Welcome chess enthusiasts, to discover the whimsical world of chess where your every move will trigger a reaction!

Let strategy and intellect collide with your fellow enthusiasts while you learn how to play atomic chess. 

1. What Is Atomic Chess?

Atomic chess is a variant of chess, that adds an explosive element to the classic game. By explosion, it does not mean a bomb! But the moves and strategies give it a unique twist. And when a piece is captured, the ‘explosion’ reaches all the squares immediately surrounding the captured piece.

The main goal of atomic chess is the same as regular chess, that is, to capture the opponent’s king or deliver a checkmate and win! However, the consequences of capturing the piece take a whole new dimension.

2. The Origin

Atomic Chess was introduced to the broader public in the 1990s when it was linked with the rise of online chess platforms.

These platforms provided the players to discuss new variants of chess, which gave rise to creative variants. One of them being atomic chess.

By the end of the 90s, Atomic chess was given the name of Explosive Chess, where capturing a piece on the chessboard resulted in an explosion, that is, the elimination of adjacent pieces. 

The idea was an unpredictable and dynamic twist brought to the standard chess world, which took time for the players to understand and play. 

Therefore, it was only in mid mid-2000s that Atomic chess gained popularity and visibility in the world of chess. 

Presently, as well, Atomic chess evolves with the players experimenting with new rules variants, and gameplay elements. 

3. Setting Up The Board

The chessboard for atomic chess is arranged just like traditional chess. There are a total of 16 pieces with each player consisting of a king, queen, bishop, knight rook, and pawns. 

The rules are what makes it different with each piece having a different movement and interaction. 

4. How To Play Atomic Chess?

Let’s look into the rules and key features of how to play atomic chess. 

There are three basic rules of the game as follows:

4.1. Capturing Mechanisms 

In a traditional game of chess, when the opposite color piece is captured, it is only that piece that is lost by the player. 

However, in a game of atomic chess, when the player captures the opponent piece an explosion occurs. This explosion includes when all the remaining pieces, horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, are removed from the board. But, the captured piece will remain unaffected. 

4.2. Rules For Pawn

Pawns move diagonally, one square at a time. The En Passant is when the opponent’s pawn steps two squares forward from its original position and lands next to the player’s pawns, then the player can capture it even if the pawn is only moving one square forward.

However, when the capturing pawn lands on a single piece, it triggers an explosion. This explosion leads to capturing all the surrounding pieces to it, except for itself. The pawn can only be removed when directly involved in a capture.

This feature of pawn explosion reshapes the chess board and creates strategic advances for the players. 

4.3. Nuking The Opponent’s King

The special king rule that creates the massive explosion on the board is nuking the king. If the enemy’s king is captured, all adjacent pieces of both the players are eliminated. 

This makes own king a formidable piece and requires a careful decision in its movement. 

4.3.1. Enemy King Downfall

While the players can gain the reward of winning when nuking the opponent’s king, it can also lead to a fallout. The player should consider their pieces before attacking the king so it minimizes harm to one’s game and increases the harm to the opponent. 

This move can change the entire dynamics of a game but also add to the excitement and unpredictability of this chess variant.

5. How To Win At This Chess Variant?

The game ends when the enemy king is out in a position where it cannot escape capture. Since atomic chess includes potential explosions, it is difficult to capture the king easily. It requires good strategic planning and sacrifices. 

Here are a few strategic tips to help to achieve your checkmate:

5.1. Always Think Ahead

Before moving your piece, think of all the chain reactions the move can trigger. A minor mistake can lead to fireworks on your chessboard, eventually altering the dynamics of the game!

5.2. Strategic Sacrifices

At times, sacrificing your piece can be a bolder move to open the way for a significant attack. So, sacrifice an insignificant piece to create an advantage. 

5.3. Positioning Of Pieces

Unlike chess, atomic chess can lead to the loss of many pieces at once. Therefore, make sure not to cluster all your pieces together and maintain a flexible formation to avoid triggering any chain reaction. 

5.4. Queen’s Role

The queen can change the game. Its long-range movement allows for strategic positioning that destroys the opponent’s formation. Hence, manoeuvre the queen to other pieces, so that when they are captured massive explosions on the board can take place.

5.5. Game Ends

And finally, adapt to the changing board. As each move from either of the players can lead to dynamic changes in the game, adapt the strategy that is more advantageous to you, and directly trigger the exposed pieces of the losing player.

Once you have achieved these basic strategies, a few more things can be kept in mind. For instance, always make sure to control the centre of the board, just like the traditional chess.

Don’t forget to avoid stalemate situations in this game as well! Ensure that your opponent’s king is vulnerable and capture it with a bang!

And finally, experience is the key to winning. Learn from your past missteps enhance your gameplay and join the experienced players.

6. Atomic Chess On Chess.com

Chess.com is an online platform for players to play chess online. Along with regular chess, it also provides a variant of atomic chess for players to play. 

All you have to do is go on their website, create or log in to your account, and click the ‘Play’ button on the top bar. Once you do, you start by clicking ‘New Game’, and choosing ‘Atomic’ as your variant. 

You can even customize other preferences such as time. Finally, you can either invite a friend or let the system choose an opponent for you to play the game. 

Well fellow players, are you ready to embark on this thrilling and strategic journey filled with explosives? 

Now that you know how to play atomic chess, so why not embrace the nature of each move, turn your captures into calculated advantages, and revel in this dynamic variant?