Poker chess
Chess you can bluff.
Some of your pieces are dealt face down. You know them – your opponent doesn't. Every move is a tell. Bet, raise or fold.
How it works
Chess has no hidden information: both players see the whole board. Poker is built on the opposite. RaiseChess puts the hidden hand on the chessboard.
Pocket pieces
Three of your pieces on the first two ranks are drawn at random – queen, rook, bishop, knight or pawn, 20% each. Three queens are possible. So are three pawns.
Every move is a tell
A face-down piece moves as what it really is. A diagonal step rules out the rook; a jump gives away the knight. You read your opponent’s range from the moves.
Heads-up for chips
Blinds, then a bet or check before every move: call, raise or fold. Two ways to play a game: a showdown with a material count after move 30 (or 20, 40) – or play to mate.
Why betting finally works on chess
Betting on chess has been tried before. It never took off for one reason: when both sides see everything, there is nothing to bluff about and nothing to read.
The games that came before RaiseChess
In RaiseChess each player knows something the other does not. A bad deal can be folded for one chip. A good one can be bet on. A weak one can be played as if it were strong.
- Fair by design. The server deals and referees. Your browser never receives the opponent’s pieces before the showdown.
- Heads-up matches. 100 chips each, colours alternate, blinds can rise every 5, 10 or 15 minutes – as in heads-up poker tournaments.
- Play anyone. Against the computer, or send a friend a link to your table.
The Association in formation
The International RaiseChess Association is being founded to keep the official rules, run rankings and organise tournaments – starting with the first RaiseChess World Championship in December 2026.
We are looking for the first players, clubs and partners. Founding members will shape the rules, the ranking and the championship format.
RaiseChess was invented by Mark Zavadckiy in Madeira in September 2026. Chairman of the Association (in formation): Mark Zavadckiy.
On the record
RaiseChess was invented by Mark Zavadckiy. Here is where that is recorded, with dates held by third parties.
- 27.09.2026 The game is first published and playable at daily300.fyi, in Mark Zavadckiy’s lab.
- 28.09.2026 Official rules v0.3 published at raisechess.com/rules with the author and the date.
- 29.09.2026 The rules are submitted to The Chess Variant Pages, the main catalogue of chess variants since 1995; the page is under editorial review.
- 29.09.2026 Snapshots of the game and the rules are saved in the independent web archive archive.today: daily300.fyi/lab/poker-chess/ · daily300.fyi/en/lab/poker-chess/ · raisechess.com · raisechess.com/rules/ · raisechess.com/ru/rules/ · raisechess.com/pt/rules/ · raisechess.com/history/.
- 29.09.2026 The same pages and the rules PDFs are saved in the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine: the original game page on daily300.fyi · all snapshots of raisechess.com.
Official rules v0.3 in PDF
Any change to a file, even one byte, changes its fingerprint.
- English
SHA-256 cd8dbb2b9891cd07c849576916eecf236e775022eafbc3f6d8b498bbcb49eacb - Русский
SHA-256 84954e4996b8c251c77485f4272b6ed3a5808f67ff25108bbb91d17cddc5ce8b - Português
SHA-256 9fade129490fe5f60337c6fe138adcb7b01c335408633306aceb3353f5ca559c
The list grows as new records are added. © 2026 Mark Zavadckiy. The name RaiseChess and the texts of the rules may not be used without permission.