Stratego Chess

By Han van der Maas.

Objective

Capture the opponent's flag pawn.

Rules (differences from chess)

• The king can be captured; this does not end the game.
• No check rule: you are not required to move out of check.
• Capturing the flag pawn wins the game.
• Stalemate does not apply. If the flag must move into check, it must. If a player has no legal moves, they lose.
• Castling is not allowed.
• En passant is allowed.
• Other draw rules still apply (threefold repetition, 50‑move rule, insufficient material, draw by agreement).

Setup

Start from the normal chess position. Each player secretly chooses one of their pawns as the flag. When a pawn is captured, it is revealed whether it was the flag.