Racing Kings

Racing Kings uses a special starting position, and each player has the usual set of pieces except pawns. The objective is not checkmate: each player tries to move their king to the eighth rank before the opponent.

Its most distinctive rule is that check is forbidden. You may not make a move that attacks the opposing king, and you still may not move your own king onto an attacked square. The other pieces move and capture as their standard-chess counterparts do, but every move must respect the no-check rule.

The Lichess rules also include compensation for White's first move. If White reaches the eighth rank first, Black gets the immediate reply; if Black can move the king to the eighth rank on that reply, the game is a draw. If Black cannot do so, White's arrival wins the race.

The most useful comparison is King of the Hill. Both variants make a king destination a winning condition, but King of the Hill keeps ordinary check and targets four central squares instead of the final rank.