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What is King of the Hill (KOTH)?

What is King of the Hill (KOTH)?

Learn how to play King of the Hill on Chess.com, win by reaching the center, and where to go to unlock achievements for this variant.

Updated over 2 weeks ago

King of The Hill

King of the Hill or 'KOTH' is an exciting variant in which the goal is to get your king to the center of the board or 'top of the hill.'

King of the Hill Chess Variant

Rules

  • Games can still end in the traditional ways of checkmate, stalemate, and time-out.

  • The game can also end when a player moves their king to any of the four central squares.

  • e4, d4, e5, and d5 are 'top of the hill' squares. Move your king onto one of those squares to win the game on the spot for either White or Black, regardless of the nature of the position.


Where can I play a game of KOTH?

There are two ways to play King of The Hill on Chess.com:

  • If you want to unlock KOTH achievements, you’ll need to create a custom game from the 'Play' page. Click here to learn how.

  • You can also play King of The Hill from the Variants server:

    • Hover over 'Play' on the left-side menu of any Chess.com page and select '4 Player & Variants' from the list.

    • Choose King of The Hill from the list on the right side of the screen to start a game.

An image of the Variants page on Chess.com with an arrow pointing to the King of The Hill variant

Ready to play a game of KOTH on the variants server? Click here!

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