Courier Chess — the historical variant that is not in Lichess

What is Courier Chess?
Courier Chess is part of what is known as medieval chess.
It was mainly played in Central Europe and is important because it represents a real stage in the evolution of chess toward the modern game we know today.
The main feature of this variant is the presence of a piece called the Courier, which directly inspired the modern bishop.

What does “Courier” mean?
The word Courier means messenger.
The name comes from the idea of a piece that moves quickly across the board.
Although its movement is exactly the same as the modern bishop, the piece was not called a bishop at that time.
Historically, the Courier is the direct predecessor of the bishop.

The Courier piece

Moves any number of squares diagonally
Cannot jump over pieces
Existed before the modern bishop
The bishop used in modern chess appeared later, inspired by this piece.

Starting position in Courier Chess

Courier Chess is played on an 8×8 board, just like modern chess.
The initial setup on the first rank is:
Rook – Knight – Courier – Queen – King – Courier – Knight – Rook
The Couriers are placed on the squares where bishops stand in modern chess.

Differences from modern chess
1️⃣ The queen is weak
In Courier Chess, the queen:
moves only one square diagonally
cannot move in straight lines
She is much weaker than the modern queen.

2️⃣ No castling
The king and rook cannot castle
The king must be defended by normal moves

3️⃣ No en passant
The en passant capture does not exist

4️⃣ Pawns move only one square
Pawns move only one square per move
Even on their first move

5️⃣ The Courier piece exists
The Courier moves like a modern bishop
But it historically predates the bishop

What is the same as modern chess
8×8 board
The goal is checkmate
Rooks move the same way
Knights move the same way
Captures work normally
Check and checkmate exist

How the game works in practice
Because the queen is weak and castling does not exist:
the game is slower
more positional
the Courier becomes one of the most important pieces

Courier Chess and Lichess
Courier Chess is not an automatically implemented variant on Lichess, because it uses a specific piece.
This post and the associated club exist to:
promote the variant,
study its history,
organize studies and experimental play.

Courier Chess is not modern chess, but it is also not a completely different game.
It clearly shows how chess evolved into the form we play today.