Chennis is a Kyoto Shogi variant where pieces promote or demote on every move, creating a highly dynamic rally over a tennis court-themed board. Captured pieces may be dropped or "served" back onto the board, as in Shogi, and Kings are restricted to their own court or the net, similar to Xiangqi. Chennis also includes pieces not found in International Chess such as the Cannon and Soldier from Xiangqi, and the Ferz from Shatranj. Drops, alternating piece promotion, and restricted King mobility mean that there are surprising diversity of ways to mate your opponent and win despite only beginning the game with four pieces plus the King.

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