you don't want to have to replay the whole game to refresh your memory.

- Use the marker to note where you last saw pawns that had advanced from their starting position. If you know there's no opposing pawn on the file, mark it on the opponents first rank.

- As long as your opponent has a knight with an unknown location, do not leave your king or queen or rooks on a square that could be attacked by a knight without your knowledge. Using pawn structures to prevent knight access is useful.

My second tip for beginners: Don’t panic if you lose your queen. Losing your queen doesn’t mean the game is over. Play quietly, set traps, find the enemy king, and take more risks. The same idea applies even more to rooks and other major pieces.

Tip for advanced players: Advanced players often move their king from one side of the board to the other when their position becomes exposed. If your opponent suddenly starts playing very fast after exposing their king, it often means they are quietly migrating their king.

Try to see the squares where these pieces can be attacked from, especially for the king

(for beginners)
Don’t panic if you lose your queen. Losing your queen doesn’t seal your king’s fate like in regular chess. If you lose your queen in the opening or middlegame, play quietly and set traps for the enemy queen or king.

(for beginners)
This is one of the biggest differences between beginners and advanced players. Beginners guess where the enemy king is based on simple piece setups and then attack. Advanced players probe, analyze, weigh probabilities, and attack only when they are confident—or when the odds strongly favor the king being there.

yes, you are right.

(for intermediate players)
It’s not cheating to take notes about pawn positions on paper—or any other way of recording them. Just don’t spend too much time doing it, or you may lose on the clock.

This rule sounds basic, but it took me a while to understand, so I think it’s more intermediate.

Background: In Fog of War, pawn movement gives you information. Any square a pawn can move to is marked with a dot in the center of the square (see the pawn on the g-file in the image).

If a pawn is on its starting square and you try to move it two squares forward but can’t, that means an enemy piece is blocking it—even if you can’t see what piece it is.

The tip: Even if you don’t plan to move the pawn, always do this test. It’s one of the most important tricks in Fog of War, and it lets you check whether an enemy piece is hiding there without committing to the move.

(intermediate)
Confident bluffing makes your opponent hesitate. When you bluff, do it fast and don’t think. Taking your time to think means you are not sure of the move.

(advanced)
Opposite to bluffing by moving fast, you can also pretend to think before making a safe move. This can fool your opponent into thinking the move was risky or unprotected. This works well against beginners and intermediate players. Advanced players usually ignore how long you take to move and don’t treat it as a signal.

(intermediate)
Expect predictable moves from weaker players and creative chaos from stronger ones—adjust your tricks accordingly. When playing someone above 2000, assume they are ready for your tricks and traps. That said, some very strong players hide behind low ratings (around the 1500s), often by resigning or losing on purpose. From my experience, players rated 1600 and above are usually not hiding.

Good to know, all! Thanks for all the tips!

The pawn trick I have found to be very helpful

fyi, I love Fog of War and I think it is my favorite 2-player variant!

Either that or Crazyhouse

(advanced)

Endgame Tactics: Kamikaze Pawns in Fog of War

In regular chess, you often push two pawns together so they protect each other. In Fog of War, it’s usually better to push a single pawn as a kamikaze, especially on the edge files (a- or h-file), where the king is unlikely to catch it. Waiting to push two pawns costs time and gives your opponent a chance to defend. Every position is different, but this is an important difference from regular chess.

Thanks! I will keep that in mind!

For me, I've found as a 1800+ rated player that going for opening traps is not very smart as they are very easily refuted by players of that rating