IDEA Stun Check Chess Variant

Stun Check Variant Chess

"Checks are less common but checks are more deadly. Players cannot easily check the opponent's king. The king is stunned while in check."

I created this variant to add interesting playstyles to the game. The starting positions are the same as regular chess.

Many rules of regular chess also apply to this game. New rules or modified rules will be introduced in square brackets [].

*Units refer to pawns, knights, bishops, rooks, queens, and kings

[Win Rule]

Players can win by the following means:

Checkmate-Opponent's king is forcefully captured. A double-check is a checkmate.
Stalemate-Opponent does not have a legal move.
Material Forefit-Player has units while the opponent does not have any units besides the king. The game ends after a player without any units makes a move
 

[Draw Rule]

Players can cause a draw by the following means:

Both players agree to a draw
Neither players have units besides the king
Three fold repetition with either player claiming a draw
Fifty move rule with either player claiming a draw
 

[Restricted Check Rule]

At least one of the following conditions must be true for a player to make a legal check. These conditions are re-evaluated after every move.

A pawn causes check
A unit captures another unit
A unit causes a discovery check
A unit defends a previous check
 

[Check Response Rule]

The king cannot move, castle, or capture another unit while in check. The player with their king in check has these 2 response options:

Capture the unit which is causing the check by another unit that is not the king
Block the path of attack towards the king from rook, queen, or bishop.
If the player cannot execute either one of these response options, the player loses from checkmate.

[Capture Rule]

Units can capture any unit except pawns on the same team or its own king. A king cannot capture a unit on the same team if that unit is its only unit.

[Pawn]

Each player starts with eight pawns

Pawns can:

move 1 tile forward with nothing in its way
move 1 forward diagonal tile which passes the gap between two opposing pawns both orthogonally adjacent to it
capture a unit of either team 1 forward diagonal tile
promote to either a bishop or a knight when it reaches the end of the board
 

[Knight]

Each player starts with two knights

Knights can:

move and attack tiles either one vertical tile away and two horizontal tiles away or two vertical tiles away and one horizontal tile away (same way as the bishop in regular chess)
 

[Bishop]

Each player starts with two bishops

Bishops can:

move and attack in the straight lines of its four diagonal directions without jumping over units (same way as the bishop in regular chess)
 

[Rook]

Each player starts with two rooks

Rooks can:

move and attack in the straight lines of its four orthogonal directions without jumping over units (same way as the rook in regular chess)
 

[Queen]

Each player starts with one queen

Queens can:

move and attack in the straight lines of its four orthogonal directions and four diagonal directions without jumping over units (same way as the queen in regular chess)
 

[King Rule]

Each player has one king

The king must be alive during the game

The two opposing kings cannot be next to each other

Kings can move or attack one tile diagonally or one tile orthogonally when:

it is not in check
the tile it goes to does not put itself in check
 

[Castling Rule]
Kings can castle with either rooks.

Requirements to castle:

The player must have at least one rook
All tiles/squares between the king and a rook are clear of any units
Both king and that rook are in their starting positions
Castling cannot causes either (or both) kings to be in check
 

Characteristics of castling:

Castling with the closer rook is kingside castling
Castling with the further rook is queenside castling
The king and the rook must be adjacent to each other
The rook must be on the other side of the king, meaning that the king and rook has crossed each other at some point
Both the king and the rook must be in one of the tiles between or the tiles at, the king and the rook 

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