Chess Variants: Transforming Tradition

For more than 1,500 years, chess has fascinated players around the world. Yet the game has never stood still. From its origins in India and Persia to today’s global stage, each culture that embraced chess reshaped it—changing boards, inventing new pieces, and imagining bold twists on the rules.

Chess Variants: Transforming Tradition invites visitors on a journey through chess’s remarkable evolution—tracing the game’s origins, its spread across continents, and the inventive twists that have kept it fresh for centuries. From ancient boards carved in Persia to the instantly recognizable Staunton design, the exhibition highlights how cultures adapted the game and how today’s players continue to push the boundaries with bold new variants.

At the heart of the gallery, a vibrant timeline unfolds: theories of the game’s beginnings, the migration of rules and pieces across Asia and Europe, and the many ways communities reimagined the board itself. Visitors will discover how shifting strategies, piece design, and regional styles gave birth to the modern rules we know today—while also opening the door to hundreds of creative alternatives.

Photographs of press photos of inventors of a variety of variants, original artwork from Louisiana artist Jonathan Guillaume, and pop-culture chess references, including boards and sets made popular by Star Trek and Star Wars, showcase chess variants in different realms. 

An entire section of the exhibition is dedicated to Polgar Starchess, created by László Polgár, the father of the famous Polgár sisters. A section highlighting Asian chess variants, including Shogi, Janggi, and Xiangqi, rounds out the exhibition.

The show draws on the expertise of leading chess historians Rick Knowlton, John McCrary, and Myron Samsin, alongside collectors and innovators including Jon Crumiller, László Polgár, and Yasser Seirawan. Objects from the World Chess Hall of Fame’s permanent collection, rare artifacts, and dazzling sets bring the story to life:

Blending rare artifacts with interactive play, the exhibition invites both seasoned players and curious newcomers to see chess not only as tradition, but as endless possibility