Horde
One side has a large number of pawns, the other has a normal army.
An asymmetric variant: one side has an army, the other has a wall of pawns.
The rules
Black starts with the ordinary chess set-up.
White has no pieces at all — only 36 pawns, filling the first four ranks and
a few squares beyond.
The two sides win differently:
- White wins by checkmating the black king, as in ordinary chess
- Black wins by capturing every last white pawn
White has no king, so White is never in check and can never be checkmated.
White pawns on the first rank may still advance two squares.
What changes
For White, every pawn is expendable but the mass is not: the advance only works
while the pawns defend each other. Losing the chain matters far more than losing
a unit.
For Black, this is a defensive grind. You cannot trade your way out — there is
nothing to trade with — so you take pawns one at a time without letting the rest
break through.
What to watch for
As Black, do not become greedy on the wings. A rook that goes pawn-hunting
on the a-file is a rook not defending the king. White only needs one breakthrough.
As White, advance on a broad front. A single lunging pawn is captured for
free. Pawns are strong when they are boring.