Mini Chess rules

Los Alamos 6×6 start

Overview

Mini Chess is Los Alamos chess on a 6×6 board (files a–f). Faster and sharper than Classic Chess. No bishops; no castling; no en passant.

Objective

Checkmate the opponent's king, or win by resignation or timeout. Stalemate is a draw.

Game setup

Each side: king, queen, two rooks, two knights, six pawns. White rank 1 / pawns rank 2; Black rank 6 / pawns rank 5. White moves first.

How to make moves

Same interface as Classic Chess. Pawns move one square forward only (never two on the first move).

Promotion

Pawns reaching the far rank may become queen, rook, knight, or king.

Edge cases

No castling or en passant

King safety is entirely manual.

Separate rating

Mini Chess Elo is independent of Classic Chess.