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Magnetic Chess

Joao Pedro Neto and Claude Chaunier invented this variant in the end of 96, and played two games showed below. They think it is a very dynamic variant, where things can turn against a player in a very fast way (check game 2). It is possible to transform pawns in real missiles!!! :)

The magnetic rule can be seen as a game transformer (GT), because we can use it on many other games. Magnetic Progressive, ...

Rules

The FIDE rules apply, except in the following.
There is no notion of check, checkmate or stalemate. The player capturing the opponent's king wins.
Every piece has a charge generating a magnetic field, except the two kings which have a neutral charge. White pieces are positive, and Black are negative (or vice versa, of course :)
When a piece is moved to a specific square, their closest neighbours at the same rank and column (not diagonal) are repelled if they have the same charge (hence the same colour), and attracted if they have an opposite charge (hence have different colours). A king isn't repelled or attracted, doesn't repel or attract and has a blocking effect on the magnetic field lines (in the example, the bishop Bd8 is not attracted by the queen because of Kd6).
Eg,
```
   8 . . . b . . . .       . . . b . . . .
   7 . . . . . . . .       . . . . . . . .
   6 . . . K . . . .  Qd5  . . . K . . . .
   5 q . R . . r P .   =>  q R . Q r . P .
   4 . . . Q . . . .       . . . b . . . .
   3 . . . . . . . .       . . . . . . . .
   2 . . . b . . . .       . . . . . . . .
   1 . . . . . . . .       . . . . . . . .
     a b c d e f g h       a b c d e f g h
```
There is no en-passant rule.
In castling, the changes are made by the rook movement.
A white pawn in the 1st or 2nd rank, or a black pawn in the 7th or 8th rank, can move 2 squares ahead, even if it has already been played before.

To be precise: pawns are also considered to be pieces, and the effects apply to pawns as to the other types of pieces.

Sample games

Game 1:

Joao - Claude

1. d4 Nf6
2. Bg5 Ne4
3. g4 Bxg4
4. Qxg4 f5!
5. Qf3 Nxh1
6. Qxh1 Nc6
7. Nf3 Qa5+ (* 7. Bxf4? then 7. ...Qd7! promoting pawn at d1 *)
8. Nd2 Nxd4+
9. Rb1 Nxf3+
10. Qh3 Qxa2
11. Rc1 Qxb2
12. cxd8=Q+ Kxd8
13. Rd1+ Qxe5
14. Rd3 Rg8=Q+
15. Bg6 Rxg6+
16. resign

0-1

Final Board

Game 2:

Claude - Joao

1. Nf3 Nf6
2. Nc3 e5
3. Bxc4 Ng4
4. Qxg4 h5
5. exf5 gxh4
6. Qg6+ Ke7
7. Qf7+ Kd6
8. Nb5+ Kc6
9. Qd5+ Kd7
10. Qe6+ Kc6
11. Bd5+ Kxb5
12. a4+ Ka6
13. g2 Qe7
14. Bc4+ Ka7
15. Qxe7+ Bxe7
16. Rg1=Q exd=Q+
17. Kxd1 Rxg8
18. Bxg8 Bh4 (better than 18.Rxe7+Nd7 Rxd7+d5 Rxd5Rg1+ Ke2Re8+ Kf2Rxc1 ?)
19. Rg4 Bg3 (* After the next moves, White position becomes desperate *)
20. Rg7+ Kb8 (* Then 21. fxg6?? f5=Q++! and 21. Rxg6? b5! *)
21. c3 Bxf5=Q++ (* What could have played White anyway? *)

0-1

Final Board

Written by: Joao Pedro Neto and Claude Chaunier. Thanks to Michael Keller for some corrections and clarifications.

WWW page created: September 23, 1997. Last modified: February 14, 2001.

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For author and/or inventor information on this item see: this item's information page.
Created on: September 23, 1997. Last modified on: February 14, 2001.

Magnetic Chess

Rules

Sample games

Game 1:

Final Board

Game 2:

Final Board

See Also

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