# King of the Hill

## The rules

Ordinary chess, plus one extra way to win: **march your king to the centre**.

The four central squares — d4, d5, e4 and e5 — are the hill. Get your king to
any of them, legally and without being in check, and you win immediately.

Checkmate still wins as well. Everything else is unchanged.

## What changes

The king stops being a liability to be hidden and becomes your fastest attacking
piece. Castling is often wrong: it walks your king away from the goal.

Games are short. Because both sides are running for the same four squares, a
slow positional plan usually loses to a direct one.

## What to watch for

**Control the hill, not just the run to it.** A king cannot step onto a central
square that is attacked. Covering d4, d5, e4 and e5 with pieces is a defence in
itself, and often a better one than chasing the enemy king.

**Watch both goals at once.** It is easy to become so occupied with your own
march that you miss the opponent arriving first. Every move, ask how many moves
their king is from the hill.