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What is Horde chess?
What is Horde chess?

Learn the rules and how to play this exciting variant on Chess.com where White uses a horde of pawns to checkmate the black king!

Updated over a month ago

In Horde, Black has the normal chess setup, but White has a board full of 36 pawns!

Horde chess on Chess.com

How to play Horde chess on Chess.com

  • Hover over 'Play' in the left side menu of any Chess.com page and click '4 Player & Variants'

  • Select 'Horde' from the list on the right side:

Variants page on Chess.com

Key rules

  • Standard chess rules apply β€” stalemates result in a draw, pawns can be promoted, en passant captures are allowed, etc.

  • White pawns on the first and second ranks can move two squares forward if they have room to do it. Furthermore, pawns that started on the first rank can move two squares up even on their second move.

πŸ“š Check out this article to learn more about Horde chess: Horde Chess.

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