In "Chess without Pawns" only the kings (two per side) can capture other pieces. The other pieces can check and checkmate the king, but they may not capture. It's enough if only one king is checkmated—this loses the game. Thus, if the two kings are forked by a knight they are also checkmated. Pieces move as in regular chess but the bishop is called "elephant". Both long and short castle are allowed for both kings. (There is also an alternative variant where win can be achieved by checkmating a king or capturing an enemy piece.)

You can attack rather fearlessly as your pieces cannot be captured, except by the enemy kings. Watch out for double-checks and especially the lethal knight-fork. The rooks can sometimes get into trouble as they can be enclosed by enemy pieces and then conquered by the king. The inventor believes that this game could be close to the original Chaturanga.