What is Three-Check?
Three-Check is standard chess with one extra way to win: the first player to give check three times wins the game at once. Checkmate still wins too, so every attack has two goals.
Every move that puts the opposing king in check counts, including a discovered check or a double check (a double check counts once). The board shows how many checks each side has given.
The extra goal changes how the game is played. Kings that are safe in standard chess suddenly come under fire, open lines in front of a king become a real danger, and trading attacking pieces is often the best defence.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Chess | Three-Check |
|---|---|---|
| Starting position | Standard ChessThe standard starting position. | Three-CheckThe same position, plus a counter for the checks each side has given. |
| Giving check | Standard ChessForces the opponent to answer, but scores nothing. | Three-CheckEvery move that gives check counts toward your three, a double check once. |
| How to win | Standard ChessCheckmate the opponent's king. | Three-CheckGive the third check, or checkmate, whichever comes first. |
| Draws | Standard ChessStalemate, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule and insufficient material. | Three-CheckStalemate, threefold repetition and the fifty-move rule as usual, but lack of material draws only when the two kings stand alone: a single knight or bishop can still give checks. |
History
Three-Check has long been played as a casual and training game, above all in Russia and the former Soviet Union, where coaches used it to teach attacking play and king safety. Its exact origin is not recorded.
Online chess servers made it widely known in the 2010s, and it is now one of the most played chess variants on the internet, with its own ratings and tournaments on several sites.