Capture to transform
Become your victim
A piece that captures takes on the moves of the piece it removed. A rook that takes a knight now moves as a knight — and the board redraws it as one.
GitHub
Classic chess. Every capture transforms.
Take a knight with your rook? It's a knight now.
Cannibal Chess starts from the board you know, then makes every capture a transformation. The capturing piece takes on the movement of the piece it just removed — a rook that eats a knight moves like a knight from then on, redrawn on the board as one. Identities chain and shift all game, and even the king cannibalises, though it never loses its crown.
A variant in the cannibal chess family — capture, and you inherit.
Pawn → Knight
Capture, and your piece inherits its victim's moves — the board redraws it as the piece it ate.
Capture changes what you are.
When a piece captures, it stops being itself and becomes its victim. Every standard chess rule still applies — check, castling, en passant, promotion — but the pieces enforcing them keep changing shape. The one constant is the king: however it ends up moving, it is always the piece you must checkmate.
Chains of identity
Nothing is final
That fresh knight can capture a bishop and become a bishop. Pieces drift through identities all game — plan two transformations ahead.
Promotion by push
The classic way
A pawn that reaches the last rank with a plain, non-capturing push promotes to a queen, exactly as in standard chess.
Promotion by capture
Cannibalise instead
A pawn that reaches the back rank by capturing doesn't auto-queen — it cannibalises, becoming whatever piece it just took.
Castling, restricted
Only the originals
Castling needs an original rook under normal rules — and is off the table once the king has cannibalised something and no longer moves as a king.
The pawn-king
Minimal pawn rules
A king moving as a pawn steps one square forward and captures diagonally only — no two-square opening, no en passant.
♚
The king eats too — but stays royal
A king that captures inherits the victim's movement, yet it is still the piece you must checkmate.
Capture a pawn with your king and it now shuffles like a pawn — but it keeps its crown, and the game is still won by mating it. Push that royal pawn-king to the last rank and it is promoted: it gains queen movement and stays royal, so your opponent must now corner a piece that sweeps the board like a queen — at least until that queen, too, cannibalises something else.
Support the next evolution
Chess Upgraded is still growing. Donations help fund new variants, better visuals, mobile versions, and smarter computer opponents.
More chess variants
Fresh rule twists and new games beyond Upgraded and Cannibal.
Original art
A custom visual identity beyond classic chess symbols.
iPhone & Android
Native-feeling mobile versions for quick matches anywhere.
Stronger computer play
Better bots that understand every variant and its wild endgames.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cannibal Chess?+
Cannibal Chess is a free, browser-based chess variant. It follows all standard chess rules, but when a piece captures another piece it takes on the movement of the piece it captured — a rook that captures a knight becomes a knight.
What happens when a piece captures in Cannibal Chess?+
The capturing piece transforms into the piece it captured and, from then on, moves that way. The board redraws it as its new identity. Captures chain — that new knight can capture a bishop and become a bishop.
What happens when the king captures?+
The king also takes on the captured piece's movement, but it stays royal — it is still the piece that must be checkmated. A royal piece moving as a pawn that reaches the last rank is promoted to queen movement and stays royal.
Can you castle in Cannibal Chess?+
Castling is allowed only with the original rooks, under normal castling rules, and only while the king still moves as a king. Once the king has cannibalised another piece, it can no longer castle.
How does pawn promotion work in Cannibal Chess?+
A pawn that reaches the last rank with a non-capturing push promotes to a queen as usual. A pawn that reaches it by capturing instead cannibalises the captured piece, becoming whatever it took.
Is Cannibal Chess free, and can I play the computer?+
Yes. Cannibal Chess is completely free and runs in your browser with no sign-up. You can play another person or a built-in computer opponent that understands the cannibal rules.
Ready to devour the board?
Try the demo, make your first capture, and watch your piece take on a brand-new identity.
Launch game