What is King of the Hill?
King of the Hill is standard chess with one extra way to win: the first player whose king reaches one of the four centre squares, d4, d5, e4 or e5, wins the game at once. Checkmate still wins too.
The king has to get there with a legal move, so it may not step onto a centre square that the opponent attacks. Every other rule, from castling to en passant and promotion, is the rule of standard chess.
The centre goal turns the king into an attacking piece. Once the queens are off, a king marching up the board is often the fastest way to win, and both players have to watch the centre squares as closely as their own king's safety.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Chess | King of the Hill |
|---|---|---|
| How to win | Standard ChessCheckmate the opponent's king. | King of the HillCheckmate, or move your king onto d4, d5, e4 or e5, whichever comes first. |
| The centre squares | Standard ChessOrdinary squares, important only for controlling the board. | King of the HillA king that reaches one of them wins. It may not move there into check, so the opponent defends the hill by attacking those squares. |
| Draws | Standard ChessStalemate, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule and insufficient material. | King of the HillStalemate, threefold repetition and the fifty-move rule. Lack of material never draws, because a lone king can still walk to the centre. |
History
Nobody knows who first played King of the Hill. Races to the centre of the board are an old idea in game design, but this variant became known through online chess, where its short rule and fast, sharp games made it popular.
Today it is one of the classic variants offered by several large chess sites, with its own ratings, puzzles and tournaments, and it is a common first step for players trying chess variants.