I freely admit that regular chess isn't quite my jam. It's not that I don't find it a compelling game, there's a good reason why it has stood the test of time. But frankly, I live in an era of the most madcap board games. Explosive felines, secretive dictators, and comedic battle-boarding are only some of the wildest gimmicks I've come across. Since I'm not the "competitive" type, chess never quite grabbed my attention (to the fortune of many high elo players.)
But the upcoming Chess Joker from Carl Chudyk might change all that.
Chess Joker takes one of the best board games ever to new horizons. A standard game of chess gets saddled with a 256-card deck of chaotic effects. After every turn, players can draw a card and either do a standard chess move, or use a joke effect to their advantage. So despite the chaos, there's still a surprising amount of depth and strategy.
The win condition comes from a classic checkmate or by earning 800 elo points from playing the Joke cards. Yes, every Joke card comes with juicy elo points, adding a whole new ticking clock to chess. As for the effects themselves, they vary wildly in impact and usefulness. You can move a queen twice, swap out your king with a decoy pawn, or overrun the board with random pieces.
Best of all, if you can't wait for the physical edition, there's a browser version free to play right now. Several games later, and I am 99% sure this will be how I play chess until the end of time. Magnus Carlsen can keep his en passants and google them for all I care, I've finally got the meme chess of my dreams.
Who am I kidding, even with joke cards, some random park grandpa will still trounce me.
For your next chess opponent, why not check out the Wargamer Discord? For more two player fun, the best couples board games will make date night memorable.