Turnover Chess - Official Rules 

Most recent update: February 2, 2026.

Created by Brazilian Designer Lúcio José Patrocínio Filho.

Turn the Tide, Conquer the Board!

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.

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, but exposing even your last one is legal as a resigning move.

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 Forward Slide: Always decomposes (W moves, leaving Citadel). Cannot capture but can turnover.

  • 1 Any Direction (King Move): Decomposes only if it enables a Wall turnover on the target (W moves, leaving Citadel). Otherwise, whole Castle moves (no decomposition).

Turnover and Capture

When landing on an occupied square:

1. Turnover (Absorb + Flip): If the arriving ring + target's rings form a valid combination, absorb them into a new piece.

   • Friendly rings: Simply merge.

   • Enemy rings flip color (change ownership, like Othello disc flip).

   • Physical play: Rings have dual-colored sides; flip to switch.

2. 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).

3. Wall Turnover: Possible in all three forward directions (straight or diagonal).

Promotion

• Walls reaching the last rank (rank 8 for White, 1 for Black) promote to Citadel (T+F).

Winning and Losing

• Victory: Opponent has no Castles left.

• Loss: Stalemate: No legal moves on your turn.

Draws

• Threefold Repetition.

• 50-move rule: 50 consecutive moves without enemy capture or turnover.

Siege

A Siege occurs when a player has only one Castle left and it is threatened by the opponent (i.e., the enemy can capture it on his next move). Unlike traditional chess stalemate (which is also a loss here), a Siege emphasizes high-tension endgames:

• You can still move your last Castle (even if it leads to capture – considered a resign move).

• Or move other pieces to cover/defend it if possible.

• If you have no legal moves at all (true stalemate), you lose immediately by been in Siege.