Variants of chess database. This has *a lot* of information, and some duplications. Read and enjoy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Sam: Here are some rules for chess variants that I have collected. These are variants that are reasonably close to the regular game (i.e. not Star Trek 3-D chess, etc.) If you have others, and they aren't too long (I pay for all time used on this service to send/receive mail, etc.), perhaps you can e-mail them to me. I should have this address at least until the end of this month (March.) Good luck with your collection! Jeff LaHue j.lahue1@genie.geis.com >I am working on a on-line database of rules for variants of chess. If >anyone has some rules for intresting variants they wish to paost or email >me, I would greatly appreciate it. I'll also email people my incomplete >database of variants on chess to anyone who is intrested. ---------------------------- VARIATION GAMES OF CHESS ------------------------ LOSING CHESS o The objective is to lose all one's pieces. The King has no special status. A player able to capture an opposing piece must do so. The first player to get rid of all pieces wins. REFLEX CHESS o Each player strives to compel the opponent to give mate. o Whenever a player having the move can give mate, it must be given. o The player who is mated wins the game. RANDOMIZED CHESS o The 1st rank is set up in random order (same for both sides). All other rules are the same as regular chess. This helps someone play against an opponent who knows the "traditional" openings too well! [This can be done with dice. Just have 1 be a re-roll, 2 be the king, 3 be the queen, 4 be a bishop, 5 a knight, and 6 a rook. You can also inpose restrictions, rerolling when the dice tells you to place a piece that breaks your restrictions. You'd roll for a1/a8, b1/b8, and so on. See the pat on ICS wilds in this document for more ideas along this vein] TRANSCENDENTAL CHESS o Computer generated random set-up of the back rank pieces. The Pawns are normal. Your opponent's pieces are also a random set up. Thus your side and his are usually always very different. You play a 2 game (usually postal) match. One game with each side. This eliminates the disadvantage one would have from having a worse set up on one particular side. o On the first move, and the first move only. You have the _option_ of transposing 2 pieces on your first rank. If you use this option it counts as your first move. If you choose to let your position "ride" then you make any legal move. Pawns move normally. This option is intended to allow one to castle. (He can get a King over to the side if it's in the center.) REFUSAL CHESS o At each move a player has the right to refuse his opponent's choice of move and to insist that some other move be played instead. Only one refusal is allowed per move. COMPROMISE CHESS o Each turn a player chooses 2 moves, and the opponent tells him which of the 2 to make. Different promotions of the same pawn count as 2 different moves. If there is just 1 legal move, it must be played. POCKET KNIGHT CHESS o Each player starts with one extra Knight that can be played later. At any stage of the game when it's a player's turn to move, the player may place an extra Knight on any of the available squares on the board. This counts as a move. TWO MOVE CHESS o Each player has 2 moves at a time instead of 1. A player giving check on a first move forfeits their second move. A player who is in check must get out of check on the 1st move. PROGRESSIVE CHESS o White has 1 move, Black then has 2 moves, White then has 3 moves, Black then has 4 moves, etc. When a player gives check, their turn ends. A player who is in check must get out of check on the 1st move. EXPLOSION CHESS o Any time a player's piece is captured, any of that player's pieces that are on any of the (up to) 8 surrounding squares next to it are also removed from the board. KNIGHTED QUEEN o Same as regular chess except the Queen also always has the moves of a Knight in addition to normal Queen moves. FAERY CHESS o 1 piece has special moves throughout the game. For example: the white square Bishop of each has Knight moves as well. ODDS GAMES o Odds giver removes a Pawn, usually the King Bishop Pawn. o Odds giver removes a Knight, usually the Queen Knight. o Odds giver removes a Rook, usually the Queen Rook. o Odds giver removes both the Queen Rook and King Bishop Pawn. o Odds giver removes both the Queen Rook and Queen Knight. o Odds giver removes the Queen. TWIN CHESS 8 rbkqqkbr Twin Chess: An unorthodox type of chess 7 pppppppp which utilizes 2 Kings and 2 Queens. 6 n______n Mr. V.R. Parton, the proponent of this 5 ________ type of chessplay, claims that logic, 4 ________ symmetry and balance demand an initial 3 N______N arrangement of pieces as shown. The game 2 PPPPPPPP is won when 1 of the opponent's Kings is 1 RBKQQKBR checkmated. abcdefgh PROHIBITION CHESS o A form of chessplay in which no check is allowed except the giving of a checkmate. POKER CHESS o Each player has a five card hand o Each piece is represented by these cards: Card: K Q J-10 9-8 7-6 5-2 A Piece: K Q R B N P any o Each turn, you first play a card, then move a piece that matches the card, then replenish your hand. o If you are in check, you may play any legal move, without playing a card. o If you have a card for which you have no pieces, then that card may not be played (variation: it must be placed face up on the table). o Stalemate loses for the player to move. KINGLET o Object is to capture all 8 opposing pawns rather than the King. o No checks or checkmates in the game; Kings may move into check and be captured like any other piece. o Pawns promote as usual, but if a player is forced to promote his last pawn, he loses. ANNIHILATION o Chess game won by exterminating all of the opponent's forces except the King. PAWNS GAME o White places from 7 to 9 extra Pawns anywhere on the 3rd or 4th rank and plays without the Queen, or adds 3 or 4 extra Pawns and plays with only one Rook. BEROLINA PAWNS GAME o Pawns move forward diagonally one square at a time (or two for the first move), but it captures on, or attacks, the square directly ahead on the file. CIRCE CHESS o Captured men are replaced on their supposed squares of origin: Rook, Bishop, and Knight on a square of the same color as that on which they are captured, Pawns on the same file as that on which they were taken, pieces obtained by promotion as for other pieces. o Kings cannot be captured. o If the replacement square is occupied the captured man is removed from the board in the usual way. o A man cannot be taken if its replacement would place the capturer in check. RIFLE CHESS o A capturing man remains stationary, shooting its target off the board without occupying the vacant square, an action that counts as a move. o Captures can be made in no other way, and only one at a time. ------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- :) Where did you get the rules for all these games? If you have them :) available, please either send as many as possible to me or at least :) tell me if there is an ftp site where they are compiled... :) :) Thanks. Thanks for the intrest. One of my things to do is to compile a rules-to- variations-on-chess FAQ. I know chess.uoknor.edu has a text file called "AbstractGames" in /pub/chess/texts that gives an excellent list of books containing rules for variations on chess. I will also give you the rules to one variation of chess that former world Chess champion Capablanca liked playing: Capablanca Chess: rules as in ortho-chess, except: 1) The board is 10x8 instead of 8x8 2) There are two new pieces: The "archbishop", which has the move of both the bishop and the knight, and the "cardinal", which has the move of the rook and the knight. 3) The king moves three squares to castle instead of two, with the rook moving one square past the king as in ortho-chess. 4) The pawn may promote to the archbishop or cardinal, in addition to promoting to the queen, bishop, knight, or rook. The opening setup is as follows: r n a b q k b c n r p p p p p p p p p p - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P P P P P P P P P P R N A B Q K B C N R (upper case being white, lower case black, and white pawns move up) This also found its way in Rec.games.chess: ---begin included text--- Here is yet another idea for a 2 player chess variant. Although not all rules have been defined yet, here goes. By the way leave me comments if you find this a good idea, as well as change possibilities to make it more fun. Super Chess on 14x14 board Piece Symbol Description pawn P moves: forward 1, forward 1 or 2 initially captures: diagonally forward, all promotion: promotes to all but king upon reaching final rank knight N moves: L shaped 2 square in one direction, 1 square at right angle to first direction captures: same as moves and occupies that square bishop B moves: Diagonaly any number unless blocked captures: diagonaly first enemy in path, and occupies that square rook R moves: Straight line any number unless blocked captures: straight line first enemy in path, and occupies square queen Q moves: bishop+rook captures: bishop+rook camel C moves: similar to knight but 3 and 1 instead of 2 and 1 (bigger L) captures: similar to knight but 3 and 1 instead of 2 and 1 octopus O moves: knight+bishop captures: knight+bishop shifter S moves: like king captures: like king jumper J moves: 2 squares any direction captures: can jump over one enemy piece like a checker, capturing it and occupying the destination square, 2 away from the start square air A moves: 4 squares in any combination (straight+diagonal) captures: any enemy along path, stopping at that square lord L moves: rook+knight captures: rook+knight demon D moves: like king captures: none special: any friendly piece touched cannot be captured, other than another demon faerie F moves: like bishop captures: like rook envy E moves: like king captures: none special: give any friendly piece touching other than an envy or pawn, queen like movement and capture capability, in addition to normal abilities, but only for one move if contact is lost on that move. Once contact is lost, piece reverts to normal. grunt G moves: camel+king captures: camel+king special: if captured, returns to square of origin if not occupied, otherwise lost (square of origin on either side (left or right) of board, permissible) king K moves: 1 square any direction, but not into check, no castling captures: 1 square any direction, but not into check special: if under attack, and cannot defend, it is checkmated, game over, opponent wins. Stalemate is a loss. No draws accept by agreement of players. Initial board configuration: ernbocqkcobnre gdflsjaajslfdg pppppppppppppp -+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+ d-+-+-+-+-+-+d D+-+-+-+-+-+-D +-+-+-+-+-+-+- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+-+-+-+- PPPPPPPPPPPPPP GDFLSJAAJSLFDG ERNBOCQKCOBNRE I strongly recommend you print this out and look it over and tell me what you think :). etcmng@iitmax.iit.edu ---end included text---- btw, grunts should not get the "envy" in this variant. In fact, I don't much like the idea of grunts at all. -- Sam Trenholme: internet junkie, aspiring UNIX wizard, collector of UNIX accounts set@(ocf,soda).berkeley.edu : set@oryx.llnl.gov : cs61a-eq@danube.berkeley.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------- :) Anyway, under this Baroque Chess basenote were mentioned quite a few :) games, none of which I had heard of before, but seem to be interesting :) new chess variations. I would like to get the rules for as many of :) them as possible (chess variants or no, as long as they don't require :) the purchase of some really wierd set). If you have the rules for :) any, please send them to me, or if you can tell me an ftp site where :) a lot of them are posted, that would also be helpful. Thank you for :) your assistance. OK, let me give you a few. Pre-chess. Instead of having the opening setup pre-determined, we have the opening setup as follows: - - - - - - - - p p p p p p p p - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P P P P P P P P - - - - - - - - With lower case being black, upper case white, and white pawns moving up. Next, starting with white, white and black, in turn, place a piece of their choice on their first rank (i.e. white places a piece on *1, black places a piece on *8, etc.), provided that nobody places two or more pieces on the same square. If someone places a rook on a* or h* and the king on e*, then that person can castle in the course of the game, with the usual castling restrictions. After all eight pieces are placed by both sides, the game begins as normal chess. Some variations require that the bishops be placed on opposite colors (which is a good idea anyway), and other variation remove the castling move entirely (unneccessary if the person sets up things right). Example: (setup) Kg1,Kb8 Rf1,Nd8 Ne1,Ne8 Nd1,Rc8 Ba1,Bh8 Bh1,Ba8 Rc1,Qg8 Qb1,Rf8 (move) 1. e4 e5 Would result in the follwoing position: b k r n n r q b p p p p - p p p - - - - - - - - - - - - p - - - - - - - P - - - - - - - - - - - P P P P - P P P B Q R N N R Q B -- Sam Trenholme: internet junkie, aspiring UNIX wizard, collector of UNIX accounts set@(ocf,soda).berkeley.edu : set@oryx.llnl.gov : cs61a-eq@danube.berkeley.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are some other variations using a normal chessboard: Checkless Chess: The king may never be put in check, only checkmate. This means that the opponent may not put the King in check unless he can do checkmate. (and not checkmate in n moves either) Double move chess: White does one standard chess move, then black does two standard chess moves, white does two standard moves, and so on. (2 moves per side) There is no check or checkmate. The goal is to capture the opponent's king. Emperor King Chess: The king may move to any square on the board, and capture any unguarded piece. (Guarded means watched by a piece, pinned or not) The goal is to capture the opponent's king, normally with your king. more to come... -- Sam Trenholme: internet junkie, aspiring UNIX wizard, collector of UNIX accounts set@(ocf,soda).berkeley.edu : set@oryx.llnl.gov : cs61a-eq@danube.berkeley.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is another chess variant using a normal chessboard: Shantraj: Shantraj is the form of chess that the muslims played during the middle ages. The rules are identical to normal chess, except as follows: 1) Pawns do not get a 2-square leap on their first move. 2) The queen is a lot less powerful, and can only move one square diagonally. 3) The bishop is also less powerful, and can only move precisly two squares diagonally. The bishop, however, can jump over pieces like the knight. 4) There is no castling. 5) Pawns may only promote to queens. The opening setup is the same as our version of chess. -- Sam Trenholme: internet junkie, aspiring UNIX wizard, collector of UNIX accounts set@(ocf,soda).berkeley.edu : set@oryx.llnl.gov : cs61a-eq@danube.berkeley.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- :) Thanks a lot for all this neat stuff. If you have any other wierder :) ones that use other boards/pieces, I think you may have misunderstood :) me. I'm interested in the *really different* versions, too. I just :) don't want to have to *PURCHASE* anything expensive. I don't have any :) problem building it myself. What are Ultima, Ultimaspiel, :) Kriegspiel, and Baroque Chess, anyway? Thanks for your stuff! Ok, I'll mail you Ultima/Baroque_Chess in just a second (they are the same game). Here is the rules for Kriegspiel, as I remember them: 1) The game needs three chessboards and three people. The third person is a referee. 2) Each person will use one chessboard. The chessboard that each player uses must not be visible to the other player. 3) White make a move on his board, and the referee duplicates white's move on his (the referee's) chessboard, with telling black the move that was made. 4) Black now makes a move without telling white the move he did, and the referee duplicates blacks move on his board. 5) This process contines, as in normal chess. 6) If a move that either black or white makes is illegal (going through an interposing piece), the referee informs the player of this fact, but doesn't tell them why the illegal move is illegal. 7) The only time the referee can give any information concerning the opponents position is when white or black asks the referee if a given pawn can take a piece. If it can, the player must take the piece with that pawn. The referee as informs a person when one of their pieces are taken (but doesn't, I believe, inform the person whose piece took the opponent's piece). This would work quite nicely on the ICS. :) -- Sam Trenholme: internet junkie, aspiring UNIX wizard, collector of UNIX accounts set@(ocf,soda).berkeley.edu : set@oryx.llnl.gov : cs61a-eq@danube.berkeley.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is another variant of chess. I'll keep sending you these till you tell me to stop :) I'm also saving a copy of these myself, to put in a file which will eventually find its way in chess.uoknor.edu. Double king chess: The game is played on a 10x10 chessboard. The object of the game is to capture *either* of your opponent's kings. Kings may only castle to the rook closer to them. There can be two castlings, one for each king. Pawns may move two or three spaces on their first move, and en passent captured if they pass an opponent's pawn. This allows for many more ways a pawn can be en passent captured if they move more than one square. Optional: If a pawn is on the player's third rank (that is, if the pawn has moved ahead one square, to the third square, in a previous move), he may move the pawn one or two spaces, with the provision that the pawn may be en passent captured. This may or may not include allowing pawns that moved to the third rank by capture to move 2 steps, at the players' discretion (sp). Opening configuration: r n b k q q k b n r r n b q k q k b n r p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - or - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P R N B K Q Q K B N R R N B Q K Q K B N R With lower case being black, upper case being white, and white pawns moving up. The opeing configuration on the right is my own invention, which increases the number of possible openings. -- Sam Trenholme: internet junkie, aspiring UNIX wizard, collector of UNIX accounts set@(ocf,soda).berkeley.edu : set@oryx.llnl.gov : cs61a-eq@danube.berkeley.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------- The following variant on chess is one Capablanca liked to play. It is called double chess, and is identical to double king chess (see above), except for the following: Pawns may move up to four spaces on their first move, and en passent captured if they pass an opponent's pawn. This allows for many more ways a pawn can be en passent captured if they move more than one square. Each king may castle once in the game, giving a total of two possible castlings per side. Each castling is done with either of the two rooks on the respective king's side, and all of the standard limitations to castling that chess has applies. (The king at e1 may castle with the rook at a1 or h1, the king at m1 may castle with the rooks at i1 and p1. The same is true for black's kings.) The opening configuration is as follows: r n b q k b n r r n b k q b n r p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P R N B Q K B N R R N B Q K B N R With lower case being black, upper case being white, and white pawns moving up. Please refer to my rules for double king chess for further rule clarification. -- Sam Trenholme: internet junkie, aspiring UNIX wizard, collector of UNIX accounts set@(ocf,soda).berkeley.edu : set@oryx.llnl.gov : cs61a-eq@danube.berkeley.edu ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- In rec.games.abstract you write: >I am working on a on-line database of rules for variants of chess. If anyone >has some rules for intresting variants they wish to paost or email me, I >would greatly appreciate it. I'll also email people my incomplete database >of variants on chess to anyone who is intrested. > >The variants will eventually downloaded to chess.uoknor.edu > Yes, I'm interested in all sorts of chess variants. Please keep me informed about your database. Here I have an incomplete file of some chess variants mentioned in rec.games.chess: _______________________________________________________________________________ >From: hyatt@cis.uab.edu (Robert Hyatt) Subject: Re: Rules for Monster Chess? Strange variations I have played: 1. Atomic chess where each side has one piece that can "explode" capturing all pieces adjacent to it... 2. Bughouse, Siamese, double-speed, etc. where two players play as partners on two adjacent boards. one plays black and the other plays white, normally using 5 minutes on a chess clock. As I capture my opponent's pieces, I give them to my partner (and vice versa). On his move, instead of moving one of his pieces, he can place one of the pieces I gave him on the board on any VACANT square, even delivering mate on the move if possible. The normal strategy... one player trades like crazy, the other sacs like crazy and tries to mate his opponent before his partner is mated (remember, if you sac a piece, you are basically giving it to your partner's opponent... not a nice thing to do most of the time. 3. shadow chess. You place a coin on a central board square. Whenever either side moves, the coin moves exactly like the piece being moved. If the coin can't legally move like the piece is trying to move, then the piece can't make that move. The coin does not capture, although it can wind up on the same square as a piece. However, on my move, I cannot make a move that would leave the coin on a square occupied by one of my pieces as I can't legally capture my own piece, therefore the "shadow" can't "capture" my piece either. Ditto for sliding piece moves. Just because a file is open, a rook can't move up or down the file unless the file the "shadow" coin is on is also open. The strategy involves moving the shadow on your move so that you leave your opponent with no good moves. If you can move the shadow to your own eighth rank by making a retreating move, then your opponent can't advance toward your king at all! He must somehow attack at long distance via sliding pieces, although he can't capture any of your pieces close to your king. Strange game. 4. May I? In this game, before either player makes a move, he must ask his opponent "May I make this move?" If the opponent says "yes", then the player is obligated to make exactly that move... no choice even if it leaves his king "en prise". If the opponent says "no", then the player can make any move he chooses on that turn and does not have to ask "may I?" until his next turn to move. Strange game where a piece that is attacked more than once and defended only once is "en prise"!! An example.... I attack your knight with a queen and rook, and your knight is only defended by a pawn. I ask "May I take your knight with my rook?" and you say "no". I then take it with my queen. You then ask may I take your queen with my pawn and I say no! sorry, but the knight is dead. The strategy involves "feints" where you ask to take a piece that is defended only once, and your opponent then says no. Then you make the real move you wanted, namely Qxf7+. When your opponent says "May I take your queen with my king?" you say "no!" you get the idea... _______________________________________________________________________________ >From: ahanysz@spam.ua.oz (Alexander Hanysz) Subject: Re: Rules for Monster Chess? On the subject of chess variations, I think the strangest one I've played is one called ``Through the Looking Glass chess''. This is played with two boards, one with all the pieces set up as usual and the other initially empty. Whenever a piece moves, it first moves as normal, then ``teleports'' to the corresponding square on the other board. The move must be legal on the first board, and the piece must land on a vacant square on the other board. It is illegal to move into check even temporarily. Example game: 1. e4 d5 Both these pieces move to the alternate board. 2. Be2 dxe4 The white pawn is captured on the alternate board, and then the black pawn moves to the original board. 3. Bb5 mate The bishop lands on the original board. This is mate -- black can not interpose because the interposing piece would go to the other board; but the king can not escape to the other board because it can not legally move. (Yes, it requires some thought!) Alex. _______________________________________________________________________________ Okay - people have been talking about chess varients, so here are the ones I know about and play frequently: Monster: White sets up normaly, black sets up only his king and the four center pawns (all one space ahead of normal). Black can move twice for each white move and blacks pawns cannot advance. Two questions: can black's pawns capture? Can black use his two moves to move trough check on the first? Let's see. If no, no, then this is a pretty simple win for white, and the only varisble is # of moves. If yes/no, black still seems dead. If no/yes or yes/yes, then black has considerable stall power, but no chance of winning, and can still only get the stalemate by white error. the way i played this was yes/yes and there is no way for White to avoid checkmate. the double-moving king is more powerful than a Queen. this first came to my attention as a bar trick to get a free drink off an unsuspecting rube. the pawns are unnecessary, but put in to make the problem seem plausible. Monster chess is actually easier for black - you try mating a king that can run two spaces!! The setup ends up like this. White R N B K Q B N R P P P P P P P P - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P P P P - - - - - K - - - - - - - - - - - - Black Bug House: This varient requires two chess sets, and four players. It starts as if two games of chess were going to be played, but when a piece is captured, you hand it to your teammate (so black on one board has to team with white on the other) On their move, they have the option of placing it on any open space on the board. If you play with clocks, they should typically be set for about 3 min. If not, moves should try to be made in under 5 sec, and pieces cannot be placed on the board the same turn your partner gives them to you. Rebirth-Chess: This is a mix between Bug-House and regular chess. It only requires two players, and is played at a normal speed, but if a piece dies on a space other then where it started, the player gets it back, and can use his turn to put it back on its starting place. Ultima-Chess: The setup for this game is only slightly altered from the classic setup - the bishops and knights are reversed. Each piece has their normal movements, as well as the movements of any (of your) pieces in the column they start out with. This makes for some very interesting strategic setups to get the maximum power of the pieces, as well as when you move one piece into a column to allow another piece to put the king in check - there are endless posibilities. Inverse-Ultima-Chess: This varient of Ultima chess (for those truely sadistic among you) lets a piece have the power of the column it lands in, rather then the one its from. In other words, a pawn can shoot sideways across the board into the rooks column. It is insane trying to figure out what moves everything has, and checkmate is especially dificult to be sure of! Overall, I've had fun times playing it, mostly because just how insane it is. Well, thats about all I can think of for now. If anyone else can add to the list please do so because I'm always interested in finding new varients to play. Here's a quick variant. "March of the pawns" (by Mel Nicholson, 1986) Each player sets up the eight pawns and king in normal positions, and then proceeds according to the normal rules of chess (no castling, of course, but en passant DEFINATLY applies). There is in fact an entire field called "fairy chess" which makes up and plays new variants of chess, often for problem compositions. One book which catalogues many of these variants is: author = "Anthony Dickins", title = "{A} {G}uide {t}o {F}airy {C}hess", publisher = "Dover", year = "1971" There are too many variants discussed in this book to list them all, so I'll just list a few I played and liked. Many of these features can be used in combination to create a wide variety: 1. Imitator chess. Place a new piece, called an imitator (a coin does the job nicely), on the square d4, otherwise the setup is the same as normal chess. No players take turns making normal chess moves, but each time they move a piece from to , they also move the imitator from to . For example, if the imitator is on d4 and I move Ng1-f3, I then must move imitator to c6. If making this move would put the imitator on an occupied square (after moving your own piece) or off the board, that move is illegal. 2. Neutral men. Start the game with some with some men declared to be neutral. On his turn a player can move one of his own men, *or* a neutral man which has not just been moved. 3. Rifle chess. In normal chess, pieces capture by moving to a final square. Change this so that the piece does the capture, but then gets put back on its original square. This makes it impossible to directly defend pieces. 4. Robot chess (from Danny Loeb): On a turn you either make a normal move, or you can "program" a pawn by specifying a direction for it to travel (often by turning it on its side and pointing it that way). *Before* each player makes his move, all his own robot pawns make their moves. A robot pawn moves 1 square in its specified direction, capturing an enemy piece already there if possible. If that square is occupied by a friendly piece, the pawn does nothing. If the pawn hits the side of the board, it is deprogrammed and becomes a normal pawn. [This is really wacky! Great for computer scientists]. People interested in chess variations might want to check out John Gollon's _Chess_Variations:_Ancient,_Regional,_and_Modern_ Published by Charles E. Tuttle Co. isbn:0-8048-1122-9. _______________________________________________________________________________ From: ad@cs.st-andrews.ac.uk Subject: Re: Re: Variants of chess? > > >There used to be a periodical called The Fairy Chess Review which dealt with >such stuff. I'm not sure if this is still published or who has back numbers >but I would sure like to know. Unfortunately we can't post at the moment due >to some cock-up in our service. If you like you can post this for me. > >Thanks > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Mr. Trenholme, I understand you are requesting chess variants. Well, my friend came up with this one, which I haven't seen elsewhere. King of the Mountain Setup: normal The game proceeds normally until the end of the 10th move (i.e. each side gets 10 moves). At this point, all pieces in the outermost ring of squares are removed. If either king is in this ring, that player loses unless both kings are in this ring, in which case the game is a draw. After the pieces are removed, the outermost ring is barred from further play. Ten moves later, the pieces in the next ring are removed as above. A player wins by checkmate or forcing the enemy king to be removed as above (the most elegant way) It is clear the game can last a maximum of 30 moves, as there is room in the central squares for only one king. This makes this variant fast and furious, especially as both players try to cram as many pieces as possible into the central squares. Enjoy! Scott de Brestian --------------------------------------------------------------------- Long Leapers: Knight's move one square longer instead of two up over. three up and over. Give away: You must capture a piece. The one who takes the oppsing King loses. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Most chess variants are described in the old Harkness Handbook, but for Giveaway you might want to define the winner as the person with no legal moves, i.e, having only a blocked pawn at the end is a win. Kamakazie is another good one. Place a partition between 4th & 5th ranks while the players arrange their pieces any way they want. Castling only permitted if king is placed on e1 or e8 with a rook on "R1". The partition is lifted and the clock (usually 5 min) is started. Combine this with Kriegspeil and I guess you can call the game WWII. Two for one: White gets a king on e2 and pawns on c3, d3, e3, & f3; but gets 2 moves for each one by Black. Unlike Scotch Chess (described in Harkness), White can be in check after his 1st move as long as the king is safe at the end of the move. Similar to "fox & geese" in checkers. -- Warren Porter wbporter@whale.st.usm.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are some more historical chess variants: In the following three variants, the pieces have the following moves: archbishop: the move of both our bishop and knight giraffe: the move of both our queen and knight soldier: one square "toward the enemey king". Interpret that as you wish. pawn: as our pawn except it has no double-leap, and promotes only to a queen fers: precisly two squares diagonally, able to jump over pieces like our knight. All the other pieces move as in our version of chess. There are three possible opening setups, two 10x10, and one 12x12, as follows: r n b g k q a b n r r n b a g k q b n r p p p p s s p p p p p p p p s s p p p p - - - - n n - - - - - - - - n n - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - N N - - - - - - - - N N - - - - P P P P S S P P P P P P P P S S P P P P R N B A Q K G B N R R N B Q G K A B N R r n b r f k q f r b n r p p p p p p p p p p p p - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P P P P P P P P P P P P R N B R F Q K F R B N R In the following variant, the pieces have the following moves: pawn: no double-step on the first moves, promotes only to queen zebra: this piece has an unusual move. It moves one square diagonally, then three or more squares in a straight line. It can not move over interposing pieces, and but move at least four squares (one diagonal + three straight) camel: like a knight, but on a 2x4 "L" instead of our knight's 2x3 "L" queen: the queen may only move one square diagonally. It is a lot weaker than our queen. fers: The fers may move only precisely two squares diagonally, but is able to jump over interposing pieces. archbishop: the combined move our our knight and our bishop. The opening setup is as follows: r n f a c z k q c a f n r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - p p p p p p p p p p p p p - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P P P P P P P P P P P P P - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - R N F A C Z K Q C A F N R -- Sam Trenholme: internet junkie, aspiring UNIX wizard, collector of UNIX accounts set@(ocf,soda).berkeley.edu : set@oryx.llnl.gov : cs61a-eq@danube.berkeley.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OK, here is a variant I made up: The setup and board size is the same as ortho-chess (ortho-chess is the standard version of chess (not shogi or chinese chess either :) ). The king and the queen have the same move as ortho-chess. The bishop moves forwards (forwards being the direction pawns of the same color as the bishop move and capture in) like a queen, backwards like a rook, and can not move sideways, as follows: _ ^ _ |\ | /| \ | / \|/ B | | | V The rook has the move of the last piece (n.b a pawn is *not* a piece) moved. The rook has no move at the beginning of the game, except for castling. The knight can move either like a knight in ortho chess or a camel (a camel moves from one corner of a 2x4 rectangle to another corner of a 2x4 rectangle, unline our knight which moves from one corner of a 2x3 rectangle to another corner of a 2x3 rectangle), depending on the last piece moved. If the last piece moved is a bishop, or a rook imitating a bishop, then the knight has a move of a ortho-knight. If the last piece moved is a queen, king, or rook imitating a queen or king, then the knight has a move of a camel. If the last piece moved is a knight, or a rook imitating a knight, then the knight has the move of the knight/rook in the previous move. The knight has a move of an ortho-knight at the beginning of the game. Castling is the same as ortho-chess, that is the king and the rook must both have not have previously moved, and the squares the king moves through must not be thratened, and the king cannot castle out of check. For the purposes of determining rook and knight moves, castling counts as the king moving. "The last piece moved" can mean two things, making for two variants of chess. It can either mean the last piece moved by the player who is about to move a knight or bishop. It can also mean the last piece moved by the opponent of the person about to move the knight or bishop. Please email me with comments and suggestions. -- Sam Trenholme: internet junkie, aspiring UNIX wizard, collector of UNIX accounts set@(ocf,soda).berkeley.edu : set@oryx.llnl.gov : cs61a-eq@danube.berkeley.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here's a few you may not have heard before: 1. Salt Shaker Chess. A salt shaker or other distincitve token is placed on one of the central squares before the game starts. It does not belong to either side, and never leaves the board. Each move made by either player is copied by the shaker, which moves the exact same distance and direction as the moving piece. The salt shaker may jump over other pieces, and captures whatever it lands on. If a move would take the shaker off the board, that move is prohibited. For example, if the shaker is on the g file (king's rook file) then the player to move may not move any piece towards the g file. In particular, said player may not castle kingside, for the shaker mimics the king during castling moves. Check and mate are more difficult to recognize, so sometimes the object is just to capture the king. 2. Unambiguous chess. You must be familiar with english descriptive notation for this one. Each move must be describable in descriptive notation using 3 "symbols." The dash does not count as a symbol, but the x for captures does. Castling queenside is o.k. For example, N-B3 is fine as long as there is no ambiguity: if N-QB3 or N-KB3 are both possible, then neither move is legal. Also if QR-K1 and KR-K1 are possible, neither may be played. 3. Protean chess. Prior to starting the game, each player chooses which single piece of his/her army will be the protean piece. Usually it's a pawn. It may not be the king. A protean piece must turn into the type of whatever piece it captures. If it ever captures a pawn, it moves and promotes like a pawn, etc. However, if a protean pawn captures while promoting, it must become the type of piece captured. Your choice is written down before the game starts. David Bush dbush@csugrad.cs.vt.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Progressive (Scottish) Chess White makes one move, Black relplies with two moves, White makes three moves etc. Check at any point concludes that sides series of moves, and his opponent must respond to check on his first move. Marseillaise (Double-Move) Chess Each side gets two moves. You can only check on the second move, and must move out (block etc.) check with your first move. Not sure if mate can be given on first move, (but it shouldn't matter). Cylindrical Chess A and H files are joined, to make the board a cylinder. 1. e4 f6 2. Nf3 g5 3. c3 is mate. Grid Chess The Board is divided into 16 2x2 squares. On a move, a piece must cross at least one of the lines dividing the board. Reverso Simple. Interchange the position on the knights and bishops. Pocket Knight Each player has an extra Knight that can be placed on the board in substitution of a move. Rejection Chess On any move, a player may reject his opponent's move, but must accept the alternative chosen by his opponent. Canadian (Madhouse) Chess When a capture is made, the player making the capture must replace the piece on any square of his choice. Pawns may not be replaced on the back rank. Circe Chess Captured pieces are reborn on original squares. Pawns on the file where they were captured. Rook, bishops, and knights, on the same color square. Queens on d1 and d8. If it is not possible to replace a piece, it is removed from the game. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is a description of the ICS's "wild" variations of chess: The stats variable "wild" controls the how the initial position is generated. In all variants (except 5-9), each side has eight pawns, in their usual positions, and only the ranks 1 and 8 differ from normal chess. Here are the meanings of each value: 0: This is regular old chess. 1: In this variant both sides have the same set of pieces as in normal chess. The white king starts on d1 or e1 and the black king starts on d8 or e8, and the rooks are in their usual positions. Bishops are always on opposite colors. Subject to these constraints the position is random. Castling is similar to normal chess: o-o-o indicates long castling and o-o short castling. 2: Here the usual set of pieces is arranged randomly on the first and eighth ranks. Black's arrangement is always a mirror image of White's. Castling is not allowed. 3: Here the set of pieces itself is randomly chosen (subject to the constraint that there is one king of each color). Black's pieces mirror White's, and castling is not allowed. 4: A random set of pieces is generated. These are placed randomly for white and black, subject to the constraint that the bishops must be balanced. 5: The opening position is as follows: % A game concocted by Darooha R N B K Q B N R P P P P P P P P - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - p p p p p p p p r n b k q b n r Please note that the white pieces are at the *top* of the board, and the black pieces are at the bottom. This means that pawns are one square from promotion on both sides. 6: % Suggested by Jidan n n r r - - k - p p p p - - P - - - - - - - P B - - - - - - P - - - - - - - p - - - - - - - p b P P P P - - p - N N R R - - K - 7: % from Kirin p n b q k b n p - p p r r p p - - - - p p - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P P - - - - P P R R P P - P N B Q K B N P 8: r n b q k b n r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - p p p p p p p p P P P P P P P P - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - R N B Q K B N R 9: % Here there are two kings. If you sweep the board in the following % order: a1 a2 a3...a8 b1 b2..h8, the king you come to first is the one % you must mate. The other king is just an ordinary piece. r n b q k k n r p p p p p p p p - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P P P P P P P P R N B Q K K N R In all boards, lower case is black, upper case white, and white pawns move up. All pieces move as they do in ordinary chess. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is another variant that gets people out of the opening book: You set up the chessboard as in normal chess. White does one of the following two things: 1) Swap all the rooks and knights. (Replacing all the black rooks with black knights, and all the white rooks with white knights, and replacing the knights with the rooks) 2) Swap all the rooks and bishops. Black now has the option to do one of the following: 1) Swap all the rooks and bishops 2) Swap all the bishops and knights This results in one of the following three opeing setups: (w:2 , b:1) (w:1 , b:1) (w:1 , b:2) (w:2 , b:2) r n b q k b n r n b r q k r b n b r n q k n r b p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P P R N B Q K B N R N B R Q K R B N B R N Q K N R B OK, so the setup on the left is regular old chess. There, is however, now the matter of determining the move of the queen. The move is determined as follows: first, white selects a piece (chossing from the rook, knight, or bishop) that the queen will have the move of. Next, black selects a piece (again, the choices are rook, knight, and bishop) that the queen will have the move of, with the restriction that the piece may not be the same piece that white just selected. The queen will have the combined moves of both of these pieces. This resuls in three possible "queens": 1) our queen, rook+bishop, 2) rook+knight, 3) bishop+knight There is also a restriction that this may not be ordinary chess. That is, if the board opening is the same as normal chess, then the queen selected must be differant from our queen. Black must not select that the queen has the move of the bishop if white selects it has the move of the rook, and vice versa. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tjt@scn1.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Tim Thompson) Newsgroups: rec.games.chess Subject: Rules of Chess: Brief History Date: 7 Apr 1993 In response to earlier posts asking about the history of en-passant, and castling, I did some homework on the old rules, and here is a summary of what I found. My source is primarily H.J.R. Murray's monolithic "History of Chess". First, a general observation: remember that chess was originally a gambling game, where dice were used to determine what piece was to be moved, and players played for money. Of course, we still do, but somewhere along the line, fairly early on, the dice were ditched. I suspect that the dice persisted in some places through the mediaeval period. ====================================================================== MUSLIM RULES: These are the earliest know rules for chess in Europe, dating from circa 1100, and are essentially the same as the rules for the arab ancestor of chess, "shatranj" BOARD is unchequered (no colored squares). PIECES are set up as in modern chess, but the K and Q may sit on either d1 or e1, although opposing monarchs must face each other. KING, KNIGHT, ROOK, and PAWN move and capture as in modern chess. EXCEPTIONS: PAWNS have no initial two-square move. QUEEN: moves one square, diagonal only. BISHOP: "leaps" to second square, diagonal only (i.e., "leaps" from b2-d4, over anything on c3). PAWN PROMOTION: Pawn promotes only to a queen STALEMATE and "bare king" both win. Hence, you have 3 ways to win instead of 1. Win by checkmate, win by stalemate, or by taking everything but the king. There is no "king leap", or anything like castling. ===================================================================== SPANISH RULES: From a manuscript dated 1283. BOARD is now chequered. Evidently this became popular quickly. PIECES are set up as in modern chess. KING, KNIGHT, ROOK, and PAWN move and capture as in modern chess. EXCEPTIONS: PAWNS may make the 2-square advance, on their first move, but only until any capture is played. QUEEN: moves one square diagonally only. EXCEPTIONS: On the first move a queen may leap over 1 square, on the rank, file, or diagonal, but cannot make a capture when doing so. BISHOP: "leaps" to second square, diagonally only. PAWN PROMOTION: Pawns promote to queen only, and only if the first queen is gone. The new queen also has the right to make the "special" first move leap. A pawn may advance to the last rank, but it must sit and wait if it cannot promote yet. There is no indication of stalemate, or "bare king" at this time. By circa 1500 the Spanish rules had changed thus: 1. The PAWN could make its first two-square move without any restriction concerning captures. The EN PASSANT rule was in force as we know it today. 2. The PAWN could promote, to a queen only, whether or not there was already a queen on the board. The new queen continues to enjoy the right to make the special first move leap. 3. The KING on its first move could "leap", from e1, to any of these squares: c1,c2,c3,d3,e3,f3,g3,g2, or g1, only if it was not in check, and had never been in check, and did not cross over an enemy controlled square. 4. Win by stalemate, or by "bare king" were considered "inferior" wins, so the winner could claim only 1/2 the stakes for the game. =========================================================================== ITALIAN RULES: circa 14th century, were basically the same as the Spanish rules given above, as circa 1500, but with these notable exceptions: 1. The EN PASSANT capture was not allowed. The phrase "passar bataglia" refers to the ability of pawns to pass one another unmolested. 2. The PAWN promoted likewise, and the new queen continues to enjoy the right of the special first move, but may not check or capture thereby. 3. The KING may make the same first move leap, but add the squares b1 and b2 to the list. 4. Stalemate is a draw. Bare king does not win. 5. The queen and king could move simultaneously, if it was the first move for both. ========================================================================== GERMAN RULES: Circa 1420 were, again, basically the same as the Spanish rules, with these exceptions: 1. Pawns were reistricted in their first 2-square move, as in the 1280 Spanish rules. 2. The KING leap was at least the same as in the Italian rules, and he may even have been allowed to leap farther. 3. Stalemate normally a draw, but a win in some places. 4. Bare king normally a win, but in some areas, he of the bared king actually won. 5. The Italian K and Q combined first move was not "official", but it was allowed in some areas. Also, some allowed a pawn to join in, if it was moving out of the way of the King, making a K+Q+P combined first move possible. FRENCH and ENGLISH rules from the mediaeval period are not given, and may be known only fragmentarily. It seems the Italian and Spanish adjustments to the Muslim rules were slowest in reaching these areas. ======================================================================== CASTLING ======================================================================== The modern rules we know date from convulsive changes to the rules in the 15th century. That's when the queen changed from a 1 square wimp to a monster, and that's when the king's "leap" was replace by castling. I have no documentation for dates and places, however, I can address one question specifically: was castling originally accomplished in one or two moves? The following fragmentary game comes from "The Oxford Encyclopedia of Chess Games". Specifically, observe how Black castles at move 11, using two moves, while the white king "leaps" to g1, but doesn't bother to finish "castling". However, remember that the King could not cross check, even in the 1280 Spanish rules. Scovara-Boi, Madrid, 1575: 1. e4,e5; 2. Bc4,Bc5; 3. Nf3,Nc6; 4. c3,Qe7; 5. d4,exd4; 6. cxd4,Qxe4+; 7. be3,bb4+; 8. Nc3,d5; 9. Bd3,Qe7; 10. h3,Nf6 11. Kg1,Rf8; 12. g4,Kg8; 13. Rh2,Bd6; 14. Rg2 ... In my 1777 edition of "Philidor's Analysis of Chess", the rule for castling is as we know it now, but with this footnote: "The old way of castling in several countries, and which still subsists in some, was to leave to the player's disposal, all the interval between the King and the Rook, inclusively, to place there these two pieces" So, at least as recently as 1777, in many places you could put the King and Rook where ever you darned well chose to. ======================================================================== STALEMATE: The GREAT CURIOSITY ======================================================================== Stalemate has always been a problem, being interpreted in the early days as a win, and later as a draw. However, in 1614, we find this passage in the English work "Saul's Famous Games of Chesse-Play": "He that hath put his adversary's King in a stale, loseth the game, because he hath disturbed the course of the game, which can only end with the grand Check-mate" This interpretation of stalemate, that the one who stalemates his opponents King loses, persisted in England for a very long time. In my edition of Philidor, the rules read "In England, he whose king is stalemated wins the game, but in France, and several other countries, the stalemate is a drawn game". This rule remained in force in the London Chess Club until 1820, and continued to be printed in general chess "handbooks" at least through 1857. I do not know if the rule was widespread in America, but one traveling American student used the rule in a game against von der Lasa, in 1861. --- ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE EXPRESSLY MY OWN. ------------------------------------------------------------ Timothy J. Thompson, Earth and Space Sciences Division, JPL. Assistant Administrator, Division Science Computing Network. Secretary, Los Angeles Astronomical Society. Member, BOD, Mount Wilson Observatory Association. INTERnet/BITnet: tjt@scn1.jpl.nasa.gov NSI/DECnet: jplsc8::tim SCREAMnet: YO!! TIM!! GPSnet: 118:10:22.85 W by 34:11:58.27 N ----------------------------------------------------------------------