Spartan chess is a fairy chess variant. In Spartan chess, the board layout is the same as traditional chess; 8x8. White, the "Persian" army, plays as normal (with the typical pieces and movement rules), but black plays with "hoplites" in the pawn row (7th rank), "captains" in the center (d8, e8), two "kings" to each side of the captains, a "general" on b8 and a "warlord" on g8, and "lieutenants" on the ends.

The "general" moves like the rook and king combined (basically the queen without the diagonals).

The "warlord" moves as a bishop and the knight combined. It can't jump over other pieces with diagonals, but can jump with its knight movement

The "captain" jumps over other pieces, and can move one or two spaces on the x or y axis (horizontally or vertically, not diagonally)

The "lieutenant" can jump over other pieces and capture one or two squares diagonally, and can move (but not capture) one square horizontally.

The "hoplite" may move one square forward diagonally, but cannot capture diagonally; they can only capture straight foward. On their first turn, they may move two spaces horizontally, and can jump over other pieces; however, they cannot capture diagonally. The hoplite cannot move backwards. If a hoplite reaches the 8th rank, it can be promoted to any piece. It can also be promoted to a king, but only if the Spartan player only has one king left.

The Spartans win the game much like normal chess; they win when the Persian king is checkmated. The Persians win when one of the Spartan kings is captured and the remaining king is checkmated, or when both kings are placed in check and cannot be removed from check in the next move. Notice I say "placed in check and cannot removed from check" instead of simply "checkmated". When the Spartans have both kings, the Spartan player can put his king in check either by moving the king or moving a piece that exposes the king. He can't do this if there is only one king. However, it is illegal for the Spartan player to make a move that places both of his kings in check. If both kings are under attack and cannot be removed from check, the Spartan player loses.

There is no en-passant in this variant for either player, and there is no castling for the Spartan player. The Persian player can castle.