How Horsie Chess works
It’s regular chess with a stable full of knights where the rooks and bishops would be. There are two boards:
Mini Horsie (6×6): each side has a king, a queen, 4 knights and 6 pawns. Pawns only ever step one square, so there’s no en passant.
Big Horsie (8×8): each side has a king, a queen, 6 knights and 8 pawns. Pawns may step two squares on their first move, and en passant applies.
- No castling, since there are no rooks to castle with.
- A pawn that reaches the far side becomes a queen or a knight (or only a knight, if you pick that in Options).
- Checkmate wins. Stalemate, 50 moves without a capture or pawn move, or too few pieces to mate is a draw.
- Repeating a position three times is a draw only if you’re the one repeating it. The computer never takes that way out, and in auto-play neither horsie can.