The Pestilence's Conquest

Sometimes, a variant with no special gamerules might just hit the spot. In The Pestilence's Conquest, the only major difference is the royal piece: a knight!

With the royal knights out in the open on h3 and c8, it may seem like they are easy targets for attack—and indeed they are. However, starting the royals on the battleground allows a lot of choice with where a player can hide their majesty while planning attacks on the enemy. Speaking of attacking...

Each player is given two open flanks with a rook and a chancellor to support a sudden promotion rush if their attack is to succeed: the perfect reward! Each player is also given a strong pawn cluster on their respective left sides of the board—which, if used properly, can become quite a knightmare. Both armies are given an archbishop and a bishop pair, which, paired with the alibaba, are quite strong on the diagonals. Meanwhile, the kings are always there for defensive play, and the castle walls are carefully placed: not only to protect a player from the enemy's attacks, but also to prevent the players from instantly launching nukes or engaging in tradefest bloodshed.

The theme of this game, of course, is attack, attack, ATTACK! While the war starts out slow, the combat begins much quicker than you'd expect, and the plague of death spreads FAST. So always be on the lookout, because only one Plaguebearer comes out as the true Pestilence.