Turnover Chess - Official Rules
Most recent update: April 21, 2026.
Created by Brazilian Designer Lúcio José Patrocínio Filho.
Turn the Tide, Conquer the Board!
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Turnover Chess is an innovative chess variant that blends strategic depth with dynamic piece decomposition and "turnover" mechanics inspired by Chess and Reversi/Othello. Pieces are composite structures made of up to three rings of increasing diameter: T (Tower - smallest), F (Fort - medium), and W (Wall - largest). These rings stack seamlessly on 8x8 squares, forming six valid piece types (T+W is invalid as rings do not connect properly).
Game Setup
Board: Standard 8x8 chessboard.
Starting Position: Each player begins with 8 Castles (T+F+W) on their first two ranks.
White Castles occupy the dark squares (a1-h2 region, specifically opposite-color squares).
Black Castles occupy the light squares (a7-h8 region).
White moves first.
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Setup:
Each player starts the game with 8 Castles positioned on squares opposite their own color on the first and second rows of the board.
Objective of the game:
Leave Your Opponent Without Castles.
Piece Types and Movements
Pieces decompose on most moves: only the outermost ring moves to the destination, leaving inner rings behind (splitting the piece). All pieces can move to empty squares or attempt turnover/capture on occupied ones (detailed below).
Special behaviors
Paths must be clear (except Fortress jumps).
Castles are the "kings" – protecting them is key.
Movement and Decomposition
When a composite piece (2+ rings) moves, only the outermost ring relocates; inner rings stay put.
Single-ring pieces move wholly.
Castle Specials:
2 Squares Forward Slide: Always decomposes (W moves, leaving Citadel). Cannot capture but can turnover.
1 Square Any Direction (King Move): Decomposes only if it enables his Wall to turnover on the target (W moves, leaving Citadel). Otherwise, whole Castle moves (no decomposition).
Turnover and Capture
When landing on an occupied square:
Turnover (Absorb + Flip): If the arriving piece + target's piece(s) form a valid combination, absorb them into a new composition.
Friendly piece(s): Simply merge.
Enemy piece(s) flip color (change ownership, like Othello disc flip).
Physical play: Pieces have dual-colored sides; flip to switch.
Replacement Capture: If invalid combination (e.g., duplicates or T+W):
Target must be enemy (cannot land on friendly invalid).
Enemy piece disappears entirely (standard capture).
Winning
Victory: Opponent is in Siege or his last Castle is in checkmate.
It is the external wall.
Wall:
It moves one square forward.
It takes one square diagonally forward.
It turns over one square forward and diagonally forward.
It is the internal wall.
Fort:
It moves, takes, and turns over any number of squares in a straight line diagonally.
It is the internal button.
Tower:
It moves, takes, and turns over any number of squares in a straight line, both vertically, horizontally.
It consists of Fort + Tower.
It moves, takes, and turns over any number of squares in a straight line, both vertically, horizontally, and diagonally.
Citadel:
It moves, takes, and turns over any number of squares in a straight line, both vertically, horizontally, and diagonally.
It consists of Wall + Fort.
Fortress:
It moves, takes, and turns over in an L-shape pattern (two squares in one direction followed by one square perpendicular to the initial movement).
It consists of Tower + Fort + Wall on the same square.
Dismounting a Castle:
Its Wall can move or turnover two squares forward.
Castling:
The WHOLE Castle can MOVE one square for any side.
The WHOLE Castle can TAKE the opponent's Castles, Fortresses, Towers and Walls one square for any side.
Its Wall can TURNOVER Forts and Citadels one square for any side.
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