★ How to Play ★

The Board

StarChess is played on a 37-cell hexagonal star (hexagram) board. The board consists of a central hexagon of 19 cells with 6 triangular points extending outward, each adding 3 cells.

         ⬢   ⬢
      ⬢   ⬢   ⬢
   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢
⬢   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢
   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢
⬢   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢
   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢   ⬢
      ⬢   ⬢   ⬢
         ⬢   ⬢

37-cell hexagram board

Setup

Each player starts with 10 pieces:

1 King, 1 Queen, 1 Rook, 1 Bishop, 1 Knight
5 Pawns

White's pieces start on the bottom (rows r=1 and r=2). Black's pieces start on the top (rows r=-1 and r=-2). White moves first.

Piece Movement

Hexagonal chess uses 12 directions: 6 orthogonal (edge-to-edge) and 6 diagonal (vertex-to-vertex).

♔

King

Moves one step in any of the 12 directions (6 orthogonal + 6 diagonal). Must not move into check.

♕

Queen

Slides any distance along 10 directions — all 6 diagonals plus 4 orthogonal directions. Cannot move along the horizontal axis (East/West).

♖

Rook

Slides any distance along the 2 vertical directions (NW and SE). Cannot enter tip cells.

♗

Bishop

Slides any distance along the 6 diagonal directions.

♘

Knight

Jumps to any of 12 fixed positions, ignoring intervening pieces. Similar to a standard chess knight but adapted for hexagons.

♙

Pawn

Moves forward 1 cell (or 2 from starting position). Captures diagonally forward. Cannot enter tip cells except by capture. Promotes upon reaching the opponent's back row.

Special Rules

No castling — the board is too small for castling.
No en passant — this rule does not apply in StarChess.
Pawn promotion — when a pawn reaches the opponent's back row (r ≤ -2 for white, r ≥ 2 for black), it must promote to a Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight.
Check & checkmate — standard chess rules apply. You must escape check. If you cannot, it's checkmate and you lose.
Stalemate — if a player has no legal moves and is not in check, the game is a draw.

Tips

The center of the board is extremely valuable — control it early.
Knights are powerful on hex boards due to their unusual movement pattern.
The Rook is limited to vertical movement — use it carefully.
Games are short and tactical — every move counts!

Play Now