Maharajah (more commonly known as Maharajah and the Sepoys) is just one of many Chess variants. However, of all the variants I’ve seen, this is the most interesting -- it’s an asymmetric game, which is very unusual for Chess, and extremely simple to learn. The game is from India, like Chess itself, so it’s got some cred. Or something.
Pieces
You’ll need about half a Chess set in order to play the game. This is great if you lost some pieces, I suppose. All the black pieces are intact, but the white player only needs one -- you can use a king or a queen or whatever. If you don’t have a Chess set, you can print and assemble one for free here.
Rules
If you don’t know how to play Chess, go learn first. The game is essentially the same -- both players are still trying to checkmate their opponent’s king. The only real difference is the Maharajah.
The Maharajah is every chess piece rolled into one. However, since a normal queen is basically a bishop, rook, pawn, and king rolled into one, it could be said that the Maharajah is just a queen fused with a knight. It still has all the restrictions of a king, however -- it can be checked, and must do something to remedy the situation immediately. It also cannot move into check.
The game is setup as shown in the first picture, with the Maharajah where the white king should be. The only other differences between the game and Chess are that black cannot castle and there is no pawn promotion.
