Rules

• In addition to standard rules, all captures cause an explosion by which the captured piece, the piece used to capture, and all surrounding pieces except pawns that are within a one square radius are removed from the board.
• It is illegal to capture a piece that would blow up your king, nor can a king capture any piece as according to atomic rules, the captured piece blows up and is removed from the board.
• Traditional checkmate applies to atomic as well, but any move that results in blowing up the opposite king will result in an immediate victory, overriding all checks and checkmates.

This study explains the rules of atomic chess in detail: https://lichess.org/study/uf9GpQyI

Clarification

In Atomic the kings can be connected by moving one into the adjacent squares of the other side’s king. When the kings are connected, checks do not apply. As it is illegal for a capture to blow up your own king, it is not possible to capture the other king directly. To win such an endgame, it is necessary to cause the kings to detach by zugzwang or explode a piece of the opposite color while the king is next to it.

Learning Material

Interested in learning more about atomic chess? Here are some resources to help you!

Openings

Opening Queen Tactics https://lichess.org/study/sRM1FScZ
Opening Knight Tactics https://lichess.org/study/12TFMoys
Introduction to 1.Nh3 https://lichess.org/study/Toy8tRrm
Introduction to 1.Nf3 https://lichess.org/study/M6TaslQW

Endgames

Basic Endgames https://lichess.org/study/ikJM4K3L
Intermediate Endgames https://lichess.org/study/tCqrXrbG
Advanced Endgames https://lichess.org/study/WOWizkm4
Endgame Practice https://lichess.org/study/wRLQk6Wq

Other

Atomic Chess puzzles https://chessvariants.training/Puzzle/Atomic
Atomic Chess video series made by the 2016 Atomic Chess World Champion https://www.youtube.com/user/tipau
Excellent advanced Atomic Chess resources https://illion-atomic.netlify.app/resources/

Lichess Atomic Team

You can join the Lichess Atomic team for more content and community-driven events!