 | |
| Publishers | Chessplus Team |
|---|---|
| Years active | c. 21st century to present |
| Genres | Board game Abstract strategy game Mind sport Chess variant |
| Players | 2 |
| Playing time | 5–55 minutes[citation needed] |
| Chance | None |
| Skills | Strategy, tactics |
Chessplus is a commercial chess variant developed by the Australian family business Chessplus Team.
Chessplus plays mostly like normal chess, albeit with a new system, known as "merging". When a piece, besides the king, moves onto a square with another piece of its own colour, they will be "merged". Pieces may "split", and leave a merge, by making one of their moves. Merged rooks may castle if the rook side hasn't moved, and en passant can only be performed by merged of two pawns.
The game was inspired by an illegal move made by Aimee Simpson, one of the members of the Chessplus Team, when she was playing chess with her father, Christian. Aimee had moved her rook onto the same square as one of her pawns, confusing him. On Aimee's next move, she promoted her fusion of pieces to a queen while exclaiming that she was going to beat him.
Chessplus received generally positive reviews.
The game has been physically released with 3 different packages.
The pieces themselves, besides the king, are designed with the game's "merge" system in mind, being half of what their normal version would be.[citation needed]
On 29 August 2025, the game was announced to be receiving a digital release through Steam sometime in 2026.
During a game of Chess with her dad the young Aimee (aged 8) did something not so legal. With a cheeky smile Aimee moved her rook onto the square of a pawn. Her dad looked on puzzled and made a traditional Chess move. With her next move Aimee took both the rook and the pawn to the far side of the board and proudly announced 'I get a queen, I'm going to beat you!' Her dad laughed, then he reflected on her actions and Chessplus was born.