Check out Symmetric Chess, our featured variant for March, 2024.

Stanley Random Chess (SR Chess)

Introduction

Stanley Random Chess is a Chess variant offered exclusively by SchemingMind. It dates back to at least 2004, and it may be older. Unlike most Chess variants, computer assistance is required, and you cannot simply play it over the board. It is played with the usual equipment of Chess, and the pieces have the same powers of movement. However, there are hidden and convoluted rules that make many otherwise legal moves illegal. When you enter a move that these rules determine to be illegal, it will make the move that it determines is the closest legal move. You do not get any warning about this or any chance to preview your move and choose another. So it will sometimes make moves for you that you do not want. You are generally expected to study past games or to learn by trial and error to figure out how the rules work. SchemingMind provides more information on the game here:

Additional Information

Gregory Topov, who was once credited as the game's inventor, once posted additional information on this game on his now defunct Geocities website. Here is the latest copy of that site on archive.org:

Fictional Information

Topov also tried to create a mythology or air of mystery about this game. With that in mind, this page used to contain false or exaggerated claims about this game. These claims may also be found in The Stanley Random Chess Files - F.A.Q. from the website linked above and in the original Uncyclopedia article he posted about this game. Notably, Uncyclopedia is a parody of Wikipedia, in which contributors are free to post any lies or nonsense they like for the sake of humor or satire. Here is a link to the current Uncylopedia article on Stanley Random Chess. This content is no longer included on this page, because this site is about providing factual information on Chess variants.