No Castling Chess

No Castling Chess is a chess variant in which every standard rule of chess applies except that castling is forbidden for both players. The variant was proposed by former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik and studied extensively by DeepMind, the research team behind the AlphaZero chess-playing program, as part of an effort to explore rule changes that might reduce the drawish, heavily prepared nature of elite-level chess. Removing castling leaves both kings more exposed for longer, which Kramnik argued would make it considerably harder for players to steer a game toward a safe draw and would instead push both sides toward earlier, more dynamic conflict. He has suggested the variant could sidestep the deep opening preparation that dominates classical chess, forcing greater over-the-board creativity until new theory for the variant develops.