THE CLASSIFIED ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF CHESS VARIANTS

I once read a story about the discovery of a strange
tribe somewhere in the Amazon basin. An eminent
anthropologist recalls that there was some evidence
that a space ship from Mars had landed in the area amillenium or two earlier. ‘Good heavens,’ exclaims
the narrator, are you suggesting that this tribe are thedescendants of Martians?’ ‘Certainly not,’ snaps thelearned man, ‘they are the original Earth-people —it is we who are the Martians.’
Reflect that chess is but an imperfect variant of agame that was itself a variant of a germinal game
whose origins lie somewhere in the darkness of time.

The Classiﬁed
Encyclopedia of
Chess Variants






D. B. PritchardThe second edition of

The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants
completed and edited by John BeasleyCopyright © the estate of David Pritchard 2007

Published byJohn Beasley
7 St James Road
Harpenden
Herts AL5 4NX
GB - England

ISBN 978-0-9555168-0-1

Typeset by John Beasley
Originally printed in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd, King’s Lynn

Contents
Introduction to the second edition

13

Author’s acknowledgements

16

Editor’s acknowledgements

17

Warning regarding proprietary games

18

Part 1 Games using an ordinary board and men

191

Two or more moves at a time

21

1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7

Two moves at a turn, intermediate check observed
Two moves at a turn, intermediate check ignored
Two moves against one
Three to ten moves at a turn
One more move each time
Every man can move
Other kinds of multiple movement

21
24
25
26
28
32
32

2

Games with concealed information

33

2.1
2.2
2.3

Games with an umpire, both sides blind
Games with an umpire, one side only blind
Games without an umpire

33
38
38

3

Unorthodox ways of capturing

40

3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8

Capture by attacking
Squares with known or hidden dangers
Destruction of men on nearby squares
Capture by moving as the target man
Other forms of capture
Immobilization
Capture of own men
Checking of own king

40
41
41
42
42
44
45
45

4

Compulsions and restrictions

46

4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6

Compulsions and restrictions relating to check
Compulsions and restrictions relating to capture
Restrictions on the men able to move
Walls, obstacles, and missing squares
Lines to be crossed
Other compulsions and restrictions

46
46
47
48
49
50

6 List of contents
Games using an ordinary board and men (continued)
5

Introduction of new or captured men during play

52

5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5

52
53
54
55

5.6

Men are held or placed in reserve, and may be introduced during play
A captured man changes sides, and may be reintroduced by its captor
A captured man may be recovered by its owner
A captured man is replaced at once
A captured man lies low, and re-emerges when the capturing man has
moved on
Other reintroductions of captured men

6

Unorthodox pawn properties and powers

58

6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5

Historical rules regarding promotion
Other changes affecting promotion
Move diagonally, capture straight
Other changes affecting forward movement
Sideways and backwards movement

58
58
58
60
60

7

Moving the opponent’s men

61

7.1
7.2
7.3

Moving an opponent’s man instead of one’s own
Rejecting, choosing, or altering the opponent’s last move
Making a move for each side

61
61
62

8

Transporting and teleporting

65

8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5
8.6
8.7

Selective transport of individual pieces
Pushing and pulling
Gravitational and magnetic effects
Other displacements within the board
Physical displacement of part of the board
Unorthodoxy relating to castling
Other forced movements

65
66
67
68
69
70
70

9

Games using unorthodox initial arrays

71

9.1
9.2
9.3
9.4

The opposing arrays mirror each other vertically
The opposing arrays mirror each other diametrally
The opposing arrays do not mirror each other
The initial position is partly or wholly free

71
73
74
76

56
57

List of contents 7
Games using an ordinary board and men (continued)
10

Different objectives of play

81

10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5
10.6
10.7
10.8
10.9
10.10
10.11
10.12

Capturing or baring the king
Changed or multiple kings
Other objectives based on mate, check, or stalemate
Wiping out the opponent’s men
Wiping out all the men of a kind
Playing for material gain
Reaching a fixed goal
Playing to exhaust the available resources
Playing to loseGames in which the two sides have different objectives
Solo games
Other games

81
81
82
83
84
84
84
85
85
90
90
91

11

Multiple boards

93

11.1
11.2
11.3

Two boards
Three boards
More than three boards

93
95
96

12

Miscellanea

97

12.1
12.2
12.3
12.4
12.5
12.6
12.7
12.8
12.9
12.10
12.11

Multiple square occupancy
Merging of squares into regions
Men changing sides other than by capture
Men automatically added or removed during play
Passing or retracting a move
Simultaneous movement
Exploitation of coordinate squares
Changes to the rules during play
Other external influences on the playPuzzles centred around chess games
Unorthodoxy in context or presentation

97
97
98
98
99
99
100
102
102
104
104

Part 2 Other games using square lattice boards

109

13

Larger and smaller boards

111

13.1
13.2
13.3
13.4
13.5
13.6

Larger square boards
Smaller square boards
Rectangular boards
Other square lattice boards
Unbounded boards
Creating or modifying the board during play

111
112
113
115
117
117

8 List of contents
Other games using square lattice boards (continued)
14

New pieces (1) : Combination pieces

120

14.1
14.2
14.3
14.4

Pieces with added knight movement
Rook and bishop combinations
Other combinations
Move as one piece, capture as another

120
125
126
126

15

New pieces (2) : Pieces with limited range

128

15.1
15.2
15.3
15.4

Pieces which can move only one square
Pieces which can move up to two squares
Pieces which can move up to three squares
Pieces which can move four or more squares

128
129
132
135

16

New pieces (3) : Pieces with unlimited range

138

16.1
16.2
16.3
16.4
16.5
16.6
16.7

Pieces with orthogonal or diagonal movement, obstructions respected
Pieces with oblique movement, obstructions respected
Reflecting pieces
Other pieces which change direction in mid-move
Pieces which ignore obstacles
Pieces which exploit obstacles
Pieces which move normally but must jump to capture

138
139
140
142
143
144
145

17

Unorthodoxy relating to capture

147

17.1
17.2
17.3
17.4
17.5
17.6
17.7
17.8
17.9
17.10
17.11
17.12

Capture by leaping over the target piece
Capture by attacking
Capture by moving as the target piece
Destruction of men on nearby squares
Subversion and treachery
Other forms of capture
Immobilization
Interchange of pieces
Multiple forms of capture
Immunity from capture
Captured men change sides and can be re-entered
Captured men can be recovered by their owners

147
149
151
151
153
153
154
154
155
158
159
159

18

Mutation games

161

18.1
18.2
18.3
18.4
18.5
18.6

Taking the power of a captured piece
Promotion and demotion
Combination and separation
Movement dependent on square occupied
Relay games
Other mutations

161
162
165
167
169
172

List of contents 9
Other games using square lattice boards (continued)
19

Changed or multiple kings

175

19.1
19.2
19.3
19.4
19.5
19.6
19.7

Kings with unorthodox powers of movement
Substitute kings
Concealed kings
Kings of other kinds
Kings created in play
Multiple kings present from the outset
Anti-kings

175
176
177
177
177
179
183

20

Games presented as families

184

20.1
20.2

The players choose jointly
The players choose independently

184
186

21

Miscellanea

188

21.1
21.2
21.3
21.4
21.5
21.6
21.7
21.8
21.9
21.10
21.11
21.12

One-dimensional boards
Games with hidden information
Directional pieces
Other unorthodox pieces
Twinned pieces
Men created during play
Men belonging to both sides
Walls and obstacles
Square-swallowing
Use of the intersection points
Games on two or more boards
Other games

188
189
189
191
191
192
192
193
194
195
195
197

Part 3 Boards of other kinds

201

22

Boards based on hexagons

203

22.1
22.2
22.3
22.4
22.5

Hexagonally symmetric boards with a forward rook move
Other hexagonal boards with a forward rook move
Rectangular and diamond-shaped boards with a forward rook move
Boards with a lateral rook move
Other boards based on hexagons

203
207
208
209
212

23

Other planar boards

213

23.1
23.2
23.3
23.4
23.5
23.6
23.7
23.8

Boards based on triangles
Boards based on diamonds
Boards based on rectangles
Boards containing cells of more than one shape
Circular boards
Spiral and figure-of-eight boards
Infinite and infinitely divisible boards
Boards with transport mechanisms

213
214
215
215
216
219
220
220

10 List of contents
Boards of other kinds (continued)
24

Cylindrical, toroidal, and spherical boards

221

24.1
24.2
24.3

Cylindrical boards
Toroidal boards
Spherical boards

221
222
223

25

Boards with three and more dimensions

225

25.1
25.2
25.3
25.4
25.5
25.6
25.7
25.8
25.9
25.10

Square boards on two levels
Square boards on three levels
Square boards on four levels
Square boards on five levels
Square boards on six levels
Square boards on seven or eight levels
Square boards on more than eight levels
Other boards with three dimensions
Three-dimensional games with double moves
Games in more than three dimensions

225
226
228
229
229
230
232
232
233
234

Part 4 Regional and historical games

237

26

The Near East, Europe, Africa

239

26.1
26.2
26.3
26.4

The thread leading to modern chess
Other games played in the Near East
Other games played in Europe
Africa

239
243
245
247

27

China, Korea, Vietnam

248

27.1
27.2
27.3

Xiangqi
Indigenous and regional variants
Modern non-indigenous variants

248
249
251

28

Japan

252

28.1
28.2
28.3
28.4
28.5
28.6

Shogi
Historical shogi variants
Modern variants using the normal board
Modern variants using smaller square or rectangular boards
Variants using non-rectangular boards
Combination games

252
254
258
259
260
261

29

India and the rest of Asia

262

29.1
29.2
29.3
29.4
29.5

Indian chess on the 8x8 board
Indian games on larger boards
Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia
Malaysia and Indonesia
Central Asia and Tibet

262
264
266
270
270

List of contents 11
Part 5 Games using dice and cards

275

30

Dice games

277

30.1
30.2
30.3

Using dice to determine the man to be moved
Other uses of thrown diceUsing dice other than by throwing

277
278
280

31

Card games

281

31.1
31.2
31.3
31.4

Games using cards to represent chessmen
Games using cards to influence play
Combination games
Karten Schach

281
282
284
284

Part 6 Games with non-chess objectives

289

32

Playing to reach a ﬁxed goal

291

32.1
32.2
32.3

Fixed goals in enemy territory
Fixed goals in neutral territory
Football games

291
297
299

33

Other objectives of play

301

33.1
33.2
33.3
33.4
33.5
33.6
33.7

Blocking and annihilation : games with jump captures
Blocking and annihilation : other games
Point scoring
Achieving a pattern or alignment
Other objectives
Games with different objectives for each side
Games of unclear or unknown nature

301
302
303
304
305
306
307

Part 7 Partnership and team games

309

34

Games using a single square or rectangular board

311

34.1
34.2
34.3
34.4

Classical Indian four-player games
Modern games using a single 8x8 board
Two or more 8x8 boards joined as one
Other square or rectangular boards

311
312
314
315

35

Games using non-rectangular boards

317

35.1
35.2
35.3
35.4

Games using a normal 8x8 board with extensions
Games using other square boards with extensions
Games using a round board
Games using other boards

317
322
323
324

12 List of contents
Partnership and team games (continued)
36

Games using more than one board

326

36.1
36.2
36.3

Four players, two boards
Four players, four boards
More than four players

326
327
327

Part 8 Every man for himself

331

37

Games for three

333

37.1
37.2
37.3
37.4
37.5
37.6
37.7

Rotationally symmetric boards based on triangles
Rotationally symmetric boards based on hexagons
Rotationally symmetric boards based on quadrilaterals
Circular boards
Boards in three dimensions
Boards without rotational symmetry
Games in which the players have different roles

333
334
336
338
339
339
341

38

Games for four or more

342

38.1
38.2
38.3
38.4
38.5

Games based on capturing the king, square or rectangular board
Games based on capturing the king, hexagonal board
Games based on capturing the king, circular board
Games based on capturing the king, board with extensions
Games based on capturing the king, planar board of other or
unknown shape
Games based on capturing the king, three-dimensional board
Annihilation games
Games to reach a goal in the opponent’s territory
Games to reach a goal in neutral territory
Point-scoring games
Games in which the players have different roles
Divinatory games
Games of unclear nature

342
344
345
346

38.6
38.7
38.8
38.9
38.10
38.11
38.12
38.13

347
349
349
350
350
353
354
354
355

Appendix359

Notes on principal sources

367

Index

369

Introduction to the second edition
David Pritchard died in December 2005 leaving the intended second edition of this bookunfinished, and almost the first act of his widow Elaine was to ask me to complete it. It would
have been the culmination of a major part of his life’s work, and I was very happy to accept thecommission.
Let me stress that my role has merely been to complete an existing text and prepare it for thepress. I have not been a co-author, let alone an independent reviser. The choice of games to be
included is almost entirely David’s; he had sent me a list in June 2004 of the games he intended
to add to the first edition, and apart from a few related games which I have mentioned inpassing, a game not on that list is included only if there is clear subsequent evidence that he had
intended to add it. The research was David’s, and the text is David’s except where I haveindicated otherwise. However, in order to make room for the new material, David had intended
to omit some 200 apparently little-played games which were in the first edition, and it seemed
to me that most of these should be retained if only to demonstrate priority should they
be reinvented. I have therefore reinstated them, except where they were clearly unplayable(a few of the ‘variants’ described in the first edition were merely conditions invented to governor restrict play in problems) or where there was some other specific reason for their removal.
So, what did David regard as a chess variant? The chief feature which divides chess fromother games is that the objective is to capture or destroy the opponent’s king, as opposed to
wiping out all his men, or otherwise leaving him without a move, or occupying his hometerritory, or beating him in a race, or scoring more points according to some scale, or whatever.
However, to restrict ourselves to games with this objective would exclude Losing Chess, which
is one of the most widely played chess variants of all, and David preferred to define a chessvariant as any game that was related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. This resulted in the
inclusion of one or two games which strike me as not being chess in even the remotest sense(I suspect that David included them because he thought they were good games which deserved
the publicity), but most of the games fall into one of three classes: (a) true ‘chess’ games in theclassic sense, where the capture of the enemy king is indeed the sole or primary objective ofplay, (b) other games played with ordinary chessmen, and (c) a few further games having theword ‘chess’ in their titles, which must be mentioned if only to point out that their claim to theterm may not be justified.
And not every game which is technically a chess variant even within the strictest sense of theterm can properly claim a place here. David’s basic criterion in 1994, a few light-hearted entries
apart, was that a game must have been published in some form, or at least have been played by asignificant number of people outside the inventor’s circle of family and friends. The advent of
the Internet has meant that ‘publication’ can now be achieved by making a few strokes on acomputer keyboard and posting the result on a web site, so the first condition is no longer a
constraint, and for this edition David felt obliged to be rather more selective. Anyone can inventa chess variant, and vast numbers of people have done so: ‘the board looks like such-and-such,the men move like so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so, the object is to capture the king’.
The result is too often original only in its eccentricity, and adds nothing of value to what alreadyexists. In the new edition, therefore, David added or intended to add a game only if there wasevidence that significant numbers of people were playing it, or if it appeared to offer something
genuinely new rather than mere complication or superficial novelty.
A particular difficulty is presented by problems. Chess has generated a substantial and highly
specialized problem literature, and this has come to embody a vast number of variant ideas andconditions; the 1992 edition of Kurt Smulders’s book Sprookjesschach listed over 1100, and an
equivalent book produced today would contain many more. But not many of these have been
tried as games, and most would be pointless or unplayable. David included a few of the latter in14 Introduction
the first edition, but in his selection for the new edition he restricted himself to variants whichappeared to have a role as complete games.
Wherever possible, games have been described in such detail as will allow them to be played(making the necessary equipment is normally not difficult), but there are inevitable exceptions.
Some games (particularly games conceived as sets or families) are too complicated for brief
exposition, and the only option is to give an outline and cite a reference where full detail can befound. Some information, in particular that relating to proprietary games, is subject to copyrightor other restriction, and David was not always given permission to reprint it in full. There arealso a few games which demand inclusion for historical reasons but whose details have been
largely or completely lost. But in general, if a game appears here, you can sit down with a friend,knock up a set from some conveniently available material, and play it; and I hope you will enjoy
doing so.
So much for the content of the book. Let me now say a little about the editing.
The main change from the first edition is in the ordering of material. David brought together a
few types of game into single combined entries (hexagonal games, spherical games, threedimensional games, three-handed and four-handed games), but in general he listed the games inalphabetical order based on the name or names by which he knew them, with cross-references torelated games at the end of each entry. In the second edition, he had intended to add a simple
classification by type, but the basic alphabetical order of the first edition would have beenretained. However, my first action on receiving the text was to chop up a copy and divide it into
piles each containing games of a similar nature, and it soon became clear that it would bequicker to present the games so grouped and provide an alphabetical index than to spend timechecking and updating lists of cross-references. For example, there turned out to be over 30
games based on the simple idea of adding knight power to one or more of queen, rook, andbishop. These now appear in chronological order as ‘Pieces with added knight movement’
within a chapter ‘Combination pieces’, and an incidental consequence is that the extent to which
this simple idea has been invented and reinvented over four hundred years has become obvious.
Not every case is as clear-cut as this and no doubt reviewers will be quick to say that they would
have put such-and-such a game into such-and-such a section and not where I have put it myself,
but I hope readers will find the grouping generally helpful. A few important entries(for example, David’s observations on variant design) fell outside this classification, and thesehave been placed in an appendix.
The artwork used for the first edition could not be found. To have redrawn everything would
have prevented me from achieving anything near to David’s intended publication date, andscanning a copy of the first edition would not have produced new masters of adequate quality.
I therefore reconsidered all the illustrations, excluded those that seemed merely decorative or
related to games of relatively little interest, and prepared the rest in a simple and straightforward
style (an incidental benefit has been to give the ancient ‘firzan’ and ‘fil’ their own symbols,
instead of the modern queen and bishop symbols which are so often substituted.) The decision to
do this was made easier by the realisation that what would have been the most complicateddiagrams to recreate tended to belong to the least satisfactory games; complexity and playability
do not usually go hand in hand.
I also reconsidered the examples of play. I made the assumption that most purchasers of thisnew edition would already possess the first and would not want to receive the same examples
again, so an example from the first edition has been retained only if it appeared unusuallypiquant or instructive. In choosing new and replacement examples, I decided normally to restrict
myself to one simple example per variant (a few particularly popular variants have more),and I tried to pick something which would illustrate its nature as pointedly as possible.
The exploitation of a plausible blunder in the opening may be both instructive and entertaining,whereas a full-length master game in an unfamiliar variant, even where one exists, is all too
likely to result only in glazed incomprehension.

Introduction 15
Most of David’s entries had references to his sources within the text and where they didn’t
I have added one, so the authority on which every entry relies is now clear. I assume that evengeneral readers will find this of interest - specialists wanting to carry on from where David left
off certainly will - and if a particular source should be found unreliable the integrity of the restof the book will not be compromised. I should perhaps stress that I have merely taken thesereferences from the notes in David’s files, and have not necessarily examined the source
material myself. Books are normally identified by author and title, periodicals by title only, butauthors whose work is referred to frequently are cited only by name (Cazaux, Faidutti, Falkener,
Forbes, Gizycki, Gollon, Murray, Stone, van der Linde, Verney) and the titles of the relevantbooks will be found in the section ‘Notes on principal sources’. An author cited more frequently
than any other is Joseph Boyer, but he wrote two books and a pamphlet (Les Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes, Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes, Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants)
and these are normally cited individually by title.
My last editorial change caused me the greatest heart-searching. David was a deeply
courteous man to whom acknowledgement of title and qualification was instinctive andautomatic, and he carefully put ‘Dr’ or ‘Professor’ before every name where he knew theentitlement to exist. But not every player and inventor of variant chess games wishes to advertisethe fact that he is a professor of higher mathematics in his spare time, and it is invidious when
Professor X is given his title every time his name appears and Professor Y is never given it at all.
I have retained David’s style in his acknowledgements, but in the body of the book I have taken
it on myself to apply the style of the scientific research literature, where names appear without
academic prefixes however honorific and well-deserved these might be. Logically, I should havedone the same with non-academic titles, but a few are so much a part of the name - Dunsany andRutland are examples - that to have done so would have created confusion. So the non-academic
titles have been kept, though with regret; the man who really deserves a title never needs to use
it, because his name carries sufficient lustre on its own.
All this routine editing has been done silently. The changes of substance are a different matter.
Normally, when a friend or admirer finishes an author’s work he tries to do so in such a way thatthe change of hand is imperceptible, but David’s knowledge of the field was far wider than mine
will ever be, and I think it important that the reader can see at a glance which parts of the bookrest on his authority and which rest merely on mine. I have therefore adopted the convention thatanything in square brackets [...] is mine, and where I have written an entry or made a significant
change to its content there is a note saying so. David left some 25-30 entries unwritten andperhaps twice as many again were only in embryonic form and needed to be filled out, and there
were a handful of cases where I knew something about a game from personal experience thatapparently had not come to his notice. I also found a few places where he had apparently been
misled by errors in his sources, and I have identified these and have made such comment andalteration as seemed appropriate. But these alterations have been openly declared, and if future
generations should decide that the error in fact lay with myself then so be it.
David stood head and shoulders above anyone else in this field, and the second edition of thisencyclopedia has been eagerly awaited. I hope I have done it justice.

Author’s acknowledgments
Space will not permit proper credit of all those whose help, often generous, I received in putting
this book together. It would be invidious to declare a master class but a greater sin would be notto acknowledge the constant help and support, beyond reasonable expectation, of Peter
Blommers, Michel Boutin, Alessandro Castelli, Philip Cohen, Dan Glimne, Michael Keller,
Eduard Riekstins and Edward Winter. This is not in anyway to diminish the valued assistancereceived from a host of people, several now sadly no longer with us, who kindly took time andtrouble to provide me with information. I here express my appreciation to: Manual Aaron,
Robert Abbott, Steve Addison, Viktor Afanasyev, Porter Arbogast, John Ball, Warrren Ball,
Richard Ballam, Leonard Barden, Erich Bartel, John Beasley, R. C. Bell, Dr Vladimir Belov,
Donald Benge, Pierre Berloquin, Martin Blaine, Steve Boniface, John Bosley, Richard Bozulich,
Tom Braunlich, Tom Brown, Josef Cacek, Grev Corbett, Jochen Corts, Wanda Dakin, George
Dekle Sr, Patrick Donovan, Prof Thomas Drucker, Alex Dunne, Marco Fabbri, Bruno Faidutti,
Richard Fireman, Mike Fox, Christiaan Freeling, Friends of St Albans Abbey, Fred Galvin,
Vaclav Gamer, Martin Gardner, Tony Gardner, E. Y. Gik, Jerzy Gizycki, Wladislaw Glinski,
Julian Grafa, Piero Grandese, Dr William Groman, K. G. P. Gunnell, Prof Vladimir Gurvich,Bill Hartston, George Hodges, Phil Holland, Malcolm Horne, David Howe, Robert Hübner,
Fiona Idda, Randolph Jackson, Stephen Jackson, Michael Jameson, George Jelliss, Prince Joli
Kansil, Neil Karl, Ray Keene, U. Khin, Ronald Kirkpatrick, Imre König, C. K. Lai, Paul
Lamford, Max Lawrence, Mario Leoncini, C. G. Lewin, Fabrice Liardet, Isaak Linder,
Dr Cedric Lytton, Roberto Magari, Pierre Marechal, Koichi Maskawa, John McCallion, Patrick
McGuckin, M. Meirovitz, Egbert Meissenburg, Clifford North Merry, M. Miodonski, Manfred
Mittlebach, David Moeser, Jonathan Moody, Steve Nichols, Paul Novak, Kiyoshi Ohnogi, Dale
Oldfield, V. D. Pandit, Dr Richard Pankhurst, Alan Parr, Peter Parton, Werner Pohl, Sonny
Polasit, Dr Vladimir Pribylinec, Alex Randolph, R. Ravi-Sekhar, Ian Richardson, Francis Roads,
Timothy Rogalski, John Roycroft, Sid Sackson, Lothar Schmid, R. Wayne Schmittberger,
Col. G. L. Sickerman, Sam Sloan, Peter Smith, Adam Sobey, Dr Eric Solomon, M. Sosnovsky,
Stephen Stockman, Jed Stone, R. Teschner, Edgar Thermer, Prof Mitchell Thomashow,
Anneke Treep, Dr Chris Tylor, Paul Valois, R. G. Wade, W. G. Wade, C. W. Warburton,Prof L. Weisinger, Bengt Wennerberg, Tom Werneck, Ken Whyld, Ulrike Wolz, David Woo,
B. H. Wood, Iain Wood, David Wurman, Arthur Yaspan, Paul Yearout, Sergei Zubkov and all
those inventors who me with supplied information and answered questions about their games.
Amongst librarians, I received assistance and encouragement from Rob Verhoeven(Royal Library, the Hague) and Alice C. Loranth (Cleveland Public Library), and also the helpof the staff of the Bodleian Library, British Library, Cambridge University Library, Harvard
University Library, National Library of Wales, Victoria State Library. Information was willingly
supplied by a number of organizations including the British Chess Problem Society, theDeutsches Spielearchiv, Nihon Shogi Renmei, the Patents Office, the Public Record Office, theRoyal Automobile Club, The Shogi Association, Stationers’ Hall and the U. S. Chess
Federation. I also wish to record my appreciation of a grant towards expenses I received fromthe Authors’ Trust. My sincere apologies to anyone I may have overlooked.
Several people kindly agreed to check drafts of major entries: Peter Blommers,
Alessandro Castelli, Malcolm Horne. They gave valuable advice and saved me from some grosserrors. Finally, to my wife Elaine who cheerfully took over many tedious tasks and also
numerous translations well beyond my competence.

Editor’s acknowledgments
First and foremost, my thanks to David’s widow Elaine for entrusting me with the task. It has
been a fascinating and most instructive twelve months. I am also grateful to David’s daughter
Wanda and her husband Colin for sorting through the files on David’s computer and presenting
me with a copy of everything relevant, and to Wanda for reading through the penultimate draft
and highlighting various errors and ambiguities.
Additionally, my thanks for help in sorting out various matters to Paul Archer, Peter
Blommers, Peter Coast, Jochen Corts, Fred Galvin, Dan Glimne, David Levy, Fabrice Liardet,Peter Michaelsen, Jerzy Rosankiewicz, John Roycroft, David Sedgwick, Eric Solomon, and thelibraries of the British Chess Problem Society and the British Chess Variants Society.
And to Sue for assistance in just about every way possible, with a great deal of moral support
thrown in.

WARNING
All variants described as proprietary games are protectedagainst imitation in international law by copyright, patents,
trade marks etc. Their inclusion here does not imply that they
have acquired for legal purposes a non-proprietary or generalsigniﬁcance nor is any other judgement implied concerning
their legal status. Anyone seeking a licence to copy, market
or otherwise reproduce a proprietary game, should in the ﬁrst
instance contact the company concerned. The same strictures
and advice apply to games of modern origin which may now orat a future date be marketed although not identiﬁed in the text
as proprietary games.

Part 1
Games using an ordinary board and men[In this first part, the games use an 8x8 board and an ordinary set of chessmen.
We shall allow ourselves occasional liberties and extensions, but in general the men
will retain their usual powers and nature throughout the game. A knowledge of theordinary game of chess is assumed (David called it ‘orthochess’ when he needed to be
specific), and its rules are always to be assumed unless the contrary is stated.]

Chapter 1
Two or more moves at a time
[In a normal game of chess, White and Black move alternately. In the games in this chapter, thisprinciple is abandoned, and a player can or must make more than one move at a turn. Games ofthis kind have proved extremely popular. Marseillais Chess, Double-Move Chess, Triplets, andProgressive Chess have all been played in high-level tournaments as well as casually among
friends, and the last is among the most widely practised of all chess variants.]
1.1 Two moves at a turn, intermediate check observed[There are two distinct kinds of two-moves-at-a-turn games: those in which intermediate checks
are observed (a player must get out of check on the first move of his turn, and if he himself gives
check on his first move he forfeits his second), and those in which intermediate checks are
ignored and play ends with the physical capture of the opposing king (so a player can attack his
opponent’s king with his first move and capture it with his second, and he may be able to use his
own king to capture an apparently guarded man, making the capture on his first move andretreating to safety on his second). Both kinds are frequently referred to as ‘Double-Move
Chess’, which is unfortunate since their natures are very different. The present section covers
games of the first kind; games of the second kind are considered in the next.]
Marseillais
Chess(sometimes
spelt
incorrectly with a final ‘e’). Origins clouded.
Commonly ascribed to Albert Fortis, asometime resident of Marseilles, incollaboration with another expatriate in thesame city, the Norwegian I. Rossow, c. 1922,
the rules were first published in Le Soleil, a
local newspaper, in 1925. A better claim forinvention would appear to lie with Franzose
Jehan de Queylar who is said to haveformulated the rules sometime during WorldWar I (Funkschach 1926) but the credit for
popularizing the variant undoubtedly belongs
to Fortis. Each player in turn makes twoconsecutive moves either with the same man
or with different men. If check is given on thefirst move, this ends the turn. A player must
get out of check on the first move of a turn.
A king cannot move into check and out again.
En passant is legal if the opponent moved apawn two squares on either of his moves but
the capture must be made at once. However, if
the opponent made two two-square pawn
moves, both pawns can be taken e.p. This last
rule is credited to Alekhine by F. Palatz in anarticle on the subject (L’Echiquier, September
1928). Stalemate can occur if a player can
only make one move but not a second. The
game was sometimes played with alternative

rules: a check on the first move was illegal anda player could not capture e.p. if the pawn had
been moved in the first part of his opponent’s
turn.
Marseillais Chess soon became fashionable.
The first tournament took place in Paris in
1926 with another strong event in Hamburg
the following year. The roll of well-known
players associated with the game at the time isa long one, and includes Alekhine, Réti,
Znosko-Borovsky and Chéron. Madame LéonMartin was an enthusiast who, at a gatheringin Mme Alekhine’s salon, humiliated Réti andonly lost by a hair to Alekhine himself(regrettably, neither game has been preserved).
Interest then dissolved and was not revived
until the 1950s. This revival was spearheaded
by Boyer, Klüver and others, and E. T. O.
Slater ran a number of correspondence
tourneys. AISE took up the game in the late1970s and ran regular tournaments. The Italiananalysts, and particularly Alessandro Castelli,made big advances in the theory of the game,including an extensive study of the openings.
Marseillais Chess was the choice of the Italy I
team in the 1st Heterochess Olympiad.
Marseillais Chess as originally formulated
turned out to be a markedly unequal game, andCastelli believed that both 1 e4/Nf3 and 1 d4/

22 Games using an ordinary board and men
Nf3 led to theoretical wins for White. In the
1950s, Robert Bruce made a major
contribution with a minor modification to
produce Balanced Marseillais Chess(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants). In thisversion, the ﬁrst player starts with a single
move, thereby neutralizing White’s advantage.
This form was quickly adopted by NOST and
was taken up by AISE in 1990, and has now
completely replaced the original game amongexpert players. In Castelli’s 1996 book
Scacchi Marsigliesi, the lengthy section on
opening play relates solely to Balanced
Marsellais, and the original form is effectively
relegated to the status of a historical footnote.
Marsellais Chess has been among the moredeeply analysed of chess variants, and Scacchi
Marsigliesi contains extensive sections on
middlegame and endgame play in addition tothat on openings. The following examples
illustrate some of the game’s tactics.
Classical Marseillais, given by Castelli.
1 Nf3/e4 (Castelli believed that this led to aforced win) d5/dxe4?? (and this certainly
loses) 2 Ne5/Bb5+ :rhb1kgn4
0p0w0p0p
wdwdwdwd
dBdwHwdw
wdwdpdwd
dwdwdwdw
P)P)w)P)$NGQIwdR
A typical double attack against an unobservant
opponent. Black is faced with both a checkand a two-move threat to take the queen, andhe is in deep trouble. His only hope is 2...c6/
Qc7 (if instead 2...Bd7/Qc8 then 3 Nxd7/Nb6+
wins material), but 3 Qf3/Qxf7+ adds to thepressure, and if he tries 3...Kd8/Qxe5 to rid
himself of one tormentor White has 4 d4/
Qxf8+ winning the queen another way.
Balanced Marseillais, two queen-sacrifice
wins by Michele de Giglio reported in
Eteroscaccco 86-88. Both started 1 d4 Nf6/d5
2 Nc3/Nf3 (sensible and standard opening
moves for both sides) Bf5/Ng4 (threatening to
win the queen) 3 h3/hxg4 (playing to get R+Nin return) Bxc2/Bxd1 4 Rxh7/Rxh8, and thefirst game continued 4...Bxe2/Bxf1 5 Kxf1/
Kg1! (getting the king out of the way and so
giving Black less scope - if he plays say Be3
instead of Kg1, Black can bring his queen intoplay by 5...Qd6/Qa6+ since the need to get outof check will prevent White from playing
Rh6/Rxa6) c5/cxd4?? (this merely makes d4
available to a White knight) 6 Nxd4/Bg5 :rhw1kgw$
0pdw0p0w
wdwdwdwd
dwdpdwGw
wdwHwdPd
dwHwdwdw
P)wdw)Pd$wdwdwIw
White still has his R+N for the Q, and his
pieces are buzzing around like angry hornets.
Black now blundered, playing Qd7/f6 to savethe queen and overlooking that this let in amate by Ne6/Rxf8, but he was lost anyway.
In the second game, Black tried 4...Bxe2/
Bxf3 taking off one of White’s knights, andafter 5 Be2/Bxf3 the simplifying manoeuvre
5...Nc6/Nxd4 6 Ne2/Nxd4 c5/cxd4 took off
the other as well. However, it was to no avail;White continued 7 Bd2/g5, after which hisbishops dominated the board just as lethally as
the knights had done :rhw1kgw$
0pdw0p0w
wdwdwdwd
dwdpdw)w
wdw0wdwd
dwdwdBdw
P)wGw)Pd$wdwIwdw
Play continued 7...Qd7/Qe6+ 8 Kf1/Rh4 Qd7/
e6 9 Bxd5/Bf3 Bd6/Qe7 and Black had justpreserved his queen, but 10 Bxb7/Bxa8 took
off the rook instead.
The result of an elementary ending canusually be worked out fairly quickly (note thata player is stalemated if he is unable to playeither of his moves, unless his first gives

Two or more moves at a time 23
check and ends his turn). K+Q, K+R, K+2B,
and K+B+N all win against a bare king, but
K+2N do not. K draws against K+P if it canoccupy any square in front of the pawn. K+Q
v K+P7 offers interesting and sometimes
amusing play. Castelli credits the following
example to Agostino Braca.

wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdKdw
w0wdQdwd
dkdwdwdw
White to play wins by 1 Qd2/Ke2 Ka1/b1(Q)(delaying the promotion doesn’t help) 2 Qd3/
Qa3+ (forcing Black to give check and so
forfeit his second move) Qa2+ 3 Kd3/Qc1+(and a second time) Qb1+ 4 Kd2/Qa3+ (and athird) Qa2+ 5 Kc1/ Qc3+ (and a fourth!) Qb2+
6 Qxb2 mate. If the White king starts on f4
instead of f3, Black can draw.
The game was reinvented as SuperCharged Chess (Chess, July 1939), and has
doubtless been reinvented on other occasions
as well. [Text revised. There is a brief
endgame summary in English in special
number 8 of British Endgame Study News.]
Boyer’s variations on Marseillais Chess.
The Centre d’Etudes des Jeux de Combinaison
in Paris, spearheaded by Berthoumeau,
Loiseau, and above all Boyer, looked at waysof differentiating the two moves of a turn sothat one move of each type could be mademandatory. They arrived at four procedures:(1) division of the board into two zones; (2)classification of the pieces into two kinds; (3)classification of moves into two kinds; (4) the
stipulation that the ﬁrst move of a turn should
imitate the last move of the opponent.
The Centre developed and ‘successfully
experimented with’ eight different games,
which were reported in an article by Boyer inthe British Chess Magazine in March 1955
and are summarized below.
Bilateral Marseillais Chess. The board isnotionally divided into the queen’s side (filesa-d) and the king’s side (ﬁles e-h). A player’s
turn consists of two moves, one on each sideof the board. A piece that crosses from one
side to the other may move twice in a turn.
If there is no legal move on one side then thatmove is lost.
Central Marseillais Chess. The board isconsidered to be divided into two areas, thecentre (4x4) and the periphery (48 squares).
A player’s turn consists of moving a man inboth areas (moves can be to anywhere on theboard). A piece may be moved twice if on its
first move it crosses from one area to theother. Castling counts as a single (peripheral)
move.
Black and White Marseillais Chess(credited to V. R. Parton). A player’s turnconsists of two moves. The player ﬁrst moves
a man standing on a white square, then a manon a black square; if either is impossible, thatmove is lost. The moves can be made with thesame man if the conditions are met. As an
exception to the basic rule, castling may beplayed indifferently as a ﬁrst or second move.
Check given at the ﬁrst move deprives theplayer of the second. Check must be defended
on the ﬁrst move of a turn, and if this involves
a move from a black square, this counts as asecond move and the ﬁrst move is lost.
King’s Men, Queen’s Men Marseillais
Chess. The original K-side and Q-side men
are differentiated in some way, and a player
makes a move with a man of each kind (ineither order). Short castling counts as one
move, long castling as two.
Piece and Pawn Marseillais Chess. Selfexplanatory. The two moves may be made ineither order. Castling may be used as a piece
move. Capture e.p. is possible only on the first
move. A pawn promoted on the ﬁrst move canmove as a piece on the second.
Maximummer Marseillais Chess. A
player must play one of his longest legal
moves as his first move, but if there areseveral candidates of equal length he may
choose between them. A one-squareorthogonal move counts as 1 unit, a onesquare diagonal move as 1.41 units, a knight’s
move as 2.24; 0-0 counts as 4, 0-0-0 as 5.
The player’s second move is free, except thatthe man which makes the first move may not
be played again. ‘The game is extremely
heterodox and very lively; it is dangerous to24 Games using an ordinary board and men
allow open lines to pieces moving
rectilinearly!’
Equivalent Marseillais Chess. The firstmove of a turn must if possible be with thesame type of piece as the second move justmade by the opponent. The first move is free
if the condition cannot be met. Castling is alegitimate imitation of either a king’s or rook’s
move. The second move may be made withany man except the one just moved.
Equidistant Marseillais Chess. The firstmove of a turn must if possible be of equal
geometrical length to that of the preceding
second move of the opponent. This obligation
is waived if the king is in check and cannot
escape by an equidistant move. The second
move must be made with a different man.
Other games similar to Marsellais Chess.
Several other two-move games having thesame general nature as Marsellais Chess havebeen tried. They are listed below in noparticular order.
Balanced Equidistant Marseillais Chess(origins unclear) would appear to be the sameas Equidistant Chess above but without theconstraint on the second move. (Nost-algia
150) [I haven’t seen the source, but a note on
David’s index sheet for the game suggests thatwhat happens if the king is in check is not
specified.]Different Men Marseillais Chess (origin
unknown). The two moves must be made withdifferent men. (Stone)

Citizen Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). The
players have the option of making two moves
a turn provided that the second, and only thesecond, is a pawn move. A capture or check if
made on the first move ends a player’s turn.
An attack on the king must be parried on thefirst move of a player’s turn; hence a pawn
move cannot stop a check. A player not incheck and without a piece move is stalematedsince a turn cannot begin with a pawn move.
(Chess Spectrum Newsletter)
Doublet Chess (Kevin Lawless, 1994).
Orthochess except that a player who moves aR, B or N can also move its twin on the same
turn. Doublet moves are announced, and a K is
not in check until both moves are made.
(Inventor’s rules leaflet)Power Pawn Chess (Kevin Lawless, 1994).
After every orthodox move, the player makesa move or capture with a pawn. The same
pawn cannot be moved twice in a turn.
(Inventor’s rules leaflet)
Alternating Marseillais Chess (origins
unknown). A cross between Marseillais Chessand orthochess. White and Black play one
move each, then two moves each, then one
move each, and so on. (Manuscript note citing
Eteroscacco but not giving a specific issue
number)
The principle behind Marseillais Chess can beapplied to almost any variant, and in particular
it has been successfully combined with Losing
Chess (Eteroscacco 9).

1.2 Two moves at a turn, intermediate check ignored
Double-Move Chess [Galvin] (Fred Galvin,1957). An offspring of Marseillais Chess, a
simple rule change creating a variant in which
strategy, and particularly tactics, are remotefrom those practised in the parent game. White
opens with one move; thereafter each player
on turn makes two consecutive moves eitherwith the same man or with different men.
There is no check, and the object is to capture
the opponent’s king. The implication is that aking can capture a guarded piece and can evencapture his rival. A draw occurs if a player
cannot move or can make only one move, or
can only make two moves that do not result ina change in the position (illegal). A pawn thatis moved two squares in one move, whether inthe ﬁrst or second part of a turn, may be
captured e.p. only on the opponent’s ﬁrst
move; but if a player’s move consists of two
two-step pawn advances, both pawns may betaken e.p. If a pawn is moved twice in a turn itcannot be captured e.p., nor if, after a two-steppawn move, the player moves a piece to theintervening square. Play is much more criticalthan in Marseillais Chess because a two-movethreat to take the king, which can arise fromBlack’s first move and can recur many times
in a game, must be countered. Time isgenerally more important than material.
J. Boyer and T. Coifa were early
propagandists for the game and a series ofcorrespondence tournaments followed. One of

Two or more moves at a time 25
the ﬁrst was organized by E. T. O. Slater(1958/59) and was won by D. J. McNasobey, acomposite pseudonym of McCue, Naysmith
and Sobey working in concert. This wasfollowed by sponsored tournaments insuccessive years: Die Welt (1959) with 46
competitors, Europe Echecs (1961) with 45
players from 11 countries, Le Courrier desEchecs (1962) and a tournament for twelve
selected players organized by C. Murkisch(1962/3).
In Double-Move Chess, the centre plays aless important role than in orthochess. The
knights have enhanced powers as they cannot
be blocked; pawns too can be dangerous in
attack. The weak piece, apart from the king, isthe bishop on the opposite-coloured square to
the opponent’s king, which is the main reason
White rarely opens with the d-pawn. Hans
Klüver’s 1963 monograph Doppelzugschachincludes a useful survey of the openings. The
variant lends itself to problems.
An instructive win by Ottavio Vargiu,
reported in Eteroscacco 83. 1 Nc3 b6/Bb7 (apoor opening) 2 e4/d4 Ba6/Bxf1? (a fatal
waste of time) 3 Nd5/Qf3! (see diagram at topof next column - White spurns the recapture
and goes for the jugular) Qc8/Kd8 4 Nb4/Bg5(keeping up the pressure on the Black king)Qb7/Kc8 5 Nd5/Qc3 and this third double
attack on the king cannot usefully be parried.
The actual continuation 5...Qxd5/Qc6
conceded the queen, and Black soon resigned.

rhw1kgn4
0w0p0p0p
w0wdwdwd
dwdNdwdwwdw)Pdwd
dwdwdQdw
P)Pdw)P)$wGwIbHR
Brick Chess (Michael Howe, 1994). The
player on turn may consider two adjacentsquares to be a brick. As an alternative to anatural move, he may make one of three kindsof double move: a division move (two men
from the same brick go their separate ways),
a fusion move (two men move to the same
brick), or a united move (two men, kings
excepted, move together using the power of
one of them). In the last case, the men may
remain together for the entire move, or the one
whose power is not being used may be
dropped off before the end of the move. Either
or both the men taking part in a double move
may capture (including a man dropped off
during a united move). A pawn may bepromoted by a division or fusion move, but
not by a united move. Castling is allowed, but
no part of the move may be a double move;e.p. is abolished. A king may be left in checkby the first part of a double move. (Author’s
rules document) [Text editorial]

1.3 Two moves against one[Again, there are various flavours depending on whether checks after the first move are observedor ignored.]
The King and Pawns Game, also known as
Double-Move Chess [King and Pawns]. Avery old game which is known in several
forms, the common feature of which is thatWhite has two moves to Black’s one. Murray
quotes a medieval problem where White has K
and 8 pawns and Black the full complement of
men set up in the standard array (kings on thed-file) with the legend ‘White to play andwin’. The Q and Bs are the old pieces withlimited movement and White should certainly
win though proof might be lengthy. The samearray is used in the common version, playedsince the 16th century, with modern Qs and Bs

and kings on the e-file. W. S. Branch statesthat the game had been popular with many
famous players of the past (Chess Amateur,
September-November 1910, January 1911).
White’s moves may be made with the sameman or different men. The king may move intocheck on the ﬁrst move (for example, tocapture a guarded piece), and even adjacent to
the Black King, provided it moves out on thesecond. White can forfeit the second move if
desired (occasionally an advantage in the endgame). If checked by Black, one version
requires White to get out of check
immediately, another allows the king to escape26 Games using an ordinary board and menon the second move. The WK cannot checkthe BK. If White is able to promote a pawn,
the double move of the White piece is almost
always conclusive. C. E. Ranken, according to
Branch ‘the most expert player we ever heardof’, declared that Black should always win, thereverse of the general view held a century
earlier. Dawson claimed that Black’s best
opening move is 1 ...e6 and that Black should
try and get Q or R behind the White position(quoted in Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes). It is difficult for Black to mate
without a formidable force - Q+R+R wasquoted by Twiss (1787).
In a major variant, credited to Verney(1884), Black has no pawns and so has an
immediate threat on White’s a and h pawns. In
this game White can only check the BK on thesecond move. If in check, the WK must moveout on the ﬁrst move of his turn. A rule thatWhite may not move a promoted piece twice
has been tried. In yet another version, the WK
checks the BK if it is two squares away.
Gik gives an amusing oddity with this rule,
the WKe1 against the whole Black array:
1 Ke3 e5 2 Kxe5 Qe7+ 3 Kxc7 mate (Schachund Mathematik).
[David has described several different
games here, but not having seen all the source
material myself I cannot usefully disentangle
them. However, the fact that Monster Chessand Imperatore (see below) appear to beplayable games suggests that if the White kingis allowed to check and mate the Black fromtwo squares away, as in the Gik frolic, then thenumber of White pawns must be considerably
less than eight if the chances are to be at all
equal. The citing of Q+R+R rather than Q+Q
as a mating force for Black suggests that matecannot be forced with Q+Q, yet in fact there isa simple and systematic winning procedure(see Variant Chess 53) and I find it difficult tobelieve that this was overlooked by the expertsof the past. I wondered whether Twiss might
have assumed the ‘single box of men’ rule(promotion allowed only to replace a capturedman), which had considerable currency untillate in the 19th century, but David Levy,
having examined a copy of his book for me,tells me that there is no evidence for this.]
Monster Chess (origins unclear). A derivationof the game above. White has a fullcomplement of pieces, Black just the king andthe four central pawns. The weaker side makes
two moves a turn. The king may stay in or
move into check on the first move. According
to Alex Bell in The Machine Plays Chess?, an
early mainframe computer, MASTER, was anexpert with the Black men. The same gamebut with colours reversed has been played in
AISE where it is known as Imperatore.
The WK, who is the Imperatore (Emperor),can mate the BK. A correspondence
tournament of an almost identical game called
One-Two was organized by NOST in 1963.
White pawns may not promote and something of an aberration? - the WK may
pass over a square occupied by a WP.
(Eteroscacco 9, Nost-algia 33)
Double Trouble Chess (origins unknown).
Black has standard array; White has Ke1, Bf1
and eight pawns (2nd rank) but moves twice toBlack’s once. White may not give check on
the ﬁrst of his two moves and if placed incheck must escape immediately. A fascinating
game with equal chances for both players
according to Russell Chauvenet. (Chess,January 1944)

1.4 Three to ten moves at a turnTriplets (Adam Sobey, 1980s). Each sidestarts with a pawn move. At his second turn,he makes a piece and a pawn moveconsecutively, in either order. At the third andall subsequent turns, he must move a pawn, apiece (other than the king), and the king, in
any order. A player who is unable to move apawn, piece or the king on his turn of play, or
who is checkmated, loses. The game wasinvented for a Christmas meet of theHaslemere Chess Club, where it proved very
popular (Variant Chess 20). Competitions
have since been held in the U.S., in the U.K.,
and in Italy, and it was one of the variants
chosen for the 2nd Heterodox Olympiad.
The three moves count as one; thus a player
whose king is in check is obliged to get out ofcheck only on completion of his turn; similarly
an e.p. capture can be made at any stage
during a turn. Castling is a king move. A pawn

Two or more moves at a time 27
may promote and move as a piece on the same
turn. Five-fold check is possible, queen’s side
castling is not. Some very entertaining play
can occur. The game commonly ends with one
player running out of pawn moves, and muchtactical manoeuvring takes place towards thisend. Lack of a king move is a rare ending andthere is no recorded game where the lack of apiece move has proved conclusive.
A win by Alessandro Castelli (Eteroscacco
56, with notes adapted from Variant Chess46). 1 d3 e5 2 e3/Bd2 Nf6/e4 3 d4/Bc4/Ke2
d5/Be7/0-0 (White appears to be conceding
space to no purpose, but Black has difficulty
defending d5 later on) 4 Bb3/c3/Ke1 Ng4/
c6/Kh8 5 h3/Kf1/Ne2 Nxf2/a6/Kg8 (Black’s
piece sacrifice gives him more pawn moves
than White, but at a cost in development) :rhb1w4kd
dpdwgp0p
pdpdwdwd
dwdpdwdwwdw)pdwddB)w)wdP
P)wGNhPd$NdQdKdR
6 Kxf2/Nf4/c4 Bh4+/a5/Kh8 7 Rf1/Kg1/cxd5(White can wait until the second move of histurn to get out of check) cxd5/Be6/Kg8 8 Qh5/
Kh2/a3 Qg5/h6/Kh8 9 Qxg5/g3/Kg2 hxg5/
Rd8/Kg8 10 Nxd5/gxh4/Kg3 gxh4+/Bxd5/
Kh7 11 Kxh4/Bxd5/b3 Rxd5/f6/Kh6 12 Nc3/
a4/Kg3 (White finally clears Black from d5,
gaining some potential pawn tempi) :rhwdwdwd
dpdwdw0w
wdwdw0wi
0wdrdwdw
Pdw)pdwddPHw)wIP
wdwGwdwd$wdwdRdw
12...Rg5+/f5/Kh5 (Black will use his king toblock the h-pawn) 13 Kf4/Nb5/d5?? (a curious
oversight) Kh4/Nd7/b6 and White suddenly

and unusually found that he could not create aking move.
The fact that almost all games end with aplayer unable to make a pawn move isarguably a weakness. Tony Gardner has
suggested that if part of a move is notplayable, it should be ignored.
Threesum Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). A
player may move up to three men per turnprovided that the sum of the squares moved
does not exceed three and the king is at notime left in check. A move by a knight counts
as two spaces, castling as one space. (Chess
Spectrum Newsletter)
Quest-Chess(Donald
Benge,
1975).
Developed from the inventor’s well-known
boardgame Conquest which has a similar
movement factor. Benge has organized anumber of Quest-Chess events including two
international problem solving tourneys, thesecond of which (1985) offered $4,500 orequivalent in prizes. The game has a small cultfollowing in the U.S.
Movement. Each player can make up to 10
moves a turn except at the start of a gamewhen White is restricted to five moves. A
player may pass his turn at any time after theﬁrst move. No man may be moved more thanonce in a turn except if a capture is declined,
after giving check, or to get out of check.
Castling is a king’s move, hence the rook may
be moved again in that turn. A promoted pawn
may move again as a piece in the same turn.
Captures. If a capture is made, the second
player may recapture at once, or decline to doso. The turn is then continued. If a capture ismade on the last move of a turn, a recapture
counts as the ﬁrst move of the second player’s
turn. The capturing man, if not recaptured,
may move again at any time in that turn.
If a player advances a pawn so that an en
passant capture is possible, the second player
may opt to capture, when the ﬁrst player’s turn
continues.
Checks. If a check is given, the second
player must immediately get out of check inthe usual way (capture/interpose/move K).
In a discovered check, it is the man moved
that earns the privilege. If the check is the last
move of a player’s turn, the second player
must get out of check on the ﬁrst move of his

28 Games using an ordinary board and men
turn. If the turn-player’s king is put in checkas a result of the second player getting out ofcheck, or recapturing or making an en passantcapture, the turn player must immediately getout of check, the move counting as part of histurn. (Nost-algia 183 and later)

1.5 One more move each time
[These games use what David called the ‘Progressive Principle’: White plays one move, Black
two, White three, and so on. Games commonly end by move seven or eight, which makes thesevariants ideal for correspondence play. The same principle has been applied to many variants.]
Progressive Chess, also known as Scottish or
Scotch Chess, and once known as Blitz Chessthough the use of this name today would
surely cause confusion. Although it isrelatively modern, its inventor is unknown.
The first recorded reference is by ZnoskoBorovsky in his column in the short-lived
French periodical Lectures pour Vous (3/1947)
where however he makes no mention of its
origins though Boyer (Les Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes) claimed that the master first saw it
played in Scotland (no date given: from theavailable evidence Ken Whyld suggested thismight have been in Dundee in 1939). An
appeal for information on the game in Scottish
Chess (January 1990) brought a response from
Hugh Courtney who recalled it being played inEngland in 1944 and that Gerald Abrahams
and Max Ellinger (‘a very strong player of thegame’) had been engaged in a long series ofgames which began around the start of WorldWar II. The most likely country of origin
would appear to be England, perhaps in thelate 1930s, and the term Scottish Chess may
therefore be a misnomer.
Rules:(1) White starts with one move; Black
plays two consecutive moves, either with thesame man or two different men; White thenplays three moves; and so on, the number ofmoves increasing by one each time the turnchanges.
(2) A player’s turn ends if he gives check,
regardless of how many moves he may havemade.
(3) A player may not expose his own kingto check at any time during his turn.
(4) A player whose king is in check must
get out of check with the ﬁrst move of his turn.
(5) A player who has no legal move or who
runs out of legal moves during his turn isstalemated and the game is drawn.
(6) An e.p. capture is admissible on the ﬁrst

move of a turn only. Any pawn that made a
two-step move during the previous turnsequence is liable to e.p. capture unless it has
been moved again or the square moved overhas been occupied.
Scores and probably hundreds ofProgressive Chess tournaments have been held
during the past fifty years. Masters havedisagreed on whether White or Black has theadvantage but practice would indicate thatWhite has a deﬁnite edge. Openings have been
researched, though nowhere near to the extent
of those in Italian Progressive Chess (seebelow); however, the great majority of lines
are valid for both versions. The commonest
opening moves, as in orthochess, are 1 e4 and
1 d4, with half-a-dozen other moves
considered to be perfectly playable. From theoutset, Black must defend the square f7 andthis largely dictates the choice of defences. A
problem that constantly presents itself is
whether to recover material lost or to assume
an aggressive stance, that is to accept shortterm loss for potential long-term gain. For
example, after 1 d4 2 d5, Nc6 3 Bf4, Bxc7,
Bxd8 Black can regain the Q with 4 Bf5,
Bxc2, Bxd1, Kxd8 or opt for developmentwith 4 Kxd8, e5, a5, Bb4+. However, queens
can create carnage and are rarely left long on
the board. Bishops are better than knights inthe early stages. An early advance of one orboth wing pawns, threatening the opponent’s
b/g pawns, is also favoured.
Post-opening strategy for both players canbe summarized thus. Firstly, look for a mate;
if none can be found, ensure that the opponent
cannot mate next turn. Secondly, aim todestroy the opponent’s most dangerous men
whilst maximizing the survival chances ofyour own by dispersal. Giving check on thelast move of a turn is sound strategy since it
effectively reduces the opponent’s sequence ofmoves by one. From White’s third turn

Two or more moves at a time 29
onwards, there is the ever-present risk of anunmoved pawn promoting. The king should begiven air - a king on the back rank is often at
risk. Double checks can be especially
dangerous. Under-promotion, taking a bishop
or rook because a queen would give check, is
not uncommon. In the ending, knights aremuch better than bishops because of theirability to reach any square. Inconvenient
opposing moves such as captures and pawn
advances can often be prevented or defused byplacing the king so that they will givepremature check - an isolated king in front of
three connected passed pawns stops all ofthem. However, putting the king in front of afriendly line piece, or a line piece behind theking, may be disastrous; the opponent may beable to put his own king further down thesame line, and then give a check forcing an
immediate discovered check in reply. Twogames in a 1996 e-mail tournament reported in
Variant Chess 45 started 1 d4 2 c5, cxd4 3 e4,e5, Na3 4 d5, Bg4, Bxd1, Kd7?? (Black had toprevent mate by e6 and Bxf7, but this wasn’t
the way to do it) 5 Kd2, Kd3, Kxd4, Kxd5,
e6+ and Black resigned :rhw1wgn40pdk0p0p
wdwdPdwd
dwdKdwdw
wdwdwdwd
Hwdwdwdw
P)Pdw)P)$wGbdBHR
Each of his possible replies would give checkand terminate his turn, and in every caseWhite would then have a mate in seven(indeed, in less).
Two instructive wins by Fred Galvin fromthe same tournament, showing how an expert
plays to force victory even when his opponent
does not help him by leaving a mate. WithWhite, 1 d4 2 c5, cxd4 3 e4, e5, f4 4 e6, d3,
dxc2, cxd1(Q)+ 5 Kxd1, f5, fxe6, e7,
exd8(Q)+ (no mates being available, bothsides play for material) 6 Kxd8, d6, dxe5, b5,
Kc7, Bg4+ 7 Be2, Bxg4, Bf3, Bxa8, Ke2,
Nc3, Nd5+ 8 Kd7, Nf6, Bb4, Rc8, Rxc1,
Rxa1, Nxd5, Nf4+ 9 Kf3, a3, axb4, b3, Ne2,

Nxf4, Nh3, Rxa1, Rxa7+ :Bhwdwdwd$wdkdp0p
wdwdwdwd
dpdw0wdww)wdwdwd
dPdwdKdN
wdwdwdP)dwdwdwdw
White’s king stops the advance of the e/f/g
pawns, and Black’s knight is too far away toclear a path for the b or h pawn. Black could
find nothing better than 10 Ke6, Kf5, Nc6,
Nxa7, Nc8, Nb6, Nxa8, Nb6, h6, e4+, and
11 Ke3, Nf2, Nxe4, Nc3, Na4, Nxb6, Na4,
Nc3, Ne2, Kf3, h3 left him helpless.
With Black, 1 d4 2 d5, e5 3 Bg5, Bxd8, Bh4
4 g5, gxh4, Nc6, Bb4+ 5 Qd2, Qxb4, dxe5,
Qxh4, Kd2 6 Nh6, Nf5, Nxh4, Bh3, Bxg2,
Bxh1, 7 e4, exd5, dxc6, cxb7, bxa8(B), Bxh1,
Na3 (promotion to Q would have given checkand ended White’s turn) 8 Rg8, Rxg1, Rxh1,
Rxf1, Rxa1, Rxa2, Rxa3, Rf3 :wdwdkdwd
0w0wdpdp
wdwdwdwddwdw)wdw
wdwdwdwh
dwdwdrdw
w)PIw)w)
dwdwdwdw
White’s pawns are now defused. Promotion to
Q or R will give check and terminate his turn,and neither B nor N will be able to do muchdamage. He actually played 9 b4, b5, b6, bxc7,
c8(N), Nxa7, Nc6, Nd4, Nxf3, but 10 f6, fxe5,
e4, exf3, Kd7, Kd6, Kd5, Nf5, h5, h4 left
Black’s pawns safe from attack (it will taketen of White’s eleven moves just to playKxf5), and after 11 Kc3, Kb4, Ka5, Kb6, Kc7,
Kd8, Ke8, Kf7, Kg6, Kxf5, Kf4 12 Kc4, Kc3,
Kxc2, Kd2, Ke2, Kxf2, Kg2, Kxh2, Kg2, h3,
h2, f2 White resigned.
Endings are expertly covered in Alessandro
Castelli’s monograph Scacchi Progressivi /30 Games using an ordinary board and men
Finali di Partita (1997). This formally relates
to Italian Progressive Chess as described
below, but the differences are easily
accommodated. K+Q v K is a win, but K+R v
K is only a draw unless the defending king isalready on the edge; K+B+N v K and K+2N v
K are wins for Black but not for White! For
example, if Black has K+2N against Ke7, hecan play to Kc7/Nd8/Nd7 and restrict his
opponent to the two squares e7 and e8,
White’s odd-length oscillation will leave him
on e8, and Black will be able to mate him next
move. If White tries to do the same, he findsthat Black’s even-length oscillation brings him
back to e7, and he can never make progress.
[Endgame paragraph revised. There is an
endgame summary in English in special
number 13 of British Endgame Study News.]
Derivatives of Progressive Chess. There
have been many derivatives of Progressive
Chess, the first being the most important.
Italian Progressive Chess (Roberto
Salvadori, 1971). The version adopted by
AISE, in which a player giving check before
the last move of his turn forfeits the game.
There is an additional rule, rarely invoked: thegame is a draw if during ﬁve turns by eachplayer there is neither a capture nor a pawn
move, unless a win can be demonstrated. The
importance of this version lies not in thenumber of its adherents but in the extent towhich it has been researched and theimpressive database of games (‘PRBASE’)
that has been assembled. In consequence,
Italian domination of Progressive Chess wasfor many years comparable to that of Soviet
domination of orthochess in times past. The
ﬁrst national championship was organized byArmando Silli in 1974, since when annual
championships attracted the top Italian players
like Braca, Dipilato, Leoncini, Magari, andothers. Apart from PRBASE there have been
several excellent publications on the game:
Manuale di Scacchi Eterodossi by Mario
Leoncini and Roberto Magari (1980), which islargely devoted to Progressive Chess in all its
aspects, Fondamenti di Scacchi Progressivi by
Giuseppe Dipilato and Mario Leoncini (1987),
primarily a compendium on the openings,
Scacchi Progressivi / La Partita di Donna /Parte I by Dipilato, Scacchi Progressivi /Matti Eccellenti by Alessandro Castelli, andScacchi Progressivi / Finali di Partita by
Castelli as mentioned above. Thousands ofﬁrst-class games were recorded by AISE,
which in 1991 listed over 400 active
tournament players. A count of some 7,000
games showed White winning 53%, Black
46% with 1% drawn.
A win by Steve Boniface from a postal
tournament played to Italian rules. 1 d4 2 c5,
cxd4 3 e4, e5, Na3 4 e6, Qg5, Qxc1, Qxd1+
5 Rxd1, Rxd4, Bb5, Rc4, Rxc8+ 6 Ke7, Nc6,
Rxc8, Nd4, Nxb5, Nxa3 7 c4, Kd2, Kc3, Kb4,
Nf3, Rd1, Rxd7 :

wdrdwgn4
0pdRip0p
wdwdpdwddwdw)wdw
wIPdwdwd
hwdwdNdw
P)wdw)P)
dwdwdwdw
Under Italian rules, this is mate, because
Black’s apparent escape moves ...Kxd7 and...Ke8 give check and so are forbidden.
[The so-called ‘Italian mate’ exemplified
here has always been controversial, but David
was one of several strong players who foundItalian rules congenial, perhaps because they
allowed the production of spectacular forcehim-to-check finishes without the need toverify the mopping-up lines that have tofollow under traditional rules. That said, only
a minority of ‘Italian Progressive’ games
appear to have ended in a mate of this kind,and only occasionally might the eventual
result have been different under traditionalrules; each of the five examples in the firstedition would have allowed the winner an
ordinary mate next turn had play continued, as
would 15 of 17 further examples that appeared
in issues 1-51 of Variant Chess (the above wasone of the two exceptions). Whether Italianrules will long survive the demise of AISE
remains to be seen. For present purposes,
I have put into the main ‘Progressive Chess’
entry everything which applies both to the
traditional and to the Italian game, and haverestricted the ‘Italian Progressive’ entry to thatwhich is peculiar to it.]

Two or more moves at a time 31
EnglishProgressive
Chess
(John
McCallion, before 1980). Adopted andcodiﬁed by NOST. No man may be moved
twice in a turn until every mobile man has
been moved once; similarly every man mustmove twice before any man moves threetimes, and so on. Check ends a player’s turn.
Castling counts as one move but both pieces
are credited as having moved; and a pawn thatis promoted cannot then be classed as a pieceand moved again within the same series. The
game is drawn if a player is unable tocomplete his turn and it is permissible to block
one’s own men in order to do so, or to earn
extra turns for other men. Random captures ofpawns are almost always inadvisable since thefewer men a player possesses, the more multimoves he will dispose, and a piece that canmove again in the same turn is doubly
dangerous. A weakness of this version is thatin the later stages of a game both players may
be obliged to make pointless moves in order tosatisfy the rules; against this, the game iscloser to orthochess than traditional
Progressive Chess, and arguably more
complex. (Nost-algia 282 and later,
Eteroscacco 49 and later)
Scottish Modern Chess (Bruce Trone, c.
1970). As Progressive Chess, but a sequence isterminated prematurely if (1) check is given or(2) a man is moved to a square attacked byan enemy man. It is (2) which gives the gameits distinctive form. A piece can crossguarded squares and a move which exposes a
man to attack from an enemy piece does not
end the turn. There are a few ancillary rules:
a king must escape check on the first move ofa turn and the player cannot expose his
own king to check at any time; also no e.p.
(Nost-algia 151 and later, Eteroscacco 49 andlater)
Bank of Scotland (Bruce Trone, 1976).
Every check a player gives earns an extra
move for that player on all subsequent turns.
A check ends a turn and must be parried atonce. The ﬁrst player to check usually getsan overwhelming advantage regardless ofmaterial sacrificed to achieve it. Anotherversion of the game, Modern Branch(the above is Main Branch), is less violent;
it requires that the player ends his turn on
moving to a square attacked by an opposing
man as well as on a check. (Nost-algia 192)

Very Scottish Chess (Ralph Betza, 1977).
As Progressive Chess except that each player
is accorded one move more than the opponent
made on his previous move (instead of one
more than he was entitled to). The game
affords a defensive strategy of stopping shortof one’s entitlement in order to keep down thenumber of moves permitted to the opponent.
Deserving of analysis. (Nost-algia 205)
Fibonacci Chess (David Bradley andothers, 1980s). As Progressive Chess exept
that the number of moves each player has on aturn is determined by the Fibonacci sequence(1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ...). Against sound play it
appears that Black’s chances are negligible.
(Pickover, Mazes for the Mind)
Switchback Chess (Alessandro Castelli,1992). As Italian Progressive Chess exceptthat a check reduces the number of defender’smoves to one less than that of the checking
player. The first player to check would seemto have a big advantage. (Eteroscacco 58)
Slow Progressive Chess. As Italian
Progressive except that moves increase by 1
every fourth turn. (Eteroscacco 58/66)
Capturing Progressive Chess (Michael
Keller, 1992). Play starts as orthochess. Whena capture is made, the opponent has twoconsecutive moves. If either or both of these isa capture, the ﬁrst player has three moves, andso on. If neither is a capture, the game reverts
to orthochess. (Personal correspondence)
Logical Progressive Chess (Paul Byway,1995). As Progressive Chess, but no pawn-two
or castling. The inventor argues that theserules were intended to speed up orthochessand are superfluous in the fast-moving
Progressive Chess. (Variant Chess 25)
Progressive Forwards Chess (Hans
Bodlaender, date unclear). As Italian
Progressive except that pieces may not movebackwards. Sideways movement (K, Q, R)
only to capture or if immediately followed bya forward move. Self-stalemate is a win.
(Chess Variant Pages)
A number of other Progressive Chessvariants have been tried but none has been
widely practised. In one, each side has one
move, then each side has two moves, and soon, a variant that greatly favours White. In
another, a player is not considered to becheckmated until the last move of his turn(i.e., he can get out of check at any time

32 Games using an ordinary board and men
during his turn), which considerably prolongs
the average game (Silverman, Your Move).
Vladimir Pribylinec recommends that no man
may move more than twice in a series, which
effectively removes the threat of a massacre
and in particular of instant pawn promotion.

Roberto Cassano has suggested that movecycles are limited to n moves, where n is anagreed even number. Thus White makes one
move, Black 2 moves, White 3 moves ... Blackn moves, when the cycle is restarted. He calls
the game Progressive Cyclical Chess.

1.6 Every man can move
Battle Chess [Ratushny]. Origins unknown;quoted in a letter by Russell Chauvenet(Chess, January 1944). Each player can, but is
not obliged to, move every pawn and piece
once in a turn. Multiple checks are possible.
Tense play, with White holding a considerable
advantage. (Gik, Schach und Mathematik)
Omni-Chess [Fireman and Gorga](Richard Fireman and Bob Gorga, 1979). Each
player can move any number of his men once
each on a turn. Castling counts as both K and
R moves. Multiple checks are possible. A
player need only escape check at the end of aturn. A rule that a player must escape check on
the ﬁrst move of a turn was later introduced.
The variant has been played by a number ofmasters. (Personal communication)

Swarm Chess (Ralph Betza, 1980). On a
player’s turn, every man that can move is
obliged to do so (there is no penalty if a man
cannot move). Moves can be played in any
order. The opposing king can be captured aswell as checkmated. A player, whose kingmay be subject to a number of checks, must
get out of check on the ﬁrst move of a turn.
Castling is a king move. (Nost-algia 248)
Hurricane Chess (Harold Bohn, 1994).
Every man may be moved once on a turn. A
check ends the turn and a player in check must
get out of check with the first move of turn.
Castling is K+R move. (Variant Chess 15)
All these games would seem to give Whitea substantial advantage, which could be offset
by limiting his moves on his first turn.

1.7 Other kinds of multiple movement
Sputnik Chess (J. Berthoumeau and R.
Loiseau, 1950s). A rook, bishop or knight
within the opponent’s half of the board is asputnik. King, queen and pawns are notaffected. A player on turn may move any, allor none of his sputniks in their usual manner
before making a normal move, the latter being
compulsory. A lively game according toBoyer, with emphasis on attack. (Nouveaux
Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants)
Realm Chess (Edward Jackman, 1995, basedon the strategy board game of the same name).
The board is divided into sixteen 2x2 realms.
Player on turn may opt for concentration,
dispersal (both with normal chess moves),
rearrangement, or a standard chess move.
Concentration allows the move of up to four
friendly men into same realm. Dispersal may
move up to four friendly men out of a single
realm. Rearrangement allows the player toreposition any or all the friendly men within asingle realm, without regard to normal chessmoves. Moves in any of these are consideredsimultaneous so a king can be checked bymore than one piece. A man can only be
captured with a normal move. Aim ischeckmate. Power Realm Chess is the same
except that Concentration, Dispersal andRearrangement may be combined provided
that a single realm is involved. Free Realm
Chess is as Realm Chess except that a realm isany 2x2 square (so there are 49 overlapping
realms instead of the 16 distinct realms of theparent game). (Nost-algia 351)
Kazan Chess (origins unclear). When a man
moves, a friendly man that can move to thevacated square does so, and so on. If morethan one man can be moved to a square thepriority is in the sequence PNBRQK with theplayer choosing between equals. No man may
move more than once in a turn. Problem
theme; a better game would be to make thesequence and piece selection optional.
(Variant Chess 49)

Chapter 2
Games with concealed information[In a normal game of chess, a player knows his opponent’s position at all times. This chapter
considers games where a player must move in partial or complete ignorance of what he is facing.
There are two general classes: a player can see only his own men and he relies on an umpire to
give him limited information about his opponent’s (for example, to tell him whether a particularmove is legal), or he can see the positions of his opponent’s men but does not know theiridentities. The generic game of the first kind is ‘Kriegspiel’, though this term is also used for aclass of table-top war games which we shall discuss briefly in the Appendix. Games in which
the players set up their men secretly but then bring them together for normal open play are
considered in the chapter on games with unorthodox initial arrays.]
2.1 Games with an umpire, both sides blind
Kriegspiel, also known as Screen Chess,
War-Chess [Kriegspiel], and Commando
Chess (Michael Henry Temple, 1899).
Amongst the best-known and most popular of
all variants. At the outset of the Boer War,members of the Knight Lights Club (who werealso interested in acrostics, hence the name) at
the Cock Tavern in Fleet Street, proposed
playing a war game, whereon Temple
suggested that this could be done with thechessmen, and Kriegspiel was born (Chess
Amateur 1906). (The watering-hole was afavourite haunt of the Press: ‘...the Cock I
used to know, where all good fellows were myfriends a little while ago.’) The first battles of
the Boer War did not take place until October
1899; claims that the game was invented
earlier have not been substantiated. What iscertain is that its popularity was immediate.
Kriegspiel was played at the Anniversary
meeting of the Ladies’ Chess Club (1902) andthe following year the BCM reported the game
being played blindfold. A booklet, Kriegspiel,or War Chess by H. Cayley, was published(1905) and when the Chess Amateur was
launched (1906) early issues contained aregular Kriegspiel column. In 1907, a
Kriegspiel tournament at Maidstone was won
by A. C. Waterman (who incidentally ﬁrst
introduced Snakes & Ladders into the U.K.
and was involved in a legal battle over therights to a strategy game, Reversi, popular tothis day as Othello). During World War I thegame was brieﬂy renamed War-Chess(sometimes Screen Chess) in reaction to its
Teutonic title. A War-Chess club opened in
Fleet Street. The Yearbook of Chess (1913 and1915/6) published major articles and theSchweizerische Schachzeitung devoted thewhole of its December 1914 issue to the game.
In 1915 the Daily Mail reported that ‘the gamehas ... captured the chess clubs, humbled the
pride of some of the cleverest chess players,and has started upon a devastating career inthe suburbs’. Many famous players dabbled in
the game. Lasker and Marshall suffered at thehands of the experts amongst whom was
Kashdan. A regular Kriegspiel circle formed at
the Gambit Chess Rooms, London, never todisband until the café closed its doors in the
1950s. The habitués developed a language of
their own, akin to that of the Bingo halls; thus
‘He’s in your angle near the door’ meant acapture on a8. Regular championships were
held at the Gambit, that of 1925 attracting
many leading players. It was won by A. Felber
who had also won the previous year. Big
matches were held at the National Chess
Centre before it was destroyed in 1940. The
decline in popularity of the game in later years
can be attributed largely to the great rise incompetitive chess but also, in the view of Eric
Croker, to the demise of folding chessboards,
which commonly served as the necessary
screens.
The original rules of the game at the KnightLights Club, framed largely by W. Ward, havebeen republished, differing only in details,

34 Games using an ordinary board and men
uncounted times and in many languages. A
sound exposition, which includes other aspectsof the game, is in Games and Puzzles 50.
Kriegspiel requires two players, an umpire andthree sets. The boards are normally placed in aline, pieces of one colour on the same side,with two screens to divide the boards. The
players sit at the outside boards, one with thewhite pieces, the other with the black, with theumpire, usually on the white side, at the
middle board. The players only see their own
boards; the umpire monitors all three. The
principle of the game is that each player
moves normally but is not told the opponent’s
moves which he attempts to discover throughjudicious play. Each player may do as hepleases with the opponent’s men on his own
board. The umpire approves the players’
moves, provides information as required by
the rules, and maintains the actual game on his
own board. It is often the umpire andspectators, appreciating the absurdities of
position and play, who derive most pleasurefrom the game.
White starts and makes a move. The umpire
repeats the move on his board and announces‘White has played’, often abbreviated to‘Played’. (All the umpire’s announcements
must be audible to both players.) The sameprocedure is repeated for Black. White may
now ask ‘Any pawn captures?’, abbreviated to‘Any?’ and the umpire must reply ‘No’, or‘Try’ (short for ‘You may try’), implying that
there is a pawn capture. In the latter event,White must make at least one attempt at apawn capture but may also go on trying until acapture is effected. If either side attempts anillegal move the umpire announces ‘No’.
A legal move, once made, is binding.
(The player does not normally let go of thepiece until the umpire announces that he has
moved.) For example, after 1 e4 d5 Whitemight ask ‘Any?’ In response to ‘Try’ hemight attempt exf5. The answer is ‘No’ soWhite knows that Black opened 1 ...d5. White
would be wise to make this move on his own
board to try to keep control of the position.
Suppose White decides to move and not tocapture. Black now asks ‘Any?’. If the reply is‘No’ he will know that White has a pawn on
either c5 or e5 so he may try c5. The umpire
announces ‘Played’ and Black then knows
there is a white pawn at e5. Castling and pawn

promotion are treated like ordinary moves but
in the case of promotion the player must
indicate to the umpire which piece the pawn isbeing promoted to. Captures are announced byindicating the square on which a capture ismade but not the identity of either man; thus
‘White has played and captured on f7’. Blackmust remove the man he has on this square.
Checks are announced according to thedirection(s) of attack but not the square(s)occupied by the attacking piece(s). Directions
are indicated as on the rank, on the ﬁle, on the
short diagonal, on the long diagonal, or by aknight. The diagonal is determined by the
position of the king: in the initial array,
White’s long diagonal is e1-a5 and the shortdiagonal e1-h4. An optional rule requires theumpire to say ‘Impossible’ or ‘Nonsense’ if aplayer deliberately attempts to deceive his
opponent (for example, by asking ‘Any?’when he has no pawns left). Another optional
rule requires an e.p. capture to be announced
as such.
It was the practice under the original rules
to denote the man captured (in one version,
only a queen capture was identified). Also, aplayer eliciting ‘Try’ in response to ‘Any?’
was obliged to make the pawn capture.
Another version required that ‘Any?’ was acompulsory precedent to a pawn capture otherthan an immediate recapture. An American
version (Chess, March 1953) had threechanges: the umpire said whether a capture
was of a piece or a pawn; the square on whicha pawn capture could be made was indicated;
and, most importantly, a player could at any
time ask the umpire to reveal the number ofpawns and the number of pieces the opponent
had remaining. Many players considered theserules debased the game by giving too muchaway. At the other extreme, in Discreet
Kriegspiel (Jacques Rotenberg, Feenschach1981), no information on pawn captures isgiven, nor does the umpire announce check,the game being won by capturing the
opponent’s king.
First impressions might suggest that bothplayers are moving blindly with chance
dictating events. This is often the case with
beginners, but in fact the game is highly
skilful and it is possible to minimise theeffects of surprise by taking simple
precautions. The chance factor is reduced by

Games with concealed information 35
collecting information on the opponent’s
position. This is done by attempting moves
that are likely to be disallowed; for example,
Ra1 attempts Ra8 (‘No’), Ra7 (‘No’) and backto Ra3 (‘No’) establishing the existence of ahostile man on a2. Although it is usually
impossible to interpret a middle-game position
with any degree of accuracy, experienced
players have an uncanny knack of arriving at
the approximate if not precise position in theending. It is essential to maintain a propercount of the opponent’s forces: pawns have anasty habit of slipping by to promotion.
The cardinal rule is to remove an enemy man- any man - from one’s board every time acapture is made. Here, and earlier in the game,the king can prove a useful decoy since acheck gives information about the enemy.
For example, a king can prevent theundetected advance of a pawn over threeadjacent ﬁles, whilst a king on h1 and a rook,say on a1, can be used to snare a central pawn
whose position is unknown. If the pawn
promotes to queen or rook, announcing checkon the rank, it will fall to the waiting rook.
For this reason, underpromotion is notuncommon.
Bizarre opening play is the rule in
Kriegspiel. Pawns are used to guard squares
against incursions so that on a hostile advancethe question ‘Any?’ will elicit a gratifying‘Try’. It is legitimate to attempt pawn captures
without asking ‘Any?’, the object being todeceive the opponent into believing, in theevent of a capture, that it was made by a piece.
A player in check may attempt any plausible
capture. Example: WKa1, Bg2. White ischecked on the ﬁle. First try Kxa2, and if thatfails, Bxa8. A sensible precaution is to movethe queen early. An open line can be
dangerous: 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Bg4 and a hasty movehere will lose the queen. More subtle is 1 e4
d5 2 exd5 g5. White observes that Black does
not recapture and suspects Bg4, so counterswith 3 Qg4 but is disappointed when theumpire does not announce a capture. Now
Black tries g4 and when the umpire says ‘No’
plays Bxg4. If the bishop is not recaptured, hewill know he caught White’s queen and not
the g-pawn. This idea of enticing the opponent
to make an imaginary capture and thenstriking is a common device. Anotherexample: White is told ‘No’ by the umpire,move after move, and Black suspects aﬁanchettoed bishop hopefully trying for Bxh8.
So Black moves the rook and advances the gpawn. If the umpire now says ‘Played’ insteadof ‘No’ to White’s move, Black can chance
Rh8 hoping to catch the bishop.
Kriegspiel endings have received attention
and are much more difﬁcult than those inorthochess. Even basic king and pawn endings
can lead into deep water. Suppose White has
Ke5+Pe6 against a bare K :wdwdwdwd
dwdwiwdw
wdwdPdwd
dwdwIwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
He tries say Kd6, and on receiving ‘No’ hetempos with Kd5 ready to try again. Blackroutinely tries Ke6, Kd7, and Kf7, and on
getting ‘No’ every time realises that he must
retreat. Suppose first that he plays thenormally drawing move Ke8. White plays Kd6
as intended; Black must guess between Kd8
and Kf8, with an even chance of getting it
wrong; White tries Kd7, and if ‘No’ he can goback and try again. But will he do any better
next time? Suppose Black plays the normallybad move Kd8 or Kf8 instead of Ke8. White
still plays Kd6, but now Black can play Ke8
and White’s probing Kd7 will always get‘No’; he can indeed go back and try again, but
the same thing will happen again, and thenormally bad defence seems suddenly to havebecome a good one. To make progress against
this defence, White must sooner or later playPe7 instead of retreating and trying again, andif Black has chosen this moment to revert tothe normally drawing retreat Ke8 White findsthat he has thrown away the win. White canmake the probability of failure as small as helikes, but he can never reduce it to zero, andunder the realistic practical rule that a gamestill unfinished after a given number ofrepetitions is abandoned as drawn Black canplay to have a perceptible chance of survival(Variant Chess 53).

36 Games using an ordinary board and men
Once the pawn has promoted, K+Q v K is
straightforward. K+R v K is not, but the win
had been recognised by 1914 and a complete
analysis by H. A. Adamson was published in
the Chess Amateur in 1923. K+2B v K isnormally won and has been claimed as always
won, but Thomas Ferguson has pointed outthat if all White’s men are within the central
16 squares his first move outside this region
must risk dropping a bishop or giving
stalemate; as with K+P v K, the attacker
cannot guarantee to win though he can play so
as to make the probability of failure as small
as he likes (Variant Chess 49). K+B+N v K
was claimed as a win by a Los Angeles teamin 1926 (Chess Amateur), but their analysis
appears never to have been never publishedand its validity has been questioned; a reexamination in 2005 of what appeared to be
the key positions concluded that the claim wasin fact justified (Variant Chess 49). Problems
offer a rich and largely unexploited ﬁeld.
[Treatment of endings revised. The rules ofKriegspiel, more than those of any other formof chess, seem to have spawned local andregional differences, and at meetings ofproblemists in France I have always played toa rule whereby the umpire automaticallyannounces after each move whether a pawn
capture is possible. David had apparently notencountered this, but the wording of the‘Scotch Kriegspiel’ pamphlet referred to in thenext paragraph suggests that Fred Galvin andhis friends in Minneapolis and St Paul had
adopted something similar in the 1960s.
Thomas Ferguson has told me that West
Coast Kriegspiel circles in America haveabandoned the ‘50-move’ rule, any situation inwhich a player can guarantee to win with aprobability exceeding any given p less than 1
being declared a win for him. On the face of it,
this would appear to be practicable only
among sophisticated mathematicians capableof doing or at least of understanding theanalysis, but perhaps some trusted person has
drawn up a list. Apparently the Japanese Go
Association has adopted a similar approach,declaring what the values of certain positions
are so that the endgame does not need to beplayed out.]
There are a number of Kriegspiel variantsof which perhaps the most rewardingis Progressive Kriegspiel, also known as
Scotch Kriegspiel (Fred Galvin, Don Neff,and Jim Seifert, 1962). This is Kriegspiel
played to Progressive Chess rules. After eachsuccessful move (not just at the end of theturn), the umpire announces checks, captures,and the possibility of a capture by a pawn,
and a check ends the turn. Faster than theparent game, and arguably more interesting.
(Nost-algia 232, Variant Chess 47) [Textrevised to take account of a document ‘Scotch
Kriegspiel’ in the library of the British Chess
Variants Society]
Partnership
KriegspielisregularKriegspiel but each player has an advisor who
can see all three boards. A player whose turnit is to move can ask for ‘any instructions’.
The advisor can only answer ‘Caution’, ‘Go
on’, or ‘No instructions’, but tone of voice andinﬂexion can convey plenty. Twice during thegame an advisor may, after due warning, makea move on the player’s board though not togive checkmate. Apparently much played at
Liverpool C. C. in the 1950s. (Personalcommunication)
Nommenspiel. Kriegspiel variant in which
the umpire announces the square to which aplayer moves but not the man moved.
Captures and checks are not announced: thegame is won by taking the king. A player
whose man is on a square occupied by the
opponent must remove it from the board. The
opponent will not be aware of the capture.
Played in Canada 1969-70. (Nost-algia 232)
Take-Back Kriegspiel (Ed Pegg, 1988).
Orthodox Kriegspiel in which a player may
take back a move that leaves a piece subject toa pawn capture. ‘In Take-Back’, claims theinventor, ‘pawn captures are not rude
surprises’. The theory is that development ofpieces is consequently more aggressive. (Nostalgia 312)
Modern Kriegspiel (Bruce R. Trone,1986). Normal Kriegspiel except that, on
every turn, a player names seven squares theoccupants of which the umpire must detail.
(World Game Review 10)
Spy Chess [Kriegspiel] (originator
unrecorded). A Kriegspiel variant in which theumpire tells a player who moves a knight theidentities, but not the locations, of enemy men
adjacent to it. The information may prove ofgreater value to the opponent. Alternatively,

Games with concealed information 37
the information can be passed in writing.
(Supplement to World Game Review)Darkness Chess (Torben Osted and Jens
Nielsen, 1990). Kriegspiel with a touch of
realism. After each move the occupants of all
squares that the player’s men can ‘see’ (attack,and, in the case of a P, move to) are passed by
the umpire. For example, after 1 Nh3 d6 Black
is told of the Nh3 as the B can ‘see’ it. No
pawn-two or e.p. but castling permitted.
Checks are not announced; win by capturing
K. (Eteroscacco 60) [Games requiring
information as detailed as this are perhaps
most conveniently played with a computer as
umpire, and a similar variant, Dark Chess(Filip Rachunek, 2002), has proved very
popular on the Internet.]
Tripod Chess (Jed Stone, 2000). A versionof Kriegspiel designed for postal play. A
player moves three men at each turn, andsends them to the umpire. The umpire theninforms his opponent which moves of his own
previous turn were successful, which kinds ofmen his opponent has just moved, whether
there have been any checks or captures byeither side, and which if any squares directlyor diagonally in front of his pawns ororthogonally or diagonally adjacent to hisknights are occupied. Special rules: a pawn
may not capture a knight; a pawn may ‘fieldpromote’ to a knight at any time, thispromotion replacing a normal move; no player
may have more than three knights at a time.
(Originator’s rules pamphlet) [Text editorial]
There are also Kriegspiel variants in whicheven the opponent’s initial configuration is
unknown. This would seem to be a naturaldevelopment from ordinary Kriegspiel, but infact only four games of this kind appear tohave been developed and all had the same
originator. We may note the spelling with adouble ‘s’.
Welbeck Kriegsspiel (Hubert Phillips,
1917). Invented under canvas at Welbeck Parkin 1917 and described as a ‘universal
favourite’. Philips claimed to have played or
umpired hundreds of games over a period of
40 years. As in Kriegspiel, three boards andsets are required, one for each player and one
for the umpire. Each player deploys his forceson the first four ranks of a board unseen by the
opponent. There is only one rule: the bishops

must be on opposite-coloured squares. Pawns
may be entered on the first rank. When bothsides are ready the umpire sets up the position
on his board and announces the squares on
which the kings stand (if either king is incheck it must be repositioned). Hereafter
normal Kriegspiel rules apply. Pawns advance
one square at a time only. (Indoor Games for
Two)
Assassin Kriegsspiel (Hubert Phillips,
1930s?) The umpire must be armed with slipsof paper marked with a 3x3 grid. Preliminaries
and play as for Welbeck Krigesspiel with two
exceptions: (1) only the queen, known as theassassin, can mate the opposing king, and (2)knights are spies which cannot capture or give
check. A player who delivers mate other thanwith an assassin loses the game. If bothassassins are captured, the game is declared adraw, which suggests that pawns cannot
promote to assassins (there is nothing in therules about pawn promotion). When a spy
moves to a vacant square, the umpire passes tothe player a 3x3 grid indicating the position
and identity of all enemy men on adjacentsquares. The umpire must do this discreetly sothat the player’s opponent is not aware that a
spy has moved. Kings can adopt adventurous
roles, hoping to trigger an accidental mate;conversely, assassins must be protected until
the enemy king has been cornered. Spies canbe captured like other pieces so need to tread
warily. (Indoor Games for Two)
Mafeking Kriegsspiel (Hubert Phillips,
1961). Again as Welbeck Kriegsspiel exceptthat knights are Scouts. Scouts behave as
ordinary knights but gather information eachturn whether they move or not. The umpire
requires a supply of 5x5 grids for this purpose.
He ﬁlls in a grid and passes it to the player
revealing which enemy men are within range
and their locations relative to the scout.
(This is time-consuming: it is suggested thatan unmoved scout has no access tointelligence even though the umpire, in
preparing and passing the grid, would betraythe fact that a scout had moved.) (Indoor
Games for Two)
Quantum Kriegsspiel (Hubert Phillips,
c.1920). Each player has a king whose
position is known to the adversary at theoutset but who otherwise selects his forces anddeploys them secretly in his own half of the38 Games using an ordinary board and men
board. Pieces are valued, and each player
disposes of 40 points. The point values are
Q=9, R=5, N=4, B=3, P=1 (notice that aknight is prized above a bishop). The only
restriction is that a player may not have morethan 12 pawns. Two published games show

widely divergent forces: in one game, 7knights and 12 pawns lost to a queen, 2 rooks,
3 knights and 9 pawns, and in the other 3queens, 2 knights and 5 pawns crushed 3
rooks, 5 bishops (all on white squares) and 10
pawns. (Indoor Games for Two)

2.2 Games with an umpire, one side only blind
One-Eye and Pickle Pot (attributed to E. N.
Frankenstein, 1903). One player plays
Kriegspiel; the other plays normally but cedes
the queen (One-Eye) or both rooks (Pickle
Pot) together with both knights and one bishop(he must state which). (British Chess
Magazine, September 1903) [The sourcesays only ‘Mr’ Frankenstein; identification
with the problemist E. N. Frankenstein is
editorial.]
Semi-Kriegspiel (David Silverman, 1971).
White pieces are set up normally: Black has

only king and queen which he may place on
any legal squares. White, moving first, plays
blind while Black shares the master board withthe umpire who advises White whenever hemakes an illegal move or when check is given
or a capture made by either side. Direction ofchecks and potential pawn captures are notannounced. Clearly White is impregnable if heelects to move a knight back and forth.
His main danger is giving stalemate whichcounts as a moral victory for Black. (YourMove)

2.3 Games without an umpire
Declaration Chess (Stasch Mlotkowski,1917). White opens normally. Black conceals(writes down) his reply. White now either
conceals his second move or looks at Black’s
move. If he conceals, White then looks at
Black’s move and plays it on the board.
If White’s concealed move gives check hemust now play it openly when Black replies
openly. If it is illegal, he must declare it andopenly move the same man but not to capture
or give check (but can discover check). If theman cannot move legally, White must movehis king but again not to capture. If the K
cannot move, the opponent chooses the man to
be moved without further restriction.
Play continues in this fashion. If a player
exercises the privilege to see the opponent’s
last move he must reply openly and either
capture or give check or, failing either, movehis king.
If he can do none of these theopponent chooses the man to be moved. When
16 or fewer men remain, either player,
immediately on concealing a move, may
declare an open game. The non-declarer
conceals a move in reply or exercises his
option to see opponent’s move subject to therestriction above. Thereafter all moves are
made openly. (British Chess Magazine,
October 1917)

Liar Chess [Cleaton-Solomon] (Terry
Cleaton, 1970, developed by Eric Solomon).
In addition to the normal chessmen, 32 covers
are needed, each capable of concealing thelargest of the men. The covers have ordinarychess symbols on the front (the side facing the
opponent), and have openings to the rear sothat a player can see his own men. At the startof the game, each player sets up his covers sothat the symbols conform to the normal chessarray, and then secretly puts his men underthem without regard to the symbols thereon.
A covered man, together with its cover, may
be moved in the manner of any chessman. The
move may correspond with the symbol shownon the cover, or the man beneath it, or both, orneither. Subsequently the man may be moved
like a different chessman. The object is tocapture the opponent’s king. Checks are notannounced, and there is no castling.
After any move by a covered man, theopponent may issue a Challenge. The man
moved is now uncovered. If the challenge isvindicated (the move just made was illegal forthe hidden man), the man is put back on thesquare it came from, still without its cover,and the turn passes to the challenger. If thechallenge fails (the move just made was legal),the move stands, the challenger loses his turn,Games with concealed information 39
and the player who has just moved moves
again. In either case, the man uncovered
henceforward moves normally. A challenge
can only relate to the move just made; any
previous illegal moves which passed
unchallenged are ignored.
A player intending a capture by a covered
man must announce his intention and allow his
opponent to challenge. If there is no challenge,or the challenge fails, the player makes thecapture. A player who captures a covered man
may examine what he has captured.
An uncovered pawn promotes in the normal
way. A covered man that reaches the backrank may be announced as a pawn. If there is
no challenge, the player removes the man
without revealing it and replaces it with apiece of paper, still under cover, on which thename of the promoted piece is written. If thechallenge fails, the same procedure isfollowed. A king may not promote.
The only function of the symbols on the
covers is as a prop to memory, to keep track ofwhat is moved where. The game is largely oneof bluff but several fundamental chess tenets(control of centre, pieces guarded) are valid.
Over-protecting the king may only serve toreveal its whereabouts. Advancing a pawn as arook to the seventh rank as a prelude topromotion is one of several tactical ploys.

The game was first played using toilet rollcores as covers, and was originally named
accordingly. (Personal communication) [Textpartly editorial]
Ghostrider Chess (Ralph Betza, 1978).
Knights are invisible and are called
Ghostriders. When a G is moved this isannounced, also a check, but not the square
moved to unless a capture is made. Pieces of
either side may pass over squares occupied byGs, even to castle. A G is captured in the same
way as other men and the owner must concede
the capture. The location of a G may berevealed at any time, the purpose being to stop
the opponent moving through that square.
Gs do not capture each other unless one player
announces the square that they both occupy.
A player in check from a G may attempt tocapture it but a failed attempt loses the game.
(Nost-algia 216)
Special Move Chess (quoted by Stephen
Addison, 1983). Players write secretly thename of one of their pieces on a piece of
paper. They then agree on a ‘special move’.
At any time during play a player may on turnreveal the name of his piece and make thespecial move with it. (100 Other Games toPlay on a Chessboard)Chapter 3
Unorthodox ways of capturing[In normal chess, capture is by displacement (a piece captures by moving to its victim’s square,
and any man can capture any other regardless of rank). This chapter considers various otherways of capturing or immobilizing men. Some further ways of removing men from the board
will be found in the chapter on transporting and in the miscellaneous chapter, while thereintroduction of captured men is considered in the chapter on introducing men during play.]
3.1 Capture by attacking
Rifle Chess, also known as Shoot Chess andShooting Chess (W. B. Seabrook, 1921,
though the Oxford Companion to Chess
reports that similar capturing methods had
been tried early in the 19th century in an
Italian version of Kriegsspiel). Seabrookobserved that when chess was invented in
imitation of warfare, hand-to-hand fighting
was the norm. With the introduction of
firearms, warfare underwent a radical change:
the opponent was now hit from a distance, thestriker remaining stationary. Rifle Chessreflects this change. Displacement capture isdispensed with. Instead, where such a capture
is legal, the attacker ‘shoots’ the victim but
does not itself move (the king can be said tobe assassinated rather than mated). The gameis usually played with the additional rule that
captures are obligatory with the player free tochoose between alternatives. The reason forthis rule is that the line pieces (and particularly
the queen) are too powerful without it. F. J.
Marshall found Rifle Chess problems‘remarkable’ (Fairy Chess Review, August1947). The variant was a favourite of anothermaster, C. H. O’D. Alexander, who gave thefollowing example of opening play: 1 e4 e5
2 b3 Nf6 3 Bb5 xe4 (compulsory) 4 xd7+ Ke7
5 Ba3+ Ke6 6 xf8 xd2 7 xd8 and White’s
position is overwhelming. An instant disasterfor White would be 1 d4 e5! 2 xe5 Bb4+ and
now White must give up the Q to let the K
escape to d1. Traditionalists may find comfort
in the fact that Seabrook wrote a book basedon his personal experiences called Asylum.
There have been several extensions of Rifle
Chess. In Missile Chess (R. Wayne

Schmittberger, date unclear) a man can only
fire once. A counter or draughtsman is placed
under each man to represent a missile, andinstead of moving the man can ﬁre its missile
to a square to which it could otherwise move.
Once a missile has been ﬁred the counter isforfeited and that man cannot ﬁre again.
Men may also move and capture normallywhether or not they have used their missiles,
thus one tactic is to exchange men without
missiles for those with missiles. The inventor
proposes a number of variations: vary the
number of missiles by type of piece; allow
each player to allocate missiles as he sees ﬁt(there would have to be restrictions on thequeen); and give pieces both missiles andshields. A shield negates a missile attack but is
destroyed by it (personal communication
including a cutting from an unidentified
source). In Machine-Gun Chess (J. E. H.
Creed, 1941), every man attacked on bothsides is removed simultaneously; thus pieces
under mutual attack are both removed.
The king is taken like any other piece.
Screened pieces are not affected. Once a
clearance has been made, further attacks may
be revealed when these too are resolved, andso on. The object is to annihilate theopposition. Created as a problem theme (Fairy
Chess Review, December 1941) but play ispossible. John Bosley fostered a progressive
version of the game. In Autorifle Chess(Ralph Betza after Bill Rawlings, 1977) there
is no obligation to capture, but if a capture ismade all possible captures must be made withthat piece (Nost-algia 211). The player can
decide in which direction to shoot first, butmust then continue to shoot along that line asUnorthodox ways of capturing 41
long as there are targets before changing
direction of fire. Both pieces are removed in
the event of a mutual attack. K, N, P haveadditional powers: they may continue to shootalong the same line provided there is no gap in
it. In order not to give immediate advantage to
White, there is an initial rule that the first
capture of a game must be orthodox.
In Rapid-Fire Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980)
captures are not mandatory, but if a capture ismade it is compulsory to capture all men
attacked by the capturing piece. Only the ﬁrst
man in a line is captured, any behind it areconsidered screened. Kings have no royal
powers: aim is to annihilate the opponent’smen (Chess Spectrum Newsletter).
Archimedes Chess (Philip Cohen after Scott
Marley, 1979). No displacement capture.
Instead a man that is attacked by two or more
enemy men is removed from the board(captured) if it is the attacker’s move. The
removal may expose further men to attack andremoval in the same turn. The object is tocapture (remove) the K. No check or e.p.
capture. (Nost-algia 227)
All-Mate Chess, also known as Generalized
Chess [Tylor] (Chris Tylor, 1979).
Displacement capture is replaced by mate:a pawn or piece is captured when it is attacked
and the player can neither capture theattacking piece, interpose a man, nor move theattacked man to a safe square. A move thatescapes the mate is called a nullifying move:it prevents the capture but is not actually
played. Check is abolished but the aim of thegame remains the capture (checkmate) of the
opponent’s king. More than one man may bemated by a single move. In this event, themating player can decide in which order themated men are removed from the board.
Removal may result in further mates, all ofwhich are executed. Notice that a move may
result in one or more of the player’s own men
getting mated. If a player overlooks a mate,
the opponent has the option of leaving or
removing the man. (Eteroscacco 54)

3.2 Squares with known or hidden dangers
Mineﬁeld Chess, also known as Sea-Warfare
Chess (originator unknown, time of WorldWar II). Each player secretly records on paper
two squares in his own half of the board.
These are ‘mined’, and if during the course of
the game an enemy piece lands on one ofthem, the mine may be ‘detonated’ and thepiece (which can include the king, which loses

at once) removed from play. A player may
elect to wait until a more valuable piecearrives on the square before setting off themine. The idea of the game, allegedly playedon occasion by ‘ﬁrst-class masters’, was toentice the enemy king forward in the endgame in support of an advancing pawn.
(Chess, June 1942 and July 1943)

3.3 Destruction of men on nearby squares
Capricorn Chess (V. R. Parton, 1970). The
rooks are Capricorns, which move as rooks
but instead of capturing normally they butt
their victims off the board by landing on an
adjacent square. Suppose White Ce1, Blackmen d5, d6, e7, f5; if White plays Ce6, heeliminates all four Black men. A king is incheck if a hostile capricorn can move adjacent
to it. Other pieces (knights, bishops, queens)can be designated butters instead of the rooks,
though Parton suggests that queens andbishops are perhaps less suitable than rooks
and knights, and in Butters (Parton, 1970) all
men capture by butting (according to Parton,
irregular initial formations are likely to give

more interesting games). Poloschach (Hans
Klüver, 1986), at which tournaments havebeen played, specifies explicitly that castlingis illegal over threatened squares (Parton does
not mention this) but otherwise would appear
to be identical in everything except
terminology. (Chesshire Cat Playeth Looking
Glass Chessys, also Murkisch, Hans Klüver:ein Schachporträt)
Plague Chess (Ralph Betza after S. Walker,
1977). All men that move are carriers of theplague. On completion of a move, all squares
adjacent to the arrival square of the man
moved are infected and all men of either

42 Games using an ordinary board and men
colour on them ‘die’ before the same side
moves again. However, capturing the plaguecarrier prevents infection and a man attacked
by the plague escapes infection if it moves
away immediately. Dead men are removed
from play. Infection persists for one move ofeach side. If a man moves to an infectedsquare it dies at once but simultaneously
infects adjacent squares. Check and checkmate
take precedence over the plague and kings are
immune from infection from men of their own
colour. There are two offshoots of Plague
Chess: in Biological Warfare Chess, theplague only attacks the opponent’s men; in
Immunity [Betza], a man that survives theplague is henceforth immune. (Nost-algia 213)
Atomic Chess (at least the second game tohave carried this title, originator of thisversion unclear). When a capture is made, thecapturer, victim and all pieces (not pawns) on
adjacent squares are removed. Kings cannot
capture. Checkmate or destroy enemy K towin. Considerable opening research was donein 1996/7 on the first few moves of each side
by Jonas Hoffmann and Peter Schaefer andlater by Michael Uhl. Their findings pointed to
1 Nf3 and 1 Nh3 as the best opening moves
for White, with 1 d4 and 1 e4 quite playable.
Opening moves condemned for White are b3,
e3, f3, g3, c4. Black’s replies get two
exclamation marks for 1...f6 against 1 Nf3(White follows with 2 Nd4!) and one for
1...Nf6 against 1 Nh3 and 1...d5 against 1 e4.
It is perhaps axiomatic to observe that this isan explosive game, frequently brief andviolent. (Personal communication forwarding
material from the Internet)

3.4 Capture by moving as the target man
Moss Chess, also known as Odious Chess,
Tag Chess, and Zen Chess (Moe Moss,
1970). Movement is normal but men capture
with the action of the man being captured. A
pawn can capture anything when moving
forwards, and anything other than a pawn
when moving backwards, even to the first
rank. A pawn can be captured by anything but
only by a single-square forward diagonal
move. Pawns promote normally. The pawns
are exceptionally strong. Suppose 1 a3. If
Black naïvely replies 1...e5? then 2 axf8(N)and one bishop has gone, and if 2...dxf8 then3 h3 forces Black to block the line by 3...f5 or
3...Nd7 (or even 3...Kd7) if the other bishop is
not to go as well. If instead 2...hxf8? then
3 hxh8(Q) takes the rook, though after
3...Nxh8 or 3...gxh8 it is White’s turn to block
the line (4 Nh3) if he is not to lose his own
rook. The rules were first described in theMontreal Star (16 January 1971). [Text partly
editorial]
Spite Chess, also known as Tag Chess (David
Silverman, 1973). Movement is normal but
there is no displacement capture. Instead, aman that moves to a vacant square captures
any of the opponent’s men that attack thesquare at the time of the move. This includes
e.p. captures. For example, suppose White
Pb2, Black Qf8, Be7, Pa4; now 1 b4 (xa4,xBe7) Qc5 (xb4). There is no check or mate;
the object is to capture the king. Any hostile
man played adjacent to the king wins outright,
so it is necessary to cocoon the king. Gamesare short and favour White but it is often
difﬁcult to tell who is winning. Knights are
preferred to rooks. (Nost-algia 181) [Therepetition of ‘Tag Chess’ is not an error; both
Moss Chess and Spite Chess are so known.]

3.5 Other forms of capture
Scaci Partonici (V. R. Parton, 1950s andlater). A sequence of variants in whichdisplacement capture is replaced by thecustodian capture, common in ancient games,
and its antithesis. The aim is to take more men
than the opponent. Kings have no special
powers. There are two forms of capture:(1) A man moves so as to trap one or more
opposing men between it and another friendly
man in a line, orthogonally or diagonally,
there being no vacant squares between any ofthe men involved.
(2) The reverse of the above, where a man
moves so as to create a line in which one orUnorthodox ways of capturing 43
more friendly men are ﬂanked by opposing
men. Both ﬂanking men are captured.
For example, suppose White Kd4, Ra1,
Bd8, Na7, Black Qb6, Pc7. White to play cancapture the Q with Kc5 or both black men
with Ra5; Black to play can capture K and Nwith c5. Multiple captures, involving one orboth of these forms, are possible.
Parton was clear on the method of capture
but less clear on the form the game shouldtake. Initially he proposed the 8x8 board on
which the men are arranged in the usual order
except that the pawns are on the back rankwith the pieces in front of them. All pieces
move forward only (no sideways movement).
A pawn or piece reaching the end rank isimmobilized. Later he allowed pieces reaching
the end rank to regain their usual powers, withpawns promoting normally. He thenintroduced the game on the 10x10 board with
14 men a side, later modifying this to 20 men
a side: four pawns plus all the pieces doubled
in number. Array, 2nd/3rd and 8th/9th ranks,
PRNBQKBNRP, with the further option ofplacing six more pawns in the middle of theback ranks. All men move forward only. The
aim is again to capture more men than the
opponent. The game is stopped when thepieces are so reduced that likelihood of further
captures is negligible. A tilt towards
orthodoxy is seen in Royal Scaci Partonici,
which is identical except the object is tocapture the opposing king. (Chess - Curiouser
and Curiouser, Chesshyre Cat Playeth
Looking Glass Chessys, 100 Squares for Chessand Diamante)
Bingo Chess [Gutzwiller] (James Gutzwiller,1970). If a player’s move completes a fully
occupied rank, file, or diagonal (presumablyof any length), he calls ‘Bingo!’ and removes
all his opponent’s men in the line. A king may
be mated or bingomated. Presumably nodisplacement captures? (Nost-algia 278/9)
Cassandra Chess [Betza] (Ralph Betza,1974). After every n moves, where n is anumber agreed by the players, each player
predicts where an opposing man of specificrank will be in n moves time. This isannounced. Thus Black could predict that
there will be a white rook on a1. If theprediction proves correct, the piece is removed

from the board. The game is won either bycheckmate or by removing the opposing kingby prediction. (Nost-algia 168)
Blood-Brother Chess (Philip Cohen and R.
Wayne Schmittberger, 1980). Pieces (notpawns) guard identical pieces, including any
promoted pieces, at all times. Kings guard
queens. If a piece is captured, a blood-brotherrecapture must be immediate (passion cools
quickly) but not if the piece is defended
normally. Favours attacking players. (Nostalgia 247/350)
Crushed Chess (quoted by C. Pickover,1992). After every ten moves, the perimetersquares and all men on them are removed
from play. A game cannot therefore last longer
than 30 moves. The winner is the player
whose king survives the longest. (Mazes for
the Mind)
En Passant Chess, otherwise known as All-In
En Passant (origins unknown). All pieces are
subject to e.p. capture if crossing a squareattacked by an enemy piece. The knight isconsidered to cross the square orthogonallyadjacent to it. Less radically, Ekstrom, theSwedish master, and several others, would
allow a piece to take a pawn en passant, othercaptures remaining as usual. (Nost-algia 217)
[I haven’t traced a specific reference for theEkstrom statement, but I am sure that the idea
has been suggested many times.]
Kidnapping Chess (H. Clifford Garner, c.
1950). After Black’s 6th move, White kidnaps(removes) a black knight, then black kidnaps awhite knight. After move 12, bishops are
similarly removed, rooks after the 18th andqueens after the 24th. Thereafter play isnormal. A piece may not be removed that
exposes a king to check. A side that does nothave the appropriate piece for kidnapping
suffers no penalty, putting a premium onsacriﬁcial play. These removals do not countas a move; thus if Black delivers check justprior to a kidnapping, White must get out ofcheck immediately after the pieces are taken
off. Removal Blitz Chess (E. H. Ratcliffe,
1952) is Lightning Chess with the same rule.
(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes,
also Chess, May 1952)

44 Games using an ordinary board and men
Kamikaze Chess [Laws], also known as
Hara-Kiri Chess (from an idea originally by
B. G. Laws, 1928). A piece making a capture
is removed from the board together with thecaptured man. It follows that a king cannot
defend himself by capturing an attacker.
Captures are not compulsory. The game lends
itself to progressive play. Here is a stark
example: 1 e3 2 f6, g6?? 3 Bd3, Bxg6, Qh5.
Another version of the game allows no checks,
the object being to get a pawn to the 8th rank.
The kamikaze piece was originally a problem
theme, and was not named until 1965. (Oxford
Companion to Chess, also Eteroscacco 51)[This provides an example of how a small
modification to an apparently artificial
problemistic idea can yield a playable game. It
was tried in its original form at a meeting of
problemists in France, and found quite
unplayable. Yet Progressive Kamikaze
appears to be entirely practicable.]

could capture a queen (1+1+1+3=6) but arook, bishop and pawn could not (4+3–1=6).
The captured man is replaced by any one of
the men making the capture, at the capturer’s
choice. Two or more pawns may not capture
an opposing pawn by multiplication ordivision but otherwise pawns may capture andbe captured in the same way as other men.
Capturing is not compulsory. A pawn may bepromoted in the normal way or at the end of
any subsequent move. A pawn which is notpromoted immediately cannot move. The aimof the game is to capture the enemy kingwhich may be taken by any man if in check, orby an arithmetical capture.
A fast-moving game, with pawn promotioncommon since an arithmetical capture may
allow a pawn to move immediately to replacea captured man on the 7th or 8th ranks.
The king is surprisingly vulnerable, making
for short games. (Games and Puzzles 16)

Arithmetical Chess (C. G. Lewin, 1973).
Based on Rhythmomachia but using astandard board and men, Arithmetical Chess
differs from orthochess only in the method of
capture. An orthodox capture can only bemade between like men; for example, NxN.
The alternative method of capture is based on
the numerical values of the pieces which are:Pawn-1, Knight-2, Bishop-3, Rook-4, Queen6, King-8. Each man is deemed to have lines
of ﬁre radiating orthogonally and diagonallyfrom the square on which it stands (coinciding
exactly with the move of a queen). A man may
be captured if its numerical value is equal to
the number obtained by adding, multiplying,
subtracting or dividing the values of two or
more opposing men in whose unimpeded lineof fire it stands. Signs may not be mixed inan equation; thus three pawns and a bishop

Goliath Chess (Gianluca Vecchi, 1994).
Orthochess except that after making a capture
a piece may make a second capture without
moving (as in Rifle Chess) . Shooting at the K
is forbidden. Here is a brevity won by Aldo
Kustrin against the inventor: 1 d4 e6 2 Nf3
Qf6 3 Nbd2 Nc6 4 Nb3 Qg6 5 Qd3 Qxg2xf1
6 Qxh7xh8 Qxh1xf3+ 7 Resigns (White, twopieces down, now loses his Q!). (Eteroscacco
74)
Divide and Conquer (Ian Richardson, 2000).
Each side has K, Q, 8xP (10 men only); White
Ke1, Qd1, Ps 3rd rank, Black Kd8, Qe8, Ps
6th rank. A turn consists of moving K, Q, P in
any order. Capture is by moving between two
enemy men (both captured), blank squares notcounting. (Manuscript notes presumably
derived from personal communication)

3.6 Immobilization
Madrasi Chess (Abdul Karwatkar, 1979).
Like men of opposite colours observing one
another are paralysed and can neither move
nor give check. A paralysed man howeverretains the power to paralyse: thus after 1 e4
d5 2 c4, all three pawns are inert. A pinned
man can paralyse. Kings are unaffected. The
status of two pawns in an e.p. situation has
been debated: it can be argued that both areinert or only the pawn able to capture e.p. isinert. Madrasi Chess is a popular problem
theme. Played as a game it introduces someinteresting strategies. A brief example: after
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5, White could try
4 Nxe5? d6 5 d4 (if 5 Bxf7+, Kxf7 is legal; or
5 Qh5 Be6 is playable) Bxd4 6 Qxd4? dxe5
and the WQ is lost. (Eteroscacco 7, Nost-algia
288)Unorthodox ways of capturing 45[Two related games which have been
played at meetings of problemists in France
are Kriegspiel Madrasi, which is hilarious,and Isardam, in which a move which would
cause a Madrasi paralysis is illegal. Fool’sMate in Isardam is 1 e3 f6 2 Bd3 h6 3 Bg6;
not the normal 1 f3 e5 2 g4 Qh4, because
3...QxK would leave the queens paralysing
each other and so would not be permitted. Thismight seem an artificial problemistic notion
with no relevance to real life, but it was triedin a nine-player all-play-all tournament andwas found surprisingly practicable.]a stunned piece of either colour, this can bekicked; the kicker occupies the square, and the
kicked piece moves off the board (and out of
the game) in the same direction, carrying withit all men in its path. Stunning the enemy kingdoes not win; it must be kicked off the board(a threat to do so is check). No e.p.; a pawn
bouncing to the 8th rank promotes. It ispermitted to stun one’s own pieces (but not
until one piece of the opposite colour has beenstunned) and to kick them. Many variations
have been tried. (Unprovenanced rules
pamphlet)Koopa Chess (inventor unknown, 1990).
Variant based on the Mario Brothers series ofvideo games. Men are either active (normal)
or stunned. When an active piece is ‘captured’
it is stunned for two moves (known as theDuration). A stunned piece does not move.
The capturing piece bounces on to the next
square in the same direction. If this square is
off the board, the capturing piece is out of thegame. It the square is unoccupied, the moveends there. If it is occupied by an active manof either colour, this also is stunned and thecapturing piece moves on. If it is occupied by

Shock Chess (Alessandro Castelli, 1992)
When a player attacks an opponent’s man (ormen) that man ‘suffers shock’ and may not
move on the next turn. A man cannot beshocked by the same piece twice insuccession. Kings are not affected.
(Eteroscacco 58)
Fossil Chess (quoted by C. Pickover, 1992).
After its first move a pawn becomes a fossil
and cannot move again. A piece capturing it isalso fossilized. A recipe for gridlock? (Mazes
for the Mind)

3.7 Capture of own men
Reform Chess [Tabi], also known as FreeCapture Chess (L. Tabi, 1971). Either side
may capture its own men as well as the
opponent’s. A problem theme but perfectly
playable. In Suicide Chess [piece removal](origins unknown, and not to be confused withLosing Chess), a player may remove one of
his own men from the board instead ofmoving. (Feenschach, May 1971, also
Berloquin, 100 Jeux de Table)

3.8 Checking of own kingBicolour Chess (Gabriel Authier, 1958).
Kings are subject to check and checkmate byown as well as opponent’s pieces. The Q andQN are interchanged in the array; castling
illegal. Games are short and oversights comeeasily, as witness this example from actual
play: 1 e4 c5 2 Ne3 Qe5 (centralizing the Q is
usually a good idea) 3 f3 e6 4 Kf2 (unpinningthe back-rank pieces) d5? (typical bicolour
blindness) 5 Nxd5 and the recapture by
5...exd5 would leave Black in check from his
own Q.

Chris Tylor has suggested the orthochessarray with a rule that self-check does not apply
until the king or the potentially offending
piece has moved, and Mark Ridley modiﬁes
this to permit castling. Bicapture Chess(Roméo Bédoni, 1958) restores the original
rules and array but a player may capture his
own men, a privilege which mitigates some ofthe parent’s excesses. Boyer organized aninternational correspondence tournament in
1961. (Nost-algia 169, Eteroscacco 54,
Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants)

Chapter 4
Compulsions and restrictions[This chapter considers games in which the normal movement of the men is subject toconstraints of various kinds. Some of the ideas originated as problem themes and appear to be
unplayable as games, but David obviously thought they should be included; they are on record,
they have novel features, and even if they are unplayable in their present form it may be thatquite a small change would make all the difference.]
4.1 Compulsions and restrictions relating to check
Checkless Chess, also known as Prohibition
Chess (origins unknown, see below). Neither
player may check except to give checkmate.
The game gives the kings a more active role,
the prohibition permitting some fanciful
strategy and tactics. To effect mate, amarkedly superior force is usually necessary.
Several authorities, possibly quoting one
another, have suggested that checks shouldbe permitted if on a direct path to mate, i.e.
a series of checks that ends in mate. A variant,Absolute Checkless Chess (R. Powell, 1975),
forbids a piece to cross a square where, if itstopped, it would give check. Checkless Chessis a popular problem theme. [David
conjectured ‘early 1800s?’ for the variant’s
origin and several writers have said more orless the same, but the earliest definite
reference I have seen is a quotation from Max
Lange’s 1857 book Sammlung neuer
Schachpartien in Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs
Non-orthodoxes.]
Pin Chess, also known as Stevens’ Principle(pre-1872). Pinned men do not check.
Essentially a problem theme, though Variant
Chess 4 reported correspondence in theWestminster Papers (1872-5) which included
an example from actual play. [Text revised]
Mummy Chess (Frank Maus, 1923). Inspired

by Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb
the previous year. King are mummies which
can only move when excavated (checked),though a check may be parried byinterposition or capture if this is possible andpreferred. Once during the game the mummy(king) can change its tomb (castle), though not
to get out of check. Object is to get opponent’s
mummy safely into a museum (mate it).
The idea of a king unable to move unlesschecked was to be reinvented without thearchaeological gloss, and Idle Kings Chess(V. R. Parton, 1950s) offers an additional
twist: the kings are absent from the initialarray, and after Black’s 12th move White
places his king on any vacant square (but not
in check) and Black does likewise. (British
Chess Magazine, December 1923, Nouveaux
Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Check Force (Bruce R. Trone, 1976). The
checking player dictates how check is to beparried. (Nost-algia 202)
Patzer Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). A player
must check if it is possible to do so but may
choose if more than one check is available.
A player may win by ‘decimation’ - 10consecutive checks. Hence perpetual check isa win for the player giving it. (Chess Spectrum
Newsletter)

4.2 Compulsions and restrictions relating to capture
Must-Capture Chess, also known as
Compulsion Chess, The Forced Game, The
Ladies’ Game, The Maiden’s Game.
Mentioned in the Alfonso manuscript (1283)

where it is improbably ascribed to the ladies of
Morocco. A player is obliged to make acapture if able to do so legally, but may
choose between alternatives. A lively

Compulsions and restrictions 47
offspring is Madcap Chess or Series MustCapture Chess (Mannis Charosh, 1950s) inwhich the player making a capture is obliged
to make a further capture if one is available,
and so on, as part of a single turn of play.
(Oxford Companion to Chess)is the reverse: pieces may only be capturedby the same type of pieces as those which
guard them (check and checkmate normal).
A problem theme but (just) playable.
(Correspondence between John Gollon andPhilip Cohen)

Levantine Chess. It was sometimes
customary in the Levant (early 19th century)to play with a ‘trusted piece’ which could not
be taken except when it attacked an
opponent’s man. [David’s files cite twosources: ‘Marinelli 1826’ and ‘Triple Chess /1040 d 26(2)’ (which I take to be a British
Library shelfmark). I take this to be an English
translation or edition of Marinelli’s Il Giuoco
degli Scacchi fra Tre of 1722, in which case‘early 19th century’ should possibly read‘early 18th’, but it would be necessary toconsult an original edition to find out.]

Blockade Chess (Students of Oslo University,1971). Only pieces of the same kind may
capture each other. Kings may not capture.
(Feenschach, March 1972)

Guard Chess (origins unknown). A variant
common in Iceland up to present century.
A guarded man could not be captured,although some players allowed the taking of apiece defended only by the king (Murray).
According to Boyer (Les Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes) the game can be lively: for one
reason, a piece, if defended, can give mate no
matter how many times it is attacked. Guard
Chess may have a common ancestry with
Joara-Joari (see ‘Indian Chess’ later). [I haveto say that I find this last statement hard to
credit. I can see no evidence for it either in
Murray or in Boyer, and there is no otherreference in David’s files. But he may have
had some other source of which I am
unaware.]Immunity Chess [like pieces] (origins
unknown). Pieces may not be captured by thesame type of pieces as those which guard
them. The K has no immunity. Allergy Chess

Recaptureless Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980).
Immediate recapture is not allowed unless thecapture gave check. In the Danish Gambit 1 e4
e5 2 d4 exd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 Bc4, 4...cxb2 wins apiece. Some interesting play. (Chess Spectrum
Newsletter)
Barrier Chess [Stone] (Jed Stone, 1982).
No piece may move through a square on
which, if it were to stop, it could be captured,but it may move onto a threatened square.
Thus two opposing rooks facing each other onan open ﬁle could move freely along the rank
but only one square forwards or backwards.
A king facing a hostile rook down an open ﬁleis not in check because the rook, to give
check, would have to pass through the square
immediately in front of the king which is
defended by the king. However, if this square
was guarded by an opposing man, then the
king would be in check. (Stone)
Cripple Chess (D. B. Pritchard, 1991). Kings
move only to capture. With kings conﬁned tothe middle ﬁles, development of the rooks
poses problems and endgames are rare.
Shaft Chess (James Coleman, 1997). Men
only capture backwards (hence pawns cannot
capture). (Manuscript notes presumably
deriving from personal communication)

4.3 Restrictions on the men able to move
Maximummer Chess (based on a concept ofT. R. Dawson, 1913). Players must make theirgeometrically longest legal move. Unit is one
square orthogonally. One square diagonally =1.41; knight move = 2.24. Problem theme,
where the restriction is normally applied only
to Black; unsatisfactory as a game. Both sides

must make knight moves until a man is
captured. (Chess Amateur, December 1913)
Proximity Chess, also known as NearestMan Mover, Short-Distance Chess (origin
unclear, see below). After White opens, eachplayer must thereafter move the man

48 Games using an ordinary board and men
geometrically nearest to the arrival square of
the last man moved by the opponent, subject
to the move being legal. A player can choose
between alternatives. [David gives ‘W. H.
Rawlings’ with no date, but the earliest
reference I have found is to a problem by J. J.
Vermet quoted in Fairy Chess Review inDecember 1950. All the references cited inDavid’s files appear to be later than this.]Monkey Chess. Black copies White’s moves.
A problem theme rather than a valid game,Monkey Chess offers a challenge tocomposers for the shortest games in which
each of the chessmen delivers mate in the
fewest moves. Loyd gave a mate in 4 with thequeen; Gik gives mates in 6 with a knight,
7 with a pawn, 8 with a bishop or rook, and9 with the king. (Schach und Mathematik)
One-Shot Chess (Ralph Betza, 1980). No
man may repeat a move in the same direction
and over the same distance. Moves andcaptures are treated as distinct. Promotion is
on the 7th rank (since a pawn can’t reach the8th) and stalemate wins. Described by a wellknown player as ‘the most useless chessic idea
to cross the mind of man’. (Nost-algia 248)

Musical Chess (Bruce Trone, 1986). Everyman must move once before any can move
twice, and so on. Opportunities for a lateattack by the player who starts the next cycle
first. (Manuscript note presumably derivingfrom personal communication)
Alternating Chess [Poniachik] (Jaime
Poniachik, 1994). If White opens with a pawn
move Black must do likewise, similarly if
White opens with a piece move. Thereafterpawn and piece moves must alternate, so if
White opened with a pawn, his second move,and Black’s second move, must be with apiece. Win by capturing (not mating) the king.
(Personal communication)
Hierarchical Chess (origin unclear). On eachturn you move a man in the order PNBRQK.
If you have men of the kind due but cannot
move any, you lose the game; if you do nothave any, you move the piece ranked next.
Check must be countered by the correct piece;
castling is a rook move. White appears to havea big advantage as a Q move must be
answered by a Q move, so White could, forexample, place an unguarded Q next to the
opponent’s K. (Variant Chess 45)

4.4 Walls, obstacles, and missing squares
Capapranka (H. C. Garner, 1952). After bothsides have made an opening move either
player, on turn, may place a cap over a man ofeither colour, other than a king, or on an
empty square. This counts as a move. The
effect is to remove the square and its occupant,if any, from play. No move may be madeacross the ‘hole’ thus created. Once on theboard, the cap cannot be removed from play
but may at any time be transferred to anothersquare instead of a normal move, except that acheck or checkmate cannot be parried bymoving the cap. If the cap is pinned between
an attacking piece and the king, the defender
may cap the attacking piece or move the cap toanother square on the attacking line. The reply
to a cap move must be a chess move and noplayer may move the cap on two consecutive
turns. Described as ‘very amusing’ at 15
seconds a move. (Chess, May 1952)
Null Chess (Philip Cohen, 1960s). If one ormore captures takes place on a square, thatsquare becomes a null as soon as it is vacated.
A null square is a block; it may not be
occupied or crossed. There is no e.p.
(Eteroscacco 55)
Cheshire Cat Chess (V. R. Parton, 1971).
Every time a square is vacated it disappears
although pieces may subsequently pass over it
to move, capture or check. Vanished squares
can be marked with counters. The K may
move like a Q on its ﬁrst move only (to avoid
it being penned in by the disappearance ofsurrounding squares); castling impossible.
(Chesshyre Cat Playeth Looking Glass
Chessys)Centreless Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). The
squares d4, d4, d5, e5 may not be occupied at
any time, nor crossed except by knight moves.
There are no d and e pawns. (Chess Spectrum
Newsletter)

Compulsions and restrictions 49
Relativistic Chess (Lee Corbin and Kevin
Whyte, 1980s). Squares attacked by the
opponent do not exist for the player. If WBa1
attacks BPg7, Black can play gxa1 (promotes).
Kings behave normally. (Pickover, Mazes for
the Mind)
Obstacle Chess (William Groman, 1987). The
squares c3, f3, c6, and f6 are obstacle squares.
Line pieces may not occupy or cross an
obstacle square. Kings, knights and pawns areunaffected. (Manuscript notes presumably
deriving from personal communication)
Horatio Chess (Frank Tapson, 1989). Inspiredby Macaulay’s poem. The players create
barriers between agreed squares, thereby
forming bridges through which pieces must
pass. The inventor suggests granting pawns asideways step so that they will not be
immobilized at a barrier. Rather slow-moving
and favouring defence. (Note apparently
emanating from the inventor)

No-Entry Chess (D. B. Pritchard, 1989).
After the opening move, White places a token
on any empty square. On the next move only,
the opponent may not occupy that square(another version also forbids a man to crossthe square). Thereafter, a player may, after
moving, transfer the token to any empty
square. A player may not bar the same square
three times in succession. (Apparently original
to the first edition)
Maze Chess (Stephen Taverner, 1991). An
agreed number of ‘walls’ is raised between
adjacent squares before play begins. Walls
cannot be crossed except by knights. George
Jelliss proposes movable walls in which apiece or pawn can cause a wall to be displacedat the expense of a move. (Variant Chess 6)
Black Hole Chess (quoted by C. Pickover,1992). Black holes at d5 and f5. A piecealighting on or traversing a black hole isremoved from play. (Mazes for the Mind)

4.5 Lines to be crossed
Grid Chess (Walter Stead, 1953). A popular
problem theme, adapted to game play. The
board is divided by three horizontal and threevertical lines into sixteen 2x2 squares :rhb1kgn4
0p0p0p0p
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
P)P)P)P)$NGQIBHR
There is only one rule: a man, when moving,must cross at least one grid line. This meansthat opposing men sharing the same 2x2
square have no effect on each other (so thekings can be adjacent). There are strictures onpractical play. A wing pawn can never movebeyond the 5th rank and other pawns can only
do so by capturing; kings cannot reach cornersquares. Knights alone are unaffected by gridlines. In endings, K+Q (but not K+R) canmate K. (Fairy Chess Review, August 1953)
Displaced Grid Chess (Doug Grant, 1974,
also known as DG Chess after its inventor).
A form of Grid Chess in which the grid lines
are displaced by one rank and one file(so producing four 1x1 cells in the corners,
twelve 1x2 cells along the edges, and nine 2x2
cells in the centre). The effect is to increasemobility and eliminate ‘dead spots’. For
example, kings can reach corner squares,
impossible in Grid Chess. (Nost-algia 168)
Berolina Grid Chess, also known as
Gridolina (originator not noted). A
combination of Berolina and Grid Chess.
Better than Grid Chess since Berolina pawns
cross grid lines more easily. Described in
World Game Review 10 as the most popular of
the NOST combination games. (Nost-algia
150, also Nost-algia 112 ‘not seen’)
Plaid Chess (Bill Rawlings, 1974). A happy
hybrid of Progressive Chess and Grid Chess.
A postal horror story: 1 e4 2 d5, Na6 3 Bxa6,
Bxb7, Bc6 mate. (Nost-algia 168)

50 Games using an ordinary board and men
4.6 Other compulsions and restrictions
Feldschach (Karl Kaiser, 1924). An attempt
to balance the advantage of White inorthochess. Suggested adjustments are to
White’s play; Black unaffected. Pawns move
only one square until reaching the 4th rank
when two-square move permitted. Castlingallowed if rook anywhere on ﬁrst rank but
Kf1/Re1 illegal. Pawns promote only to ﬁlepiece and only if original piece captured; pawn
on e-file promotes to Feldkönig (moves likeK). ‘With these simple adjustments,’ remarks
the inventor, ‘harmony is restored.’ (Arbeiter
Schachzeitung, October 1924)
Imitator Chess, also known as Coin Chessand Mimic Chess (T. C. L. Kok writing as‘Gerrit Jansen’, 1939). The imitator was
originally invented as a fairy piece forproblem composition (Fairy Chess Review,
April 1939). It is initially placed on a central
square, and then exactly copies every moveplayed. It can only move to an empty squareand cannot pass over occupied squares, and amove is illegal if the corresponding move of
the imitator is impossible. The moves of the
man and of the imitator are considered assimultaneous; thus with Qd1 and Id2 the move
Qd7/Id8 is legal.
There have been several variants. One has
queens as imitators. In this game the queens
can also move independently. They cannot
capture or give check and cannot be captured(Chess Spectrum Newsletter). Another version
allows the imitator to leap men provided thatthe square actually moved to is vacant(Eteroscacco 48). In yet another, due to Ed
Pegg, 1990, the imitator starts on e3, it can be
pushed on to but not beyond an occupied
square, and if it is pushed on to an occupied
square the occupant, whatever its colour, iscaptured. Castling does not move the mimic,
and a stalemated player loses (Nost-algia 327).
Unambiguous Three-Symbol Chess, also
known as U-Chess (Mannis Charosh after
Irving Chernev, 1953, though C. E. Swanson
recalls playing a similar game under the name
Telegraph Chess and thinks the origins may
go back as far as World War I). The game isbased on the Anglo-American descriptive
notation. A move may only be made if it canbe expressed in that notation by three symbols
or less. A dash (hyphen) does not count as asymbol, but ‘x’ (captures) does. The win isachieved by taking the king. As examples ofambiguity, if white bishops can go to both
QB4 (c4) and KB4 (f4) and one of thesemoves is check, the move is consideredambiguous even though it might betranscribed as B-B4+. As an extension of thisidea, the move would still be ruled ambiguous
even if one of the bishops was pinned andunable to move. In the position WKb2 BRs
a3,c1, neither rook can be taken but White cansafely play Ka1 or Kc3. Pawn promotion is
only by a non-capture move but PxK on the
8th ends the game for the promotion is thensuperﬂuous, and PxP will mean PxP e.p. as
this is the only legal capture possible. Castles
is always playable. Despite its artificial
foundation, games have been described as‘extremely playable ... full of surprises’.
U-chess is an established problem theme.
In the initial position, only the d- and epawns can move and it is possible for bothplayers to suffer paralysis after only fourmoves. The usual endings work also in UChess; thus K+R v K and K+B+B v K are
wins. (Fairy Chess Review, October 1953, also
Nost-algia 223) [I cannot trace the Swansonreference, and presume it derives frompersonal communication.]
No-Retreat Chess (V. R. Parton and J. Boyer,1954). All men move, capture and checkforwards or sideways only. If the king canpass the major pieces it is usually safe.
(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Simpleton Chess, also known as Simpletonry(V. R. Parton, 1961). A none-too-serious
suggestion for simplifying the game forbeginners who, lacking all judgment in thedaybreak of their experience, have otherwise
to choose between a plethora of moves. (1)A player must check if he can, but may choose
between alternatives; (2) failing a check, aplayer must capture if he can, but may choose
between alternatives; (3) if neither capture nor
check is available, a pawn must be moved(presumably if no pawn move is available, theplayer has a free choice). The above

Compulsions and restrictions 51
conditions are waived for a player whose kingis in check. (Chess - Curiouser and Curiouser)
One-Way Chess [Jensch] (G. W. Jensch,1969). A piece cannot exit a square from thedirection it entered it. (Manuscript notepresumably
deriving
frompersonal
communication)
Checkers
Chess[Multhopp](Hans
Multhopp, 1974). Men move forward only (nosideways movement) until they reach theeighth rank, when they revert to their normal
moves; pawns unaffected. (Neue Chess 9)
Brickchucking (Alan Holloway and Gary
Smith, 1975). Pieces move only forwards or
sideways (K, Q, R) but check and checkmate
are also effective backwards. A promoted
piece can only move backwards or sideways,
but can check in both directions. (Letter toPergamon Chess, February 1990)
Monochromatic Chess, also known as
Mono-Chess (origins unknown). Pieces canonly move to squares of the same colour.
Knights have a double leap. Pawns cannot
move beyond fourth rank except by captures.
Only the bishops are unaffected. There is anelegant Fool’s mate: 1 f4 e5 2 fxe5 Qh4.
Cedric Lytton suggests replacing the knights
with 3-1 leapers. (Stone, also Krystufek, 100
mal Kniffel Schach) [This is very much aproblemists’ notion and surely unplayable as agame, and I am surprised it was not one of theentries that David decided to drop. It has
generated some fine ‘how did we get here’
problems, but in a true game White can use
his white-square NQBR to attack f7 and Black
can only bring up N and B to defend it; hisqueen runs on black squares, and his whitesquare rook only has access to ranks 2/4/6/8.]
Threat Chess (Alessandro Castelli, 1991).
Except when giving check, a player
accompanies each move with a threat, and theopponent’s reply (and accompanying threat)must be such that this threat remains legally
playable. Castelli gives the following example.
Black, who can make a threat before White’s
first move, chooses to threaten ‘d7-d5’, and so
White cannot open 1 d2-d4 ‘d4-d5’ because it

would make Black’s d7-d5 unthreatenable.
White therefore plays 1 e2-e4 ‘e4-e5’ and thisprevents Black from replying e7-e5. Black
replies 1...Ng8-f6 (there is no need actually toplay what he threatened last time), andthreatens ‘Nf6-e4’. White continues with
2 e4-e5 ‘e5-e6’ (he cannot threaten ‘e5xf6’
because Black’s threatened Nf6-e4 will havetaken the knight out of range), and after
2...Nf6-g4 ‘Ng4-e5’ 3 e5-e6 ‘e6xf7’ we see
one of the salient features of the game: Black
can neither capture on e6 nor advance histhreatened pawn, since either will makeWhite’s threat unplayable. However, he canplay 3...Ng4xf2 ‘Nf2-d1’, and White cannot
capture on f2 for the same reason. 4 Bf1-c4‘e6xf7’ (the threat will now give mate) d7-d5‘d5xc4’ 5 Qd1-f3 ‘Qf3-f7’ (again the threat
will give mate, but now Black can take on e6
since the threat is not with this pawn) f7xe6‘d5xc4’ and there is a trap: if White plays
6 Qh5+ (check, so no accompanying threat),
Black will reply 6...g7-g6 ‘g6xh5’ and White
will lose his queen. Instead, 6 Qf3xf2‘Nb1-c3’ d5xc4 ‘e6-e5’ and so on.
(Eteroscacco 57) [Text editorial]
Banana-Skin Chess (Jaime Poniachik, 1995).
All men except Ks and Ns move to the limit
possible, thus White’s first move of a pawn
would be to the 6th rank. (Variant Chess 18)
Unambiguous Chess (Fabrice Liardet, 2004).
It is illegal to move to a square that could beoccupied by more than one of your pieces. For
example, after 1 e4 e5, 2 Bc4 is illegal since
2 c4 would also be possible. This applies also
to captures of the king, so kings can occupy
adjacent squares. (Quadrature 56) [This isunplayable as a game because White has aforced win, as was demonstrated by theinventor, but it led to Ambiguous Chess,where a player pointed to the destinationsquare of his move and his opponent chosewhich of the available men should go there.
This is now usually played in the form
‘Substitution Chess’, where a player makes aprovisional move and his opponent can
substitute a different move to the same square
if one is available, and it will be found in thechapter on games where a player can move his
opponent’s men.]Chapter 5Introduction of new or captured men during play
[In ordinary chess, all the men are on the board at the start, and a captured man takes no further
part in the play. This chapter considers games where extra men may be added during play, andwhere a captured man may be put back on the board. Games where men are added only during apreliminary phase are considered in the chapter on games with unorthodox initial arrays.]
5.1 Men are held or placed in reserve, and may be introduced during play
Pocket Knight Chess, also known as
Tombola Chess. Origins unknown (late 19thearly 20th century). Before play starts bothplayers take a knight ‘in the pocket’. The piece
may be the QN, the KN, or, more usually
today, an extra knight. At any time during thegame a player can drop the pocket knight onany empty square instead of making a normal
move. Thereafter the knight behaves normally.
Known as Tombola Chess in its earlier days
and long a popular club game, there was atournament in Amsterdam (1909) (QN
removed) and another in Berlin (1910) (KN
removed), the latter with 150 players and afurther half-hundred spectators. The game has
ﬂourished in both the Netherlands andGermany (where two knights in the pocket issometimes played; in this variant a knight
cannot be dropped to give check), and theBritish Correspondence Chess Society has run
Pocket Knight events with two restrictions: theknight cannot enter with check nor to cover asquare that would prevent the opponent
castling. V. N. Belov records that Boris
Stechkin, who headed (1939) the gulag special
laboratory designing diesel engines for Soviet
aircraft, introduced Pocket Knight Chess to theother prisoners with whom it soon became afirm favourite - the game had ‘a good
influence on the prisoners’ psychology anddiverted them from sad thoughts’ although
players ‘frequently forgot they had knights intheir pockets’. Stechkin was later released andwas awarded the Stalin Prize (1946), admitted
to the Academy of Science (1953) andreceived the title of Hero of Socialist Labour(1961), though none of these distinctions, so
far as is known, were rewards for hisevangelical chess work. Hans Klüver has

suggested a tournament version in which
players have a knight of each colour inreserve. In a suggested variation (Gring,1947), each player is allowed to bring on an
extra knight on a vacated corner square, Blackﬁrst to compensate for moving second.
In Kleptomaniac Chess a piece other than aknight is pocketed. (British Chess Magazine,
February 1911, and numerous later references)
Bennie Chess (Bennie Prince, 1970s?) Insteadof moving, a player may remove one of hismen (not the king) from the board. Later it canbe played to any vacant square (pawn on 1st or
8th rank excluded) instead of a move. Because
it is advantageous for both players to remove
most pieces from the board at the start of agame, two controls seem necessary. Twosuggest themselves: a removed man must be
replaced before another is removed, and an
attacked man cannot be removed. (Manuscript
notes presumably deriving from personalcommunication)
Recycle Chess, also known as Robertschach(R. Huber, 1999). A player may capture his
own men (not the K) and later drop them backon the board. The variant has two advantages
over games such as Chessgi and Hostage
Chess as described below: forces areconstantly reduced, and the K can capture men
blocking his escape squares. (Quadrature 53)
Sabbatical Chess (Adrian Millward, 1998).
Chessmen have usual point values: Queen 9,
Rook 5, Bishop/Knight 3, Pawn 1. Captured
men are placed off the board in front of theplayer. After moving, the turn player canclaim ‘sabbatical’ for any one of his pieces onIntroduction of new or captured men during play 53
the board other than a pawn, the king, or apiece just moved provided it is of the same orlesser value than the captured man or men in
front of the player. For example, a player has
captured a bishop and two pawns (total 5
points). After moving, he could now remove a
rook, knight or bishop on sabbatical. If a rook,
the captured pieces are henceforth out of play;

if a bishop or knight, the two captured pawns
are retained. A piece on sabbatical can be
dropped back on the board on an empty squareat any time after a normal move, the twocounting as a single move. A piece cannot
return from sabbatical on the same turn that apiece is withdrawn on sabbatical. (Variant
Chess 35)

5.2 A captured man changes sides, and may be reintroduced by its captor
The Double Chess Game (Archive der SpieleIII, Berlin 1821). Orthochess, except that acaptured man may change colour and reenter
the game. The rule is that it must be
immediately placed on a vacant squarecorresponding to its rank in the initial array ofthe captor. If no such square is available, it isremoved from play (the player may opt forthis in any case). A queen may be placed oneither the queen’s or king’s square, a bishop
on its square colour if both bishops’ squares
are vacant, and if not, then on the vacantsquare regardless of colour, and a pawn on any
vacant square on the 2nd rank. A very slow
game according to Verney who suggested thata player who had ﬁve or more pawns should
not be allowed to reenter a pawn.
Reinforcement Chess (Joseph Boyer, 1951).
A captured man changes sides and isimmediately replaced by the player making
the capture on any empty square subject totwo restrictions: a bishop must be placed on asquare of the same colour as that on which it
was captured, and a pawn cannot be placed on
the opponent’s first rank. Two sets of men areuseful. (Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Chessgi, also known as Crazy House, Drop
Chess, and Mad Mate. Inventor unknown.
Ralph Betza, who coined the name adopted
by NOST and AISE, reported playing it in1964 but its origins are surely earlier.
As Reinforcement Chess, but there is no needto re-enter a captured man at once; instead, thecaptor may hold it in hand, and subsequently
drop it on any vacant square instead of making
a normal move. There is only one restriction:
pawns may not be dropped on the 8th rank.
A promoted piece retains its rank. The game ischaracterised by sharp sacrificial attacks, andendings, in the conventional sense, areunknown. The initiative is of great importanceand a player may, for example, sacrifice aqueen for a knight in order to be able to reenter the knight at once. Knights and pawns
tend to be a good deal stronger relative to theother pieces than in orthochess. A sustained
attack against the king involving a series ofsacriﬁces is common and often succeeds, but
the defender thereby accumulates material andthe tables can be turned dramatically. The
danger to the defender is all too often thepresence of vacant squares next to the king.
An instructive win by Giovambattista Rizzo,
reported in Eteroscacco 81: 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nf6
3 Nc3 Bc5 4 d3 d6 5 Bg5? (sound enough at
orthochess, but at Chessgi it appears to lose apawn) Bxf2+! 6 Kxf2 Ng4+ 7 Qxg4 (moving
the king would escape for a pawn down, but
White thinks he can hold on to his extra piece)
Bxg4 8 Bxd8 :rhwGkdw4 qp
0p0wdp0p
wdw0wdwd
dwdw0wdw
wdBdPdbd
dwHPdwdw
Q P)PdwIP)
BN $wdwdwHR
A simple recapture on d8 would indeed leave
White a piece ahead, but Black’s pawn andqueen in hand give him something better.
He drops the pawn at e3, giving check, andWhite is helpless; 9 Kxe3 is met by a mating
drop of the queen at f4, 9 Ke1/Kf1 by a mating
drop at f2, and 9 Kg3 by another drop at f4
with mate in two more moves.
George Dekle felt that in Chessgi the pieces
were too powerful in attack and too weak in

54 Games using an ordinary board and men
defence, and proposed in 1986 that (1) pawns
promote only to non-royal K, (2) promoted
pieces when captured revert to pawns, and(3) a B has the additional power of moving
and capturing one square orthogonally (Nostalgia 294). The changes found no support.
In other versions, also not recommended, aman may not be dropped to give mate and abishop must be dropped on a square of thesame colour on which it was captured.
Neo-Chess [Randolph] (Proprietary game,
3M; Alex Randolph, 1972). A proprietaryversion, using the same rules of play. The
pieces are small cylinders, not unlike cottonreels, of various heights. Each cylinder has apiece symbol stamped on one end and thesame symbol on the other end in a contrasting
colour (silver and gold). The men are placed
initially in the normal chess array, one player
with silver (white) men showing, the othergold (black). When a man is captured, it isturned over. Neo-Chess was endorsed by the
USCF and was a great favourite ofEdmondson. It was practised by a number ofgrandmasters including Larsen, Spassky andPetrosian. (Copy of manufacturer’s publicity

leaflet, with manuscript notes apparently
deriving from personal communication)
Token Chess (D. B. Pritchard, 1989). Twosets of chessmen (one used as a pool) and abank of counters are required, the counters
ideally in denominations 1 and 5. When a man
is captured it is returned to the pool, and theplayer draws tokens of appropriate value fromthe bank: Q=18, R=10, N=8, B=6, P=2. At thestart of a player’s turn he may buy one man
which must then be dropped on any empty
square (no P on 8th rank, but P on 1st rank
allowed and thereafter moves forward one
square at a time). Men not available in thepool may not be bought. A less violent gameforbids the dropping of a man on the turn inwhich it is bought. In this version, men in
hand may be accumulated. (Author’s
manuscript)
Armageddon Chess (Harold Bohn, 1994). A
combination of Chessgi with Hurricane Chess(see Chapter 1). A player can drop all thepieces captured on a turn on his next turn.
(Variant Chess 15)

5.3 A captured man may be recovered by its owner
Bankhouse Chess (David Moeser, 1971).
Each player starts with 25 1-point tokens(Q=9, R=5, B,N=3, P=1). During play eachplayer retains captured men. At the start of aturn, a player may ‘bribe’ a captured man tochange sides which he then places on acorresponding vacant square in his own
starting array (e.g. captured B on c1 or f1;
captured P on any second rank square). The
bribe, equating to the man’s value in tokens, ispaid to the opponent. Alternatively, the player
may bribe the opponent to surrender one of his
own men held captive at twice its value,
paying the opponent and entering the man inplay similarly. Only one man may bereentered at a time, and that constitutes theplayer’s move. The game may be won in thenormal way or by bankrupting the opponent.
(Neue Chess 3)
Shazzan! (Bruce Trone, 1970s). When a man
is captured, all the men it captured are
returned to their array squares if vacant.
(World Game Review, issue not specified)

Hostage Chess (John Leslie, 1997). Each
player has a prison and an airfield. A captured
man is a hostage and is placed in the prison.
On turn, instead of making a normal move,a player may elect to claim a hostage held by
the opponent in exchange for a hostage ofequal or greater value (Q>R>B=N>P). The
man reclaimed must be immediately dropped
on an empty square (a pawn not on the 1st or
8th ranks). The hostage released in exchange
is transferred to the opponent’s airfield. A man
on an airfield can be dropped at any time,again instead of a normal move.
A pawn cannot promote unless there is apiece in the opponent’s prison for which it canbe exchanged. It follows that a pawn on theseventh rank does not check the opposing kingunless it can promote. A pawn on promotion istransferred to the opponent’s prison.
The game tends to favour the attacker. A
game won by Peter Coast in a postal
tournament started with the ‘Fegatello’ or‘Fried Liver’ attack 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4
Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Nxd5 6 Nxf7 Kxf7

Introduction of new or captured men during play 55
7 Qf3+ Ke6 :NP rdb1wgw4
0p0wdw0p
wdndkdwd
dwdn0wdw
wdBdwdwd
dwdwdQdw
P)P)w)P)$NGwIwdR pp

This line may or may not be playable forBlack at orthochess, but at Hostage Chess it
loses at once. The exchange 8 Bxd5+ Qxd5
gives White a knight to use as a bargaining
counter, and he can exchange this knight for
his imprisoned bishop and drop the ransomed
bishop at f7, giving check and picking up
Black’s queen. Black could have tried acounterattack on the White queen at move 6,
but it appears that White has a win in all lines.
(Nost-algia 375, Eteroscacco 86-88, Variant
Chess 32 and later)

5.4 A captured man is replaced at once
Replacement Chess, also known as
Bhagavathi Chess, Canadian Chess,
Madhouse Chess, Repeating Chess, and at
one time as Bughouse Chess though this last
name is now used for a partnership game
(J. E. H. Creed, 1930s, or perhaps mucholder). A captured man is at once replaced by
the capturing player on any vacant square,
subject only to the restrictions that a pawn
cannot be placed on an end rank and a bishop
must be placed on a square of its original
colour. Put-Back Chess is Replacement
Chess without these restrictions. Pawns
replaced on starting rank regain their twosquare option. One source states no castling.
Since forces remain equal throughout,Replacement Chess is a game of position. The
idea is to bury captured pieces and attempt todenude the enemy king of his defences.
Positional constipation is a natural hazard, one
reason why AISE, whose colourful name forthe game was Mangia-e-Sputa (Eat and spitout), preferred to play it in Progressive form.
Although in this form it is somewhat
stereotyped and with a bias in favour of White,
games have the merit of brevity. [The gamehas been described in numerous sources, but
none appears to be contemporary with its
presumed origin. I have put this back to‘1930s’ on the strength of a remark once madeto me by David Hooper, who told me heremembered playing it with Jack Creed at thattime.]King Chess [Miller] (Donald Miller, 1950).
A captured man (piece or pawn) is at once
replaced on its start square. If this is occupied,
the man goes to the start square of thecapturing man, and if this is also occupied,to the start square of the occupying man, andso on. A captured pawn replaced on the 8th
rank is immediately promoted by its owner.
A promoted pawn which is subsequently
captured remains promoted unless promoted toits array square as a pawn. The object is tocapture (not checkmate) the opponent’s king.
If the same sequence of moves is repeated
twice, the player who initiated the sequencemust vary.
There have been variations. In one, playcontinues after the capture of a king but
hereon captured men are removed from theboard, the object being to annihilate theopponent’s forces. Unlike in King Chess,draws occur quite frequently. In anothervariant, after a king has been removed thecapturer is granted an agreed number of ‘free
captures’ (2-5 are usual) during which time theopponent is obliged to replace captured men as
usual unless he succeeds also in capturing theking. (Inventor’s rule sheet)
Circe Chess [Monréal] (Pierre Monréal,
1967). Named after the enchantress of Greek
mythology. A popular problem theme, later
played as a game. A captured man is at once
replaced on its notional square of origin,
unless that square is occupied in which casethe man is removed from play. Kings cannot
be captured; a Q is replaced on d1/d8; a R, B,
or N on the array square of the same colour asthat on which the piece is captured; a pawn on
the second rank of the ﬁle on which it stands.
Promoted pieces are treated as pieces, notpawns. A replaced pawn regains the two-step
option; castling with a replaced R is permitted

56 Games using an ordinary board and men
if other conditions are met. A capture cannot
be made if the replacement puts the player’s K
in check. Philip Cohen has suggested that aplayer should not be allowed a move that
simply reverses the opponent’s last move(for example, Qd1xBg4 putting B back on c8,
Bxg4 putting Q back on d1). The game israther slow but tactics can be entertaining.
(Oxford Companion to Chess, Nost-algia
262)
Circe Progressive Chess (Roberto Gravina,1979). A combination game that has acquired
a separate identity as a result of many
tournaments. A long-time favourite of AISE.
Rules are those of Circe Chess and Italian
Progressive Chess, with the difference that acaptured man is replaced on its original arraysquare and not on the square of the same
colour or file as that on which it is captured. A
promoted piece that is subsequently captured
reverts to a pawn and is replaced on thepawn’s starting square, where it regains its
option to move two squares initially. Gamesare mostly short. The openings, which havebeen researched by T. Sala and others, tend to

be rather stereotyped. (Eteroscacco 8 andlater)
Circe Vulcanici. As played by AISE. A
development of Progressive Circe. If a rebirthsquare is occupied, the captured man waits
until it is vacant to be replaced. Another rule
restores the original Circe requirement that apawn is returned to the array square on the ﬁleon which it is captured, not necessarily its
original square. This has permitted Cassano towin several games with a Fool’s Mate: 1 e4
2 d5, dxe4(Pe2)?? 3 d3, dxe4, Qxd8 mate.
(Eteroscacco 11 and later)
Circe’s problem children have been manyand various, but as a game it remains popular
only in Progressive form.
Transfer Chess (Bruce Trone, 1991). A formof Replacement Chess in which a player
making a capture moves the captured man in
the manner of the capturer, choosing between
alternatives, if any, as part of that move. Thus
1 e4 d5 2 exd5(Pd4). (Unprovenanced notepresumably
deriving
frompersonal
communication)

5.5 A captured man lies low, and re-emerges when the capturing man has moved on
Ghost Chess [Dawson] or Phantom Chess(Joseph Boyer and others, 1952-3, based on an
idea of T. R. Dawson). A captured man isresurrected as a ghost on the square of its
demise when the capturer moves away. The
ghost assumes the same colour and rank as thepiece captured but is itself immune from
capture. It can capture an ordinary man but
equally creates a ghost when moving away.
First seen in two problems by Dawson
published posthumously in Fairy Chess
Review (December 1952), and developed as agame with an additional rule: where a series of
captures is effected on a square, ghosts appear
in reverse order of capture. Thus suppose
1 NxPf5 Bxf5 2 Rxf5. When the rook next
moves, a black bishop reappears; when thisbishop moves, a white knight; and when theknight moves, a black pawn. Games can be
exciting. (Nouveux Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes) [Text revised]
Zombie Chess (Philip Cohen, 1964). Whena man which has made a capture moves again,a Zombie is created on the vacated square.
This is of the same rank as the captured man

but is controlled by the capturing player. No
man may alight on or cross a square occupied
by a zombie, nor may a zombie capture or
cross a man. A zombie thus operates as amobile block, but may capture (bydisplacement) a zombie of the opposite colour.
A zombie pawn promotes to a zombie piece. If
a succession of captures takes place on asquare, only the last-captured piece returns
from the dead. When a zombie captures azombie and the capturing zombie moves away,
a Double Zombie appears on the vacatedsquare. A double zombie acts as a block bothto zombies and ordinary men (the double
zombie can later become a triple zombie etc.
without change of role). Since the number ofmen on the board can only be reduced bymultiple captures on the same square, and thetendency is for pieces to grind into
immobility, the game was later modified toReincarnation Chess (see below). In anotherversion, Dying Zombie Chess, ZxZ resulted
in both ghosts disappearing.
Reincarnation Chess (Philip Cohen,
1960s). A development of Zombie Chess. If aIntroduction of new or captured men during play 57
capture, or series of captures, takes place on asquare, a Zombie is created when thecapturing man vacates the square. The zombie
is of the same rank as the (last) piece captured
and belongs to the capturer. Zombies cannot
capture nor move across normal men and viceversa, the two species acting as blocks to eachother. Zombies can however capture enemy
zombies. When this happens, after a single
capture or series of captures, a normal man iscreated on the square when it is vacated,
adopting the rank of the (last) captured zombie
and the colour of the capturing zombie.
Zombie pawns promote to zombie pieces
which retain their rank if captured orreincarnated; no e.p. at any time. Men rebornon their original squares regain usual
privileges (pawn-two, castling). Best playedwith two sets of contrasting chessmen. (Nostalgia 156 and later, Eteroscacco 44)

5.6 Other reintroductions of captured men
Clockwork Orange Chess (Fergus Duniho,1999). Two sets of distinguishable men. Whena man is captured it is replaced by a noncapturing counterpart of the same colour, andis returned to its owner who can later drop it
back on the board instead of making a normal
move. Similarly a non-capturing man when
captured reverts to an orthodox chessman (sothere is a strong incentive not to capture non-capturing men). Pawns promote normally;
non-capturing pawns to non-capturing pieces;no pawn may be dropped on the eighth rank
and non-capturing pawns do not have thepawn-2 option. Inspired by the book and filmof the title, where a young hooligan is released
from jail after being conditioned to feel ill andnauseous at the thought of committing
violence. (Chess Variant Pages) [Text revised]Chapter 6
Unorthodox pawn properties and powers[The pawn is the most idiosyncratic of the chessmen, and what is surprising is not that there
have been several variant forms of it but that there have not been more.]
6.1 Historical rules regarding promotion
The present rules regarding pawn promotion
have been standard since late in the 19th
century, but many other rules have been inforce at various times. One such was
Promotion Only to Queen, mirroring the‘promotion only to fers’ of the ancient
shatranj. The Single Box of Men rule allowed
promotion only to replace a captured piece (ifnone was available, the pawn had to remain
immobile until something was taken), and theDummy Pawn rule allowed a pawn to remain
unpromoted and immobile on the 8th rank forever. Many sets of rules failed to prohibit
promotion to a piece of the opposite colour,
and a few trick problems duly took advantage.

[Text editorial. This is strictly the provinceof chapter 26, but a brief summary appears
appropriate here. Rook-and-pawn endingssuch as White Kd8/Pc5 against Black Kf4/Rh1
are now drawn by 1 c6 Ke5 2 c7 Kd6
3 c8(N)+, but in the days of ‘promotion only
to queen’ they were wins for the rook. The‘single box of men’ rule knocks out all wins
which require promotion to a second queen.
Only the ‘dummy pawn’ rule has no practicaleffect, though positions can be constructed
where such a promotion is the only move tosave or win the game; T. R. Dawson found aposition where White had to do it three times
running (Caissa’s Fairy Tales, 1947).]

6.2 Other changes affecting promotion
Mecklenbeck Chess [Eickenscheidt and
Schwarzkopf] (Bernd Eickenscheidt andBernd Schwarzkopf, 1973). Pawns may
promote on 6th and 7th ranks as well as on 8th(where promotion is compulsory). Introduced
as a problem theme but also played as a lively
game (Feenschach, October 1973). In FastTrack Chess (Philip Cohen, 1986) pawns
promote optionally (but on moving only) on
any rank from 5th to 8th. On the 5th rank apawn promotes to knight, on 6th to knight orbishop, on 7th to knight, bishop or rook, andon 8th (obligatory) to any piece (Nost-algia299). [There is also game in which pawns
promote on the 7th rank, Tom Russell’s
Glasgow Chess, but this appears to have been

seen only in problems and it was not on
David’s list.]
Promotion-Demotion
Chess(Matthew
Montchalin, 1994). A friendly pawn adjacentto the K can be promoted, and a friendly piece
demoted (to a P), in each case instead ofmoving. (Manuscript notes presumably
deriving from personal communication)
Ur Chess (Philip Cohen, 1997). Usual set-up
except pawns on 3rd and 6th ranks. Ps may
promote anywhere within the opponent’s first
three ranks to a piece previously captured.
No pawn-two, castling, or repeat position.
(Nost-algia 363)

6.3 Move diagonally, capture straight
Berolina Chess, also known as Berlin Chess(Edmund Hebermann, 1926). Pawns move one
square diagonally forward (or two on theirfirst move) and capture one square straightforward. Promotion normal, e.p. possible. The
game is highly original and draws are rare.
Pawns have greater mobility and canconcentrate in the centre, a common opening

Unorthodox pawn properties and powers 59
strategy. Against this, their capturing power isreduced, and since a pawn can defend only
one man, a defence chain is impossible, withthe result that open ﬁles are commonplace.
In the end game, pawns are dangerous as thepath to promotion is easier. Tournaments havebeen held, combination games have been tried,and ‘Berolina pawns’ have long been popularwith problemists. (Funkschack, August 1926)
Corner Chess [Paletta] (Tony Paletta, 1980).
A modern two-player version of the Game of
the Four Seasons (see chapter 38). Array :kgpdw0b1
hr0wdp4n
p0wdwdp0
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd)Pdwdw)P
N$Pdw)RH!B)wdPGK

There have been many successors. Legan’s
Game (L. Legan, 1913) has arraykhb4pdwd
gq0pdwdw
n0pdwdwd
4pdpdwdP
pdwdPdP$dwdwdP)N
wdwdP)QG
dwdP$BHK
and White can promote only on the squares
a5-a8-d8. Diagonal Chess (J. A. Lewis, 1943)
is the same except that the array is

Pawns move diagonally forward and capture
vertically, one square at a time; promotion
normal. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter)

wdwdphridwdw0b0r
wdwdpgqh
dwdw0p0p
P)P)wdwd
HQGPdwdw
R)B)wdwd
IRHPdwdw

There are also games where the players sit
cornerwise. Diamond Chess [Rynd] (J. A.
Porterfield Rynd, 1886) has array

and White again has the full length of bothedges on which to promote, and Salvadori’s
Game (Roberto Salvadori, 1989) has array

k4b0wdwd
4qhpdwdw
ngp0wdwd
0p0pdwdw
wdwdP)P)dwdw)PGN
wdwdPHQ$
dwdw)B$K

wdwdpgbi
dwdw0n1r
wdwdp0n4
dwdw0p0p
P)P)wdwd$N)Pdwdw
R!N)wdwd
IBGPdwdw

and the board is placed diagonally between theplayers so that White’s ‘forwards’ direction isalong the diagonal h1-a8. White’s pawns
advance in this direction one step at a time,
capture by a one-step orthogonal move at 45
degrees, and promote anywhere along the edge
a1-a8-h8; Black’s conversely.

(British Chess Magazine, March 1886, Chess
Amateur, March 1922, Les Jeux d’Echecs
Non-orthodoxes, Eteroscacco 46)[The Addenda to the first edition included a“Corner Chess” quoted by Anatoly Burdin, but
this has several curious features and appears to
be a puzzle rather than a genuine game.]60 Games using an ordinary board and men
6.4 Other changes affecting forward movement
Pawn-Two Captures (James Mason, 1893).
Mason suggested that since a pawn is allowed
to move two squares on its first move, it
should be allowed to capture at a like distanceon the same occasion. (Chess Monthly)
Soldier Chess (quoted by Tony Paletta, 1980).
Pawns behave like soldiers in xiangqi (seechapter 27); no double-step option, capturestraight forward. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter)
O.K. Chess, also known as Zip Chess(Clifford Merry, 1988). After White’s ﬁrst
move, pawns may be advanced any distancedown a vacant ﬁle, e.p. capture sanctioned on
any square passed. (Personal communication)

6.5 Sideways and backwards movement
Reform Chess [Voss], also known as
Superpawns Chess (Norbert Voss, late
1920s). Voss was inspired by the tacticalimportance of the d- and e-pawns to promote
them to ‘Oberbauern’ (lit: ‘high pawns’). They
move one step at a time straight forward,
diagonally forward, or sideways, capturing inthe same manner. A master tournament washeld in Berlin in 1930. The power of theoberbauer can be considerable in an end game.
(Photocopy of booklet Reformschach, also
Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants)
Wren’s Game (Peter Wren, 1957). Backward
pawn moves to be permitted. Considered as a‘concession to the oldsters’ in Hyde Park
(Sydney?) who would not be reconciled to theintroduction the previous year (!) of the rule
allowing a pawn to move two squares initially.
‘The game of the maddened pawn’ was thescornful sobriquet of the conservatives. A
prize was offered for the best entry illustrating
the game’s ﬂavour. (Chess World, May 1964)
Taxi Chess (Karl Fabel, 1961). Pawns aretaxis: they move up to three squares initially(e.p. possible) and also back one square, but
not to ﬁrst rank. Promotion is optional. Pawns
moved back to starting position move only one
square forward. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter)
Fish Chess (David Moeser, 1971). The ﬁsh isan enhanced pawn, having the extra power ofmoving one square straight backwards. A ﬁsh
on ﬁrst or second rank may advance 2 squares
whether or not it has previously exercised theprivilege. En passant allowed on second rank.
The ﬁsh strengthens the defence sinceadvances are not committal. (Nost-algia 280)

Barasi Chess (Paul Barasi, 1970s). Pawns
move one square diagonally forward or
backward, capture one square straight forward.
If between the 2nd and 4th rank, a pawn canmove two squares, and it can do this on an
unlimited number of occasions. A pawn may
move to, or capture on, the first rank. No e.p.
but promotion as normal. Pieces, by contrast,
cannot move backwards; they can only move
forwards, or (Q, R, K) sideways. The gamewas popular at British Chess Federation
congresses in the 1970s. Jonathan Speelman
was regarded as unbeatable. (Author’s rules
pamphlet and exposition)
Chazz (David Moeser, early 1990s). Kings
and pawns only in usual starting positions.
Pawns may move, but not capture, one squarestraight back, even to the first rank. Promotion
to R, B, N only. Played with clocks set to fiveminutes, the game is said to have swept
America in 1991-2. Two versions have since
been under investigation: (1) the players agree
on up to three different pieces, with some
limitations on strength and movement, which
are placed alternately on the back ranks of theplayers before play starts; (2) the players areallocated points (16 are suggested) and each
may add any number of pieces provided thatthe point total (Q=9, R=5, B=3.5, N=3) is notexceeded. The allocation could include agreed
unorthodox pieces. (The Parkway Post / The
Tri-County Parkway Chess Club Bulletin,
May 1992, also personal communication)
Mutant Pawns Chess (Kevin Lawless, 1994).
On each turn a player moves pawn, then piece.
A pawn can move one square sideways.
(Photocopy of inventor’s rules leaflet)Chapter 7
Moving the opponent’s men[A curious twist is given to chess by allowing a player to move his opponent’s men. There arethree broad flavours: moving an opponent’s man instead of one’s own, choosing or altering the
opponent’s last move, and moving a man of each side.]
7.1 Moving an opponent’s man instead of one’s own
All-In Chess (Chris Tylor, 1976). The name istaken from all-in wrestling which the gamedistantly suggests. Each side, on its turn tomove, may make a normal move with a manof either colour, the main restriction being thata player cannot move so as to repeat theposition reached prior to the previous player’s
move (i.e., you can’t take back a move justmade by the opponent). Other limitations arecommon sense: a capture can only be made ofa man of the opposite colour; pawns mustmove in their natural directions; a player
cannot put his own king in check. A pinned
piece may be moved to expose the enemy
king, and a player may sometimes proﬁt fromusing an opponent’s man to capture one of his
own men. Free-For-All Chess (Jed Stone,1982) is similar, except that piece moves may
be retracted by the second player. (Chessics 1,
Stone)

7.2 Rejecting, choosing, or altering the opponent’s last move
Refusal Chess, also known as Outlaw Chessand Rejection Chess (Fred Galvin, 1958).
A player can reject the opponent’s move,but must then accept any alternative move by
the same or a different piece. Promotion todifferent pieces count as different moves.
Refusal Chess is the over-the-board version ofCompromise Chess (see below) but there is asignificant difference between the two games.
In Refusal, the player who rejects a movegives the opponent a free hand, often at peril.
For example, after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5,
Black might decide he does not wish to face
the Ruy Lopez, so he rejects White’s move
only to be faced with Nxe5 - and White will
reject the recapture.
In Compromise Chess, if a player can only
make one legal move, the opponent must
accept it. Not so in Refusal Chess, whichmakes possible games like this, quoted in
the Romanian magazine Cartea Jocurilor:
1 ‘d4?’ (no) e4 ‘e6?’ (no) e5 2 ‘Bc4?’ (yes)‘Bc5?’ (no) Nc6 3 ‘Bxf7+?’ (yes) ‘Kxf7?’ (no)Ke7 4 ‘Bxg8?’ (no) Bb3 ‘Nf6?’ (no) d6
5 ‘Qf3?’ (yes) ‘Nf6?’ (no) Nd4 6 ‘Qf7#?’ (no)c3 ‘Nxf3+?’ (no) Nxb3 and if Black refuses
7 axb3 White will substitute Qf7 :rdb1wgn4
0p0wiQ0p
wdw0wdwd
dwdw0wdw
wdwdPdwddn)wdwdw
P)w)w)P)$NGwIwHR
White will now refuse ...Kxf7 and Black has
no other legal move, so it’s mate. (Nost-algia
157 and later, also Nostalgia 96 ‘not seen’)Compromise Chess (Fred Galvin, 1958).
A close relative of Refusal Chess, best suited
to correspondence play. The turn player must
offer the opponent a choice of two legal
moves (even if in check or giving it), theopponent then deciding which move the player
makes. If a player can make only one legal
move, the opponent must accept. Promotionsof the same pawn to different pieces are
considered as different moves. The option torefuse a capture or recapture makes forinteresting play. Choice Chess (Bruce Trone,

62 Games using an ordinary board and men
1986) is the same except that each player must
propose ﬁve moves per turn. (Nost-algia 157
and later, also Nost-algia 96 ‘not seen’)
Substitution Chess (Fabrice Liardet, 2005,
originally as Ambiguous Chess). As
originally conceived, a player pointed to thedestination square of his intended move, andif more than one man could be moved there
the opponent chose which was played. As
subsequently modified for clock play, a player
makes a normal move and hits his clock, andif his opponent wishes to substitute a move bysome other man to the same square he makes
the substitution (in his own clock time) before
playing his own move. This simplification has
now been adopted even for play without
clocks, and the game has been renamed
accordingly. The win is by capturing the
opponent’s king, and the special flavour of thegame rests in the fact that a move whichleaves the king open to capture can besubstituted for one that doesn’t. An example

given by the inventor: 1 e4 (no substitution
possible) e5 (ditto) 2 Bc4 (Black could
substitute c2-c4, but this would allow White’sknight to play to c3 without allowing thesubstitution of c2-c3 whereas now Black cankeep it at home) d6?? (but this is fatal)
3 Bxf7+! Kxf7 4 Qh5 and Black is helpless :rhb1wgn4
0p0wdk0p
wdw0wdwd
dwdw0wdQ
wdwdPdwd
dwdwdwdw
P)P)w)P)$NGwIwHR
He cannot play say 4...Ke6 because White will
substitute Be6, and he cannot play 4...g6
because White will substitute Kg6. (Variant
Chess 49/52) [Text revised]

7.3 Making a move for each side
Michelson’s Game (1950s). White opens,
Black replies and then makes a move for
White; thereafter each player in turn makes
first a black then a white move. Curious endplay according to Boyer (Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes). A similar game is referred to in
the Illustrated Dictionary of Chess (Brace) as
Double-Move Chess [Black then White], thewinner being the first player to mate either
king.

promote (but only to queen). A Q-side man
cannot be used to assist in checkmate nor toescape check or checkmate. A king must getout of check on the first move of a turn.
Another version of the game allows a player to
meddle with the opponent’s pawns but not hispieces. If an enemy pawn move is notpossible, the enemy king may be moved
instead. (Chess - Curiouser and Curiouser,
Chessery for Duffer and Master)March Hare Chess (V. R. Parton, 1961). At
each turn, a player moves one of his own
pieces, and then ‘meddles’ with his opponent’s
men. If he has just moved a pawn, he can now
move any hostile man including the king; if K,
he can play any hostile piece apart from theking; if Q, R, B, or N, he can only move ahostile pawn. When a player’s king is incheck, he must nullify the check with a normal
move. In Parton’s later Meddlers’ Chess(1970) Q-side pieces and pawns are
distinguished from those on the K-side, and aplayer moves one of his own K-side men andthen one of his opponent’s Q-side men. Thislatter move may expose the enemy king tocheck, take one of the player’s own men, orAvalanche Chess (Ralph Betza, 1977). So
named because the pawns of both sides
advance inexorably. A favourite with NOST;
Avalanche was the chosen variant of the U.S.
team in the 1st Heterochess Olympiad. One
basic rule: after each normal move the turnplayer must pull an opponent’s pawn one
square forward (i.e., towards the player). If the
opponent has no pawns, or they are blocked,
or can capture but cannot otherwise move,
there is no action; but if a pawn move
subsequently becomes available, it is again
mandatory. A pawn is promoted to a piece of
its owner’s choice. A player obliged to pull an
opponent’s pawn so as to put his own king incheck loses at once even if he mates in theMoving the opponent’s men 63
same turn. The effect of the rule is that whilst
a blocked pawn protects a square, a mobile
pawn does not: a piece on it can be taken andthe pawn then moved on. Similarly, pawns infront of a king can be moved to expose it. A
player in check is not obliged to get out ofcheck until the end of his turn. Most
dangerous in the later stages of a game is asingle, unblocked pawn which is being moved
by both players towards promotion. In theearly stages of a game, avalanche pawn moves
are used to weaken the opponent both
positionally and tactically or to hamper his
development. Fool’s Mate is one move deep:
1 g4/e6 Qh5/f3.
Orthochess theory falls down in the ending.
K + defended P (except RP) always wins
against K. Example: White Kb2, Pb3 (2),Black Kb4 (1). Black can only retreat on thefile, say Kb5/b4, and White defends the pawn.
When the pawn reaches b7 White plays to a6
or c6, and Black loses at once.
White’s undoubted initial advantage in
Avalanche is negated in Balanced Avalanche
Chess, where White has no push on the first
move. Here is a game won by Alessandro
Castelli in 1991. 1 Nf3 (preventing 1...e5/f3 byBlack) Nf6/ a3 (Black in turn prevents 2 e4/f6)
2 Nc3/c6 d5/h3 3 d4/a6 Ne4/a4 (threatening
4...Nxc3/b3 winning a piece) 4 Qd3/h6 Bf5/a5
5 Nh4/f6 Bh7/g3 6 Nxe4/g6 dxe4/c3 7 Qxe4/e6
Bb4/c4+ 8 Bd2/b6 Bxd2+/f3 9 Kxd2/h5 Qd6/
b3 10 e3/c5 :rhwdkdw4
dwdwdwdb
p0w1p0pd)w0wdwdpwdP)QdwHdPdw)P)P
wdwIwdwd$wdwdBdR
10...cxd4/b4 (it would seem that Black is not
sufficiently well developed for a sacrifice like
this, but the Avalanche rule gives the attacker
an extra edge) 11 Qxa8/d3 Qxb4+/g4 12 Kxd3/
f5 Qb5/c5+ 13 Kc2/e5 (a fatal blunder) Qxc5+/
e4 14 Kb2/f4 Qb4+/g5 15 Kc1/b5 Qc3+/- andWhite resigned (see diagram at top of next
column) :Qhwdkdw4
dwdwdwdb
pdwdwdpd)pdw0w)p
wdwdP0wH
dw1wdPdP
wdwdwdwd$wIwdBdR
At ordinary chess, White would have little tofear, but at Avalanche every White king movepulls the Black b-pawn down a rank and thisquickly proves fatal. (Nost-algia 214 and later,
Eteroscacco 8 and later, Variant Chess 48)
007 Chess (Edward Jackman, 1995). Players
make three moves a turn: own man,
opponent’s man, own man in that order. In
Balanced 007, Black starts by moving a whiteman; White then moves a black man followed
by a white man. Thereafter players make threemoves a turn as above. Every move must be
legal; e.g., a king cannot be exposed to check.
If you check on the first move of a turn, youmust get the opponent’s king out of check on
the second. Similarly a check on the second
move must be countered on the third. The
owner of a pawn decides its promotion status.
In the Detente variation it is forbidden tocapture on the third move of a man moved on
the second, nor can the same man be moved
twice in a turn. Passing is forbidden and it isstalemate if a player cannot legally complete
his turn. The game was allegedly inspired by
Meddler’s Chess above.
In Progressive 007, White starts with asingle white move; at turn 2, Black plays ablack move followed by a white move; at turn3, White plays a black move, followed by awhite move, followed by a black move; and soon. The men of each colour are moved
alternately, and the number of moves increases
by one at each turn. The game was reinvented
by João Neto and Bill Taylor as Progressive
Orthodox Chess, and an eight-man
tournament conducted on the Internet during
1997 and 1998 was won jointly by Fred
Galvin and Norbert Geissler (interestingly,
neither of the reinventors reached the finalpool). A trap along the following lines caught
several. White played say a2-a4, Black64 Games using an ordinary board and men
unwisely replied with e7-e5 for himself andsay b3-b2 for White, and White played
Qd8-h4 for Black, Ng1-f3 for himself, andQh4xf2+ for Black :rhbdkgn4
0p0pdp0p
wdwdwdwd
dwdw0wdw
Pdwdwdwd
dPdwdNdw
wdP)P1P)$NGQIBdR
Black, forced to start turn 4 with a white
move, could only play Ke1xf2 taking his own
queen, and he soon succumbed.
It was the considered opinion of Norbert
Geissler after the tournament that the ‘bestplay’ result was a win for Black (which makesa change), and Fred Galvin suggested that if
another tournament were to be held Blackshould play first with a white move (probably
f2-f3). It is not known whether this has been
put to the test. (Variant Chess 19, Nost-algia
361, Eteroscacco 77, tournament reports on
the Internet) [Text revised. It may seem odd touse the word ‘orthodox’ for a variant in whicha player moves his opponent’s men, but
apparently the reason was that the resulting
game score was that of a legal if notnecessarily very sensible orthodox game.]
Reciprocal Chess (Philip Cohen, 1990s)
Standard array. A turn consists of two parts;
a normal move then a move or of the man ofeither colour (if any) on the reciprocal starting
square. A move is illegal if the man on the
recripocal square cannot move. Thus, after
1 e4/d6 Nd7/Nh3 any move of the white Q or
B is illegal as the pieces on the reciprocalsquares cannot move. (Nost-algia 371)

Chapter 8
Transporting and teleporting[In these games, men are moved in a way that may be foreign to them. They resume their normal
powers subsequently, but during the forced movement they are mere dummies which go here
and there at the behest of others.]
8.1 Selective transport of individual pieces
Teleport Chess [Paletta] (Tony Paletta,
1980). Any man except a king may, instead ofmaking a normal move, teleport to thecorresponding square on the other side of theboard (files a-h, b-g, c-f, d-e) provided that theplayer is not in check and the square moved tois vacant. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter)moves any man two squares towards anotherman of either colour either orthogonally or
diagonally, and brings the second man to thesquare over which the first passed. The kingmay castle or be castled through or out ofcheck, the enemy king may be castled into it.
(Nost-algia 307 and later)

Teleport Chess [Schmittberger] (R. Wayne
Schmittberger, 1984). Once in a game eachpiece (not king or pawns) may teleport to any
vacant square. Right to teleport can beindicated by a counter under each piece at thestart of the game which is removed when thepiece teleports. (Originator’s rules note)

Start-Again Chess (D. B. Pritchard, 1990).
Instead of an orthochess move a player may
put a man back to its starting square provided
it is vacant. Rooks and knights may go toeither start square. A more aggressive version
also allows a player to move a piece (but not apawn) to the opponent’s corresponding arraysquare. Put-backs only apply to own men.

Teleport Chess [Green] (D. K. Green, 1986).
Inspired by Chakra (see Part 2). Rooks havethe power to teleport but only friendly pieces,not pawns or each other. A piece that canmove to a square occupied by a friendly rookis instantly transported to any empty squareadjacent, including diagonally adjacent, to theother rook. The only strictures are that abishop must reappear on the square of its
initial colour and a knight must appear on asquare of the opposite colour to which it stoodat the start of its move. If a rook is lost, theplayer may nominate a pawn for the role ofteleporter. If both rooks are lost all teleporting
powers are lost with them, but power may berestored by a pawn promoting to rook.
Bishops and knights can be used to teleportinstead of rooks. Regularly played by small
groups in Essex; two tournaments held.
(Manuscript notes deriving from personalcommunication)
Highcastle Chess (Ed Pegg Jr, 1988). In placeof a regular move, a player may castle. He

Transporter Chess (Torben Osted, 1993).
Each player has a counter or coin, known as
the Transporter, placed beneath the kings in
the array. The transporter moves like a king,either independently or carrying a man with it(thus bishops can change square colour). A T
cannot capture or be captured though a man on
it can. A piece on a T, moving normally, cancarry the T with it or leave it behind. The T
can move beneath an enemy man but cannot
move it. Moving a T, occupied or not, counts
as a move. A pawn returned to the second rankregains the two-square option. The piece
affords considerable scope for original play.
(Eteroscacco 65/67)
Follower Chess (Michael Howe, 1993). Usualarray. White starts with an orthodox move.
Thereafter the player on turn makes anorthodox move followed by an unorthodox
move. The latter consists of moving any
friendly piece (not the K) to a square on thepath of the piece just moved. The path is the

66 Games using an ordinary board and men
square vacated plus any squares passed over.
The path of a N is considered to include every
vacant square in the 3x2 rectangle. A follower(unorthodox move) may give check. The K
may not be a follower and must escape checkby an orthodox move. No castling or e.p.
(Eteroscacco 66)
Follow-The-Mover Chess, also known as
FTM Chess (Gianluca Vecchi, 1994).
Orthochess except that after making a movethe player may transfer any friendly man,except the K or the man just moved, to thevacated square. Bs can occupy the same
colour. The K must escape check with an
orthodox move and a P cannot be transported
to the 8th rank. Here is a postal game won by
the inventor: 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 Ng5 (Qf3) Ng8(Raf6) 3 Qxf6 (Raf3)?! gxf6 (hg7) 4 Nxf7
(Nbg5) fxg5 (af6)?? 5 Nxh8 (Bcf7) mate.

(Inventor’s rules note)
Carrier Chess (Michael Howe, 1994).
Standard array. White starts with one move;
thereafter a player on turn makes one orthodox
move and one optional carrier move. A carrier
move involves taking a friendly man adjacentto the man moved (termed a ‘parcel’) andplaced on a vacant square adjacent to thesquare on which the move is completed. A
king may not be a parcel and Ps cannot be
carried to the 8th rank. (Inventor’s note giving
the rules)
Super Queen Chess (Kevin Lawless, 1994).
Usual board and array. The Qs have theadditional power of moving to any empty
square three times in a game. A Q cannot
capture her rival unless she has exhausted hersuper powers. (Originator’s rules leaflet)

8.2 Pushing and pulling
Push Chess (Fred Galvin, 1967). All men canmove normally but may also push a friendly or
hostile man ahead of them. The king pushes anadjacent man one square, the line pieces (Q, R,
B) push a man any distance provided squares
passed over are vacant. A knight moves to an
occupied square, pushing the occupant aknight’s move away in the same direction.
Pawns push friendly men as they move, one or
two squares, but hostile men diagonallyforward one square. Only one man may be
pushed at a time. No displacement captures;
pieces are captured by being pushed over theedge of the board. Suicide is permissible. A
king is checkmated when it cannot avoid being
pushed off the board; in check when so
threatened. A pawn can be promoted by apush. There appear to be two versions: whenpushed by a hostile piece, the promoted pieceis selected by the player (one version) or by
the owner of the pawn (the other version). A
pawn pushed to its first rank has a one-step
move only, but recovers its normal two-step
power on regaining the second rank. A push
move that restores the position to that existing
before the push is illegal. Castling normal,
no e.p., stalemate possible. A Fool’s Mate:
1 Bf1-c4 (pushes Pe2 to b5) d7-d6 2 Qd1-b3(Pc2-a4) f7-f6 3 Qb3-e6 (Bc4-f7).
Push Chess has been described as‘Extraordinarily rich and unpredictable, full of
surprises’. Even so, it is now little played,having been superseded by Dynamo Chessbelow. (Nost-algia 232/242)
Dynamo Chess (Hans Klüver and Peter Kahl,
1968, inspired by Push Chess). Dynamo Chessis essentially Push Chess with two additionalrules: a man may pull instead of pushing, andit may remain stationary and just push or
perhaps pull. A line piece (Q, R, B) may, on
moving normally or without moving, push aman of either colour to any square straightahead of it or pull a man of either colour to
any square towards it provided that the men do
not move in opposite directions, squares
moved through are vacant, and only one pieceis pushed or pulled on a turn. A knight moves
to an occupied square (or elects to remain
stationary), pushing the occupant a knight’s
move away in the same direction; in pulling,
the pulled piece occupies the square vacatedby the knight, both pieces again moving along
the same path. A king pushes or pulls anadjacent man one square in his direction of
movement or pushes a man one square without
moving. A pawn pushes a friendly man
directly in front of it one square ahead or up to
two squares if the pawn is in its initial
position. A pawn pushed or pulled back to its

Transporting and teleporting 67
original position regains the right to move twosquares. A pawn pushes an enemy man one
square diagonally forward. Like the pieces, apawn may push without moving, this counting
as a move. A pawn promotes on the eighthrank to a piece of the player’s choice (i.e., if
Black pushes a WP to the eighth, it is Black
who declares the promotion). A pawn cannot
pull since it cannot move backwards (but it
can be pushed/pulled backwards, even to theﬁrst rank). A man pushed or pulled off theboard is captured and removed from play.
Suicide is permissible for all men except theking (suicide is the only way to pull a man off
the board). A king is checkmated when it
cannot avoid being pushed/pulled off theboard, in check when such a move isthreatened. Push/pull is always optional but isforbidden into, through or out of check or to
make a push/pull move that has the effect ofcancelling the previous move. Castling cannot
be combined with a dynamo move. The e.p.
capture, if adopted, can only apply to edge
pawns. A fool’s mate given by the inventors:
1 Ng1-e2 (Pe2-c3) Qd8-b6 (Pc7-a5) 2 f2-f3
Qb6-f2 (Pa7-e3). Without the pawns on c3 ande3, White could escape by Ke1-d2 (Pd2-c3) orKe1-e2 (Pe2-e3).
The rules appear complicated but are quite
logical and are easily assimilated. The theme
has appealed to problemists. (DynamoSchach)
Balanced Doppelzug-Dynamo, also known
as DZD, a combination of Double-move
Chess and Dynamo, achieved popularity inGermany where correspondence tournaments
were held in 1969. The rules differ fromDynamo in that there is no check orcheckmate;
the
game
is
won bypushing/pulling the enemy king off the board.
No e.p., and stalemate is a draw. White starts

with one move (hence ‘balanced’); thereafter
players make two consecutive moves eachturn (illegal for the ﬁrst move to cancel thesecond). Opening play has received little
attention. The popular 1 Qd4 (Pd2-d6) inDynamo fails in DZD on account of, forexample, Rh4 (Ph7-h3) followed by pushingthe queen off. (Dynamo-Schach)Crossings Chess (Philip Cohen, 1973). Robert
Abbott’s game Crossings adapted to chess.
Every man can move like a king but only to anunoccupied square: this is called a Crossingsmove (c-move). Two or more men of the same
colour adjacent to one another in a straightline (orthogonal or diagonal) can also make ac-move. The men move as a line up to thenumber of squares equal to the number of men
in the line. Alternatively, one or more men
may detach from the line, again theirmaximum move being determined by the
number of men moving. If a moving line
meets an enemy man, that man is captured bydisplacement by the lead piece of the line andthe move ends. If a line meets an opponent’s
line with fewer men in it head-on, the leadman in that line is similarly captured. A threat
to capture the king by a c-move has the same
status as a check. A king cannot cross an
attacked square as part of a c-move. A pawn
can be promoted by a c-move. A pawn pushed
to the ﬁrst rank retains the initial two-square
option. All men can also move and capturenormally. A Fool’s mate: 1 e1/f2-g3/h4
d8/e7-f6/g5 and 2...f8/7/6-f5/4/3. This cannot
be done on White’s second move, with colours
reversed and 1 d1/e2-f3/g4 etc, because
Black’s king would have to pass throughcheck. Surge Chess (Cohen, 1973) is the same
game without crossings captures. (Nost-algia
167/183, also correspondence between John
Gollon and Philip Cohen)

8.3 Gravitational and magnetic effects
Gravitational Chess (Carlos Nafarrate,1984). After a piece (not a king or a pawn) has
finished its move, it is pulled one rank backtowards its baseline. The square to which it
first moves, and the square to which it ispulled back, must be either empty or occupied
by an enemy man (which is captured in either
case, so two captures if both squares areoccupied). Problem theme but perfectly
playable as a game. Fools’ mate runs to threemoves, for example 1 e4 h6 2 Qg4/g3 f5
3 Qxg7/g6. (Feenschach, December 1984)
Magnetic Chess (João Neto and Claude
Chaunier, 1996). Standard array and moves
except that the scientific principle of

68 Games using an ordinary board and men
magnetism that like poles repel whilst unlike
poles attract is applied to the chessmen. On
completion of a move, any hostile piece on thesame rank or file in line of sight with the piece
played is moved along the file or rank to thesquare next to it. Similarly any piece of thesame colour is moved to the farthest vacantsquare in line of sight on the same rank or fileas the piece played. Kings however behave
normally. Castling magnetises the rook, there
is no en passant and a pawn moved to thefirst rank retains the two-square move option.
A neat Fool’s Mate due to Ian Richardson:

1 d3 (attracting BPd7-d4) Bg4 (repelling
BPd4-a4 and also attracting WPg2-g3) 2 e3
(repelling WPd3-a3 and WPg3-h3, attracting
BPe7-e4) Qxd1! (Nost-algia 367, Variant
Chess 44/45)
Fruit Bowl Chess (John McCallion, 1997).
The board is divided into a 7x7 central areaand perimeter squares which slope upwards.
A man may move along but not to a perimetersquare without the support of an orthogonallyadjacent man of either colour. (Nost-algia
365)

8.4 Other displacements within the board
Actuated
Revolving
Centre,often
abbreviated to ARC (A. E. Farebrother and
W. H. Rawlings, 1937). The four central
squares, together with their occupants if any,make a quarter-turn clockwise whenever a
man enters, moves within, or leaves the centre.
Rotation takes place on completion of thenormal move. A piece passing over the centre
does not actuate it (Fairy Chess Review,
February 1937 and August 1938).
ARC is a problem theme of little interest as
a vehicle for play, but the idea has beendeveloped and reinvented many times.
Actuated
Revolving
Quarterboard(originator unknown) applies the same idea tothe central 16 squares, Lazy Susan Chess(Bruce R. Trone, date not recorded) is an
automatic version in which the central 16
squares rotate a quarter-turn clockwise after
every move, and in Double Lazy Susan
Chess the inner four squares rotate similarly
counter-clockwise(manuscript
notes
presumably
deriving
frompersonal
communication). In Pinwheel Chess (Ralph
Betza, 1973), the board is assumed divided
into 16 2x2 cells which rotate 90 degrees inalternate directions like so many small
pinwheels (a1/a2/b1/b2 anti-clockwise). If apawn rotates to the 8th rank, the player whose
move it is decides on the promotion piece;a king is not in check if next move its attacker
will be rotated out of range. A fascinating
game according to its inventor, who suggests a
computer print-out after each move (Nostalgia 168), but ‘unplayable’ (World Game
Review 10) may be a sounder judgement.
In Orbital Chess [Betza] (Betza, 1974) theboard is considered to have four orbital paths;
the first consists of the 28 perimeter squares,
then, progressively towards the centre, 20, 12
and 4. After each player moves the four
central squares rotate, together with any
occupants,aquarter-turnclockwise.
Progressively outwards the other paths rotate
one square anti-clockwise (1st and 3rd orbits)
or clockwise (2nd orbit), thereby maintaining
the chequered pattern. A move within a path,even if it crosses other paths, is illegal.
Capture the king to win. ‘Probably
unplayable’ according to Keller (World Game
Review 10), but Betza offered a specimen
game in Nost-algia 168. In Rotation Chess[Cohen] or Gumption Chess (Philip Cohen,1969) the rotation occurs instead of a normal
move rather than as a sequel to it, and there
are several flavours. In the basic game, aplayer may rotate any 2x2 area which contains
at least one of his men and none of his
opponent’s, and the rotation may be either
clockwise or anti-clockwise. A pawn on thefirst or second rank, regardless of how it got
there, may subsequently move to the third or
fourth. No e.p. capture allowed. In Free
Rotation Chess the area rotated may also
contain enemy men; a pawn rotated to its 8th
rank promotes at the choice of its owner, and
if one player rotates an area the opponent
cannot immediately rotate it back. In
Restricted Rotation Chess the direction ofrotation, or a sequence of directions, is
specified either for each player or for the gameas a whole, and in Free Megarotation Chessthe rotation is of 3x3 squares instead of 2x2(notes by the inventor, also Nost-algia 111).

Transporting and teleporting 69
In Twist Chess (D. Trouillon, not later than1975) the 16 central squares, with theiroccupants, can be rotated 90, 180, 270, or 360
degrees (the last being a static move) by either
player instead of moving, but at least one
regular move must be made between rotations
and the right to rotate alternates between theplayers (correspondence between John Gollon
and Philip Cohen).
[It was through ARC that I first met David.
At the time, the British Library’s holding of
Fairy Chess Review was still incomplete (asoften happens with magazines that are sent
only to a small circle of enthusiasts, theprovisions regarding legal deposit had notbeen observed), and he had heard that I had
the complete run; could I help him, please?
Yes, I said, with pleasure, come down andhave a look. He duly arrived and introduced
himself, and I sat him in front of the fire witha complete pile of FCR and a supply of coffee
and left him to it. After his visit, I contacted
the British Library and supplied it withphotocopies of the issues it lacked, with theresult that the next time David visited it toconsult FCR he could not see anything at all
because the whole series was away being
rebound.]
Pivot Chess (James A. Gutzwiller and David
Moeser, 1969). Before moving, a player may
pivot any file 90 degrees about any square on
it. A file must be pivoted so that squares on it
overlap with empty squares on the rest of theboard. Pivoted files temporarily become ranks
and pawns on them move in their normal
directions. (World Game Review 10)
Reflection Chess [Fixed Mirror] (origins
unknown). A notional mirror is positioned
between the 4th and 5th files. Instead ofmoving normally, a piece (but not a pawn)
may reﬂect to the mirror-image square,
provided it is empty, on the other side of theboard. The K can reﬂect out of check.
(Correspondence between John Gollon andPhilip Cohen)
Mirror Chess [Howe] (Michael Howe, 1994).
After each move, the player may place amirror horizontally or vertically between any
two squares and reflect everything in a fielddefined by the nearer boundary and the square
the same distance away on the other side (thusafter 1 f4 White can put a mirror between f5
and f6 and reflect everything from f8 to f3,
which moves the pawn to f7 and puts Black incheck). Restrictions: a reflecting field may notinclude the king; it may not include a squarethat was in a field created by the opponent at
his last turn; the king must get out of check by
an orthodox move; a pawn may not promote
by reflection (no apparent prohibition onreflection to the first rank). No e.p. or castling.
Fool’s mate is one move only: 1 f2-f4 plus
mirror between d5 and d6 (reflecting Pd7 to
d4 and Q to d3) Qd3-g3 plus mirror between
h2 and h3 (reflecting Ph2 to h3 and R to h4).
[Text summarized from Etereoscacco 66,
fool’s mate added. Experience suggests that it
is easy to overlook the rule that a field may
not include any part of the field created by the
opponent at his last turn, and it is only theimmediate and total cancellation of the
opponent’s latest reflection that seems worth
prohibiting. Perhaps the game might be triedwith this rule altered accordingly.]
Belt Chess or Full Belt Chess (Michael
Howe, 1994). Each file and rank is a conveyor
belt. After moving, a player must rotate one
rank or file (except one containing a king) any
number of squares in either direction, the menon it moving with it. The game can be playedusing either the standard array or one with adiametrically symmetrical piece arrangement
BBNNRRQK (kings on h1/a8), which has
advantages. (Eteroscacco 66/69)

8.5 Physical displacement of part of the board
Jagged Chess (James A. Gutzwiller, 1969).
Before moving, a player may ‘jag’ a file up or
down, but it must always remain connected toneighbouring files by at least one square.
Moves must be wholly on the board but aknight can leap empty space. (Manuscript notederiving from personal communication)
Rotoﬁle Chess (James A. Gutzwiller, 1970).
After each player has made a move, the a-ﬁleis transferred, together with any men that are
on it, to form the new h-ﬁle. Another version

70 Games using an ordinary board and men
has this transfer after every move. The idea
was expanded into a number of variants,
probably little played: Alice Rotoﬁle, Mirror
Rotoﬁle, Straights Rotoﬁle, Time-Warp
Rotoﬁle. (Neue Chess 8)

Earthquake Chess [Betza] (Ralph Betza,
1996). The board is divided in two either
vertically or horizontally, and the two halves
are displaced. (Eteroscacco 75) [Texteditorial]

8.6 Unorthodoxy relating to castling
Madchess (Thomas Varghese, 1972). Castling
Q-side is permitted with a man on b1 or d1 (Kand R go to c1/d1 or b1/c1 as appropriate),
Black similarly. (Personal communication)
In the other direction, Emanuel Lasker
proposed the abolition of castling. [I haven’t
tracked down the source for this, but see noreason to disbelieve it.]
[I was a little surprised that David did notinclude All-In Castling, where castling ispermitted whenever K and R are in line with
two or more squares between them and the
king is moving neither out of nor throughcheck. Perhaps it is found only in jokes andproblems. A trick which has been exploited
more than once specifies that White has anunmoved Ke1/Ra1 and is required to dosomething soon seen to be impossible evenwith the aid of 0-0-0, but of course he also hasa pawn on e7, and he succeeds by playing
e8(R), claiming that this new rook is still
unmoved, and following up with 0-0-0-0-0-0.]

8.7 Other forced movements
Slippery Centre Chess (Philip Cohen,c.1970). The four central squares (d4, d5, e4,e5) are ‘slippery’ and cannot be occupied.
A man finishing on one continues in the same
direction to the first square immediately
beyond. A king may pass ‘through check’ on
the central squares since no piece can land on
one. Line pieces (Q, R, B) may go further if
desired; no e.p. A variant untried as at 1978 is
Very Slippery Centre Chess in which a man
landing on a central square slides off at rightangles. (Nost-algia 215)
Brownian Motion Chess (Ralph Betza,1974). After each move, all men advanceaccording to a pre-arranged knight’s tour.
Impossibly cumbersome at best. What
happens if the player who is not to move finds
his king in check? (Nost-algia 168)

Iceberg Chess (Ed Pegg Jr, 1990). Each
player constructs a seven-square iceberg
within a 4x4 square. Only the tip of the berg isvisible, the location of the remaining squares
being known to the player but not to his
opponent (the tip must be one of the four
central squares, and it would appear from theexamples in the source letter that the squares
forming the berg must be orthogonallyconnected). The berg can be moved like a kingevery other move, and an enemy piece that
attempts to move on to or through a berg is
destroyed. A player may place pieces on his
berg and they presumably move with it, but if
attacked they are captured. A player may
make up to five guesses as to the shape of his
opponent’s berg, and if any guess is correct hewins instantly. (Personal communication)[Text editorial]

Chapter 9
Games using unorthodox initial arrays[The games in this chapter are orthodox in everything except the starting array. A large numberof variants satisfy this description, frequently differing from one another only in minor detail.
Alexandre, the author of the Encyclopédie des Echecs, experimented with the form in the firsthalf of the 19th century, and was stated by Kraitchik in Les Mathématiques des Jeux to havewell understood the theory - something of an accomplishment, if true. A game of dubious
authenticity was recorded in Brighton around 1903 between Father Christmas and St. Nicholas,and was widely published.
Because of their closeness to the normal game, these variants often appeal to players who findmore radical variations uninteresting, but by the same token their interest from our point of viewis limited; once the opening is over, the players are playing ordinary chess. There are three
general kinds: (a) the opposing arrays mirror each other either vertically or diametrically;(b) the opposing arrays do not mirror each other, and may not even be composed of the samemen; (c) the initial position is wholly or partly free, and players enter the rest of their men as
they please. The chapter also includes games at odds, and games from the normal array where
one or more moves are specified in advance.]
9.1 The opposing arrays mirror each other verticallyIn the present section, opposing men of thesame kind face each other on the file. We startwith games where the normal pawn line isretained but the piece order is changed.
Variants of this kind date back at least to the
middle of the 19th century, and probably
considerably further. A game played at BadenBaden in 1851 between E. van der Hoeven andT. von Heydebrand und der Lasa used the
curious baseline BRKRBNNQ with the
opposing bishops out of touch with each other(Dizionario Enciclopedico degli Scacchi,
quoted in Chess Notes). It is not certain
whether the disposition was determined bychoice or chance. The examples that follow
observe the constraint that each side shouldhave a bishop on a square of each colour.
Knights and Bishops (suggested by ‘R’ in
a letter to the Illustrated London News, 11
April 1857). Baseline RBNQKNBR. Used in agame between Blackburne and Potter in 1875
(City of London Chess Magazine 1876) and ina tournament in 1879 (Chess Monthly,
September 1879). Editorial comment in thelatter (Zukertort’s?) was hostile: ‘We cannot
approve of any kind of displacement. The
beaten tracks of known openings are, ofcourse, thereby avoided, but this small

advantage is purchased at the price ofdestroying the spirit of the game. However,this particular displacement is vicious inprinciple ... the first player has such a great
advantage that it simply upsets the basis of afair game’. Regrettably, this great advantage
was not revealed. The arrangement was
subsequently used in a six-game match
between Showalter and Leman, at least one
game of which was reproduced in La Stratégie
in 1890.
Rooks and Bishops (suggested by D.
Forbes in reply to the above, Illustrated
London News, 9 May 1857). Baseline
BNRQKRNB. The idea was subsequently
revived by Capablanca, allegedly reacting to
the large number of draws in his WorldChampionship match with Lasker. [The firstedition then quoted a ‘righteous’ reaction from
Réti that ‘Every true chess lover must be
averse to Capablanca’s casual suggestion’, butwhile the quotation itself is accurate enough the passage will be found on page 176 of the
English edition of Modern Ideas in Chess I think the word ‘righteous’ is belied by thecontext. What Réti dislikes is the fact that thechange doesn’t go to the heart of the matter,
and will merely produce a temporary

72 Games using an ordinary board and men
reduction in the number of draws due to the
exploitation of ignorant play in the openings.
He isn’t objecting to change in itself, but to achange which is only superficial. The same
objection could be made and has been made to
all games of this type.]
Mongredien’s Game (A. Mongredien,1868). Baseline RBBQKNNR with thebishops on the queen’s side and the knights on
the kings. Used in a tournament in 1868-9(Chess Player’s Quarterly Chronicle 1868,
also British Chess Magazine, July 1945), andalso in a correspondence match between Halleand Magdeburg in 1876.
Van der Linde’s Games [1] (A. van der
Linde, 1876). Several deviant arrays arequoted by van der Linde (Geschichte und
Literatur des Schachspiels). One has the K
and KR change places, a second offers the
new baseline KQRNBBRN. Others are
considered later in the chapter.
Neuschach [Lengfellner] (Dr Lengfellner,
1911). Baseline NBQRRNBK. Frank Marshalltested the game successfully in Vienna against
an unknown master, whilst Erich Cohn ofBerlin, shortly after killed in World War I,
won a Neuschach masters tournament.
(Wiener Schachzeitung, November-December
1911)
Parton’s Game (V. R. Parton, 1952).
BaselineNBRRKQBN.
Suggestedtoovercome the problem of developing the rooks
and also to strengthen the king’s side. (Chess,
May 1952)
Four-Knights Chess (NOST, date unclear).
Baseline RNNQKNNR with no bishops. The
same idea was put forward by Anthony Paletta
as Double Knight Chess [Paletta] in Chess
Spectrum Newsletter. It is not clear who had
the priority.
Knight Supreme (NOST, date unclear).
Baseline NNNQKNNN with neither bishops
nor rooks.
Guardian Chess (George Jelliss, 1982).
Baseline NQRBBRKN. This gives the only
array with a normal complement of pieces inwhich all 16 men are guarded at least once.
(Winter, Chess Notes)
The normal set of men allows 24 different
baseline arrays if the king’s side is required toreflect the queen’s, and 2,880 if it is merely
demanded that the bishops be on squares ofdifferent colour. A selection from among thesecan be made by lot, thus providing a random
choice from 24 or 2,880 different starting
positions according to taste. In Fischerandom
Chess (Robert Fischer, 1995), also known as
Shuffle Chess and Chess 960, the bishops are
required to be on squares of different colour
and the king is required to stand somewhere
between the rooks, which reduces the numberof possibilities to 960. Castling is permitted,
with the castled position on either side of theboard normally corresponding to theorthochess arrangement although there areother options. The first progressive
tournament of Fischerandom on the Internet(1996-7) attracted players from 11 countries,
and was won by Alfred Pfeiffer. The game has
been praised by some prominent players,
possibly out of respect for its inventor, but
Karpov commented that Fischerandom ‘did
not produce the harmonious positions ofnormal chess’ and added that the game was‘negative’, with which most variant players
would probably agree.
Hopscotch Chess (Alan Parr, 1980s),
intended for postal play, allows a random
choice from the full set of 2,880 baselines withbishops on different colours, after which
Marseillais Chess is played. Games tend to be
short. (Author’s rule sheet)
All the games considered so far have a fullrow of pieces on the first rank and a full row
of pawns on the second. There have been
variants in which these constraints are notobserved.
The Pawns Game [Endgame], also known
as Endgame Chess. Origins unknown; at least
one, and perhaps many centuries old. King andpawns v king and pawns in initial array.
Played by Russian schoolboys as a practicegame. (Fox and James, The Complete Chess
Addict)Van der Linde’s Games [2]. One of vander Linde’s arrays omits the b, c, f and gpawns, another has only 8 men a side: K, R
(a-ﬁle), N (g-ﬁle), Ps a, d, e, f, g ﬁles. There
are also three arrays with advanced pawns:(a) baseline NNBQKBRR, Ps c4/5 and g3/6,
other Ps on usual array squares; (b) baseline
RBNQKNBR, Ps b3/6 and c3/6, other Ps
on usual array squares; (c) baseline
RQBNKBNR, Ps a2/7, b2/7, c23/67, e2/7,

Games using unorthodox initial arrays 73
g23/67, h3/7 (sic). The asymmetry of the hpawns may be a mistake. (Verney)
Bolshevistic Chess (F. J. Wallis, 1918).
Humorous (?) proposal that the ranks of pieces
and pawns in the initial position be reversed inorder to bring justice to a game in which thepeople ‘are mishandled and murdered at thebehest of your Queens, your Kings and yourAristocrats’. No captures and no piece checks
until a pawn has checked a king; however, apawn can capture a pawn if this gives check.
Once a pawn has checked a king, play reverts
to normal. A suspect game was published in
the British Chess Magazine in 1919.
Patt-Schach (Erich Bartel, c. 1960). WhiteNRBKQBRN on rank 8 (!), Ps b7-g7, b6, g6,
Black mirroring as usual :N$BIQGRH
dP)P)P)w
w)wdwdPd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dpdwdw0w
w0p0p0pd
hrgk1b4n
Both sides are stalemated (White is playing up
the board as usual), so each side puts one manon a different square (captures and checks
barred). Thereafter play is normal except that
promotion is only to a piece previously lost; if
there is none, a pawn move to an end rank isillegal. Games are an orgy of premature deaths

and pawn-promotions. (Variant Chess 5)
Melf’s Game (Frank Melf, 1978). Kings onusual squares; eight queens replace pawns;
no other pieces. Described as a quick chessvariation, the game is flawed: 1 Qaxf7+ leads
to mate at move 4. (Games and Puzzles 72)[A delightful picture in the first edition
showed some distinctly quarrelsome queens
brandishing rolling pins, frying pans etc.]
Advance Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). As
normal chess except that pawns start on the
3rd and 6th ranks. There is no double pawn
move. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter)
Corridor Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980).
White baseline (b1-g1 only occupied)
NRQKRN, bishops on c2/f2, pawns (six only)
on b3-g3, Black mirroring as usual.
No castling or two-square pawn move. Early
play is often a ﬁght for control of a- and hﬁles. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter)
Pawn-Snatcher’s
Delight(originator
unknown). All pawns start on the 4th/5th
ranks. A variant suggested (1982) by Philip
Cohen is to move all men one rank nearer the
opponent in the initial array, leaving the
1st/8th ranks empty. No two-step pawn moves
or castling. (Nost-algia 263)
Crowded Chess (quoted by C. Pickover,1992). Each player has two rows of pawns(2nd/3rd & 6th/7th ranks) and the usualpieces. (Mazes for the Mind)
Hecatomb (Kevin Maroney, 1994). Each
player has a king in its normal position, plus
31 queens filling the rest of his half of theboard. (Nost-algia 347, also Eteroscacco
67/68) [Text editorial]

9.2 The opposing arrays mirror each other diametrally
An alternative to vertical mirroring is provided
by diametral mirroring, where like men are at
opposite ends of an imaginary line through thecentre of the board. An example is given by
White King and Queen Interchanged, which
has been suggested many times (e.g. in the
Chess Amateur, December 1916). A
correspondence tournament started in 1935
was won by E. Ancsin of Budapest (+10 –1=0) with P. Keres and H. Muller as joint
runners-up (+9 –1 =1) (Fernschach 12/1937,
quoted in Chess Notes). Lord Brabazon

subsequently suggested that it be officiallyadopted for a trial period (Chess, April 1944),
but readers’ letters (17 published) werepredictably conservative.
Little Chess was the name attached by
Gollon to a classic pawn puzzle (Kd1, Pabc2
against Ke8, Pfgh7, White to play and win).
This dates back at least to Carrera in 1617
and was definitively solved in 1836 by Szén,
who made quite a bit of money out of it(The Oxford Companion to Chess, entry‘Three pawns problem’). [Text revised]74 Games using an ordinary board and men
9.3 The opposing arrays do not mirror each other
Van der Linde once offered (a1-h1/h8-a8; i.e.
facing kings) KQRNBBRN and RNBQRBNK.
How he arrived at these baselines is notknown, but many techniques exist for placing
men in a line at random. Fully Randomized
Chess, in which the White and Blackbaselines are randomized independently andwithout restriction of any kind, seems to havebeen played only occasionally, but Symmetric
Fully Randomized Chess (George Jelliss,1998) has been used as the vehicle for at least
one tournament. The four pairs of men (KQ,
RR, BB, NN) are arranged symmetrically on
the back rank even though the White andBlack baselines may differ, thus ensuring thatthe bishops are on squares of opposite colour
and that one side does not have all its heavy
pieces concentrated on one wing. There are
special rules for castling. But it was felt thatsome starting positions were either very
favourable or very unfavourable, and appeared
to give one side a significant advantage fromthe word go; a probable flaw in this variant
with a contradictory title (Variant Chess 33).
[Text largely editorial]
Transcendental Chess, also known as TC(Maxwell J. Lawrence, 1978) allows players
to make a limited adjustment to the baselines
they are given. Starting positions (different foreach side) are generated by computer. Bishops
on different colours; no castling. Games arearranged in couplets (two games against thesame opponent, one as W and one as B withthe same array) with an important additional
rule: both players have the option, on the firstturn only and instead of moving, oftransposing any two pieces in their array.
A thriving TC club in the U.S., run for many
years by the inventor, offered a range ofcorrespondence tournaments and a regularpublication, Transcendental Chess. In one
tournament alone over 2,000 games wereplayed.
Auction TC is a variant of Transcendental
Chess employed when a single game, asagainst the usual couplet, is desired. The
system is valid for any game where the initialarray is not mirrored and is outside the controlof the players. The array is made available toboth players who then bid in turn. The
procedure is formalised: W or B - the bidder is

opting for white or black, W or B 1,2,3 ... - thebidder is opting for a side and is prepared tocede 1,2,3 ... tempi for the privilege. A tempo
is translated in practice into the right totranspose two pieces, or to make a pawn
(not piece) move, at the player’s choice; thus a
player receiving two tempi could make twopawn moves or transpose two pieces andmake one pawn move. As in TC, a player may
only transpose on the first move of a game.
It is usual for the bidding to advance in stages,
until one player passes. Good bidding calls forskill in evaluating the array.
In Dutchess (Al Helzner, 1982) each player
secretly selects a number in the range 0-3.
These numbers are added, and that number ofpieces (not king or pawns) is removed fromthe array of each side. The players in turnnominate a piece which each then removes
from his opponent’s forces, selecting if there
is a choice (Nost-algia 264). Other suggestions
have included the shedding of a rook’s pawn
by each side (Menard, 1890s). [I haven’t
traced the source for the Menard suggestion.]
Since the late 19th century, draughts(checkers) has optionally been played with a
two-move or three-move restriction rule: a listof two-move or three-move openings is madeavailable, and the players select one by lot andtake each side once. Restricted Chess (Stasch
Mlotowski, 1917) applied the same idea tochess (BCM, September 1917). Mlotowski
advocated allotting an opening to each of the
52 cards in a standard pack. Two games would
be played with the opening drawn, reversing
colours. His selection of openings wasstartling, even for the period: two cards (redaces) placed no restriction on the players; onecard (ace of clubs) required White to openwith other than d4 or e4; three cards (!)
required White to open d4; two cards (!!)
allowed Black to respond to 1 e4 with otherthan e5, and the remaining 44 cards carried amandatory 1 e4 e5 with divergences at thesecond and subsequent moves. ‘It will be
noted,’ commented the author, ‘that I have aleaning to the more interesting debuts’.
The Gambit commented (December 1927) that
‘The limited number of debuts offered wasprobably the reason his idea did not receiveGames using unorthodox initial arrays 75
wider recognition at the time’. In the interim,
Mlotowski drew up a list of 200 opening
variations, including all those then recognized
as giving a playable game. The opening to beplayed was decided by drawing numberedcards, prompting the name Ballot Chess.
Games At Material Odds. The giving ofodds was common until relatively recent
times. The practice, which however nevergained popularity in Germany, peaked early inthe 19th century according to Golombek(Penguin Encyclopedia of Chess). The leading
players of the 18th and 19th century, from
Philidor to Steinitz, often gave odds against
weaker players; indeed, most of Philidor’s
games were played at odds. There is nodeﬁnitive listing, but odds commonly given
were, in ascending order, (1) The move(stronger player takes Black); (2) Two moves(White opens with two consecutive moves);(3) Pawn and move (Black removes his fpawn); (4) Pawn and two moves (f-pawn
removed); (5) Minor piece (usually QN); (6)Rook (usually QR); (7) Q. Several othermaterial imbalances were occasionallypractised. Against rank beginners, ‘crutch
odds’ were sometimes employed, the stronger
player being without minor pieces and the four
central pawns.
The odds of pawn-and-move provide many
interesting examples of expert play because
the difference in playing strength is small andorthochess opening knowledge is of little use.
Black is immediately handicapped in not
being able to reply to 1 e4 with either e5 or
Nf6 and in consequence has a difﬁcult
defence; on the other hand, if he is able toconsolidate his position he has the advantageof the half-open f-ﬁle. Opening play at odds ofpawn-and-move suggests that White’s best
move to retain the advantage is 1 e4 withpossible replies for Black: d6, e6, Nc6, Nh6,
c5, g6, b6. Not all these responses may standup to modern analysis and theoretically ofcourse White’s advantage is huge.
Completely unbalanced games have beenpractised at least since the 18th century, andmany versions have been recorded.
The Pawns Game [Legal], also known as
Legal’s Game. Attributed to M. de Legal, Sirede Kermur, according to Le Palamède (1837).

A game which tests the theory that a queen is
worth nine pawns, in practice reduced to eight
to compensate for their advanced position in
the array. No WQ, but eight extra pawns on
the 3rd/4th ranks. Only pawns on the second
rank can move two squares. The game is ﬁnely
poised and enjoyed considerable popularity in
the Régence where Labourdonnais andDeschapelles are alleged to have played
hundreds of games. White’s aim was toadvance in a phalanx, depriving Black ofspace; Black’s aim was to neutralize the pawn
chain, usually with sacriﬁces, opening a pathfor the queen to penetrate the position.
Five initial positions, each with their own
strategies, were common. Position I(additional pawns on a3-h3) is weak; Whitehas difﬁculty in developing. Position II (pawns
on a4-h4) is also weak for White as the front
row of pawns is open to attack. The
asymmetrical Position III (pawns on cefg4,
bcfg3), known as the Boar’s Head, wasconsidered inferior, offering Black good
attacking chances. Position IV (pawns on
bcfg3/4) is advantageous for White unless
Black strikes quickly. Position V (pawns on
cdef4 and bcfg3, see below), known as theTrapeze, was considered best for White: thebishops were normally developed at d3/e3 andthe knights at d2/e2, and Black had to play
cautiously.

rhb1kgn4
0p0p0p0p
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdP)P)wd
dP)wdP)w
P)P)P)P)$NGwIBHR
Sometimes a pawn more or less was agreed by
way of handicap. (Schachzeitung 1849-50)
An extreme form of the game was tried out
by Walter Browne and Ralph Betza at the
Manhattan Chess Club in the 1960s. White
had a king and seven queens on the ﬁrst rank,
Black a king and 47 pawns, the rank between
the two sides being empty. Black won eachtime. (Nost-algia 162)
[In spelling ‘Legal’ with no accent, David is

76 Games using an ordinary board and men
at one with Le Guide des Echecs (Giffard andBiénabe, 1993, page 37), though the name isgiven there as ‘Kermur de Legal’. The Oxford
Companion has ‘Legall de Kermeur’ with adouble ‘l’. Le Palamède has ‘Légal’ with anaccent and this has understandably been
copied by other writers, but apparently it isquite wrong. Ken Whyld once told me that
Harry Golombek was most distressed when an
editor ‘corrected’ his text by inserting an
accent after he had signed off the proofs:‘My French friends will think I am ignorant!’]
Van der Linde’s Games [3]. Two
unbalanced arrays using normal men are
given: (a) White has Ke1, Bc1 and the four
central pawns against Black Ke8 and the six
central pawns, (b) White has Ke1, Nb1, Ps b2,
d2, e2, f2 against the same. Van der Linde also
gave a position with sixteen white pawns
against a Black K with powers of all men
combined, which will appear in a later chapter.
Peasants’ Revolt [Frey] (R. L. Frey, 1947).
White has K + 8 x P (the peasants) on originalsquares; Black has four knights (the nobles) on
b/c/f/g8, Ke8, Pe7. Object is mate. Black has
better chances but must avoid being left with

two knights. (Koch, Spiele für einem Allein)
Weak! (Ralph Betza, 1973). Inspired by
Week (see chapter 19) and the Pawns Game.
White has his normal array, Black Ke8, sevenknights on a8-d8/f8-h8, 16 pawns on a7-h7,
c6/f6, b5-g5 :nhnhkhnh
0p0p0p0p
wdpdw0wd
dp0p0p0w
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
P)P)P)P)$NGQIBHR
The two sides are said to be roughly equal instrength but the array suggests that Black isappreciably stronger. White’s tactics are to
break through by sacrifices, Black’s toadvance en masse, the knights forming chains
to cover vital squares. Best played at speed,
Weak! has been endorsed by dozens oftournament players. (Nost-algia 162)

9.4 The initial position is partly or wholly freeIn these games, there is no initial array assuch, and the players place their men largely
or wholly as they wish. Many such games
exist and new ones are continually being
invented, sometimes with more hype thanoriginality. There are two general approaches:the players start with a line of pawns, or with acompletely empty board, and each places one
man at a time in full view of his opponent, orthey set up their positions completely
independently and bring the two together.
Games with the normal pawn array are listed
first, then empty board games, then games inwhich the players set up their positions
independently.
Free Chess [Brunner], also known as
Permutation Chess [Brunner] (Erich
Brunner, 1921). Pawns in normal array. White
places a piece on any square of 1st rank; Black
places equivalent piece on 8th rank either onsame ﬁle or on corresponding file (e.g.,
WRc1; BRc8 or f8). Now Black chooses apiece and the same procedure is followed until

all pieces are placed when play is as inorthochess (Das Brunnerbuch, also Nouveaux
Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes). Tourneys
held in Switzerland and England. Karl Kaiser(Funkschach, September 1926) proposed to
introduce some order into the process byrequiring the pieces to be placed in sequence(W followed by B): K, Q, R, R, B, B, N, N.
Free Chess [Felisch], also known as PaulFelisch-Schach (Paul Felisch, 1926). The
pawns and kings are placed as normal andboth players set two pieces anywhere on theirrespective back ranks. White and Black makeone move; thereafter a player can elect on his
turn to place one or two pieces at will on hisback rank and then move normally. Players
must enter pieces at least every other move sothat by the 10th move at the latest, all areplaced. Bishops on different colours; nocastling(Funkschach,July1926).
Nimzowitsch remarked that ‘the idea ofHerr Paul Felisch is not without wit’ butthen went on to decry it (Kagans Neueste
Schachnachrichten, July 1927).

Games using unorthodox initial arrays 77
Real Chess (E. I. Csaszar, 1934). Pawns
arrayed as usual; players take it in turns toplace a piece on any empty square on theirback ranks; no restrictions on bishops.
Castling permitted, subject to orthochess rules,
over any distance; thus WKb1, WRa1, h1;
castle Kb1/Rac1 (sic) or Kg1/Rhf1. (Nouveaux
Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Chess With Reserves (E. Slater, 1950s).
Pawns and kings are set in their usual array;pieces are kept in reserve. On each turn aplayer may move in the normal way or enterone piece from his reserve on any vacantsquare of his ﬁrst rank. (Nouveaux Jeuxd’Echecs Intéressants)
Free Chess [Slater] (E. Slater, 1950s).
Players in turn place a piece on an empty
square on their respective back ranks. No
castling; bishops can be on same-coloured
squares.
(NouveauxJeuxd’Echecs
Intéressants)
Placement Chess [Koskela] (Ron Koskela,1976). Each player in turn locates anopponent’s piece; the process being repeatedfour times. (Chess Life, September 1976)
Pre-Chess (1978, advocated by Pal Benkö
who credits David Bronstein with the idea).
Pawns are set up as usual, then each player inturn, White starting, puts a piece on a vacantsquare on his ﬁrst rank until all are in place;bishops must be on opposite-coloured squares,
and castling is permitted only if K and R areboth in their orthochess positions. Endorsed
initially by Euwe as ‘an interesting new idea’and ‘worth trying’ (Chess Life, August 1978).
A four-game match (1978) between Benköand Arthur Bisguier was won convincingly, ifwith a slice or two of luck, by the latter.
The Chess Life articles sparked an interestin the game across America. Tournaments
were held (one, in 1979, won by Joel
Benjamin). Schema, a games magazine, ran afeature article, re-naming the game MetaChess [Schema] and describing the initial
deployment as a Meta-phase. Philip Cohen
had suggested a ‘Super’ version in 1977 inwhich both sides had advanced pawns in theinitial position, as in the Burmese game
(White f3, g3, h3; Black a6, b6, c6) (Nostalgia 240). Meanwhile Burt Hochberg, former
Chess Life editor, in an interview that received
wide publicity, declared the articles had
generated an enthusiastic response (‘readers

loved it’) but that no letters or follow-up
articles appeared in Chess Life apparently
because the USCF had disapproved of space
being allocated to chess variants.
Placement Chess [Jelliss] (George Jelliss,
1980s?). Jelliss observed that once a player
knew where his opponent’s king was he could
place his men so as to focus on it. He favoured
placing the men in the sequence N, N, B, B, R,
R, Q, K, the second player each time matching
the placement on the same file. (Winter, Chess
Notes)The Game of Calculation (originator
unknown, 1806 or earlier). Forces are selectedindependently by the players based on a points
system and an agreed allocation, men to be set
up according to a fixed procedure. It wassuggested (Easy Introduction to Chess) that
Q=10, R=5, B=3.5, N=3, P=1, and an example
is given of a selection based on an allocationof 20 points. An article in Recreational
Computing, a century and three-quarters later,
proposes an almost identical game with pointvalues Q=25 (sic), R=7, B=5, N=3, P=1 withan initial allocation of 60 points per side.
Jubilee Chess (H. F. L. Meyer, 1885). Each
player in turn places a man on any empty
square on his ﬁrst three ranks, bishops on
opposite colours. In this stage, a check must
be covered immediately; if impossible, theplayer has lost. Pawn starting on back rank
moves 1-3 squares and may be taken e.p.; nocastling. Promotion to captured piece only; ifnone, pawn is permanently immobilized.
Meyer was a well-known editor of the time.
[Manuscript note ‘Picture (magazine page,
mounted)’, but no copy in David’s
Encyclopedia files]
Reform Chess [Békey] (Emerich Békey,1908). Players place men alternately on vacantsquares, White anywhere on ranks 1/2/3,
Black ditto 6/7/8. Pawns (which have no twostep right) can be placed on back rank; bothbishops on same colour. A player is not
obliged to use all his men (but K must be on
board). Bekey offers other ‘improvements’;for example, he renames certain men: Vizier(Q), Hussar (N) and Bastion (R) as being morein accord with the spirit of the game. (ReformSchach)
Crown Chess [Ritzen] (Anton Ritzen,
1914). White deploys on ranks 1,2,3 and78 Games using an ordinary board and men
Black on ranks 6,7,8. White starts with the K,
Black follows ditto, then Q, Rs, Bs, Ns, Ps inorder. No pawns on ranks 1/8; pawns on 2/7
have two-square option; no restriction on
bishops. If one player, in placing a piece, gives
check, the second player must cover it. Statedto have had a big following in Cologne in theearly days of World War I. (Das unsterbliche
Schachbuch)
Game of Pawn Placing (anonymous
inventor in Belfast, 1922). Each player has aking and three pawns. White places his K
anywhere on his ﬁrst rank; Black does
likewise. The players then alternate, placing apawn anywhere on their respective 2nd, 3rd
and 4th ranks. A normal game ensues withconsiderable advantage to Black as having
placed the last pawn. Parton suggested thateach player should also have a B and N.
(Chess Amateur, July 1922, also Nouveaux
Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Freak Chess (D. S. Ellis, 1933). The namesof the squares apart from c1/f1/c8/f8 are
written on 60 slips of paper and shuffled. Eachman apart from the bishops and kings is taken
in turn, and a slip drawn for each. When all 26
men have been placed, any pawns on their 7th
and 8th ranks are removed, and the bishops areplaced on their normal hime squares. White
now places his king where he likes, Black
does the same, and play proceeds. Black canlose his queen at move 1, but according to theinventor disasters are rare. (Australian Chess
Review)
Neo-Schaak, also known as Placement
Chess [van Dien] (E. van Dien, 1941).
In a speech in September 1941 introducing
his game to the Vereenigd Amsterdamsch
Schaakgenootschap the inventor claimed thatthe most difficult problem in chess, the best
initial array, is assumed to have been solved
already whereas it has known weaknesses (thec- and f-pawns, castling, rooks out of play).
He also pointed up the parallel of war where
the opponent’s deployment is not disclosed
before the battle. Hence Neo-Schaak, in which
the board is empty at the start of a game. The
first move for both players is to place the kingon any square of their first two ranks.
Thereafter a player may move a piece on theboard or introduce a new man on an empty
space on his first or second rank. Pawns may
be introduced on the ﬁrst rank and bishops on

same-coloured squares. There is no double
pawn move or castling. (Pamphlet Neo-Schaakby the originator, also Nouveaux Jeuxd’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Blackout Chess (W. J. Joret, 1942). The
board is empty to start. Each player takes K,
Q, B, N, R, 4xP and places them freely on theboard, one man at a time alternately in theorder given, until all 18 are located and thegame can start. B. H. Wood suggested some
additional rules: (1) No man may be placed tocheck the opposing K; (2) No man may beplaced so as to put an opponent’s piece (notpawn) en prise; (3) Pawns may not be enteredbeyond the fourth rank; (4) Black to moveﬁrst. (Chess, June 1942)
Identiﬁc (V. R. Parton, 1970). Each player
starts with 12 counters or tokens and places
them on any 12 squares in his own half of theboard. These represent the usual eight pieces
plus four pawns, as yet unallocated, which hekeeps in hand. White starts by moving acounter like a chessman and then replacing itwith that man; Black does likewise. Thereafter
a player may move a counter and replace itwith an unallocated piece, or move a
chessman on the board in the normal way.
Unidentiﬁed counters, even if known by thefact that only one type of man remains to theplayer, cannot recapture or check, but they are
subject to capture by chessmen in play. Before
the start, players agree on a turn (the 4th and6th have been suggested) by which the kings
will be disclosed. Without such earlyrevelation much of the interest of the game islost. (Chesshire Cat Playeth Looking-Glass
Chessys)
Paratroop Chess (C. G. Lewin, 1970).
Empty board at start. Players ﬁrst place kinganywhere in own half. Thereafter a turnconsists of moving a man on the board or
placing a man not in play on an empty squarein own half of board. No man may be dropped
to give check; bishops on opposite colours; nopawns on the ﬁrst rank. (Manuscript notes
presumably
deriving
frompersonal
communication)
Placement Chess [Lewin] (C. G. Lewin,
1970, ‘after Boyer’). Empty board at start.
Players decide on colours then at each turnplace any man of either colour on the board;white in one half, black in the other. No pawns
on end ranks and bishops must be on opposite-Games using unorthodox initial arrays 79
coloured squares. A player may not place an
opponent’s king nor put either king in check.
Play begins when all men are placed.
(Manuscript notes presumably deriving frompersonal communication)
Deployment Chess. This game (inventor
unrecorded) won first prize in a competition
for new chess variants (The Gamer 5). The
board, otherwise empty, is dressed with 24
white and 24 black counters, coveringrespectively all squares of the ﬁrst three ranks
on either side. These are known as creation
points. Both players start by replacing an owncolour marker with one of their men (no pawn
on ﬁrst rank). On each subsequent move aplayer may either enter a man to replace oneof his own markers or make a move on theboard. There are a few restrictions: (1) Bothkings must be entered by the 5th move. (2) A
pawn cannot be entered on a ﬁle on which apawn of that colour already stands; a pawn
entered on the second rank has the right to thetwo-square move. (3) Bishops must be on
opposite coloured squares. (4) A moving man
destroys the creation point (of either colour)that it lands on and also any of its own colourthat it crosses. (5) No castling. Captured men
are eliminated from the game. Both creationand movement call for subtlety, the play apart.
(The Gamer, also Addison, 100 Other Gamesto Play on a Chessboard)
Creative Chess (Marco Meirovitz, 1980s).
Players introduce their men alternately in theirown halves of the board. Kings are placed last.
No restrictions on B, P placements. Introduced
as part of the inventor’s books-and-software
programme for developing thinking skills,
The Gym of the Mind.
Chaos [Koch] (Karl Koch, 1986). The
players start with an empty board and each inturn places a man on an empty square in his
own half of the board. The king is placed ﬁrst
(another version has the king placed last), theother men in any order. There are no
restrictions except that a player whose king isin check after all men have been placed loses
the game. When all men are on the board
White starts and orthochess rules apply.
In another variant, the men may be placed
anywhere on the board (but no pawns on end
ranks). (Spiele für Zwei)
Bosley Chess (John Bosley, 1987). Empty
board to start; White places 7 men, Black 7,

White 5, Black 5, White 3, Black 3, and then
the kings. Men apart from kings may beplaced in any order and on any empty squarewith the following limitations: pawns only on
ranks 2-4, queen must be placed during thefirst turn, bishops must be on opposite colours.
Play then continues under Progressive Chessstarting at turn 3 (so White plays 3 moves,
Black 4, White 5, and so on). (Eteroscacco 53)
Unachess (Jeff Miller and Edward
Jackman, 1994). Empty board to start; player
on turn may place a man on an empty squareor move man on the board. The K must beplaced before any capture is made. There were
three versions. In Unachess I (Miller), pawns
could be entered on 2nd, 3rd or 4th ranks only,with P-2 subsequently possible if on 2nd rank.
In Unachess II (Jackman), pawns could beentered on ranks 1-4, but no P-2 or castling.
Unachess III, also known as Parachute
Chess (Jackman), had the additional rule thatno man could be entered so as to attack an
enemy man. By April 1995 there was aconsensus that White should always win withreasonable play. (Variant Chess 17, also
personal communications)
Free
Programme
Chess
(Gela
Guraspasvili, 1995). Board starts empty;
players then place usual men alternately
starting with White in own half of board;
Ks are placed first. Pawn-two allowed only
if P on second rank. White may not capture
on first move. Tournament involving two
grandmasters and ten other masters held in
Tbilisi in 1995. (Booklet Free Programme of
Chess, also Variant Chess 26/28)
Games in which the players set up theirpositions without knowledge of what theiropponent is doing are known generically as
Screen or Barrier Chess. A screen or barrier,real or imaginary, is placed across the middleof the board, and each player deploys hisforces in secret according to the rules of theversion being played. The screen is then lifted(or the position assembled on a single board)and orthochess is played. Crazy Screen Chess
allows the players a completely free hand;
other versions impose some discipline. Screen
Chess may be played to decide only thebaselines, the pawn array being normal.
Deployment may be conﬁned to the first two
ranks, the ﬁrst three ranks (usual) or the entire

80 Games using an ordinary board and men
half-board. Some variants require orthodox
positions (pawns on each ﬁle, none on ﬁrst
rank, bishops on opposite coloured squares).
A popular condition is that the kings be placedﬁrst and their positions revealed before secret
deployment begins. Another system is to startwith a standard array and then, with the screen
erected, for each player to make a number ofmoves (Boyer suggests 10) in his own half ofthe board. The screen is lifted and the gameproper begins. Some further games aredetailed below. Since development can beconsidered completed before the start of play,with open lines probable and a balanced
position improbable, games tend to bevigorous and tactical.
Viennese Kriegspiel, also known as
Schach-Kriegspiel and German Chess
Kriegspiel (Ritter von Korwin-Dzbanski,1908). Before the game, the position of thekings on one of the first two ranks of eachplayer is decided by lot. The players are thengranted 20 minutes to deploy their men as theywish in their own halves of the board; bishops
on opposite colours, no pawns on back rank.
When both players are ready, the forces are
revealed. The player to move first is thenchosen by lot. (Wiener Schachzeitung 1909,
Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Surprise Chess (E. E. Slosson, 1916). The
players secretly deploy their men as theyplease on the first three ranks of their own
sides of the board before play starts (British
Chess Magazine, January 1917). According toFelix Snider, who reissued the game (1930s)
under the name Blitz-Chess [Snider], noreference to it is to be found in the inventor’sscience fiction books. Snider reasonably
suggested certain disciplines: (1) Pawns
permitted on first rank and can then move
three squares initially (e.p. allowed on moveof two or three squares); (2) Castling only
under regular game conditions; (3) Bishops on
opposite-coloured squares.
Welbeck Chess (Hubert Phillips, c.1917).
Each player has a board screened from his
opponent. Each player places his kinganywhere within his own half of his board andwrites down its position on a piece of paper.
The papers are then exchanged. Now theplayers set up their own men anywhere within
their two halves of the board with the one
proviso that bishops must be on differentcoloured squares. Pawns can be placed on theﬁrst rank if desired. The boards are thenbrought together and one player’s pieces aretransferred to the opponent’s board, and thegame begins. (Indoor Games for Two)
Prepared Chess (Jed Stone, 1982). The
players arrange their pieces privately on theﬁrst three ranks in any order or position (threepawns may stand on a ﬁle, both bishops onsame colour). The positions are then
combined, and play starts. No castling or
privileged moves. (Stone)
Instant Chess (Bruce R. Trone, 1986). An
attempt to speed up postal play. On an agreed
day, players send each other a diagram
showing the positions they would like their
men to occupy. No pawns on end ranks;
bishops on opposite colours. Where bothplayers have occupied the same square thehigher-ranking piece achieves an instantcapture (rank order K, Q, R, B, N, P). If men
are of the same value, or kings occupy
adjacent squares, new positions are sent, andrepeated as necessary. When all men areplaced and captured pieces removed, playstarts. [Personal communication assumed;
source material missing from David’s files.
A quick calculation suggests that if each sideplaces his men at random, the odds are not far
short of four to one that there will be a clash
between a pair of pawns somewhere, quite
apart from the possibility of a piece or kingclash; but of course players will tend to put
their pawns in advanced positions and theirpieces on ranks 2 and 3 hoping to knock out
an opponent who is doing the same, and inthat case clashes will be rare. What happens if
Black’s king is left in check? A possible
variation might be to require the checking man
to be removed, thus giving Black something to
set against the probably substantial advantage
of first move.]Chapter 10
Different objectives of play
[The normal objective of a game of chess is to give checkmate. Some of the games which can beplayed with chessmen have quite different objectives, and two of them, Extinction Chess and
Losing Chess, have proved to be among the most popular of all chess variants.]
10.1 Capturing or baring the kingCapturing the king. The Chess Monthly
hosted a lively debate (1893-4) on thesuggestion of a Mr Wordsworth Donisthorpe,
whose very name seems to carry authority,that check and checkmate, and hence
stalemate, should be abolished, the gameending with the capture of the king. The
purpose of this proposed reform was to reduce
the number of draws then (as now) prevalent
in master play. Donisthorpe claimed that bothBlackburne and the American master James
Mason were in favour of the change, adding‘I have little doubt the reform would obtainthe support of both Universities’ which says
something about the standing of Oxford andCambridge at that time. Mason confirmed his
support, observing, quaintly, that ‘the divinitythat doth hedge a King in stalemate is of aparticularly low order’. An apoplectic Mr
Blunt took the traditionalist side, ably
supported by the German master Teichmann.
It was pointed out that White Kh8, Ph7 (2),Black Kf8 (1) was a loss for White - a pawn
up - whoever had the move. The editor cameup with White Kg7, Ph7 (2), Black Ke7, Ra8(2), a clear draw in orthochess, but a win forBlack under the new rule with 1...Rh8!
[In truth, I suspect that the remark about‘the support of both Universities’ said lessabout the standing of Oxford and Cambridge

than about the snobbery of Mr Donisthorpe!]
Baring the king. The rules of the old chessallowed a (lesser) win by ‘bare king’ andstalemate, and Réti and Bronstein havefavoured its reintroduction. [I haven’t traced
the Bronstein reference, but Réti’s will befound on page 178 of the English edition ofModern Ideas in Chess. It is in fact explicit
only in respect of stalemate, though the words‘the original rules’ within it can be read assupporting bare king as well, and perhaps
I ought to quote it in full. After expounding
the ancient rules, he continues: ‘Those wereromantic times for chess. Today, when chesstechnique is in such a condition of refinement,
what is there more natural than that we should
revert to the original rules. Lasker has madesuch a proposal with which I associate myself
in full conviction. In order to prevent the
decay of chess by the frequent occurrence ofdrawn games finer nuances of execution mustshow themselves in the result, and stalemate
should be considered and counted in theestimation of scores for tournament purposes,
wins by them to count less than enforced
mates. It would be a matter for congratulation
if the managers of tournaments just for once
decided as an experiment to promote atournament on these lines.’]10.2 Changed or multiple kings
Knightmate (Bruce Zimov, 1972). The royal
piece at e1/e8 is a knight and there are two
non-royal kings where the knights normallystand. The object is to checkmate the knight.
Castling between knight and rook is legal
subject to the usual restrictions. The knights
are vulnerable to checks on adjacent squares.

K or Q alone can mate a N. The ﬁrst
Knightmate Open (Ohio, October 1991) was
won by David Moeser. The game is said tohave been popular at Sheffield University
during the early 1970s under the name ofMate The Knight, perhaps as a result of
independent invention. (J’Adoube 34, Nost-

82 Games using an ordinary board and men
algia 328 and later, Eteroscacco 56,
manuscript note presumably deriving frompersonal communication)
Three Kings Chess (Adam Sobey, 1988).
Normal set-up except that the rooks are
replaced by additional kings. Object is tocapture any one of the opponent’s kings (there
are no checks). The inventor observes that thegame is similar to a balancing act: all goes
well until a latent instability sets in and totalcollapse follows. Difﬁcult to make moves thatuniformly defend all three kings. Invented for
the Christmas entertainment of the Haslemere
Chess Club (‘Voted good’). The inventor
resisted the temptation to call it Magi Chess.
(Notes presumably deriving from personalcommunication)
Kinglet Chess, also known as Imperial
Fiddlesticks (V. R. Parton, 1953). Standard
array but random set-up if preferred. Checkand checkmate abolished, the king being
treated like any other piece. The object of thegame is to capture all the opponent’s pawns(kinglets). Pawns promote to kings, thus a
player forced to promote his last pawn loses.
Stalemate is a draw. There is a Marseillais
version of the game in which two moves are
made on each turn, one at least of which must
be a pawn move. A Progressive version has
also been played. (Chess - Curiouser andCuriouser, also Nost-algia 132 and later)
Co-Regal Chess (V. R. Parton, 1970). An
early blow struck on behalf of sexual equality.
Queens as well as kings are subject to checkand checkmate and the fall of either monarchwins the game. (The Q retains an additional
privilege: she can cross attacked squares.)
The rules (incomplete) have been ampliﬁed by
NOST: (1) promoted queens are royal;(2) queens can check kings from a distancebut may not check queens; (3) both kings andqueens may castle long or short. A sensible
amendment is that queens may not crossattacked squares except to capture an attacker.
Double check assumes a new meaning.
(Chesshire Cat Playeth Looking Glass
Chessys, also Nost-algia 156 and later)

10.3 Other objectives based on mate, check, or stalemate
Pion Coiffé (capped pawn). A handicap
system whereby one side contracts to deliver
mate with a nominated man, a common
practice between players of disparate strength
until towards the end of the 19th century.
The origins of the capped pawn can be traced
back to at least the 16th century (Murray).
The receiver of the handicap could not lose if
he succeeded in capturing the pawn which wasusually obliged to deliver mate without
promoting. The handicap was often equatedwith giving the odds of a queen (Oxford
Companion to Chess). The g-pawn was mostcommonly nominated (Schachzeitung 1856).
A piece might be chosen instead of a pawn.
Multi-Mate Chess. A variant played in 17th
century Iceland allowed a player giving mate
to deliver further mates provided the situation
changed at each move, apparently by moving
a different man, although a pawn could move
twice if it promoted on its second move. The
first three such mates were known as ‘low’
mates, all thereafter ‘high’ mates. Murraygives an end-position in which sevenconsecutive mates are given and quotes Eggert
Olafsson (1772) as stating that nine is the
maximum possible. This number is also
quoted by Boyer (Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes) but a legal position can beconstructed in which 15 consecutive mates canbe given without promoted pieces.
Check Chess, also known as Presto Chess(Frank Hopkins, 1916). As originally devised,the ﬁrst player to give check won, but
Marshall showed that White could win by
1 Nc3 followed by an attack by the otherknight (British Chess Magazine, July 1916,
p 201, quoting the Brooklyn Eagle).
To balance the chances, it was suggested thatthe pawns started on the 3rd/6th ranks, but‘we are inclined to think that White still has aconsiderable advantage’ (BCM). The mostpopular adjustment however was to require thecheck to be given by an uncapturable piece.
A further reﬁnement required the queen’s
move to be limited to two squares (Chess
Spectrum Newsletter) but in all cases it seems
that White retains an advantage. Much subtler

Different objectives of play 83
is Three-Check Chess, which is probably ofSoviet origin. The first player to deliver three
checks wins. Said to be very skilful: twochecks can be achieved fairly easily at theexpense of piece sacriﬁces after which theprospects of a third check with severely
weakened forces are close to zero. Karpov issaid to have been invincible at the game in his
youth (manuscript note presumably derivingfrom personal communication).
Dunce’s Chess (V. R. Parton, 1961). Threeversions. (1) Players have a king, two bishops
and two knights in their normal starting
positions. Pieces can only advance. The win isby mate or stalemate. If a king gets throughthe opponent’s forces it is invulnerable.
Version (2) is as (1) except that pawns areadded (no promotion) whilst (3) has the usualarray without sideways or backward
movement, and again pawns do not promote.
(Chess - Curiouser and Curiouser)
Truce Chess (Nathaniel S. Hellerstein,
1970s). As orthochess but with an additional
climax: a truce (both kings mated). A mutual
check (tryst) is also possible. The standard
form is called Dilemma Chess in which a
truce ranks between a draw and a win.
In a variant, Chicken Chess, a draw rates zeroand a truce scores between a loss and a win.
The situations arise through legalising
adjacent kings. Example: WKa1, Bc3; BKa3
Bb3; 1 Bb2+ Ka2 truce. In Dilemma Chess,
both players would cooperate for a truce rather
than agree a draw. Hellerstein made a study ofendings in which this can be achieved.
(Originator’s pamphlet)

10.4 Wiping out the opponent’s men
Chess-Draughts[Charosh](MannisCharosh, 1946). Problem theme converted to agame. Normal chess except that the king istreated like any other piece and a capture,
if available, is compulsory. If, after a capture,a further capture is possible by the same piece,
this must also be made, and so on. The player
has a choice between alternative captures. Winby taking all opponent’s men or by leaving
him without a move. (Fairy Chess Review,
August 1946)
Scacia (V. R. Parton, 1961) King has no royal
powers; object is to take off all enemy men.
Capture is compulsory but a player may
choose if more than one possible. Parton
recommends pawns on 3rd/6th ranks andpieces repeated on 2nd/7th ranks, thus 24 mena side. In a later version, Mock Chess[Parton] (1969), the normal array is used but
a pawn must move two squares initially unless
capturing. (Chess - Curiouser and Curiouser,
also Chesshire Cat Playeth Looking Glass
Chessys)Take-All (origins unknown) is the same
game as Mock Chess but without thecompulsory
pawn-two
andwithout
compulsory capturing. The king has no royal
powers and there is no castling. Because thegame is rather slow and tends to be
stereotyped, it is now usually played in

Progressive form as Progressive Take-All(Giuseppe Dipilato, 1979). Popular in Italy,
where AISE ran national championships,
Progressive Take-All was the chosen game of
the Canadian team in the 1st Heterochess
Olympiad. Games tend to develop capturing
patterns involving queens and bishops inparticular. Promotion is commonplace. Rooks
and knights are less effective in the earlystages but devastating in endings in whichbishops are weak. Draws are not uncommon
under the same circumstances as orthochess blocked pawns with bishops of opposite
colours. (Eteroscacco 12 and later)
Blot-Straight Chess (V. R. Parton, 1970).
A chess-merels hybrid with a graceless name.
Board starts empty; each player has the normal
eight pieces (no pawns). The players in turn
set a piece on the board. No piece may standnext to another piece of either colour; nocheck or checkmate. When all pieces areplaced the players move in turn (normal chessmoves but no capturing) with the object of
forming a line of three of their own men
orthogonally or diagonally. The three muststand adjacent to one another. On completionof a line, the player removes (captures) the last
man moved by the opponent. If two or morelines are formed simultaneously, only one
piece is removed. A line may be broken and84 Games using an ordinary board and men
reformed. Object is annihilation of the
opposition. In another version the ﬁrst player
to assemble a line of ﬁve wins. (Challenge andDelight of Chessical and Decimal)
Flick Chess (origins unknown). Object is toflick your pieces so as to knock over youropponent’s, using finger and thumb only. Any

man that does not have the whole of its baseon a square is removed from play. After anattack, any man may be ‘adjusted’ on its
square so as to offer a smaller target. Object is
to annihilate the opposition. Men should
ideally be weighted. Tournament at Imperial
College, London, 1971-2. (Notes presumably
deriving from personal communication)

10.5 Wiping out all the men of a kind
Extinction Chess (Paddy Smith, 1985).
Originally called Survival of the Species, thisvariant was popular with NOST members.
Standard set-up; the king can be taken like anyother piece, hence no check or checkmate. The
object is to eliminate any one of the
opponent’s species (types of piece), thus
capture any of K, Q, 2xR, 2xB, 2xN, 8xP to
win. Pawn promotion (including to K) can
prolong the life of an endangered species.
Games tend to be brief and often go critical in
the early stages with the minor pieces most at
risk. Orthochess openings are playable butwith caution. ‘Paddy Smith’ was a pseudonymof R. Wayne Schmittberger, editor of Gamesmagazine, where the suggestion appeared.
An instructive game won by Fabrice Liardet:
1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5 3 Nc3 Qa5 4 a3 e5 5 b4
Bxb4 6 axb4 Qxa1 7 Bc4 Nf6 8 Ba2 0-0
9 Nge2 Rd8 10 Bc4 Nc6 11 b5 Nd4 12 0-0
Nxe2 13 Nxe2 Rd4 and White resigned

because both bishops will go :rdbdwdkd
0p0wdp0p
wdwdwhwd
dPdw0wdw
wdB4wdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdP)N)P)
1wGQdRIw‘Winning the exchange’ is usually bad in thisvariant, hence White’s willingness to concede
rook for bishop, but Black judged that thisparticular opening would favour him. White
underestimated the effect of the pin on the first
rank, and also the rapid arrival of the Black
rook on the d-file. (Nost-algia 298 and later,
Eteroscacco 38 and later, Variant Chess 31)

10.6 Playing for material gain
Quantity Chess (origins unknown). A game isplayed to an agreed number of moves(commonly 25, 30, 35). If neither player has
been checkmated, the game is stopped and theplayer with more men is the winner; thus a

player with two pawns for the queen wins if
the forces are otherwise equal in number. If
the numbers balance, another five moves areplayed, and so on. (Correspondence between
John Gollon and Philip Cohen)

10.7 Reaching a ﬁxed goal
Lincolnshire Pawn Chess (Bob Wade and
Ted Nottingham, 1989). Instructional game.
Pawns only in initial array; ﬁrst player to get
one to 8th rank wins. A slightly morechallenging variant adds the two kings, WBf1
and BNg8 with the same objective. A player
unable to move loses in both games. Philidor(origin unclear) has just the kings and pawns
with the same objective. An improvement isFast Philidor (George Jelliss, 2004), where

pawns can move two squares at any time (enpassant permitted). (Check Out Chess, Variant
Chess 45)
Bishop Chess (origin unknown). Bishops
neither capture nor can be captured; nopromotion to bishop. Kings have no royal
powers. The ﬁrst to move a bishop to the end
rank wins. (Manuscript note presumably
deriving from personal communication)Different objectives of play 85
Racing Kings (V. R. Parton, 1961, initially as‘Dodo Chess’). Array :wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
k4bhNGRI
1rgnHB$Q
The object is to be the ﬁrst to get one’s king to
the eighth rank. Neither side may check nor
expose the king to check. To compensate forthe ﬁrst move, if Black succeeds in getting his
king to the eighth rank immediately afterWhite has done so, the game is a draw.

An extended version of the game requires thekings, after reaching the eighth rank, to returnto the ﬁrst. The name Dodo Chess was
subsequently transferred
to
a
1970
simplification by the same inventor with kings
on a1/h1, rooks on a2/h1, bishops on
b1/b2/g1/g2, knights on c1/c2/f1/f2. (Chess Curiouser and Curiouser, also Chesshire Cat
Playeth Looking Glass Chessys)
Outpost Chess (origin unknown). Each player
nominates a square in his own half of theboard as his outpost. Object is to occupy the
opponent’s outpost for one move. Kings haveno royal powers. A variant, Double Outpost
Chess, is the same except that both players
nominate two outpost squares only one ofwhich need be occupied to win the game.
(Correspondence between John Gollon andPhilip Cohen)

10.8 Playing to exhaust the available resources
Static Chess, also known as Fill-Up Chessand No-Threats Chess (origin unknown but
pre-1970). Start with empty board. Each
player in turn places any man of his own
colour on a vacant square to meet threerequirements: pawns may not be placed on end
ranks; bishops must be on opposite-coloured
squares; no man may be placed which either
attacks or is attacked by an enemy man.
The position need not be legal. Men once
placed are not moved. The winner is the last
player to put a man on the board but the gameis drawn in the event that all 32 men areplaced. Another version counts one point foreach man placed. If one player is unable tomove, the other can optionally go on adding
men. The first player re-enters the game if alegal move becomes available. Pieces should
be posted to command maximum number ofsquares. A knight on one of the four central
squares appears to be the best opening move.
It is unclear which player has the advantage.

There is a four-player version. (Berloquin, 100
Jeux de Table)
The Game Of Circuits (J. Boyer, 1958) The
game starts with the board empty. Each player
has two knights and 30 pawns or tokens. The
players place the four knights in turn;thereafter players move one of their knights
putting a pawn on the square vacated. Thissquare may not be visited again. The firstplayer unable to move loses. Variations are
possible using any combination of pieces.
(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants)
Contact (quoted by David Silverman, 1971).
White puts a knight on any square of an empty
chessboard. Black moves the knight andplaces a marker on the square vacated. Playalternates. The knight may only be moved tovacant squares. The object is to make the last
move. The game can also be played with anyof the other pieces. (Your Move)

10.9 Playing to lose
‘Losing’ is a perverse objective, frequently
trivial but sometimes highly sophisticated. The
logical ‘losing’ chess game would seem to be
Self-Mate Chess, but a player can force his
opponent to mate him only if in possession ofa massive material superiority and the idea isnormally seen only in problems. There washowever a correspondence game between
Paris and Marseilles in 1878 in which White
started without the Q and Black successfully

86 Games using an ordinary board and men
undertook to force him to give mate. 1 d4 d5
2 Nc3 c6 3 Nf3 g6 4 e4 e6 5 e5 Bb4 6 Bd2
Bxc3 7 Bxc3 b5 8 h4 h5 9 0-0-0 a6 10 Ng5 f5
11 g3 Nh6 12 Bd3 Nf7 13 Bxf5 (apart fromthe pawns, the bishops are potentially White’sgreatest liabilities) gxf5 14 Nxf7 Kxf7 15 Bd2
Nd7 16 Rhe1 c5 17 dxc5 Nxc5 18 Bg5 Qg8
19 Re3 Bb7 20 Rc3 Rc8 21 Be3 Nd7 22 Bd4
Rxc3 23 bxc3 a5 24 Kd2 a4 25 Rb1 Ba6
26 Rg1 Qg4 27 Rb1 Rc8 28 Rb4 Rc4 29 Rxc4
dxc4 :

wdwdwdwd
dwdndkdw
bdwdpdwddpdw)pdp
pdpGwdq)dw)wdw)w
PdPIw)wd
dwdwdwdw
White is now reduced to a bad bishop andsome largely immobile pawns. 30 a3 f4
31 Kc1 fxg3 32 fxg3 Qxg3 (for ‘largely
immobile’ read ‘totally immobile’) 33 Kb2
Qxh4 34 Kc1 Qe1+ 35 Kb2 Qd1 36 Ba7 Nxe5
37 Bc5 h4 38 Bd4 Nc6 39 Be3 e5 40 Bf2 h3
41 Bg3 e4 42 Bf4 Ke6 43 Bg3 e3 44 Bf4 e2
45 Bg3 Kd7 46 Bh2 e1(Q) 47 Bf4 Qee2
48 Bg3 Qdxc2+ 49 Ka1 Qf1+ 50 Be1 :wdwdwdwd
dwdkdwdw
bdndwdwd
dpdwdwdw
pdpdwdwd)w)wdwdp
wdqdwdwd
IwdwGqdw
Now the bishop is immobile as well, andWhite’s remaining moves will be forced.
50...Qd2 51 Kb1 h2 52 Ka1 h1(Q) 53 Kb1 Qf8
54 Ka1 Qxa3+ 55 Kb1 Qad6 56 Ka1 Qf6
57 Kb1 Kc7 58 Ka1 b4 59 Kb1 b3 60 Ka1
Kb6 61 Kb1 Ka5 62 Ka1 Ne7 63 Kb1 Nc8
64 Ka1 Bb5 65 Kb1 Qa6 66 Ka1 Nb6
67 Kb1 Qh7+ 68 Ka1 Qxc3+ 69 Bxc3 mate
(Brentano’s Chess Monthly, January 1882).

More practical is Reflex Chess, which wasdeveloped by William Geary and B. G. Laws
in the 1880s (Oxford Companion to Chess).
The aim of each player is still to becheckmated by the opponent, but it ismandatory to give mate on the move if able to
do so. This too is primarily a problem theme,
but it is playable as a game. A common
strategy for both sides is to advance the kings
to try and penetrate enemy territory.
Two further flavours are given by the Gameof Codrus, which is mentioned in Brede’s
Almanach of 1844, and by two of the varietiesof Les Echecs Battu-Battant listed by Boyerin Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes (1951).
In the game of Codrus, there are no checks,
and the winner is the player who obliges the
opponent to take his king; capturing iscompulsory but a player may choose between
alternatives. The game is named after the
Athenian king who sacriﬁced himself to save
his people. ‘Les Echecs Battu-Battant’ isbasically Losing Chess as described below andagain capturing is normally compulsory, but intwo versions the king retains royal powers andescaping check has priority over a capture.
The aim is either (1) to give checkmate or tobe left with bare king, or (2) the same but thecheckmated player wins.
All these games retain the royal properties of
the king. In Losing Chess, also known as
Giveaway Chess (a more logical name),
Killer Chess, the Losing Game, and Suicide
Chess, the king has no royal powers, and canbe taken just like any other man. The originsof the game are uncertain, but it is believed tobe older - perhaps much older - than a closelyrelated game, Take Me (Walter Campbell,1876). In Take Me, a player can require his
opponent to take the man just moved bysaying ‘Take me’, and can also nominate theman that is to make the capture. The object is
to give away all one’s men, including the king,which has no royal powers. A player can only
compel the capture of the man moved. A pawn
is promoted to any piece lost, including theking, at the choice of the owner. (Verney)
Losing Chess has become one of the mostpopular of all variants, and rules haveinevitably proliferated. In the basic game,(1) capturing is compulsory but the capturing
player chooses when more than one capture isDifferent objectives of play 87
possible, (2) there is no check or checkmate
and the K can be captured like any other man,(3) a pawn can promote to K, and (4) the
object is to lose all one’s men or to be left
without a move (stalemate). Major variations
involve the treatment of stalemate (some playit as a draw or as a win for the player who isleft with the smaller number of men) andpromotion (some prohibit promotion to K,
some allow promotion only to Q). Some
players prohibit castling, but this is rarely ofimportance. What follows relates to the basic
game (all promotions allowed, stalemate is a
win for the player stalemated), but most of it
carries over to other versions. In particular, thetreatment of stalemate as a win for the player
with the smaller number of men seems to
make little difference, since it is unusual for asmall group of men to stalemate a larger.
Play is critical from the outset. Bishops are
the main danger, and the 16-man giveaway
after 1 e3 d6?? has been rediscovered manytimes (simplest is 2 Qg4 Bxg4 3 Kd1 Bxd1
4 a3 Bxc2 5 Ra2 etc). 1 e4, 1 d4, and 1 d3
were found to be losing even in pre-computer
times, and a report in Variant Chess 41(January 2003 but quoting material publishedsome eighteen months earlier) listed 1 Nc3,
1 Nf3, and 1 h4 as losing also. Known losing
replies to 1 e3 (apart from 1...d6) include
1...Na6, 1...Nf6, 1...a5/a6, 1...e5, 1...f5/f6,
1...g6, and 1...f5/f6. The favourite opening
among the leaders at a ‘First Unofficial Losing
Chess World Championship’ held in 2001 was
the classical 1 e3, but 1 g3 and 1 c4 were bothplayed. With Black, the most common reply
to 1 e3 was 1...b6, but 1...b5 was played twice
and there were also instances of 1...e6 and1...c5. The line 1 e3 b5 2 Bxb5 c6, played in
the frequently quoted correspondence games
Klüver-Dawson 1924 and Slater-Klüver 1955,
has now been proved by computer to be lostfor Black (the analysis goes to move 34), but
2...e6 still appears to be thought playable.
Given that the ultimate objective is to haveno men at all, the instincts of inexperienced
players are to get rid of material as quickly as
possible, but this is poor strategy; until you
can see your way right through to the final
capture, it is usually better to have morematerial on the board than your opponent. As
in most games, he who has more moves
available tends to have the advantage, so themore men you have, and the more space they
control, the better your position is likely to be.
In particular, it is nearly always bad to comedown to a single pawn and hope for the best.
Your moves up to promotion will becompletely predictable, and all too often youropponent will be able to marshal his forces so
as to meet any promotion by a mass giveaway.
Instead of throwing men away, you should
aim to take control of space, pushing ahead as
far as you safely can and hoping that yourjudgement as to what can be risked is better
than your opponent’s. It is also usually correct
to remove your opponent’s king if a safe
opportunity arises, and to take all reasonable
steps to preserve your own. The king is astrong piece in Losing Chess, and good
players try to keep it until it can be given away
as part of a decisive combination.
The endgame is the most appealing stage ofthe game, a garden of surprises. Even oneagainst-one endings are not always
straightforward. Excluding ‘trivial’ endings
where the player on move must make an
immediate capture or can make an immediate
giveaway, the general results without pawns
are as follows: N v K/B/R/Q loses, N v N is
won by whoever is to move when the knights
are on squares of the same colour; K v K/B isdrawn, K v R/Q loses. There are however
exceptions, which can be divided into twoclasses: the ‘losses by domination’ Ka1 v Nd4,
Bd1 v Nd6, Ka1 v Ba4, Kc1 v Bc4, and Kd1 v
Bd4, where the first-named piece, if on play,must put itself within range of a giveaway, and‘must move away’ losses typified by K/Bc1 v
Na2 and Rc2 v Na1, where the K/B/R has no
immediate giveaway and the knight will win
by moving to the square it has just left.
Endings with B/R/Q v B/R/Q are normallytrivial, but there are ‘must move away’ losses
typified by Bd1 v Q/Rd6 and Rc3 v Ba1. The
last case can arise by promotion, a promotion
to bishop having been Black’s only winningmove.
The result of any two-man ending withpawns can be worked out from these pawnless
results. The most interesting case is N v P.
Suppose that the pawn has just moved. If themen are now on squares of different colour,
the knight may be able to give itself away
while the pawn is still unpromoted; if it cannot
do this, the pawn will win by promoting to

88 Games using an ordinary board and men
knight. If the men are on squares of the same
colour, the knight cannot give itself to an
unpromoted pawn, and an a-pawn or b-pawn
will win by promoting to bishop; against ac-pawn or d-pawn, the knight may be able tomeet this by playing to one of the exceptional
winning positions (Na2 v Bc1, Nd6 v Bd1).
In the following study (Gyorgy Evseev, Rex
Multiplex 1992, version by John Beasley),
White makes use of both.

wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdpdwdw
wdNdwdwd
dwdwdwHw
White starts 1 Ne2 (other moves can be shown
to lose), and if 1...dxc2 then 2 Nc3 c1(B)(other promotions lose at once) 3 Na2 with thefirst exceptional position. If instead 1...dxe2
then 2 Nd4 e1(B) 3 Ne6 with the second.
If two-man endings are less thanstraightforward, a complete resolution of
three-man endings had to wait for thecomputer. The endings most important inpractice were however evaluated early. Not
only is R v K normally a win, but so is 2R v
K, and so also is R+B v K though a little care
may be needed to ensure that the bishop is
given away first. Promotions to rook andperhaps to bishop therefore provide a standard
way of winning with distant pawns against aking, a situation which is not uncommon.
When promoting a pawn, it is usually best tochoose a rook unless this is provably bad orsomething else is provably good; if a rook isbad, a king is often the next best choice,though for each promotion a position can beconstructed where it is the only way to win orsave the game. Pawns far from promotion areusually a liability, and those that cannot begiven away should be rushed forward as
quickly as possible.
Endings with up to five men had been
definitively analysed by 2003. Explaining theresulting mass of data was a different matter,but a pamphlet Three-man pawnless endingsin Losing Chess (Beasley, 1999) attempted to
expound this particular set of results in acomprehensible way. Here is one of the many
remarkable positions that the computer
brought to light.

rdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdNdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdNd
dwdwdwdw
Black to play would have to allow two
immediate giveaways. White to play starts
1 Ngf4 (or 1 Nge3 by symmetry) Ra1 2 Ng6
Ra2 3 Ne5, and there are three lines. If 3...Rh2
then 4 Nb6 Rh1 5 Nbc4 Rh8 6 Nb2, and wehave a reflection of the diagram but withBlack to play. If 3...Ra1 then 4 Nf6 Ra2 (say)
5 Nfd7 Ra1 (if 5...Rh2 then 6 Nb6 transposes
into the first line) 6 Ng4 and we have anotherposition where Black to play must allow two
immediate giveaways. This leaves 3...Ra8,
which is met by 4 Ng4 Ra1 5 Ngf6 Ra2 6 Ng8
Ra1 7 Nge7 Ra2 (if 7...Rh1 then 8 Nb4 and wehave a reflection of the position after 6 Ng4 in
the preceding line) 8 Ng6 Ra1 9 Ngf4 Ra8
10 Ng2 and we are back at the diagram butwith Black to play. Moving only a knight,
White has contrived to transfer the move to his
opponent.
The game was one of those nominated by
Italy for the 1st Heterochess Olympiad. Morerecently, most top-class play has taken placethrough the Internet, but there was aninternational weekend meeting in Geneva in
1998, and the ‘First Unofficial Losing Chess
World Championship’ held in Utrecht in 2001
brought together the leading European
players for a seven-round tournament underchampionship conditions (air-conditioned
accommodation, two hours per player pergame). The winner was Tim Remell, who beat
Fabrice Liardet in a play-off. Here is the main
tournament game between them (Remell had
White), with annotations condensed fromthose that subsequently appeared in Variant
Chess 47. The opening was fiercelyDifferent objectives of play 89
complicated, 1 e3 e6 2 b4 Bxb4 3 Qg4 Bxd2
4 Qxg7 Bxe3 5 Bxe3 c5 6 Bxc5 b6 7 Bxb6
Qxb6 8 Qxh7 Rxh7 9 Nc3 Qxf2 10 Kxf2 Rxh2
11 Rxh2 Nh6 12 Rxh6 Ba6 13 Bxa6 Nxa6
14 Rxe6 fxe6, and after the smoke has cleared
we see that White may have a slight plus due
to his extra knight :rdwdkdwd
0wdpdwdw
ndwdpdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwHwdwdw
PdPdwIPd$wdwdwHw
However, Black’s pawns will give him more
space in the centre, and any advantage ismarginal. Play continued 15 Na4 Kf7 16 Nb2
Kf6 17 g4 Nc7 18 Ne2 a5 19 Kf3 d5 20 Ng3
Ke7 21 g5 Na6 22 Nh5 Kf8 23 Ng3 and23...Ke7 would have offered a draw, but Black
went for the win with 23...a4. There followed
24 Nxa4 Nc5 25 Nxc5 Rxa2 26 Nxe6 :wdwdwiwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdNdwd
dwdpdw)w
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdKHw
rdPdwdwd$wdwdwdw
26...Rxa1 (26...Rxc2 also can be shown tolose) 27 Nxf8 Rh1 (27...Rf1 28 Nxf1 d4 29 c3
dxc3 30 Ne6 c2 31 Nd2 c1(K) 32 Nd4 Kxd2
33 Ke3 Kxe3 34 g6 Kxd4 35 g7 and White
will win with R v K) 28 Nxh1 d4 29 c3 dxc3
30 g6 c2 31 Nd7 c1(K) (the only chance)
32 Kg4 Kd2 33 g7 Ke3 (Black will draw if hecan get down to K v 2N, K v K+N, K v K+R,
or K v N+R) 34 Nf2 Kxf2 35 Kf5 Kg2 36 Kg6

Kf3 37 g8(R), after which White had K+R+N
v K and ground out the win (he gradually
gained space, and eventually Black had nosafe move). So it would seem that Black’s
attempt to win at move 23 was mistaken.
There has been no book dedicated to thegame as a whole, but Ralf Binnewirtz’s
Schlagabtausch im Räuberschach (2000) is adelightful collection of problems and endgame
compositions, and a pamphlet A first survey of
Losing Chess endgame material published up
to the end of 1999 (Beasley, 2000) adds
references to theoretical endgame material. It
claims to be reasonably complete as regards
what has been published in England, though it
is ‘less complete’ in respect of foreignmaterial and its coverage of Russia andEastern Europe is ‘almost nil’. The productionof a full-length book covering all aspects ofthe game is long overdue.
[Losing Chess is one of the few games
which I know better than David did, and I
have taken it on myself to revise his intendedentry. The opinion that Losing Chess isbelieved to be older and perhaps much older
than Take Me is David’s (see Variant Chess
35, page 39), as is the description of theendgame as ‘the most appealing stage of thegame, a garden of surprises’, but I will takeresponsibility for everything else.]
Progressive Losing Chess. Losing Chess was
successfully combined with Progressive Chessby AISE which ran a number ofcorrespondence championships for which thehybrid is eminently suitable. With AISE’s
usual thoroughness, the game was diligently
researched (by Dipilato, Kustrin, Manzini andSala amongst others) and the Italians longstood supreme in this, as in many othervariants. It is odd that 1 e3, the most popular
start move in Losing Chess, is fatal in
Progressive Losing, as was ﬁrst demonstrated
by Kustrin. In Reversed Progressive Losing
Chess, an idea of Agostino Braca and Roberto
Cassano, a player loses if he cannot complete
a turn, a reversal of the usual rule.
(Eteroscacco 8 and later)

90 Games using an ordinary board and men
10.10

Games in which the two sides have different objectives

Dunsany’s Game (Lord Dunsany, 1942). 32
White pawns on rows 1-4 face a normal Black
array :

rhb1kgn4
0p0p0p0p
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
P)P)P)P))P)P)P)PP)P)P)P))P)P)P)PThe pawns move one square at a time andpromote normally. Black starts and wins if thepawns are eliminated; White wins bycheckmating Black. Horde Chess (Filip
Rachunek, 2002) is the same except that Black
has the pawns and Ps d8/e8 are on d4/e4. Ps
on second rank have two-move option. (Fairy
Chess Review, August 1942, also Chess
Variant Pages)
Unirexal Chess (V. R. Parton, 1961). Only
one king is present. Parton gives the usualarray but with a second black queen replacing
the king. (The black king disappeared,
explains Parton, because he was fed up withalways being mated in problems.) If Black
does not mate White within an agreed numberof moves, White wins. Another version has
White with the usual array and Black with 20
knights (the extra array squares are a6, b6, g6,h6). Black must mate within 50 moves or heloses. (Chess - Curiouser and Curiouser)
High-Low Chess (Ralph Betza, 1968). Each
player secretly records before the start of agame which result will give him 1 point,
which .5 and which 0. (Example: Win = .5,
Draw = 0, Loss = 1.) There are a few rules: (1)resignation is an offer which can be declined;(2) a player who is able to checkmate,stalemate or give perpetual check on the movecan be required to do so; (3) the 50-move rule
is reduced to 15 moves. Based on high-low
poker. (Nost-algia 211) [David had intended
to omit this from the new edition, and perhaps
I am wrong to reinstate it. It’s an amusing idea
between two, but in tournaments would surely
be open to collusion whereby one player
agreed to claim the full point for a win and theother to claim it for a loss: ‘grandmaster draw’
replaced by ‘grandmaster fool’s mate’!]Defensive Chess (originator unknown, 1975).
White’s array is normal; Black sets up his men
without restriction in his own half of theboard. The white K has no royal powers andcan be taken like any other piece; the black K
is normal. Black (the defender) can nevermove a man beyond his fourth rank except theK, and then only to avoid checkmate. White
must mate within 50 moves otherwise heloses. (Correspondence between John Gollon
and Philip Cohen)
Maharishi (Karl Koch, 1987). Black has
usual array, White has Nd3 only. Black starts
and moves so that White can (and must)
capture. Thereafter Black moves so that White
captures; where White has a choice of
captures, Black chooses. White wins if all
Black’s men are taken; Black wins if he isunable to offer a man for capture. Adjudged ‘avery deep game’ (Spiele für einem Allein).
[In fact Black would seem to have a simple
win by giving away 15 men and leave himself
with Ke8 against a distant knight, and giving
White choice of capture doesn’t help because
Black can leave only one capture available at atime. Something must be wrong somewhere.]
Kamikaze Chess [Tapson] (Frank Tapson,1989). White array normal, Black has only
Qh8. White wins if the Q is captured, Black
wins if he delivers check. (Notes presumably
deriving from personal communication)

10.11 Solo games
Chess Patience, also known as Automatic
Chess (Chris Tylor, 1970s). A system for solo
play rather than a specific game. It involves

playing a game for both sides, using some
prepared rule to determine the rules. The gamecan be inflexible (moves are determinedDifferent objectives of play 91
unambiguously) or flexible (the player has anelement of choice). For example, the rulemight specify that the man moved is always tobe that closest to the antipodean square of thelast arrival (the ‘antipodean’ square is thesquare four files and ranks away, which
always exists and is uniquely determined), anda subsidiary rule might specify which man is

to be moved if two or more are equallyclosest; alternatively, this subsidiary choicemight be left to the player. The player ‘wins’
if he can achieve some preset objective suchas a mate for one side or the other, ‘loses’ if hecannot. If he wins, he may try again, seeking
to win in as few moves as possible. (Author’s
expository document) [Text revised]10.12 Other games
No-Capture Chess, also known as Drive
Chess (origins unknown, reinvented inGermany in the 1960s as Treib Chess).
Standard game except that ﬁrst player to makea capture loses. Jed Stone gives as an
exception a capture that is the only move to
avoid mate. Boyer also legalizes a capture thatdelivers mate and prohibits perpetual check(too easy to achieve). C. H. O’D. Alexander
remarked that even with these concessions adraw was all too frequent, and that further rulerelaxations were needed. He suggested
allowing a capture that led to mate in 2, butmore radical measures seem necessary. A
variant ripe for development. (Nouveaux Jeuxd’Echecs Non-orthodoxes, Stone, Variant
Chess 9)Knight Chase (Alex Randolph, 1960s). Placea black knight on a8, a white knight on h1, and30 markers beside the chessboard. Each
player, Black starting, moves his knight to avacant square and places two markers, one on
the square vacated and another on any empty
square, except that a marker may not be placedso as to deprive either player of his only move.
A knight may not be moved to a squareoccupied by a marker. When all 30 markers
have been placed a turn consists of moving theknight. White wins by capturing the blackknight, Black wins if he survives for 10 moves
after the last marker has been placed or ifeither player cannot move (self-smother was
permitted in the original game, making it easy
for Black). Sid Sackson (A Gamut of Games)
gives a ‘Fool’s Mate’: 1 Nb6/a8,g3 Nf2/h1,c8
2 Na4/b6,d3 Ne4/f2,b2 and the only squares
Black can move to are commanded. (Nostalgia 186)
Widely played in Germany, Pferdeäppel
(Proprietary game, Bütehorn Spiele; Alex
Randolph, 1981) is a development of Knight

Chase. Two horses (knights), one light, one
dark, occupy opposite corners of a vacantchessboard. Forty pellets (28 brown, 12 gold)
are placed beside the board. The horses movelike knights, White starting. A play consists ofmoving a horse to a vacant square and thendropping a pellet through it. (There is avertical hole through each piece: Englishlanguage rules translate the title freely as‘Plop!’). The player may, but is not obliged to,then place a second pellet on any vacantsquare. Players must use the brown pellets
while they last, then the gold pellets. The aimof the dark horse is to capture the light horse.
Dark wins if this is achieved before all thebrown pellets are used. His score is the total ofbrown pellets remaining. Light wins as soon
as a gold pellet is dropped, his score being thenumber of gold pellets dropped. If Light canstill move after all gold pellets have been
dropped, or Dark is unable to move, Light
wins by 24 points. If the light horse iscaptured after all brown pellets have been used
but no gold, the game is drawn. (Notes
presumably made from a set in David’s gamecollection)
Knight Factor Chase (Curt Gibson, 1975).
Board 8x8 with squares numbered from 11(a8)to 88(h1). Place a black knight on 11, a whiteknight on 88. Black starts and moves his
knight (to 23 or 32) and play now alternates.
Players may elect to move once or twice per
turn. When a player lands on a square whose
number has a given prime factor (there are 21)
the player may claim it if it has not alreadybeen claimed. No player may claim more than
two factors per turn (a NOST rule states that aplayer who claims two factors on his firstmove forfeits the second). Squares 11 and 88
are not used. The ﬁrst player to claim 11
factors wins the factor game. No square may92 Games using an ordinary board and men
be occupied more than once, so ties are
possible. The ﬁrst player unable to move loses
the chase game (the opponent may continue tomove in an effort to win the factor game).
Each game contributes two points, so theresult can be 2-2, 3-1 or 4-0. A second versionof the game (Creede Lambard 1975) allows aplayer to claim any number of factors in amove or turn except that a player who claims
two or more factors on his ﬁrst move forfeits
his second move. Other variations suggested
have been the use of a 10x10 board, preﬁxing
square numbers with a ‘1’ or a ‘2’ (giving
respectively 33 and 41 factors), and even a
space game. (Nost-algia 186/7)
Gay Chess (A. S. M. Dickins, 1982). Kings,
bishops, knights and pawns are males, queens
are females and rooks are hermaphrodites.
Pieces may only capture or be captured bypieces of their own sex or hermaphrodites
except that only a king can capture a king(known as Gaymate) and then only if it isunguarded. The object is gaymate; there is nocheck and checkmate is a draw. A few
problems have been published. (Feenschach,August 1984, quoting Eteroscacco)
People’s Chess (Andrew Squire, 1986).
Conceived as a political statement. Publishedby Leeds Postcards (1987) ‘How the pawns ofeach nation sacrificed their entire ruling classand lived happily ever after’. The inventor has
tried to evolve rules ‘to enable it to be played
as a meaningful game’. He states: ‘the two
principles of the game are, first, that thehierarchical symbols be overthrown as quickly
as possible, and second, that the pawns fromboth sides form a coherent and harmonious
pattern’. Array (a1-h1/a8-h8) PPPPPPPP, (a2h2/a7-h7) RNBKQBNR; play as in chess withthe exception that the pawns can move one
square in any direction. ‘Each player engineers
the downfall of his own hierarchical pieces by
exposing them to those of the opponent, whomust take the pieces then exposed’. When all
hierarchical pieces have been eliminated(presumably there is no check or checkmate,
and an element of collaboration) the pawns
move to the ﬁnishing pattern (staggered
alternately on the 4th and 5th ranks). If awinner is required, it is the player who is firstto achieve their half of the pattern. As theinventor says, ‘in terms of reﬁnement andsubtlety, the game has some scope fordevelopment’.
Jim Winslow (1989) suggested less classconscious rules for play: No captures orchecks in the first X moves, X being a
number agreed by the players beforehand. No
castling. (Specimen card and accompanying
correspondence)
Paciﬁst Chess (Hilario Long, 1996). A player
may neither capture nor threaten an
opponent’s man. The game ends when aplayer has no legal move. The winner is theplayer whose king is farthest from its initial
position measured in orthogonal moves.
(Variant Chess 23)
Chego (Alfred Pfeiffer, 1997). A chess-go
hybrid. Usual board and men but the object is
to control most vacant squares. Empty board
to start. Players place a man of their own
colour in turn on a vacant square. The movemust attack at least one neutral square (defined
as a square not under attack by either side) andthe man played must not attack a hostile man
nor defend a friendly man. Kings are nonroyal (no checks); pawns are allowed on first
rank; bishops can be on same colour. If a playleaves a hostile man without control of any
square, that man is captured. Either player
may pass a turn; when both pass on the sameturn, the game ends. Count one point for each
empty square controlled (attacked by more ofyour own men than of the enemy’s) and one
for each enemy man captured; the player withthe more points is the winner. (Cazaux)Chapter 11
Multiple boards[In this chapter, we consider games where the play extends over several boards. Such games canalso be considered as examples of three-dimensional chess, and in choosing how to classify
them we take a pragmatic view: if the boards are normally set side by side it is a multiple-board
game and is considered here, if they are stacked one above another it is a three-dimensional
game and is treated elsewhere. We have also treated Kriegspiel elsewhere, because the logic of
the game is completely different and play really takes place on a single board even though threeboards are needed to realise it.]11.1 Two boards
Alice or Alician Chess (V. R. Parton, 1953,
named after Lewis Carroll’s eponymous
heroine). Two boards A and B are set side-byside. Normal array on A; B empty. A piece oncompleting its move passes ‘through thelooking-glass’ to the corresponding square on
the other board. After the first turn, whenmoves are necessarily made from A to B, aplayer may move on either board. The rules
are simple: (1) a move must be legal on theboard where it is played; (2) a man can only
move or capture if the corresponding squareon the other board is vacant; (3) on completionof its move, a man is at once transferred to thecorresponding square on the other board.
Certain truths follow from these rules.
A pair of corresponding squares can never be
occupied simultaneously, nor can a piece on
one board capture a piece on the other.
A direct check can only result from a piece
moving on the opposite board to that on which
the king stands; a discovered check is only
possible on the board occupied by the king.
Men must be defended on the other board, as
the capturer will be obliged to transfer to it.

Despite its simple rules, Alice Chess isconfusing, and certainly for the beginner,since a mental fusion of the two boards iscalled for. The king is especially vulnerable: it
can neither stay in check nor move into checkon the board where the attack is delivered, andit can neither move into check nor capture an
undefended piece on the looking-glass board.
Little serious research has been done on the
openings but 1 d4>B is generally considered
best for White; it also lends itself to a simple
illustration of some of the game’s tactics.
White has an immediate threat of 2 Qxd7>B
and 3 Qb5>A, which is mate (!) because theking’s only move ...Kd7 is illegal on A and an
attempted interposition such as ...c6 merelytransfers the man to B. The reply 1...d6>B
loses the queen to 2 Qxd8>B, and if 1...Nf6>B
to guard d7 on B then 2 Bg5>B threatens
3 BxN with a reinstatement of the original
threat. However, Black can safely play
1...Nc6>B, as after 2 Qxd7>B the reply
2...Be6>B wins White’s queen; each of his 14
possible destination squares is either occupied
on A or guarded there.

rdw1kgn4wwwdwdwdwd
0p0w0p0pwwdwdQdwdw
wdwdwdwdwwwdndbdwd
dwdwdwdwwwdwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwdwwwdw)wdwd
dwdwdwdwwwdwdwdwdw
P)PdP)P)wwwdwdwdwd$NGwIBHRwwdwdwdwdw

94 Games using an ordinary board and men

wdwdwdwdwwwdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdwwwdwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwdwwwdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdwwwdwdwdwdw
wdwdwdw4wwwdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdwwwdwdwdwdw
wdwdwIpiwwwdwdwdwd!wdwdwdwwwdwdwdwdw
The miniature problem above, by Ronald
Turnbull and Peter Coast (Variant Chess
2004), illustrates much of the beauty of thegame. Board A is as shown, Board B is empty,
and White is to play and mate in 2.
To mate an unmoved Black king in 2, White
must play his queen to B at move 1 and backto A at move 2, and Black will spoil this if
he can play his king to B at his own move 1.
So White’s first move must stop Black’s kingfrom moving, and the only possibilities are
1 Qh8/f1>B (guarding h3/h1 on B) and1 Qh1>B (guarding h3 and occupying h1).
Let’s try 1 Qh8>B. A Black move upwards(1...Rh5/.../h7>B) allows mate by 2 QxR>Aand any other rook move (1...Rg4/.../a4>B,
Rh3>B) allows 2 Qh4>A, the queen moving to
the square the rook has just quitted andleaving it curiously helpless. However, Blackalso has 1...g1>B (the promotion doesn’t
matter), and there is no mate.
All right, try 1 Qf1>B. Now 1...g1>B canbe met by 2 Qg2>A, but there is no mate after

most of the rook moves.
So it must be 1 Qh1>B, when 1...g1>B
2 Qg2>A still works and 1...Rg4/.../a4>B
2 Qh4>A comes back again. The mates
1...Rh5/.../h7>B 2 QxR>A also still work
(though not the clever 2 Qh4>A because Blackcan reply 2...Rh3>A, bypassing on B thesquare occupied by the checking queen on A
and then transferring to the other board toblock the check), but what about 1...Rh3>B,after which 2 Qh4 is no longer possible?
Ah, 2 Qg1>A, making use of the fact that therook on h3 is blocking its own king’s flightsquare.
And a game from a postal tournament
played in 1997-98. 1 d4>B Nf6>B 2 Bg5>B
Rg8>B 3 Bxf6>A exf6>B 4 e4>B Rg6>A
5 Qf3>B Qe7>B 6 Ne2>B Qxe4>A+ 7 Kd2>B
a5>B 8 Nbc3>B Bb4>B 9 Bc4>B Rxg2>B
10 Qe3>A Qxe3>B 11 Kxe3>A b6>B
12 Rhg1>B Bc5>A+ 13 Kd3>B Rxe2>A
14 Rg8>A+ Ke7>B 15 Re1>B+ Kd6>A.
The boards are now as shown below

rhbdwdRdwwwdwdwdwd
dw0pdp0pwwdwdwdwdw
wdwiwdwdwww0wdw0wd
dwgwdwdwww0wdwdwdw
wdwdwdwdwwwdB)wdwd
dwdwdwdwwwdwHKdwdw
P)Pdr)w)wwwdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdwwwdwdw$wdw
and White announced a mate in 8 by
16 Nb5>A+ Kc6>B 17 Rxc8>B+ Kb7>A
18 Bd5>A+ Ka6>B 19 Nxc7>B+ Ka7>A
20 Nb5>A+ Ka6>B 21 Bb7>B+ Kxb7>A
22 Rc7>A+ Ka6>B 23 Ra7>B.
[The first of Parton’s own booklets dates
from 1961, and the earliest printed reference isin Boyer’s Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes. This was nominally published in
1954, though the copy in the library of the
British Chess Problem Society carries amanuscript greeting to Dennison Nixon dated
December 1953. The examples of play after
1 d4>B are from Nixon’s review in the MarchMultiple boards 95
1954 British Chess Magazine; the later
examples are from issues 45 and 29 of Variant
Chess, the mate in 8, whose appearance here
is very definitely my responsibility, having
been announced by David himself. Boyer’s
exposition differentiates between ‘matorthodoxe’ (the king would be mated even in
ordinary chess) and ‘mat alicien’ (he would
have one or more flight squares in ordinarychess, but the corresponding squares on theother board are commanded or occupied).
According to the Oxford Companion to Chess,a specifically ‘Alice’ mate may be demanded
by problemists, but players, if they ever madesuch a demand, have long since abandoned it.]Derivatives of Alice Chess. In his 1961
booklet Chess - Curiouser and Curiouser,
Parton observed that Alice Chess could beplayed on three boards of identical size (he did
not elaborate) giving the players a choice of
two corresponding squares for a move. No one
so far seems to have embraced this monster. In
more conciliatory vein, Parton also introduceda modiﬁed version played on the normal board
divided into two 4x8 play areas (three-row
array RQKR, NBBN, PPPP, with only fourpawns on each side). The game lacks the zestof the parent (there are no quick mates) but
problem composers have shown some
affection for the reduced field. In Ms Alice
Chess (John Ishkan, 1973) all men have theadded power of a Zero, a piece which moves
by staying still. This facility allows a man tomove to its corresponding square on thelooking-glass board, provided the square isvacant. A king cannot escape check with azero move and castling is disallowed ifeither R or K have made a zero move (Nostalgia 165). O’Donohue Chess (Michael
O’Donohue, 2003) offers an alternativeextension: a piece may move to a square thatis occupied on the twin board, the move being
completed as usual but the transfer being
omitted (personal communication). In Duo
Chess (Jed Stone, 1981) the white array is set
up on one board and the black on the opposite

side of the other. Rules of play: (1) A piece or
pawn moved legally on one board may, but is
not obliged to, transfer to the corresponding
square on the other board providing it isvacant. (2) A piece, but not a pawn, maytransfer to the corresponding square on theother board. This counts as a move. If thesquare is occupied by an enemy man, this iscaptured. (3) A king can be checked on theboard it stands on or by an opposing piece
moving to the corresponding square on which
the king stands on the other board. (4) Pawns
promote on the eighth rank of either board.
The king is mated in the normal way but in
addition the corresponding square on the otherboard must be occupied by a man of thesame colour as the king, or be under attack(Stone).
Looking-Glass Chess (V. R. Parton, 1971) isquite different. Two boards and sets are used.
A player on turn may move on either board
but must then also make the ‘looking-glass’
move on the other board. Thus, opening Nf3
on board 1, Nc3 must be played on board 2. A
move of the king or queen must be mirrored inthat of the other. This means that if the queen
is moved on one board, the king must reﬂect
the move on the other board even though it
may mean moving a number of squares.
Castling likewise: if White castles K-side,‘castling’ must also take place on the Q-side(Qb1 and Rc1). A move may not be made if
the reﬂection would result in the player’s king
being placed in check. (Chesshyre Cat Playeth
Looking Glass Chessys)
Two-Level Chess [Curo] (Forrest Curo,1975). Two boards; two sets of men exceptthat one set has the kings replaced byadditional queens. Instead of moving on theboard, a piece can transfer to thecorresponding square on the other board, andcapture or check in so doing. Pawns have thesame privilege but can also change boards andcapture one square diagonally forward in thesame move. (Ye Faerie Chesseman)

11.2 Three boards
Tritabula Chess (John Bosley, 1980s). A
form of Progressive Chess. The game isplayed on three boards simultaneously, eachboard with the normal array. White starts bymoving a man on any one of the three boards.
Black now has two consecutive moves which

96 Games using an ordinary board and men
may both be made on one board or separately
on two boards. White replies with three moves
which he may distribute between the boards as
he wishes, and so on. At any time during a
move-series a player may transfer one of his
own men (but not a king) from one board to acorresponding square (which must be vacant)on another board, the transfer counting as one
move of a turn. When a checkmate occurs,that board is dead and no transfers may bemade to or from it. It is possible to checkmate
more than one king in a move-series; however,a check (as distinct from checkmate) may only
be delivered on the last move of a series.
Check must be escaped on the first move of aseries. It is possible, through a transfer, for
two kings to be in check after the last move ofa series. In this case, the responding player
must concede one game. (Unprovenanced
rules leaflet)

11.3 More than three boards
Megachess [Lange] (Fred Lange, 1994). Six
boards in two rows of three, six sets of men on
the four back ranks of each player’s threeboards. White plays three moves, then eachside plays six moves alternately. Normal rules
plus various additions (long pawns, all-in
castling, pieces moving as pairs). If you losea king, you lose a move at your next turn(and presumably at all subsequent turns);
objective is to capture the opponent’s last
king. Apparently tried out with success atsummer schools in Milwaukee. (Originator’s

expository leaflet) [Text editorial]
Eternity’s Children (Bruce Trone, 1991). An
indeterminate number of boards (A, B, C, ...)and sets are required. When a man is moved,
an identical man is created on the start squareof the move on the next board. Thus if White
opens 1 e4, a WP is placed at e2 on B. A man
cannot move if its corresponding square on thenext board is occupied. A turn consists of one
move on any board. Checkmate of any K wins
the game. (Personal communication)

Chapter 12
Miscellanea[A final chapter on the 8x8 board containing games which do not fit readily into any other classbut are too few to merit chapters to themselves. Included are games where the actual rules ofplay on the board are wholly orthodox, but there is something in the presentation or context
which takes the game out of the ordinary.]
12.1 Multiple square occupancy
Bi-Place Chess (B. de Beler, 1958). A piece
can move to a square occupied by a friendly
piece (where they can be captured
simultaneously). The pieces do not combine
but remain independent of each other. Not
more than two pieces can occupy a square.
The line pieces (Q, R, B) can at all times leap
friendly men (and hence check in thismanner). An unmoved pawn can leap afriendly man immediately in front of it.
(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants)

removed, thus forming a mixed square. Men
on a mixed square are immune to each other.
Either man on a mixed square may be
captured by a man of the opposite colour, thus
forming a double square again. Either man on
a double or mixed square may vacate thesquare at any time. A king can be an occupantof a double or mixed square. All moves are as
orthochess. The inventor was inspired by the
Ising problem in theoretical physics. (Personalcommunication)

Duperchess (Jon Spencer, 1972). Any numberof men of either colour or both colours may
occupy a square. A player moving to a squareoccupied by two or more of the opponent’s
men may only capture one but can choose
which, or may elect to move to the square
without capturing. (Neue Chess 2)

Stacking Chess (origins unclear, cited by Jed
Stone in 1982). Any number of men of thesame colour may occupy a square, hencesquares between K and R do not have to bevacant in order to castle. A capture takes all
the men on a square. (Stone, also World Game
Review 10)

Double Chess [Hill] (Terrell Hill, 1974). A
square may be occupied by two men
simultaneously, either of the same colour(double square) or of opposite colour (mixed
square). If a double square is entered by a manof the opposite colour, one of the two
occupants, at the capturing player’s choice, isGregarious Chess (Bruce Trone, 1986). Any
number of men of either colour may occupy asquare. A man entering a square occupied by
two or more enemy men may choose which tocapture. A man may not move if in a squareoccupied by more enemy than friendly men.
(World Game Review 10)

12.2 Merging of squares into regions
Merger Chess (Philip Cohen, 1975). Squares
can be merged into orthogonally connected
regions called realms. A realm may contain at
most five squares. Only one man may occupy
a realm. If a man other than a pawn is moved
to any square within a realm occupied by anenemy man, that man is captured (a pawn cancapture only by moving to the square actuallyoccupied). When a capture is made, the squareor realm in which it occurs must be mergedwith an adjacent empty square or realm unlessevery potential merger would cause self-checkor create a realm of more than five squares.
The second area must be adjacent to at least
one square of the first, but need not be
adjacent to the capture square. Two realms
may not be merged if a realm-square merger ispossible. A piece may secede from a realm at

98 Games using an ordinary board and men
any time, taking its square with it and perhaps
dividing the rest of the previous realm into
two or more separate parts. Normally,secession counts as a move; exceptionally, aking may secede and then move in the same
turn. (Inventor’s rules pamphlet)

12.3 Men changing sides other than by capture
Rotation Chess [Turnabout], also known as
Alternating, Turnabout, or Turnaround
Chess (origins unknown but played by C. D.
Locock and T. R. Dawson in 1913). Afterevery 10th move of Black the board is turnedround, and the previous ‘Black’ makes thenext move and continues with the White men(Fairy Chess Review, August 1948). Anotherversion of the game has the board turnedround after every 15 moves. Described as‘highly diverting’ and said to have had many
devotees in the north of England (Chess, July
1943). A modern variant requires Black to rolla die after each of his moves. If a 6 turns up,
the board is turned round.

Traitor Chess (Roberto Salvadori, 1984). On
the 10th move of a game, or any time
thereafter, each player has the right toexchange a piece or pawn (but not the king) of
his own colour with an opponent’s man of thesame rank. The men change places. This is
known as the ‘unmasking’, and the man
swapped is a ‘traitor’ who cannot
subsequently change sides again. The traitor is
exposed after the opponent has played andbefore moving. Unmasking, which must notgive check to one’s own king but may give
check to the opponent’s, does not count as amove. Each player has the right to only one
unmasking in a game. (Eteroscacco 27)

12.4 Men automatically added or removed during play
Twinkle Chess (Ralph Betza, 1977). A pawn
is added to or taken from the board after each
move, at the discretion of the player. The
pawn may be of either colour. Pawns can only
be entered on vacant squares and then not on
the 1st and 8th ranks. No more than eight
pawns of the same colour on the board at any
one time (i.e., only the normal set is used).
Check must be met immediately. A violent
game. In Blizzard Chess (Betza, 1977) only
addition is allowed, and it is compulsory. In
Buzzard Chess (Betza, 1977) only subtractionis allowed, and again it is compulsory; if there
is only one pawn left and its removal will
expose the turn player to check, that player
loses. (Nost-algia 214/6/8)
Pregnant Chess, also known as Promethean
Chess (Chris Tylor, 1980). A man moving to
the home square of another man (meaning apiece or pawn, not, understandably, a male) of
either colour becomes pregnant. The
exceptions are a king or a man of its own kind(i.e., incest is not tolerated). The power of thepiece is unchanged, but when it moves away it
gives birth to the man whose home square it
is. Birth control is not practised and the
population is limited only by lebensraum.
Problem theme probably untested as a game.
(Extract from Fairy Chess CorrespondenceCircle circular)
Too Many Bishops (quoted by C. Pickover,1992). Before each move a player acquires anextra bishop which is placed by the opponent
on any vacant square. The game ends withcheckmate, when a player is unable to add abishop, or when a player cannot move(because of a convocation of bishops). (Mazes
for the Mind)
Trapdoor Chess [Betza] (Ralph Betza, 1996).
A man that stays on a square for five turns
falls through a trapdoor and is lost (if the K,
the game is lost). Does not apply to unmoved
men. (Eteroscacco 75)

Miscellanea 99
12.5 Passing or retracting a move
Zugzwang-Free Chess (origins unknown).
No obligation to move on turn unless in check.
(Gik, Schach und Mathematik)
Liars’ Chess [Betza] (Betza, 1978). At any
time when you make a move, you may claimthat a previous move was a ‘lie’ and that you
actually played so-and-so. However, you maychange only one move per turn, and all
subsequent moves must remain legal. Twofurther restrictions are offered as options: false
moves are restricted to a given percentage ofthe total, and you cannot claim a false move
until a certain number of subsequent moves
have been played. (Nost-algia 217,
Eteroscacco 49) [This was developed from asarcastic joke game called Watergate Chess,
which was inspired by events that are now
over thirty years old and which David had
decided to drop from the new edition. I think
he was right to do so.]The Royal Game of Amber (Mark Bassett,1981). The inventor claims that nobody wants
to change the rules of chess - except one: thatyou cannot take back a move. Knights are
12.6

Princes and have the power of retracting theirlast move (or moves, if in unbroken sequence)and requiring the opponent to do likewise.
(Inventor’s rules pamphlet)
Parallel Timestream Chess (Chris Tylor,1981). An adaptation of the science fiction
concept of a parallel universe. Before every
move, the player must switch the position to aparallel time-stream by changing an earlier
move of the game. Any later move which thenbecomes illegal or impossible is replaced by aparallel move in which the man geometricallyclosest to the starting square of the originalman is moved to the square geometricallyclosest to its finishing square (castling being aking move, promotion being to the type of
piece last moved). If two or more men or
squares are equidistant, the parallel move is(a) from the rank furthest back to the rank
furthest forward, and (b) from the file nearest
the edge to the file nearest the centre. Best
played by correspondence. In one recorded
game, White blundered on move 7 allowing
Black to mate on move 6! (The Games andPuzzles Journal 3)

Simultaneous movement

Synchronistic Chess (V. R. Parton, 1971). A
variant designed, part tongue-in-cheek, toachieve absolute equality. On each turn, bothplayers write down their moves and thendeclare them to each other, the board position
being adjusted accordingly. There are threeanomalous situations to be resolved:(1) Both moves are to the same square.
White captures Black if the disputed square isin Black’s half of the board, and vice versa.
(2) Reciprocal capture. Both pieces are
removed from the board.
(3) Illusory capture (a capture is recorded
but the square is now vacant because the piecehas moved away). If the capturing piece issuperior in rank to the piece that moved away
(K>Q>R>B>N>P), the latter is captured on
the square from which it moved. If thecapturing piece is equal to or inferior in rank,
there is no capture and both moves stand.
Since both kings can be matedsimultaneously, Synchronistic Chess can claim

to be more equal than others. (Chesshyre Cat
Playeth Looking Glass Chessys)
Diplochess (Edi Birsan, 1973). An attempt tolink the popular proprietary game Diplomacy
with chess (for other attempts, see
Scacchomacy below and the four-player game
Diplomatic Chess). Players write down theirorders for each move, revealing themsimultaneously when moves and captures areresolved. Orders are for all men, and as in
Diplomacy can be to move, to hold, or to
support. Points are assigned to men according
to the relative values normally assigned tothem (Q=9, R=5, B=N=3, P=1), the king being
assigned 0. An interesting feature is that themove of a high value piece cuts off the movesof lower value men which try to cross its path.
The object is to dislodge the opponent’s K andleave it without a retreat (in effect,
checkmate). (Bushwacker, November 1974,
quoting Arena, ‘about July 1973’)

100 Games using an ordinary board and men
Scacchomacy, also known as Fish’s Delight(Dave Kadlecek, 1974). Another attempt tocombine chess with the concept ofsimultaneous movement found in Diplomacy.
Orthochess moves, but the basic rules of
movement and annihilation (capture) are thoseof the 1971 Diplomacy rule book. Supply
centres are those occupied by the 16 pieces
initially together with neutral centres at
d4/d5/e4/e5. (Spectrum 7)
Synchronous Chess (Vitaly Korolev, 1991).
Players move simultaneously, writing theirown moves on their respective score sheets,
revealing them to each other and then writingin the opponent’s moves with amendments toone or both moves as necessary. A king mustmove to escape check but because ofsimultaneous movement can remain in checkfor several moves. Checkmate or capture of
the king ends the game. A number ofambiguities can arise:(1) Both men are moved to the same vacantsquare. Both are captured, even if both arepawns, but if a P and a K meet the P iscaptured but not the K.
(2) A ‘capture’ is made but the intended
victim has removed. The move stands, even if
it is a pawn capture or promotion.
(3) Mutual capture. The men change
places, even if one or both are pawns.
(4) A Q or R on a file ‘captures’ a facing
pawn which simultaneously advances. This istreated as case (2), neither being captured.
A capture on a square occupied by a friendly
man, anticipating its capture, is allowed. If theattacker moves otherwise the self-capture
stands. The game received a winner’s diploma
in the ‘Games for Peace’ convention,
Leningrad 1991. (Originator’s pamphlet)
Turbo Chess (Rob Cullender, 1988). Turns
are simultaneous, each player writing a‘movement order’. More than one man may be
moved in a turn (hence turbo, speeding up thegame) but no man may make more than one
move a turn. Each man is credited with anominal value (n.v.): K(15), Q(8), R(5), B(3),N(3), P(1). However, if a second pawn is
moved in a turn its n.v. is 4, a third 9, a fourth
16, and so on. If a pawn or a piece is moved
more than one square, its n.v. is multiplied
accordingly. A knight’s move is prescribed as
3 squares hence the n.v. allocation for a knight
move is 9 points. Castling either side costs 40
points. Both players have an allocation of 50
points per turn of which 30 must be used; thebalance can be ‘banked’ but the current
balance must never exceed 100 points. To
complicate matters, players must allocate toeach man moved an actual value (a.v.) thatcannot be less than the n.v. This a.v. ismultiplied by the number of squares moved togive a points expenditure. The moves made byboth players in a turn are executed in a.v.
order, the highest ﬁrst (ties in a.v. are broken
in order of n.v.). The points allocated to amove that is reduced or negated as a result ofan opponent’s move taking precedence arelost. For example, if rival knights attack eachother and both players elect to capture, theplayer who has allocated the higher a.v. will
succeed since his move will be executed ﬁrst.
There is one further rule: if a pawn that has
been programmed to move has an available
capture then the capture is made automatically(if the pawn has two possible captures, theman with the higher n.v. is taken) unless theplayer has indicated otherwise on the
movement order. There is no checking and theaim of the game is to capture the opponent’s
king. The game has been played successfully
by correspondence. (Article ‘Turbo Chess’
comprising pages 10-11 of an unidentified
magazine, together with a manuscript game
score annotated in some detail)12.7 Exploitation of coordinate squares
Coordinate Chess (Co-Chess) (Ralph Betza,1973) The paterfamilias of a numerous clan,
Co-Chess, inspired by the Co-ordinator piecein Abbott’s game ‘Ultima’, is not itself a game
but a system. According to one highly
unreliable source, there are potentially at least
300,000 Co-Chess variants, as yet fortunately

conﬁned to a well-tested handful. The
principle is that like-pieces of the same colour
form a co-pair, of which initially each player
has four, as Q and K are assumed to be a copair. Pawns do not form co-pairs. When one
piece of a co-pair moves to a square that is noton the same rank or file as the other, two co-Miscellanea 101
squares are created which together form arectangle with the squares on which the copair stand (so if a player has a rook at a1 andmoves his second rook to h2, co-squares are
created at a2 and h1). Men on co-squares are
subject to co-effects which are defined by thegame being played. Co-effects are usuallypermanent, but co-squares are only effectiveon the move that created them. If one piece ofa co-pair is captured, the remaining piece loses
any power to create co-squares unless a pawn
is promoted to a like piece. Promotion is apawn move and does not cause co-effects.
Castling is both a king and rook move, so both
K and R can form co-squares with Q and R
respectively. Since co-effects are mandatory, amove cannot be made in which these would
result in an illegal position. Conversely, amove that would normally be illegal is legal if
the co-effects of the move remove the illegal
element. For example, castling through check
would be legal if the co-effects neutralized theenemy piece commanding the square overwhich the king moved. (Nost-algia 229)
Biflux Chess (Ralph Betza, 1974). When apiece creates co-squares, each piece of the copair acquires the powers of an enemy pawn orpiece, including a king, on the co-squares. A
player when moving a combined piece must
declare its role if a co-pair is possible.
Combined pieces that include a king haveroyal powers; if a player has more than one
king, he loses if any of them is mated.
A combined piece that includes a pawn
promotes only if it moves from thepenultimate rank as a pawn. Some interesting
end-games arise with unusual piece
combinations. (Nost-algia 177)
Co-Capture Chess, also known as
Eradication Chess (originator unclear).
Enemy men on co-squares are captured. A
king caught on a co-square is mated. Philip
Cohen has suggested that orthochess captures
are banned with the exception of pawn
captures, otherwise a player could hide behinda phalanx of pawns. (Nost-algia 189/263)
Co-Relay Chess (Ralph Betza, 1973). The
co-effect of co-squares is to convey the powerof the co-pair to friendly men occupying them.
(Nost-algia 169)
Conversion Chess (Ralph Betza, 1973).
The co-effect of co-squares is to convert
enemy men to friendly men of the same rank.

Friendly men on co-squares are unaffected. A
threat to convert the king is check; aninescapable threat to convert the king ischeckmate. Normal check and checkmate are
not precluded (Cohen later proposed
orthochess captures, and hence checks also,
limited to pawns). It is possible, throughconversion or promotion, to have several
pieces of the same rank, in which case themove of one of them may simultaneously
create a number of co-squares. In Betza’s
opinion, two tempi ahead are usually sufﬁcient
to ensure the win, other things being equal.
In Double Conversion Chess (Betza, 1973)
the occupants of the co-squares change sides;
in Reversion Conversion Chess (Betza,1973) any two unpaired pieces of the same
colour are joined to form a new co-pair, theplayer choosing which two to join if there arethree. (Nost-algia 161 and later)
Heterocoalescence Chess (Philip Cohenfrom an idea by Ralph Betza, 1973). Twopieces of different colours on a pair of cosquares coalesce, forming a ‘meld’. No checkor mate. Object is to take opponent’s king orany
meld
containingit.
(Personal
communication)
Inverter Chess, also known as Switch
Chess (Ralph Betza, 1973). If a move createsa set of co-squares, occupants of front and rearsquares are interchanged. If a move creates
more than one set of co-squares, the player
may choose the order in which men aretransposed. (Nost-algia 231)
Nuisance Chess (Philip Cohen, 1979).
Every time co-squares are formed, Nuisances
are placed on any that are vacant. A nuisanceis a neutral, immobile man that acts as a block
to pawns and line pieces. Kings and knights
are unaffected except that a nuisance canprevent castling. Nuisances can be captured byeither side. (Nost-algia 232)
Overloader/Restorer (O/R) Chess (Ralph
Betza, 1974). When a piece creates cosquares, any enemy man on either or both cosquares is overloaded, whilst a friendly man
on a co-square, if overloaded, is restored tofull power. An enemy man that is alreadyoverloaded or a friendly man that is notoverloaded are unaffected. An overloaded man
retains its basic move but loses all additional
powers. Thus it cannot capture, check, castle,
act as a co-pair, or, if a pawn, promote or102 Games using an ordinary board and men
move two squares. It stays overloaded unlessand until restored. A pawn restored on the 8th
rank promotes immediately. Castling into acheck that is cancelled by the co-effect islegal. Once most co-pairs have gone,overloaded pieces will have little chance of
restoration and will become virtually
powerless. (Etereoscacco 50)
Suction Chess (Ralph Betza, 1979). Everytime co-squares are formed, the player canmove a man (but not a king and presumably
not the co-pair) of either colour fromanywhere on the board to either of the cosquares. A pawn sucked to the 8th rank is atonce promoted to a piece of the owner’s
choice. Cohen prefers what he calls
Autosuction Chess which limits the co-effectto one’s own men. (Nost-algia 238)
Transportation
Chess(Transchess)(Ralph Betza, 1973). The darling of thefamily. The co-effect of co-squares is torequire the player to move the occupant(s) toany vacant square(s). Removal is compulsory,
but a pair of men on co-squares can beinterchanged. There are two restrictions: theking cannot be transported and pawns cannot
be placed on the 8th rank. Pawns can be
moved to the 1st rank, and a man that istransported back to its original square without
moving regains its privileges (R can castle,pawn-2). A pawn moving from the 1st to 2nd

rank acquires the P-2 option. An ‘illegal’
move is allowed (e.g. exposing the king tocheck) if the subsequent transportation
removes the illegality. Transportations do not
trigger further transportations because they are
not moves: co-squares are only formed by themove of one of a co-pair. Games tend to beboth short and violent. The essence ofTranschess is to keep co-pairs as long as
possible since broken marriages spell disaster.
Ideal for correspondence play, the game offers
an exciting but as yet little-explored problem
theme. (Eteroscacco 50)
Transportation Chess has developed
variants of its own (variants of a variant of avariant). In Polyactive Transportation(1979), new co-squares are created as a resultof transportation, and the process is continued
until no co-squares remain. ‘Ridiculous’ in theview of Philip Cohen (Nost-algia 233). In
Put-Back Transchess (Betza, 1974), it isplayed with Put-Back rules (a captured man isimmediately replaced somewhere on theboard, no restriction on the replacement
squares of pawns and bishops) (Nost-algia170). [David’s index sheet gives Philip Cohenas the originator of Polyactive Transportation,
which rests oddly with his authorship of thesubsequent quotation, but people dooccasionally refer to their brainchildren in thisway. I haven’t seen the source.]

12.8 Changes to the rules during play
Metamorphosis (Ralph Betza, 1973). The
rules in force change according to apredetermined pattern. (Nost-algia 209)

move and chooses and announces the variant
for his second, and so on. (Nost-algia
168/209)

List Chess (Ralph Betza, 1977). A list is
prepared of variants whose rules are known toboth players. White chooses and announces
the variant for his first move, Black ditto.
These variants are crossed off the list, andcannot be used again until all variants havebeen used once. White now plays his first

Crazy
Lightning
Chess(originator
unknown). At irregular intervals the umpire
breaks into play by announcing a change ofrules such as ‘all bishops now move as
knights’. Reported to have been a perennial
favourite at British Championships. (British
Chess Magazine, February 1990)

12.9 Other external influences on the play
Alcoholic Chess, also known as Spirited
Chess (origins lost in the mists of time).
Alcohol has at times been introduced to add a
new dimension to chess. Pieces have been
replaced by glasses or bottles of intoxicants,

the usual rule being that a player must
promptly drink the contents of any man hecaptures. In one game in Budapest in the early
1890s, a chessboard was marked out on abilliard table, the kings being replaced byMiscellanea 103
bottles of champagne, the queens by claret, thebishops by burgundy, the rooks by port, theknights by madeira and the pawns by wine.
The players had to drink the contents of any
man they moved. The game was drawn by
mutual confusion. A few years later (1898) a
game was played on the same(?) table inwhich the kings were bottles of champagne,
the queens liebfraumilch, the other pieces
tokay and the pawns red wine. Both players
ﬁnished under the table in an interesting
position. Lasker is said to have won a game of
Alcoholic Chess by wisely sacrificing his
queen (which contained a quarter-litre of
cognac) in the early stages. During the Star
Chess finals in London (1979), two young
ladies played a demonstration game in which
the pieces of each side were represented
respectively by goblets of white and red wine.
A draw was agreed when both sides werereduced to two pawns, the players walking
away with poise whereas several kibitzers
were either unstable, incoherent, or both. A
Scottish firm once marketed hollow chessmen
for whisky, whilst in the U.S. Old Crowceramic chessmen were ﬁlled with bourbon.
(Gizycki page 90, The Complete Chess Addict
pages 209-10, Games and Puzzles 75, Nostalgia 332)
[An extra dimension was added in anexperiment performed by Alex Kraaijeveld, inwhich he had not only to drink the contents ofthe men captured but to identify them (allwere single malt whiskies secretly chosenfrom his own shelves, one brand being put inthe pawns, one in the knights, and so on). His
opponent was a computer, which was
handicapped by having its playing level
reduced from the keyboard every time it madea capture (nobody wanted to waste goodwhisky on a computer). He duly won the gameand identified four of the six whiskies
including that in the mated king, which wasn’t
bad if not quite of the level which Dorothy
Sayers would have claimed for Peter Wimsey(Variant Chess 48, reporting an item in issue
44 of Whisky Magazine).]Athletic Chess (Alan Turing, c.1948). Turing,the computer pioneer and codebreaker, played
chess with his friend the economist DavidChampernowne, in which the turn player had
to move before the other had run round a large
garden. They found that fast running, aimed at
reducing the opponent’s thinking time, wascounter-productive since it impaired clear
thought tended to prevent good thinking, so
the problem was to choose the right balance.
An indoor version was to run round the house
after moving; if you got back before youropponent had moved, you moved again. The
two devised one of the first chess-playing
programmes in 1948 (it won only one game,against Champernowne’s wife, who was a
beginner). (Champernowne obituary in The
Times, 25 August 2000)[The ‘programme’ will of course have been
merely a set of written instructions to befollowed by a human robot. No computer
available in 1948 was capable of playing evena remotely sensible game of chess within areasonable time.]
Earthquake Chess [Gutzwiller] (James A.
Gutzwiller, 1970). Before each player moves,
the opponent violently kicks the table. Pieces
off the board are out of the game, others areadjusted to nearest squares. Bowling Chess(Gutzwiller and David Moeser, 1970) is muchthe same except that the board is put at the endof a bowling alley and the players have one
bowl (with a baseball) in turn, bowling being
repeated after every five moves. Incredibly,
the game was once popular at the Universityof Cincinatti, where a 45-move game ending
in a draw was published. (Nost-algia 280/281,
Neue Chess 7)[In the book from which I learned chesswhen young, one of the ways of losing a gamewas given as ‘wilfully upsetting the board andmen’. This always seemed to me to be a mostexcellent rule, and I was deeply disappointed
when I found that it was not in fact part of theofficial Laws of Chess.]
Dartboard Chess (Mick Dickman and David
Moeser, 1975). A paper chessboard is attached
to a dartboard. Each player in turn throws adart and must move a man if possible to thesquare pierced. If impossible for any reason,
he continues to throw until a legal move canbe played. (Neue Chess 9)

104 Games using an ordinary board and men
12.10 Puzzles centred around chess games
Crossword Chess [Lepper] (Philip Lepper,
1930s). Tournament in which clues given to
the players in advance determine destinationof prizes. Played at the Bedford club (‘a great
success’). 1st prize clue: A Welsh author
seems to indicate this. Answer: Night must fall
(so the first player to shed a knight won firstprize). 3rd prize: Something frequently doneby medieval war-lords. Answer: Check kingwith castle. (Unprovenanced note presumably
deriving from personal communication)
Guess Chess (S. R. Hossell, 1950). An
entertainment for a club night. An unfamiliar
master game is chosen, and the names of theplayers are revealed. Participants compete inpairs. One of the pair receives the score of thefirst ten moves and his opponent attempts toguess them, receiving points for correct
guesses; they then change roles. (Letter to
Chess, September 1950) [Given thetechnology now available, the idea might berevived along the lines of the knock-out
solving competitions that have become apopular feature at meetings of problemists.
Participants compete in pairs, with buzzers. A
position from a game is put up on a screen,with the event and the players’ names, and thecompetitors have to say what the next move
was. First to buzz gives his answer, one point

if correct, one point to the opponent if wrong,
first to three points (or whatever) goes throughto the next round. ‘Resigns’ is of course avalid answer, particularly in positions where amate in one was overlooked.]
Crossword Chess [Papp] (A. Papp, 1967).
The ‘player’ is given a game score from which
certain moves have been removed and placed
in random order at the end, and he has toreconstruct the game. (Le Courrier desEchecs, January 1967)[I have never seen this, and I was surprisedthat David did not include two ideas which
seem to be much more widely practised: theProof Game, where the position after Whiteor Black’s move n is given and the game has
to be reconstructed, and the more general
Retrograde Analysis, where a position is
given and some question about the preceding
play has to be answered (for example, where acertain missing man was captured). Typically,a square such as g1 is empty and the victim
spends a lot of time trying to work out wherethat knight could have been taken, and ofcourse it wasn’t like that at all; it was the otherknight that was captured, and the knight from
g1 is now standing innocently at b1. Suchchallenges often appeal to players who take nointerest in more conventional problems.]

12.11 Unorthodoxy in context or presentation[The first edition counted as ‘variants’ blindfold chess, lightning chess, living chess, quickplay,and simultaneous displays, but it seems to me that these are really rather too ‘orthodox’ forinclusion here; certain forms of quickplay are indeed now regulated by the FIDE Laws of Chess.
The changes that follow are rather more radical.]Handicap Chess has a long history. We saw
the giving of material odds in chapter 9, butsome odds are imposed in other ways: by atime handicap (the stronger player has lesstime on the clock), mating conditions (matemust be given by a specified man or on a
specified square), ‘odds of the draw’ (a draw
is a loss for the stronger player), and so on.
Bland, in his Persian Chess, refers to theexacting system employed by the Arabs andPersians. Amongst more recent ideas thatfailed to arouse enthusiasm were that thestronger player should play the first 10, 15 or
20 moves blindfold which ‘would avoid
artiﬁcial positions, develop the powers of thestronger player, and encourage the weakerplayer to explore the more novel openings’(W. W. Tatum, Chess, October 1949) andpermitting the weaker player to retract two
sequences of three moves in the course of thegame (J. A. Negus, Chess, March 1950). In
recent years, a wide variety of systems havebeen employed, mostly for use in tournaments
and often based on players’ gradings.

Miscellanea 105
Le Jeu des Camps, or La Petite Guerre(L. B. Guyton-Morveau, 1793 - ‘the second
year of the French Republic, one andindivisible’). An attempt, in the wake of therevolution, to republicanize chess. The king isrenamed the Flag (check is ‘the ﬂag!’ andcheckmate ‘victoire!’), the queen the Adjutant,rooks are Cannons, the bishops Dragoons,whilst the knights are demoted to Horsemen.
The pawns are Fusiliers who, happily, do notchange their sex on promotion. The name‘chess’ was not acceptable because of its
royalist connotations. (Photocopies of Les
Camps, ou La Petite Guerre and of Histoire dela Convention Nationale, pp 282 and 435-8)
Phantom Chess [Montreal], also known as
Ghost Chess (origins unknown). The board isempty board, the array is imagined, the men
are placed on the board only when they are
first moved. Played in a consultation game inMontreal in 1894 (Gossip and Fleming against
Babson and Pollock), and a match to beplayed at the Norfolk and Norwich C.C. wasadvertised in 1903. (Mrs F. F. Rowland,
Pollock Memories, 1899, also Morning Post, 9
November 1903)
Bystander Chess (Frank Maus, 1927). Since
it is well known that onlookers see more of thegame than the players, Maus suggested arearrangement of the initial position so that theplayers should no longer be disadvantaged :R)wdwdp4
HPdwdw0nB)wdwdpg
IPdwdw0k
Q)wdwdp1
GPdwdw0bN)wdwdph$Pdwdw0r
The pawns now advance along the ranks andcastling is on the ﬁles, but otherwise little ischanged. Because the players occupy thesuperior points of observation midway
between the two armies, the bystanders areforced to the inferior positions formerly
occupied by the players. (Chess Amateur,
September 1927)

Bughouse Chess [Hulf] (L. A. Hulf, 1943).
Men are taken from the box at random and arearrayed on the 1st/2nd/7th/8th ranks
irrespective of colour. They then assume theroles of the squares they stand on (so if e1
receives a black pawn, both players have toremember that this particular pawn in fact
represents the white king). A test both ofmemory and of sobriety. (Letter to Chess,
July 1943)
Vanishing Chess (Russell Chauvenet, 1944).
When a man is moved it is taken off the board.
Thereafter both players try to remember theidentity of the ‘ghost’ which, for play
purposes, is still on the board. Ghosts move or
capture like ordinary men (the player lifts air
from one square and moves it to another).
(Letter to Chess, January 1944)
Beach Chess (Karl O. Hill and Rudy V. Saul,
1952). A large chessboard is marked out on
the sand, and seaweed is used to colour thedark squares. The men are flags in contrasting
colours mounted on poles, each carrying apiece symbol. The game is orthochess, theinventors remarking that it gives the players‘healthy exercise and fresh air’. They omit tomention the problems that could arise if thewind drops. (Personal communication
forwarded by Ken Whyld)
Rainbow Chess (Pal Suvada, 1960s).
Orthochess but with the pieces distinguishedby colour (kings red, queens purple, and soon) on the theory that the eye detects colour
more quickly than shape and hence that moretime is made available for creative thinking.
Patented in the US ‘some thirty years ago’ andused in five well supported events in Hungary‘during the past year’ (article in Variant Chess23, 1997). [Text editorial]
Semi-Circle Chess (Proprietary game, JamesGames Inc, 1973). Board distorted to form asemi-circle, rules otherwise normal. Philip
Cohen’s comment is ‘Highly unrecommended... adds nothing to the game but confusion’.
(Nost-algia 164/7/8)
The Game of Asha. Asha (the ‘universal lawof the Zoroastrians’) is chess in philosophicalgarb. The white forces are those of Ahura

106 Games using an ordinary board and men
Mazda (life and light) and the black those of
Ahriman (death and darkness). The pieces andpawns represent natural forces, good and bad,and each is denoted by a mystical symbol.
Thus the white pieces (a1-h1) are respectively
Power, Love, Wisdom, Preserver, Creator,
Eternal Life, Work, Peace; pawns (a2-h2) Sun,
Water, Air, Food Man, Earth, Health, Joy.
Black pieces (h8-a8) Violence, Idleness,
Death, Destroyer, Spoiler, Ignorance, Hatred,
Weakness; pawns (h7-a7) Sadness, Disease,
Barrenness, Inferior Man, Impure Food,
Impure Air, Impure Water, Darkness.
In The Essene Book of Asha (1976), fromwhich the above is derived, the author, E. B.
Szekely, gives the game Count Tolstoy v. Fritz
Kuhler (a win for the forces of Light) in Asha
notation.

‘in play’ area and putting it in a ‘captured
men’ area of his own. The referee copies
everything on his own board and advises theplayers when they are doing something illegal(such as leaving his king in check, failing torealise that he has captured something, or
taking the wrong piece from his opponent’s ‘inplay’ area, but he is not allowed to elaborate
or to comment further. The inspiration wasapparently ‘being too lazy to set up the board
for a practice match’. (Chess Variant Pages)[Text editorial]

Casino Chess (V. D. Pandit, 1978). Players
toss a coin four times, the winner of each tosschoosing in turn: (1) orientation of board; (2)colour (W or B); (3) placement of K/Q on
d1/e1 (loser places K/Q on same ﬁles); (4)who starts. First expounded in the bulletin of
the Correspondence Chess Association ofIndia.

Mainframe (Proprietary game, M&D Design
Studio; T. Drury, 1989). Superficially threedimensional chessboard formed by blocks ofvarying heights locked into a frame (flatoption offered). Rules of play unchanged.
(Manufacturer’s publicity material)

Chess II [Ungame] (Proprietary game, The
Ungame Co, 1978). Orthochess made a little
more difficult by distorting the board design.
The ‘squares’ are termed Battle Stations andthe game is described as flowing rather thanstatic. (Proprietor’s publicity material)
Romulan Chess (Wilde Lake High School
Chess Club, early 1980s). A game for two
players and a referee, who needs his own
board. At the start, the players’ board isempty, and each player’s men are ‘cloaked’
and held in an ‘in play’ area to his left. They
are however notionally present in their normal
starting positions on the board. To move,
White chooses a move (say e2-e4), takes apawn from his ‘in play’ area, ‘de-cloaks’ it,and puts it down on e4. Black does likewise,
and so on. However, instead of a normal
move, a player may decide to ‘cloak’ a man on
the board and return it to his ‘in play’ area
(this doesn’t alter its position on the board, so
a player cannot use this artifice to escape fromcheck). A cloaked man can be captured, theplayer claiming the man from his opponent’s

Fuss-Schach (origins unknown). Board andclock on the floor, players seated, play withfeet. [Description annotated ‘Collected at
Nurnberg 1989 - game common in Germany
but perhaps regional?’]Rhinoceros Beetle Chess (Thomas Harris,
1991). A variant only in the sense of time
control is described by Thomas Harris in his
modern classic, The Silence of the Lambs:‘Two men sat at a laboratory table playing
chess. If they noticed the enormous rhinoceros
beetle slowly making its way across the board,weaving among the chessmen, they gave nosign ... Then the beetle crossed the edge of theboard. “Time, Roden,” the lean one said
instantly. The pudgy one moved his bishop
and immediately turned the beetle aroundand started it trudging back the other way.
“If the beetle just cuts across the corner, istime up then?” Starling asked. “Of course
time’s up then,” the pudgy one said loudly
without looking up. “Of course it’s up then.
How do you play? Do you make him cross thewhole board? Who do you play against, asloth?”’
Siege Chess [Hair] (Thomas Hair, 1999). The
inventor has proposed new, coloured boards(details available from the U.K. Patent Office)on the argument that men and moves havebeen modified over the centuries but the board
has remained unchanged. (Variant Chess 35)

Miscellanea 107
Old Man’s Chess (origins unknown, 1970s,
possibly Czech). The players are deemed to be
shaky geriatrics. Either the player picks up thewrong man from an adjacent square or he puts
the man down on a square adjacent to that
intended (but not both). Thus White might
open for example Ne3 or Bf3. Games are shortand White has a large advantage (at least ascore of mating threats are possible withWhite’s ﬁrst move), which has led to thesuggestion that the system comes into
operation only after the ﬁrst capture. (Personalcommunication, Peter Rice to Philip Cohen)[If we are going to allow ourselves nonsenses
like these, perhaps I may be permitted tomention Loose-Headed Knight Chess, wherea player is allowed to exploit a piece whichused to be readily available in all properly
conducted chess clubs. This piece allows its
owner to ignore a pin, because he can movethe head as normal and leave the base behindto block the pin line. Later, if neither half has
been captured, he may jump the head back tothe base (or to the base of his other knight, if
that also has been left alone) and reunite them.
For a joke problem in which promotion tosuch a piece is used to win an apparently lost
game, see Burt Hochberg’s book Chess
Braintwisters, subsequently reissued as
Outrageous Chess Problems, or my own little
vanity-book More Flights of Chess Fancy.]

Part 2Other games using square lattice boards[We now start to consider unorthodox men and boards, but for the moment wecontinue to use boards based on a square lattice: whatever the overall shape of theboard, its individual cells are squares, and every cell away from the edge has four
orthogonal neighbours with which it shares an edge and four diagonal neighbours
with which it shares only a corner. All these games can be played with ordinary chessequipment, perhaps with a little improvisation to create the additional pieces and to
produce boards of the required size and shape.]Chapter 13
Larger and smaller boards[In these games, the normal men are used but the size and perhaps the shape of the board arealtered. The side-effects can sometimes be surprising. For example, the winning procedure withqueen against rook in ordinary chess is somewhat unsystematic, and computer analysis by Marc
Bourzutschky in 2004 showed that the defenders could hold out indefinitely on a 16x16 board;
the same is presumably true of all larger boards though only one or two cases were explicitly
verified. Conversely, the use of a very small board cramps the queen, and on 4x4 and 3x3 boards
there are positions where the queen can win only if the rook has the move. It would therefore
seem that this particular ‘won ending’ is in fact won only on boards from 5x5 to 15x15 inclusive(Variant Chess 44, also British Endgame Study News, June and September 2004). With boardsof other than square shape, almost anything can happen, and one board that appears below was
inspired by Troitsky’s observation that king and two knights could force a win against a bareking if additional squares at d9/e9 were available.
Most modified-board games involve the use of additional pieces, and where one or more ofthese is unorthodox they normally appear in the chapters on new pieces. However, there arecases where this aspect is secondary (for example, the altered knight move in Betza’s ‘Narrow
Chess’ and the extended pawn move in Legan’s ‘Game of Fortresses’), and the game seems
more naturally placed here. Only the baselines of the game arrays are normally given, and a fullsecond row of pawns on each side is always to be assumed unless something else is explicitly
stated.]13.1 Larger square boards
For large-board variants of Indian Chess see
chapter 29.
Decimal Chess is a term sometimes used todescribe those chess variants played on a
10x10 board. Not to all tastes: for example,
E. M. Vicars (Chess Amateur, January 1929):
We don’t want a chessboard of ten!
Or mythical monsters for men:
If Masters can’t help being ‘drawn’ Then limit front rows to one pawn!
No need for a ‘Champion’s Two’,
Evolved in some mythical zoo Two mongrel and meddlesome things
Upsetting our Queens and our Kings.
Leave classical octaves alone,
We cling to the Kings we have known.
Don’t add to life’s worry and stress
By talking of decimal chess!
Ministers, also known as Grandchess[Corinthios] (proprietary game, CorinthianGames; Michael Corinthios, 1975). Board

9x9; black square a1. Each player has anadditional queen and corresponding pawn. The
queens, called Ministers, stand on either sideof the king. All four bishops are on blacksquares (‘White squares,’ explains theinventor, ‘are squares of peace and refuge’.)The king moves three squares in either
direction when castling. When first marketed(1986) the Montreal Gazette reported that ‘... ahistorical flaw of structure (in orthochess) which produced a weaker King, a weak
Queen-side castle, an unbalance of powers, a
truncated battlefield and an absence ofsymmetry - is at last corrected’. Awarded a
Seal of Excellence (1990) by the Quebec
Consumers Association. (Inventor’s rules
leaflet and envelope of cuttings)
Century Chess (Proprietary game, Martin &Co, 1915). Board 10x10; two extra knights
plus pawns per side. Baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10)
RNNBKQNNR. The two central pawns areroyal and have extra powers. Advertised in the
Chess Amateur. (Variant Chess 35)

112 Other games using square lattice boards
Howell’s Chess (C. S. Howell, 1951 or
earlier). Board 10x10, a1 white. Usual set-up
on eight central ﬁles, a- and j-ﬁles vacant (LesJeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes). Pawns slow
to engage but early play for rooks.

Charters’s Game (W. J. Charters, 1940).
Board 12x12; extra pieces are two knights andtwo bishops with corresponding pawns;
baseline (a1-l1/a12-l12) RNNBBQKBBNNR.
(British Chess Magazine, March 1940)

Buckzo’s Game (H. A. Buckzo, 1984) Board
10x10, a1 black. Usual array with two extra
knights (plus pawns) placed beside existingknights. Pawns move initially 1,2 or 3 squares;
e.p. permissible. A pawn can promote on 8th
rank to a knight, on 9th rank to a bishop, or on
10th to any piece. (Inventor’s rules leaflet)

Hibernation (Bruce Trone, 1991). Board
12x12 with usual array on central 8x8. Pieces
can move off and back to the central 8x8
board, but not to capture. Pieces on the outerboard can capture each other. Boards 16x16
and 20x20 have also been tried. (Personalcommunication)

13.2 Smaller square boards
Microchess-49 (Tony Paletta, 1980). Board
7x7; baseline (a1-a7/g1-g7) RBNKBNR; thepawn has only its single-step move and may
promote to ‘any piece other than a K’; castling
permitted; a stalemated player loses. (Chess
Spectrum Newsletter).
Bird Chess [Freeling] (Christiaan Freeling,1984). Board 7x7; baseline (a1-a7/g1-g7)
RBBKNNR; pawns have only the single-step
move and promote to array pieces only;
castling normal. (Manuscript note presumably
deriving from personal communication)
Diana, also known as Ladies’ Chess(Hopwood, 1870). This game, published in therecreation supplement to The Gentleman’s
Journal (August 1870), is ‘chess renderedeasier, especially adapted for our fair friends
and also for draughts (checkers) players who
may not have time to cultivate the moreancient game ... a game which could be playedin half an hour and which may, at the sametime, be superior to draughts as regards
difficulty
andingenuity’.
Hopwood’scontention was that the queen and the knights(‘in the management of which ... Morphy
stands pre-eminent’) were too difﬁcult tohandle for ladies and draughts players. Board
6x6; baseline (a1-a6/f1-f6) RBNKBR; pawns
move one square only, promote to any arraypiece; kings castle under usual restrictions bychanging places with rooks.
In order to assist ladies and draughts players
to remember the names of the pieces,
Hopwood renamed them in alphabetical order(a1-f1) Admiral, Bishop, Captain, Don,

Esquire, Fortress. The game is so-called as
Diana is Goddess of the Chase, a pun thatclearly pleased the inventor who pointed outthat the bitch-goddess Caissa surfaced acouple of millennia after the Greek pantheon
had submerged.
[This particular Gentleman’s Journal was a
weekly paper for boys, which ran from 1869
to 1872 and carried a monthly ‘recreation
supplement’ devoted to pastimes and puzzles.
Much of its material was excellent, and thepatronizing tone of the present example wasfortunately atypical. No prizes are offered forguessing the delights that a magazine callingitself The Gentleman’s Journal Recreation
Supplement would be expected to offer today!]Los Alamos Chess (J. Kister, P. Stein, S.
Ulam, W. Walden, M. Wells, 1956). An
abbreviated form of the game developed at theLos Alamos Scientiﬁc Laboratory inconnection with computer research. The
computer (Maniac I) played three recorded
games: the ﬁrst against itself, the second
against a strong player who conceded the odds
of queen, and the third against a beginner with
one week’s experience who had been taught
the game expressly for the purpose. The third
was the ﬁrst chess variant game (not chess, as
is sometimes claimed) to be won by acomputer against a human opponent; it was
not to be the last. Board 6x6; baseline (a1-f1/
a6-f6) RNQKNR (no bishops); no pawn-two
or castling. (Chess Review, January 1957)
L’Hermitte’s Game (Serge L’Hermitte,1969). As Diana except that the Black K andLarger and smaller boards 113
N are reversed (kings on d1/c6); knights areimmobile for ﬁrst three moves; king can move
to knight’s square (c1/d6) without losing
castling rights. The inventor believed thatchess games were too long for children and his
idea was to whet their appetites for the gameby starting them with this abbreviated version.
(L’Hermitte, in his book Jeux d’Echecs Non
Orthodoxes)
Simpler Chess [Wardley] (A. Wardley,
1977). The inventor proposes a game on a 6x6
board in which a pair of pieces, together with
their pawns, are eliminated (Games andPuzzles 66). The pieces are arrayed in regularfashion; thus removing rooks prompts the lineup (a1-f1/a6-f6) NBQKBN. Removing thebishops results in Los Alamos Chess.
Minichess [Gardner] was quoted by Martin
Gardner in The Unexpected Hanging (1969,
but largely repeating material which had
already appeared in Scientific American) as
the smallest chess game in which all legal
moves were still possible (including pawntwo, e.p., castling). Board 5x5 (a1 white);baseline (a1-e1/a5-e5) KQBNR. The game
was adopted by AISE in 1978 without pawntwo and castling and with a1 black; it was
extensively played in Italy, and the openings
analysed. A statistical analysis showed W win
40%; B win 28%; Draw 32%. Gardner laterput forward Baby Chess, in which the white
men are reversed (kings on e1/a5), andsuggested that it might be open to resolution
by computer. As at October 1989, it hadn’t

been (Scientific American). In 1983, Paul
Jacobs and Marco Meirovitz proposed yet
another version, again with the kings on a long
diagonal: (a1-e1/e5-a5) KQRNB (Brain
Muscle Builders). They also advocate several
games on a 5x5 board with pieces facing a lineof pawns, the object of the piece player being
to capture or block all the pawns and of thepawn player to get a pawn to the end rank.
These include (1) two knights (b1,d1); (2) two
bishops (b1,c1); (3) Qc1.
Minichess [Silverman] (quoted by David
Silverman, 1981). Board 4x4; baseline (a1d1/a4-d4) RQKR, plus the usual pawn rows.
The ﬁrst player has an easy win but Silverman
poses this problem: To compensate for nothaving the move, the second player may
stipulate which of the four pawns the firstplayer must move (but not the direction of
capture in the case of the b- and c-pawns) how does the second player win? Trivial; but
Silverman suggests inserting an empty row ofsquares between the forces (4x5), permitting a
two-square pawn move if the file is clear, andasks: what is White’s best strategy? (YourMove)
Knight Court Chess (originator notrecorded). Board 3x3; each side has 1 x N,B,R(no pawns). Baseline (a1-c1/a3-c3) NBR.
Aim: checkmate opponent’s knight. Usual
piece moves but a captured piece is returned toits original owner who may drop it on a vacantsquare on any subsequent turn. (Variant Chess
43, quoting Chess, February 2003)

13.3 Rectangular boards[A board with F files and R ranks will be described here and later as ‘Board FxR’. If F is odd
and R even, a symmetric array will leave one side’s bishops on white squares and the other’s on
black, hence the normal choice of an asymmetric array in these cases.]
Narrow Chess (R. Betza, 1996). Board
2x20(!); baseline (a1-b1/a20-b20) QK, RR on
ranks 2/19, DD (see below) on ranks 3/18, PP
on ranks 4/17 and 6/15, ranks 5/16 empty;
Dragons D are combined N and P (1 or 2square move); Ks may move, but not capture,
like N if not in check. (Chess Variant Pages)
Microchess [Glimne] (Dan Glimne, 1997).
Board 4x5; baseline (a1-d1/d5-a5) RBNK

(kings on d1/a5), pawns on d2/a4 only;
castling
permitted.
(Manuscript
note
presumably
deriving
frompersonal
communication)
Demi-Chess [Groeneman] (John Groeneman,
1960s). Board 4x8; array (a1-d1/a8-d8)
RQKR, (a2-d2/a7-d7) NBBN, no pawns. The
inventor comments ‘If chess is wine thenDemi-chess is brandy’. (Manuscript note114 Other games using square lattice boards
presumably
deriving
communication)

frompersonal

on b2/e2 and b7/e7, 6xP on ranks 3 and 6.
(Chess Spectrum Newsletter)

Demi-Chess [Krystufek] (Peter Krystufek,
1986). Board 4x8; baseline (a1-d1/a8-d8)
KBNR; pawns can promote to queen. Createdas a starter game for beginners. (100 mal
Kniffel Schach)

Chi Chi’s Chess (Chi Chi Hackenberg, 1968).
The exposure this variant received in Eye(November 1968) had much to do with thecharming inventor (photo by John Ford, dress
by Eloise Curtis) and little to do with thecharmless game. Board 8x4; normal baseline,
pawns on a/c/d/e/h files only, pawns can move(straight) and capture (diagonally) backwards,
and White cannot move a pawn on the ﬁrst
turn. Even so, he has a forced win.

Petty Chess (B. Walker Watson, 1930). Board
5x6; baseline (a1-e1/a6-e6) QKBNR; no
mentionof
any
restrictions(pawn
move/castling). The endings can be ‘quite
beautiful’ according to the inventor. (British
Chess Magazine, September 1930)
QuickChess (Proprietary game, Amerigames
International; Joe Miccio, 1991). Board 5x6;
baseline (a1-e1/a6-e6) RBQKN; no pawn-two
or castling; promotion only to captured piece.
Popular as learning game in U.S. schools;
endorsed by Chess Life. (Publicity material)
Minichess [Sirotkin], also known as Elena(Sergei Sirotkin, 1999). Board 5x6; baseline(a1-e1/e6-a6) NQKBR (queens on b1/d6); no
pawn-2 or castling. (Chess Variant Pages)
Eric (Eric Richardson, 1999). Board 5x8;
baseline (a1-e1/e8-a8) KRBBN (kings on
a1/e8). In addition, each player has Q,R,N inhand. A piece in hand may be dropped on an
empty square of the player’s first rank insteadof moving. (Chess Variant Pages)
Courtyard (Bryan Lambert, 1999). Board
5x8; array (a1-e1/a8-e8) RNKNR, (a2-e2/a7e7) PBQBP, (a3-e3/a6-e6) -PPP-. Wing pawns
only have two-square move option. Move K
one square left or right to castle, bringing R tocentral square. Both sides stronger on thesquares of opposite colour. (Chess Variant
Pages)
Simpliﬁed Chess [Fielder] (Lavington
Fielder, 1931). Board 6x8; baseline (a1-f1/a8f8) RBQKBR. Absence of knights ensured
neglect. (Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes)
Microchess-48 (Tony Paletta, 1980). Board
6x8; baseline (a1-f1/a8-f8) RNQKNR, bishops

Haigh’s Game (H. Haigh, 1980s). Board
8x12; array (a1-h1/a12-h12 and inwards)
RNBQKBNR, RNBQPBNR, 8xP. Pawns
move 1, 2, or 3 squares on their first move.
(Chess, April 1992)
Ultra Chess (reported and perhaps originatedby D. Trouillon, early 1970s). Board 9x8 (a1black); baseline (a1-i1/a8-i8) RNBQKQBNR.
The array places both white bishops on blacksquares, both BBs on white squares.
Trouillon’s favoured solution was was that aplayer, once in a game, could transpose
adjacent B and N (‘mini-castling’) provided
neither had been moved; an alternative,
preferred by John Gollon, was to change thebaseline to RBNQKQBNR. (Correspondence
between John Gollon and Philip Cohen)
Active Chess (G. Kuzmichov, 1989). Board
9x8; baseline (a1-i1/a8-i8) RNBQKBNRQ.
This is effectively the orthochess array with an
extra queen and pawn on the i-file; analternative places the extra Q at g1/g8. The
idea for the game came to the inventor on
reading The Ninth File by A. Karpov andA. Roshal. Kuzmichov was the editor of theRiga magazine Sahs and an ofﬁcial youth
trainer. His pupils rigorously play-tested thegame to establish the optimum array.
(Manuscript note presumably derived frompersonal communication)
Double Chess [Short] (David Short, 1996).
Board
16x8;
baseline(a1-p1/a8-p8)
RNBQRNBQKBNRQBNR; kings may castle
under usual rule with any of the four rooks.
(Chess Variant Pages)

Larger and smaller boards 115
13.4 Other square lattice boards
Hourglass Chess (Bryan Lambert, 1999). 40square board obtained by removing d1 and d6
from a 7x6 rectangular board. Array (a1c1~e1-g1/a6-c6~e6-g6) RNQ~KBR, (a2g2/a5-g5) 7xP; no pawn-2 or castling. (Chess
Variant Pages)
Ladder Chess (Sergey Sirotkin, 2000). 40square board obtained by taking a 5x8 board
and stepping each file up one square from theleft (thus a1-a8, b2-b9, and so on to e5-e12).
Array (a1-e5/e12-a8) KQBNR (kings on
a1/e12), (a2-e6/e11-a7) 5xP; no castling.
(Chess Variant Pages)
Chess Too (Proprietary game, c.1987). 52square board obtained by removing the six
corner squares from the SW and NE corners ofa normal 8x8 board; array in NW and SE
corners. Advertised in Chess Life, December
1987. (World Game Review 10)
The Game Of Fortresses (L. Legan, 1913).
64-square I-shaped board made by taking an
8x10 board and removing two 2x4 pieces fromthe sides, thus a1-h3, c4-f7, a8-h10; normal
pieces on ranks 2/9, 4xP centred on ranks 1/3
and 8/10 :dw0p0pdw
rhb1kgn4
dw0p0pdw
wdwd
dwdw
wdwd
dwdw
wdP)P)wd$NGQIBHR
wdP)P)wd
All play is normal with the exception of thepawn move. In addition to its usual powers,
the pawn may leap a man of either colour
blocking its movement to the square
immediately beyond, provided this is vacant.
For example, after a pawn on the third rank
moves in the initial position, thecorresponding first rank pawn may take its

place next move. Given the shape of theboard, this is a necessary adjustment toprevent paralysis of the central ﬁles. Played
regularly in Paris over a number of years.
(Chess Amateur, January 1922)
Romanchenko’s Chess (V. Romanchenko,
date unknown). 64-square board made bytaking a normal 8x8 board and displacing thefour files e-h forward two squares, thus a1-d8
and e3-h10 :wwwwwdwd
wwwwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwwwwdwdwwwww
Used by the inventor, a Soviet youth trainer, toencourage his pupils to think rather thanimitate. Because of (or perhaps in spite of)this, his pupils have consistently triumphed ininter-regional orthochess events.
[The diagram in the first edition has thedisplacement in the other direction, but that in
the source, a letter preserved in David’s files,
has the files and ranks explicitly lettered a-h
and 1-10.]
Cross Chess [Miller] (Proprietary game,
Cross Chess International Pty; Leigh Miller,
1985). 64-square board in the shape of a cross,
4x4 central area d4-g7 (d4 white) plus four
4x3 extensions; array (j4-j7/a7-a4) KBNR
(kings on j4/a7), (i4-i7/b7-b4) 4xP, (g1-d1/
d10-g10) QBNR (queens on g1/d10), (g2-d2/
d9-g9) 4xP; usual men but pawns on K-side
are bigger than those on Q-side to aid
recognition. K-side pawns move to left andright, Q-side pawns up and down, withpromotion on end rank facing; pawns that
capture away from centre can reach a deadend. Castling allowed K-side. Note that all

116 Other games using square lattice boards
bishops are on black squares. Chess on two
fronts, on average a much shorter game thanorthochess. Popular in schools in Australia but
sold world-wide. (Publicity material)
Hyperchess [CRH] (Proprietary game, CRH
Enterprises, 1992). 64-square board on eightlevels, 1, 4, 11, 16, 16, 11, 4, 1. Men as inorthochess. (Nost-algia 331)
Troitsky Chess (Paul Byway, 1997). 68square board obtained by adding two squares
abutting each side of a normal 8x8 board andremoving the four corner squares, thus a5-6,
b3-8, c2-d9, e1-f10, g2-h9, i3-8, j5-6. Array(e1-f1/e10-f10) RR, (c2-h2/c9-h9) NBQKBN,(b3-i3/b8-i8) 8xP :r4
hb1kgn0p0p0p0p
wdwdwdwd
wdwdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdwdw
dwdwdwdw
P)P)P)P)NGQIBH$R
Pawns promote on end square of file theystand on. K castles by changing places with aR. (Variant Chess 25)
Balbo’s Game (M. G. Balbo, 1974). 70square board, 3-square rank at either end,
increasing two squares at a time to central(5th/6th) ranks = 11 squares, thus e1-g1,
d2-h2, c3-i3, b4-j4, a5-k5, a6-k6, b7-j7, and soon to e10-g10. Array (e1-g1/e10-g10) KBQ,
(d2-h2/d9-h9) RNBNR, c3-i3/c8-i8 7xP; nocastling. Usual pawn promotion on 10th rankor last square of d/h files; promotion to minor
piece last square c/i files. Bishops are as
powerful as rooks. Against stupid play either
player has Nxf3/8 mate on the third move.
(Le Courrier des Echecs, September 1974)
Scacchetto (Proprietary game, S. C., Paris,c.1860). 71-square board in hourglass shape,
11-square rank at either end, reducing two

squares at a time to centre (6th) rank = 1
square, thus a1-k1, b2-j2, c3-i3, d4-h4, e5-g5,
f6, e7-g7, and so on to a11-k11. Each side has
11 men: 1 K; 2 x R; 4 x B,N (no pawns); array(a1-k1/a11-k11) RNBNBKBNBNR. White
starts; orthochess but no castling. A curious
game with a single pivot square (f6) giving
access to the opponent’s half of board, and all
8 bishops on the same colour. (Photocopy ofboard and rules leaflet)
Mouterde’s Games (Anatole Mouterde,1951). 72-square and 76-square boards
obtained by adding a half-file of four squares
to each side of the normal 8x8 board (giving
a3-a6, b1-i8, j3-j6, ten files), and perhaps afurther two squares on each side again (giving
a4-a5, b3-b6, c1-j8, k3-k6, l4-l5, twelve files
in all). Usual array in the central 8x8 area.
(Les Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Morley’s Chess (F. V. Morley, 1947). A 76square chessboard espoused in My One
Contribution to Chess. A corridor six squares
long is added to each side of the normal 8x8
board, giving a2-a7, b1-i8, j2-j7; usual array inthe central 8x8 area. A novelty whose fameowes most to the author’s standing. Sniping at
the ants (i.e., the ‘workers’ who cling to thebooks) he quotes Montaigne: ‘What
appearance there be soever in novelty, I do noteasily change, for feare I should lose by thebargaine...’ The wing pawns are, according toMorley, unfairly treated in that they can only
capture in one direction. He has, he says,‘a fine rage at this mistreatment’. Morley lines
up with the demi-gods who have proposedchanges in the game (‘By an opposite route
I arrive at the same restlessness’). The book isa civilised wander through the garden of chessand other things. At the end, Morley comes up
with a proposal for an 88-square doublecorridor board, adding a further six squares
above and below (thus a3-a8, b2-b9, c1-j10,
k2-k9, l3-l8), commenting that ‘The weaknessof presenting alternative proposals is that it
looks as if the fellow who presents themhasn’t made up his mind’. The new gameattracted the attention of Lasker’s friend
Harold M. Philips who wrote to Morley (thenembarking on the Queen Mary) ‘..You had
better let me know every day where you are inEurope so that I can telephone you long

Larger and smaller boards 117
distance if a new thought occurs to me – notabout business or even politics or matters ofinternational policy or even a possible
discovery of a manuscript in the handwritingof Shakespeare, but about the corridor’.
Racetrack Chess (David Moeser, 1970). 100square board in the form of an 8x8 central areawith three 6-square files on each side, thus a2c7, d1-k8, l2-n7. Usual array plus extra pawns

on c2/l2 and c7/l7. Pawns that reach end of
shortened ﬁles can move laterally until on
main board; capture e.g. c7xd8 (promotes)
admissible. The extra ﬁles make racetracks
combining the a/n files with the 2nd/7th ranks(a2-a7-n7-n2-a2), similarly the b/m files andthe 3rd/6th ranks (b3-b6-m6-m3-b3) and thec/l files and the 4th/5th ranks (c4-c5-l5-l4-c4).
The racetracks can only be used by rooks andqueens. (Neue Chess 8).

13.5 Unbounded boards
Arthur Bliss’s Chess (1937). Bliss’s ballet
Checkmate was arguably a chess variant as theboard was of indeﬁnite size and the castlacked bishops and a black king. [David’s files
give no source, but Gizycki has photographsof a 1947 production.]Open Plane Chess (George Jelliss, 1997).
Normal initial array but no board edges, andplay proceeds subject to the rule that no groupof n men may have more than root-n squares
between it and the nearest other man, thesquare root being taken to the nearest whole
number. A move which would produce a
position violating this rule is illegal. A pawn
promotes by reaching a cell from whichfurther forward movement is prohibited.
(Variant Chess 25) [Text editorial]13.6 Creating or modifying the board during play
Stranders’s Game (Proprietary game, H.
Stranders, 1891). Stranders’s patent 7840 of1891 had players starting with squares as wellas pieces, the board being formed as playproceeded, a player having the option ofplacing a square next to a square alreadyplayed together with a man, or putting a manon a square already played. The idea
anticipated several proprietary games of more
recent vintage.
Shrink Chess (J. Boyer, 1954). An edge ﬁleor rank disappears if unoccupied. This has theeffect of reducing the size of the board as agame progresses. (Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs
Non-orthodoxes)
Stochastic Chess (origins unknown). Playedin university circles, California, 1970. Each
player has the usual pieces and 32 separate
squares, 16 white and 16 black. White begins
and places a square on the table. Thereafter aturn consists of (1) Putting down a square, or(2) Putting down a piece on a square alreadyplaced, or (3) Moving a piece within theexisting board, or (4) Moving an empty squareto another position. However, a player must
not put out all 16 men before playing out hislast square, and an empty square cannot be
moved until he has done this. In cases (1) and(4), a square must be placed contiguous along
one side to at least one other square of the
opposite colour so as to form a chequered
pattern. It is permissible to leave gaps and toincrease ranks or ﬁles beyond eight in number.
The king must be played not later than theplayer’s 25th turn. A piece may be placed so
as to give check but not checkmate (i.e.,
checkmate can only arise from a move on theboard). No double pawn move, no promotion,no castling, only knights can leap gaps. The
forerunner of several games with similar
themes. (Photocopy of rules leaflet)
Chess Cards (Proprietary game, David Smith
Associates; David Smith, 1978). Pack of 32
square cards, each card depicting one of thechessmen in a normal set. There is no board as
such. Each player takes 16 cards (white menor black), shuffles them well and lays them
face down in front of him. White lays the top
card face up in the centre of the table. Black
does likewise but must attach his card to
White’s, either along one side or diagonallyadjacent. All cards are placed so that symbols
point towards the opponent. Hereon a player

118 Other games using square lattice boards
on turn may either disclose a new card andplace it adjacent to at least one card alreadylaid, or move one of his own men on the table.
There is one simple rule that is the crux of thegame: a man may not be moved if in so doing
it isolates one or more pieces. At all times all
pieces in play must form one continuous
linkage. This rule introduces a new dimension
into the standard game since any threat,
including an attack on the king, can be met by
effectively ‘pinning’ the attacking piece playing so as to make the execution of thethreat illegal. During play the board is‘imagined’. It can never exceed the normal
dimensions (8x8) so a move which creates, forexample, a 9th file is illegal. A pawn reaching
the 8th rank is promoted to any piece alreadylost. If there are none, the pawn remains
convertible until such time as a piece becomes
available. Chess Cards has been widely
acclaimed. The game was later revamped as
Chex [Smith] (same owners and originator,
1994) with two rule changes: no limitations onboard dimensions, and no pawn promotion.
(Information presumably taken from sets inDavid’s games collection; no source material
in his Encyclopedia files)
Schach Plus, formerly Divis (Proprietarygame, Hexagames; Roland Siegers, 1984).
The idea came to Siegers when he was playing
chess in a Belgian club late one night after an
exhausting day. A pawn down in an ending
which he was desperately trying to save, theboard ‘broke up’ before his eyes.
Standard set and 64 separate squares. Eachside takes a set of men and 32 squares, 16 ofeach colour. The game is in two stages: (a)assembly of chessboard and position, (b) playwith usual object of mating opponent’s king.
White starts and places a square on thetable. He may place one of his men on it if hewishes. Thereafter the players in turn put
down a square such that it abuts at least one
square already on the table, or touches one
diagonally at a corner, maintaining the usualchequering. There are certain restrictions:(1) No piece may be put down until all
pawns have been placed.
(2) No two pawns of the same colour may
be placed on the same file.
(3) Bishops must be placed on oppositecoloured squares.

(4) A king may not be put in check.
(5) All men must be on the board when thelast square is placed.
(6) No man may be moved in this stage ofthe game, nor may a man be placed on avacant square already played.
The board may be of any conﬁguration but
will be at least eight ﬁles wide because of therestriction on placing pawns. It may containholes (blank areas surrounded by squares) andthe perimeter is likely to be irregular. Playnow begins. The usual rules of chess apply but
there is no double pawn move, e.p. or castling.
Pieces may only move across squares, never
over holes. A pawn reaching an end rank is
promoted to any captured piece. A pawn on an
end rank in the initial position is ‘dead’ until it
can be replaced by a captured piece. There is
one important additional rule: instead ofmoving, a player has the option of taking any
empty square from the board perimeter andplacing it elsewhere on the board perimeter
provided it maintains the chequer pattern anddoes not result in any part of the board
becoming isolated.
Kings are normally entered late in theassembly stage when a secure area been
formed. (Information presumably taken from a
set in David’s games collection; no source
material in his Encyclopedia files)
Choiss (Proprietary game, Choiss Game
Corporation; Peter A. Victor, 1985). Living at
the time in a well-secured house in Kenya
where a steel door sealed off the bedrooms,
Victor dreamt he was playing chess on a board
on which extra squares provided a safe havenfor the kings. Awake, he translated this into agame in which the construction of the board
formed part of the game itself. The board
consists of 64 individual squares which slot
together. In basic Choiss, four squares areconnected 2 x 2 (alternating colours) to form astarting grid. Each player in turn adds a square(one player links the light ones, the other thedark) to the existing grid maintaining
alternation of colours until all squares areconnected. The completed board is likely to beof irregular shape with gaps. A barrier isplaced across the centre of the board and eachplayer enters their pawns, then their pieces,
one at a time and in turn, on their own half ofthe board. Play is then normal (only knights

Larger and smaller boards 119
can cross gaps) except pawns move only one
square and there is no castling; promotion
possible. Since the essence of the game is thesquare linkage, Choiss lends itself well tovariants of which a dozen are suggested
including a four-handed version. Described bya reviewer as ‘one of the best commercial
chess variants I’ve seen in years’ (Games,
June/July 1989). (Copies of reviews andpublicity material)
Section Chess (Proprietary game, Janos Tury,
1995). Usual set-up except that board has arank of blank squares across the middle (so8x9 board). No man except a N may cross a
blank square. A man wishing to cross a blanksquare moves to the square immediately
behind it. Next time it moves it advances into
the blank square with the square it stands on,
leaving a blank square behind, and it may now
move off as part of its move. (Variant Chess
22)
Amoeba (Jim Aikin, 1997). Board of 38
movable squares within a 7x7 area. Initiallysquares a12, a67, g12, g67, and cde4 do notexist. Ten men a side, array (b1-f1/b7-f7 andinwards) RNKNR, 5xP. No pawn-2. Aftermoving, a player may slide a single

unoccupied square to an adjacent orthogonal
void location. Variations: a player may slide
an occupied square; a pawn may promote tobishop; a square may be slid outside theoriginal 7x7 area, though not in such a way as
to divide the board into two or more isolated
sections (such division is permitted in theoriginal formulation). (Chess Variant Pages)
Voidrider Chess (Fergus Duniho, 2002).
Board of 43 movable squares within a 7x9
area, initially consisting of the inner 5x7
region b2-f8 and extensions at a2/b1 etc. 14
men a side, 1 x K, 2 x R, B, N, Voidrider, 5xP;
array (b1~f1) V~V, (a2-g2) RNBKBNR, (b3f3) 5xP, Black similarly. K, R, B, N, P
essentially as normal and each has the
additional power of moving its square anditself to an orthogonally adjacent off-board
location, but the square must have at least one
orthogonal neighbour in its new position (somovement outside the original 7x9 area isnever possible) and pawns may not movebackwards. The V moves like a rook and cancross voids, but it must either land on a squareon the far side or take its own square with it.
Castling allowed provided that the squares
between the king and rook actually exist.
(Chess Variant Pages) [Text largely editorial]

Chapter 14
New pieces (1) : Combination pieces[The most usual way of ‘developing’ chess is to introduce one or more new pieces, possibly withan alteration in the board size. The result has been a vast amount of duplication and reinvention,and even when a piece embodies some new point of detail the amount it adds to the game is all
too often negligible. It is therefore not claimed that every eccentricity or minor variation whichinventors have dreamed up will be found in this book. The present chapter covers pieces which
can move like either of two ordinary men, for example as a knight as well as a rook or bishop.
Other new pieces appear in the next two chapters. In particular, pieces making two knight moves
in succession appear in the next chapter, and pieces making an unlimited sequence of knightmoves, or a king move followed by a rook or bishop move, appear in Chapter 16.
As before, only the baselines of game arrays are normally given, and a full second row ofpawns on each side is always to be assumed unless something else is explicitly stated. Only
games apparently derived from modern orthochess are given in these three chapters; games fromother traditions appear in the chapters on historical and regional games.]
14.1 Pieces with added knight movement[One or two games in this section also involve new men of other kinds, but these appear to play
only a minor role and the games appear best classified here.]
Amazon Chess (originator unknown, 16th
century). According to
The Oxford
Companion to Chess, the Amazon (Q+N) was
first described in ‘a 16th-century manuscript
now in Perugia’, and it was sometimes used in
the next three centuries as a substitute for theorthodox queen. Carrera mentions it (‘laDonnacavallo’) at the start of the 17th century.
It was known in 18th century Turkey and was
widely adopted in Russia (as the Absolute Q
or Empress), it was still used in Georgia in
1874 (Murray), and it is found in several
games on larger boards. Its use was to besuggested yet again in ‘Empress Chess’(British Chess Magazine, February 1891).
Capablanca experimented with it when
formulating his new game, but rejected it as
likely to lead to draws. An earlier
commentator had observed ‘the harmony ofthe men is destroyed and the game is clumsy’.
Philidor also condemned it. [Text revised]
Carrera’s Chess (Pietro Carrera, 1617).
Describing the result in his Il Gioco degli
Scacchi (1617) as a ‘new game’, Carrera
created two pieces in the Champion (R+N)
and the Centaur (B+N), both much favoured

by later variant inventors. Board 10x8;
baseline (a1-j1/a8-j8) RCeNBQKBNChR.
Carrera’s game, according to a contemporary,‘appeared to have died with its inventor’, andErcole del Rio observed unkindly that Carrera‘was more versed in Sicilian antiquities than inchess’.
Indian Chess. Several Indian games using
composite pieces are described in chapter 29.
Das Kaiserspiel (Peguilhen, c.1815). Board
10x10, a1 black; two additional pieces:
General (Q+N) with a round hat, and Adjutant(B+N) with a pointed hat. Baseline (a1-j1/
a10-j10) RNBQKGABNR. Pawns could move
up to three squares initially and the kings
moved three squares to the left or right whencastling. One authority thought that the board
should be enlarged to 11x11 with an additional
piece, the Admiral (R+N), on the grounds thatthe original game gave short-change toorthogonal-moving pieces. This appears tohave happened. (Archiv der Spiele, 1821)
Silberschmidt’s Game (1827) includes aRoyal Guard (Q+N), but it relates moreNew combination pieces 121
naturally to M.M.’s ‘Le Jeu de la Guerre’ andappears in the next chapter.
Gustav III Chess (credited to the Swedish
monarch, c. 1838). 68-square board consistingof a normal 8x8 region b1-i8 (b1 black) plus
squares at a1/j1/a8/j8; each side has two
adjutant-generals (Q+N) as well as the normalmen; baseline (a1-j1/a8-j8) ARNBQKBNRA.
(Handbibliothek för Sällskapsnöjen) [David’s
text said ‘doubtfully credited’ and I share his
distrust of attributions to prominent persons,but the source is quite explicit.]
The Emperor’s Game (L. Tressau, 1840)
appears to differ from the 10x10 version of
Das Kaiserspiel (above) only in havingbaseline (a1-j1/a10-j10) RNBGKQABNR.
The Sultan’s Game (Tressau, 1840) may besimilarly related to the 11x11 version. Extra
pieces are General (Q+N), Adjutant (B+N),
and Marshal (R+N, the Kaiserspiel Admiral);baseline (a1-k1/a11-k11) RBNMGKQABNR;
king moves next to rook when castling; pawns
presumably can move three (four?) squares
initially. (Verney) [References to ‘Das
Kaiserspiel’ added editorially]
Bird’s Chess (H. E. Bird, 1874). First
published in the City of London Chess
Magazine and subsequently modiﬁed.
Initially, Bird suggested that the board be
expanded to 10x8 with two extra pawns a sidewhich would, without affecting the principleof the game, add greatly to the number of
eligible openings. Bird left blank squares in
the array either side of K and Q, commentingthat ‘as to the name, form and powers of thetwo pieces to be placed thereon, somediversity of opinion may reasonably be
expected’. He proposed that a Guard (R+N) be
placed next the Q, an Equerry (B+N) next theK, offering as an alternative a board 9x8 with
one extra piece a side, combining, curiously,rook and pawn, ‘In case it should be found inpractice that the two new pieces on each side
form too great an addition to the power of theforces’. Writing later of the guard and equerry,
Bird remarked that, following tests, ‘...it
immediately became apparent that the force ofeach of them was so great as to affect thegame to an extent not to be desired...’Interestingly, he noted that ‘scarcely twoleading players’ could agree on the relativevalues of Q, G, and E.
Bird later proposed a 9x8 board with an
extra piece, the Queen’s Guard, placed
between R and QN. He was ﬂexible here, too:‘... the combatants can place the new piece on
the centre square, between King and Queen, oron any other square they please’ adding thathe thought his choice the best. The QG moves
like a knight but 3-1 instead of 2-1 (QGb1 canleap to a4, c4, e2). The inventor concluded: ‘In
short, my object is to place the game on such afooting that originality of conception, andcalculation, should exercise greater, and bookknowledge a lesser, inﬂuence than at present’.
A contemporary report, undoubtedlyreferring to Bird’s Chess but perhaps
reﬂecting an earlier idea, noted that ‘acelebrated English player has patented a newequipage (chessboard 10x8) and the great
novelty in the men is to be a new piece,
uniting the powers of a rook and pawn, to becalled the Chancellor. The ﬁrst notion was toendow this novel warrior with the qualities ofa queen and knight, but that idea is now
deﬁnitely abandoned. Had this tremendous
piece been called into existence, it would
probably have been called the Octopus. As to
the utility of any reform in the game weentertain strong doubts...’ (Illustrated London
News, 9 May 1874).
Van der Linde’s Q+N Game (A. van der
Linde, 1876). White has sixteen pawns on
2nd/3rd ranks against a Black Ke5 withpowers of all men combined (Q+N) on e5(White should win). An earlier variation on
the same theme, The Maharajah and the
Sepoys, appears in the chapter on Indian
chess. (Geschichte und Literatur desSchachspiels)
Chancellor Chess [Foster] (Benjamin R.
Foster, 1887). 9x9 board (a1 black); extra
piece is the Chancellor (R+N); baseline (a1-i1/
a9-i9) RNBQKCNBR (notice that thepositions of B and N are reversed on the
king’s sides in order that bishop pairs are on
opposite coloured squares). First publicised in
the St Louis Globe-Democrat (12 February1887), the game is described by its inventor as
having ‘created a furore in the chess world
heretofore unknown’. A booklet on the game122 Other games using square lattice boards
by Foster, Chancellor Chess, was published in1889 ‘dedicated to all liberal-minded chessplayers throughout the world’.
Angel Chess (Louis P. D’Autremont, 1918).
Board 9x8, a1 white; extra piece is an Angel(Q+N); baseline (a1-i1/i8-a8) RNBQKABNR(angels on f1/d8); notice that opposing bishops
cannot meet. Pawn promotion to A on e-file
only. In castling Q, K goes to N’s square; incastling K, to B’s square. There is an
important extra rule: an angel may not betaken if the player’s angel will be captured on
the following move (thus banning an exchange
of A’s). There is also a ‘supplementary(optional?)’ rule: an A cannot check from asquare threatened by any of the opponent’s
men except the K. (Photocopy of leaflet‘Angel Chess’, also British Chess Magazine,
May 1934)
Capablanca’s Chess (J. R. Capablanca,
1920s). Following his World Championshipvictory over Lasker (1921), Capablanca
expressed concern that chess could be playedout within a short time - the ‘draw death’
foreseen by Lasker a few years earlier. A
malaise in the international game had
prompted a number of leading masters tovoice a need for reform: Lasker (abolishcastling), Réti (grade draws), Marshall (ballot
openings). In a series of talks, interviews,
articles and letters to the Press, Capablanca
outlined his proposal: a new, enlarged gamethat did not change the existing rules. Board
10x10; two extra pieces, the Marshall (R+N)
and the Chancellor (B+N); baseline (a1-j1/
a10-j10) RNBMQKCBNR; pawns could move
up to three squares initially. Soon afterwards‘marshall’ was amended to ‘marshal’, andlater, confusingly, the pieces were renamed
Chancellor (R+N) and Archbishop (B+N) withthe board reduced to 10x8. The change to thesmaller board, which has the effect ofspeeding up the game and earned
Capablanca’s approval, was the result ofexperimentation between Capablanca and
Edward Lasker in which different boards andarrays were considered. At one stage, forexample, the new pieces were set between Bs
and Ns. (Edward Lasker, The Adventure of
Chess, also correspondence between John
Gollon and Philip Cohen)

Neo-Chess [Legler] (Hugo Legler, 1923).
Nb1/b8 replaced by Archbishop (B+N),
Ra1/a8 by Chancellor (R+N). Leander Turneysubsequently
suggestedputtingtheArchbishop on the King’s side to give a moreeven distribution of the heavy pieces acrossthe board. (American Chess Bulletin, April
1923)
Universal Chess (Bruno Violet, 1928). Board
10x10; new pieces are an Admiral (R+N, flag
symbol) and a Pilot (B+N, aircraft). There are
two arrays, one curiously asymmetrical, eitherof which is admissible; as the inventor
observes, ‘this gives variety to the game’.
Baselines (a1-j1/a10-j10): RANBQKBPNR,
RBNAQKPNBR (kings on own colour).
According to Gizycki, another very similar
game, this time with a Tank (R+N) and
Aircraft (B+N) on either side of the Q and K,
was invented by an Austrian shortly before
World War II, the only difference beingthat K/Q positions were reversed. (Photocopy
of booklet Das Grosskampfschach oder
Universalschach)Green Idol Chess (Lord Dunsany, 1948).
‘Black has been playing with a Green Idol,
now on a8. White discovered in the course ofa difficult game that it moved as R+N...’(Fairy Chess Review, August 1948, notation
converted). White solves the problem bypromoting to GI, of course, doing it on two
different squares in two different variations.
[Text editorial. David’s files also contain areference to a Dunsany short story The Small
Green Idol which I haven’t seen. The adjacentdiagram in FCR, also by Dunsany, is of aproblem which appears hopelessly unsolvable
until you notice that it is illegal as a chessposition; treat it as English draughts(checkers), and all becomes clear. This
inspired my 1992 April Fool problem in the
British Chess Magazine.]
Power Chess (Proprietary game, D. Trouillon,
1953). The manufacturer claims that Power
Chess has no one inventor but is ‘theculmination of the efforts and researches offamous chess grandmasters, experts, andmathematical scientists’. Board 10x10; extra
man is Commander (Q+N); baseline (a1-j1/
a10-j10) RNBQKCQBNR (two queens each

New combination pieces 123side). Pawns can advance up to three squares
on ﬁrst move (e.p. possible on move of 2 or 3),
king moves three squares either way whencastling. Two international tournaments were
held in Times Square, N.Y., in 1953 and 1954
with several chess masters competing.
(Photocopy of manufacturer’s publicity leaflet,also correspondence between John Gollon andPhilip Cohen)
Modern Chess [Maura] (Gabriel Maura,
1968). Board 9x9; extra piece is a Prime
Minister (M) which moves as B+N; baseline(a1-i1/i9-a9) RNBMKQBNR (ministers on
d1/f9). Note that bishops operate on one
colour only. Later, the inventor, responding
perhaps to criticism, suggested that if bothplayers agree, one bishop may, during play,change places with one of the pieces adjacent
to it provided neither have moved, suchexchange counting as a move. The suggestion
was not well received. In castling, the K
moves two squares towards the R. Promotion
to M permitted. Maura, in his booklets on thegame (first edition in English 1968, second
edition 1974; also editions in Spanish andFrench), stresses the mathematical basis,
which in his view is the justiﬁcation ofModern Chess. The optimum mobility of eachman, expressed in terms of squares (e.g., King8) is added together. Each side sums to 162(pawns being allocated the doubtful value of2), exactly twice the number of board squares.
The game initially attracted a fair following,
especially in the inventor’s native Puerto Rico,
where a club for the game was opened, butalso in Spain and in Central and SouthAmerica. Sets were manufactured andnumerous events were organized. In 1972 thefirst international match (between Puerto Ricoand the U.S. Virgin Islands) was played, and acontrolling body, the Federación Mundial de
Ajedrez Moderno (FENDAM), was formed
with delegates representing 16 countries. Alsoin 1972 the first national championship ofPuerto Rico was held and was won by
Fernando Martinez (he won his country’s
orthochess championship the same year). The
first World Championship was held in Puerto
Rico in 1974. In the years that followed, anumber of tournaments took place in Spain,
Puerto Rico and Mexico but organized eventsceased in 1983 and FENDAM was dissolved

following Maura’s serious illness in that year.
The World Correspondence Championship ofModern Chess was held in the years 19761983. Champions were: Emillio Garcia(Spain) 1976-80; James Bowen (USA)
February-November 1980; Fernando Martinez
1980-1983. Martinez gave his name to the first
opening recognized by FENDAM (1 e4followed by 2 Mg4).
Maura, in his booklet on the game,concludes modestly, ‘We invite you to givethe new system your backing and push ... (but)if you have reached the conclusion that such achange (from orthochess to Modern Chess) is
not feasible, acceptable or necessary we beg
your help in driving us from our error’.
(Booklet Mathematical Thesis of Modern
Chess, also correspondence and miscellaneous
papers)Amazon Queen (originator unknown, perhaps
1960s-70s). Rooks and bishops are replacedby knights in the array, and in addition thequeens have knights’ powers. (Manuscript
note presumably deriving from personalcommunication)
Knights Chess (C. G. Lewin, 1970). Standard
game except that all pieces (not pawns) haveadditional move of knight. (Manuscript notepresumably
deriving
frompersonal
communication)
Wyvern Chess (V. R. Parton, 1970). Board
10x10; additional pieces are Wyverns (Q+N);
baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10) RNWBQKBWNR.
(Challenge and Delight of Chessical and
Decimal)
Sava’s Game (Stephen Sava, 1972). Board
10x10; extra pieces are Chancellor (R+N) andCommander (Q+N), and the knight has a 3-1
leap as well as its ordinary 2-1 leap; baseline(a1-j1/j10-a10) RNBChCKQBNR (kings on
f1/e10). (Correspondence between John
Gollon and Philip Cohen)
Supercapablanca Chess (Savio Cagliostro,1973). Board 12x8; the extra pieces are two
Archbishops (B+N), a Chancellor (R+N) and a
General (Q+N); baseline (a1-l1/a8-l8)
RNBACQKGABNR. The king can move likea knight once in game, even out of check, or124 Other games using square lattice boards
he can castle, but not both. In castling the kingcan move 2, 3 or 4 squares towards the rook.
(Nost-algia 178)
Almost Chess (Ralph Betza, 1977).
Orthochess except that the Q is a Chancellor(R+N). (Nost-algia 205 and later)
Tutti-Frutti Chess (Ralph Betza and Philip
Cohen, 1978). Orthochess except that Ra1/a8,
Qd1/d8 and Bg1/g8 all have the additional
powers of a knight. Has been played withblack king d8. (Manuscript note presumably
deriving from personal communication)
Janus Chess (Proprietary game, Werner
Schöndorf; Rudolf Lauterbach, 1978). Board
10x8; extra pieces are Januses (B+N); baseline(a1-j1/a8-j8) RJNBKQBNJR. In castling, K
moves to b/i file, rook c/h file. The game has
proved popular with regular tournaments
attracting many strong players including
grandmasters. Korchnoi is quoted as saying ‘Ilike playing Janus Chess because one canshow more creativity than in normal chess.’
The game was originally marketed as SuperChess. (Booklet Janus Schach, also photocopy
of original manufacturer’s publicity material)
Mixture Chess (Philip Cohen, 1979). Board,king and pawns normal; pieces include all
possible couplings. Baseline (a1-h1/a8-h8)
R+N, N, B, Q+N, K, Q, B+N, R. Short andlong castling legal, promotion to any piece.
(Manuscript notes presumably deriving frompersonal communication)
Grand Chess [Freeling] (Christiaan Freeling,1984). Board 10x10; extra pieces are Marshall(R+N) and Cardinal (B+N); rooks on a1/j1
and a10/j10, NBQKMCBN centred on ranks
2/9 (kings on e2/e9), 10xP on ranks 3/8.
Pawns promote optionally on moving to 8th or
9th ranks, compulsorily on moving to 10th,
but only to a piece already lost (if none lost,the move is illegal). No castling, e.p. allowed.
The game was featured in Games magazine(January 1987). The array allows the rooks
free movement from the outset and thepromotion rule compensates in part for the

weakness of the pawns in the face of the major
pieces. A tournament in Yerevan (1996)
attracted 21 chess masters, and Grand Chess isalso fertile ground for problemists andendgame composers. (Nost-algia 299 andlater, also personal communications)
Lilliputian Chess (George Dekle Sr, 1986).
Board 6x6; new pieces are Archbishops(B+N); baseline (a1-f1/a6-f6) RAQKAR.
Castling either side; Ps move one square only;
promotion to A or any orthochess piece.
(World Game Review 10)
Chancellor Chess [Horne] (Malcolm Horne,1992). As Chancellor Chess [Foster], but on a
9x8 board with baseline (a1-i1/i8-a8)
RNBQKBCNR (chancellors on g1/c8). A
progressive version has been tried, as witness
the following brevity won by Ian Richardson:
1 d4 2 b5, c5 (setting a trap) 3 dxc5, c6, cxd7+(falling into it) 4 Nxd7, Cc3, Ba5, Cd3 mate.
(Variant Chess 11/19)
Super Chess [Scorpion] (Mike Calkovics andJeff Knight, 1993). Board 16x8; extra piece isSuperqueen (Q+N); baseline (a1-p1/a8-p8)
RNBRNBQSKQBNRBNR (2 x Q, 4 x R, B,
N). King moves two squares when castlingand can castle with any of the four rooks
subject to the usual restrictions. Promotion tosuperqueen allowed. (Manuscript notes
presumably deriving from a set in David’s
game collection)
Deca Chess (Michael Howe, 1994). Board
10x10; extra pieces are Archbishop (B+N),
Chancellor (Q+N), Marshall(R+N); baseline(a1-j1/a10-j10) MBAMCKQABR, NN on
d2/g2 and d9/g9, 10xP on ranks 3/8. In
castling, K moves any number of squares
towards rook, R hops over as usual. Ps havetwo-square initial option; e.p. possible.
(Cutting ‘Deca Chess’)
Gothic Chess (Ed Trice, 1998). Board 10x8;
extra pieces are Archbishop (B+N) andChancellor (R+N); baseline (a1-j1/a8-j8)
RNABQKBCNR. A Gothic Chess Association
is based in Philadelphia. (Nost-algia 379)

New combination pieces 125
14.2 Rook and bishop combinations
Spanish Chess (originator unknown, 1739).
Board 10x8; extra pieces are two Archers,
which move forwards like rooks andbackwards like bishops; baseline (a1-j1/a8-j8)
RNBAQKABNR Said to be ‘currently
practised in Spain’ (Palamedes Redivivus)
though this is considered unlikely by Faidutti.
It was recorded in Germany ‘at the coffee andchocolate house of Herr Lehmann’ in Leipzig.
Falcon-Hunter Chess, also known as
Schulz’s Chess, One-Way Chess [Schulz],
and Meso Chess (Karl Schulz, 1943). The
game has two extra pieces, the Hunter, whichmoves like a rook forwards and a bishop
backwards, and the Falcon, which moves likea bishop forwards and a rook backwards.
Neither piece has lateral movement. FalconHunter chess has three forms:(1) Board 66-squares (8x8 board a2-h9 plus
extra squares e1/e10). The kings occupy the
extra squares which can at no time be enteredby other pieces. Hd2/d9, Fe2/e9; no queen but
pawns can promote to any piece including H,
F, and Q.
(2) Standard array; H and F not on theboard. When a piece (Q,R,B,N) is lost, H or F
can be placed on any subsequent turn on an
empty square on first rank, this counting as amove (placement can give check). When asecond piece is lost, the remaining H or F canbe similarly introduced.
(3) Orthochess but promotion only to H or
F.
According to Boyer, many thousands ofgames of Falcon-Hunter Chess had been
played up to the early 1950s.
The F and H rarely enter play in the
opening. It has been argued that in FalconHunter there are two games in progress at
once, one visible, the other invisible. The
invisible game is the engineering of open lines
in preparation for the introduction of the F and
H, hence the name Meso Chess.
The F and H can reach any square from any
position on an empty board in three moves.
Both pieces can de-activate themselves;
example: WFa1, Ph7; play 1 Fh8 and both F
and P are immobile. K+H v K is a forced win.
Schulz proposed without, one imagines, muchhope of support, that when playing orthochessdraws could be dramatically reduced if, in aposition agreed drawn by the players, it was
mandatory for each to introduce a F or H (aspreviously agreed).
The game was later renamed Hunter Chess
with an additional rule: the queen as well as
the king can castle with a hunter. The rule isdesigned to facilitate development of thehunters. (Les Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes,
Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes,
Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants)
Decimal Falcon-Hunter Chess, also known
as Great One-Way Chess (Karl Schulz,
1950s) is an enlarged version. Board 10x10;
baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10) RNBHQKFBNR. The
knights initially have the option of a 4-2 leap
as well as the normal 2-1 leap, thus Nb1 hasadditional choice of d5 or f3 even if c3/d2 areoccupied. The king moves three squares ineither direction when castling; pawns canmove 1,2 or 3 squares initially, no e.p.
(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Lateral Chess (Tony Paletta (1980). Kings
and pawns have usual powers, other pieces
change theirs according to direction moved.
Rook: right like a bishop, otherwise normally.
Bishop: right like a rook, otherwise normally.
Queen: left or vertically like a queen but
limited to two squares, right like a knight.
Knight: right like a (limited) queen, otherwise
normally. Castling 0-0 permitted for White,
0-0-0 for Black. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter)
Quadrant Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). The
8x8 board is considered to be divided into
quadrants of 4x4 squares. Pieces have usual
powers within quadrants, except queens,which cannot move more than two squares.
When crossing to another quadrant, whether tomove or capture, the powers of the pieces
change: thus rooks move like bishops, bishops
like rooks, (limited) queens like knights andknights like (limited) queens. Kings andpawns are unaffected. Castling is normal.
Example: Rd4 moves to a4, b4, c4, d1, d2, d3,
a7, b6, c5, e3, f2, g1, e5, f6, g7, h8. (Chess
Spectrum Newsletter)126 Other games using square lattice boards
14.3 Other combinations
Duke of Rutland’s Chess (3rd Duke of
Rutland, 1747). Board 14x10; new pieces are a
Concubine,sometimes
euphemisticallyreferred to as a Princess (R+N), and a
Crowned Rook (R+K). Baseline (a1-n1/
a10-n10) RCrNNBBQKCBBNCrR. Unmoved
pawns can advance up to three squares.
A leading protagonist of the game was Sir
Abraham Janssen (‘who delighted much init’). He introduced it to Philidor on the latter’svisit to England (1747). In less than a monthPhilidor could give the odds of a knight to
Stamma and other leading players. After thedeath of Janssen (1763) the game fell into
disuse. As a correspondent (British Chess
Magazine, April 1940) observed, ‘it is not
surprising that even the recommendation of
the Duke of Rutland failed to popularise agame which could give rise to so questionablea move as Bishop takes Concubine’. (EasyIntroduction to Chess, 1806)
Burtsev’s Game, also known as Russian
Symmetrical Chess (F. I. Burtsev, 1957).
Board 9x9, a1 white; extra Q and P on eachside, baseline RNBQKQBNR. The central(5th) rank is neutral. A pawn passing into
opposition territory can move one squarestraight forward (as usual) but also one squarediagonally forward or one square sideways.
Capturing normal. Once in a game one bishop
can move to an adjacent square of the opposite
colour. The two queens and the enhanced
pawn strength favour the attack. (Photocopy ofofficial certificate 112692 acknowledging theinventor’s rights)
Microchess [Dekle] (George Dekle Sr, 1987).
Board 7x7; standard array with queens
omitted. Bishops (on the same-coloured
squares to start) may also move one squareorthogonally. Pawns have no two-square movebut may promote to queens. Short castling
permitted either side. (World Game Review
10)Superchess [Zaitsev] (Igor Zaitsev, 1991). R,
B, N can also move as K, but not to capture;Ps move one square forwards, diagonallyforwards, or sideways, but again capturingmust be orthodox; no castling. A grandmaster
tournament in 1991 was won by the inventor.

14.4 Move as one piece, capture as anotherEnlarged and Improved Chess (originator
unknown, 1696). Board 10x10; extra pieces
are Guards, which move like rooks but capture
and check like bishops, and Ensigns, whichmove like bishops but capture and check likerooks; array (a1-j1/j10-a10 and inwards,
centred) RNBGKQGBRN, PPPPEEPPPP, PP(kings on e1/f10). The game is allegedly given
in a Dutch edition of Greco (Palamedes
Redivivus) which Faidutti has been unable totrace. It is interesting that so sophisticated avariant should be recorded at such an earlydate.
New Zealand Chess (originator unknown,
1903). Rooks capture as knights, knights as
rooks. Rook and pawn endings described as‘bewildering’. (British Chess Magazine,
September 1903)
Thinktank Chess (Frank Maus, 1927). Q-side
pieces are respectively (l to r) Rookni, Kniroo,

Biskni and K-side pieces Bishroo, Knibis andRoobis. Pieces move as the first part of theirname, capture and check as the second part.
Maus recommends tying a ribbon round Kside pieces to differentiate them. K,Q,P areunaffected. Allthought Chess (Maus, 1927) is
the same except that pawns are Berolina
pawns (move diagonally, capture straight).
(Author’s leaflet ‘Thinktank Chess’)
Semi-Queen Chess, also known as HalfQueen’s Chess (V.R.Parton, 1970). Board
10x10. Two half-sisters of the queen are
introduced, the ugly-named Biok and Roshop.
The Biok moves like a bishop but attacks as arook, the Roshop moves like a rook andattacks as a bishop. Baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10)
RNBRoQKBiBNR. An extension of the game(1974) gives two of each piece to a side, but
no extra pawns; array (a1-j1/a10-j10 andinwards) RBiRoBQKBRoBiR, PPPPNNPPPP.
(Chessery for Duffer and Master)New combination pieces 127
Loonybird Chess, also known as Dragon
Chess [Freeling] (Christiaan Freeling, 1983).
Board
7x7;
baseline(a1-g1/a7-g7)
RbNrBnKRnBrNb, where pieces move likethe first letter but capture like the second (thusa1 moves like a rook but captures like abishop). Pieces are ﬂat and those other than
the king and pawns have the same pieces on
the reverse side but with colour changed.
Captured pieces are retained by the capturer,
and can be turned over and re-entered on any
empty square instead of moving. Pawns move
one square at a time only and when captured

are removed from play. The king can castle
only with his corner rook, moving two squares
towards it and moving the rook either two or
three squares towards the centre (0-0 or
0-0-0). Draws are rare. (Nost-algia 354,
Eteroscacco 78)
Asymmetric Chess (Michael Howe, 1993).
Queens move as kings but capture as Qs or
Ns, other three pieces move normally but
capture like either of the other two. Kings,
pawns and other rules orthodox. (Eteroscacco
66)

Chapter 15
New pieces (2) : Pieces with limited range[This chapter covers pieces whose range of movement is limited, in the same way that the movesof the king and knight are limited in orthochess.]
15.1 Pieces which can move only one square[The only such piece in orthochess is the king, but the ‘wazir’ (one square orthogonally in any
direction), ‘fers’ or ‘firzan’ (one square diagonally in any direction), ‘gold general’ (as wazir andalso one square diagonally forward), and ‘silver general’ (as fers and also one squareorthogonally forward), have been widely used and will be found in many of the games in thechapters devoted to historical and regional versions of chess. Some other flavours will be foundbelow. In general, games which involve both a one-square mover and ‘something more
powerful’ will be found in the section devoted to ‘something more powerful’, but the two later
developments of ‘Le Jeu de la Guerre’ are included in this first section for convenience.
One-square movers are slow and may seem to be weak, but even the lowly fers can be apotent attacking weapon. ‘Knight for two pawns’ is rarely a good swap, but ‘fers for two pawns’
is a different matter, and a sound tactic, when unobservant defence permits it, is to use the piecewith a fers move to smash a hole in the enemy pawn structure so that other men can pourthrough. In xiangqi (Chinese chess) this piece is confined to a defensive role by the rules of thegame, but to restrict it to such a role in other forms of chess may well be a losing strategy.]
Le Jeu de la Guerre [M.M.] (‘M.M.’,
perhaps J. Mehler, 1770). Described as a‘refinement of the game of chess’ and firstpublished (in French and German) in Prague.
It is important as perhaps the ﬁrst game, with aslightly enlarged board and pieces expressedin military terms, to move away from chessand towards what were to become thekriegsspiels of the 19th century. Declared theauthor: ‘the ridiculous denominations hitherto
used for the pieces, and many otherimperfections in the game of chess, appear tojustify my risking their correction’. To-day thecorrections themselves are open to ridicule.
He added, wistfully, that the game ‘will
probably always be considered an idle andsuperﬂuous invention’. It appears however tohave been fairly widely played in Europe, andparticularly in Germany, for the better part ofa century. Board 11x11, 25 men a side: 1 x
King, 2 x King’s Guard (moves as Q), 5 x
Cannon (as R), 2 x Dragoon, Hussar (both asB), 2 x Cuirassier (as N), 11 x Fusilier (moveone move orthogonally in any direction,
capture one square diagonally in any
directions). No castling. CaKCa centred onranks 1/11, CaHDCuGCaGCuDHCa on ranks
2/10, 11xF on ranks 3/9. Other arrangements
may have been practised (Easy Introduction to
Chess has pieces e1-g1 and e2-g2 transposed).
(Photocopy of Le Jeu de la Guerre) [In my
opinion, the first of the two games described
as ‘Kriegsfeld Chess’ in the first edition is a
German version of this. The extract from thesecondary source preserved in David’s files
merely gives name, country of origin, board
size, and additional pieces with their moves,and the board size and additional pieces tally
exactly.]
Prussian National Chess (General Baron C.
E. B. Freyherr von Hoverbeck, 1806). A
junker up-date of M.M’s. ‘Le Jeu de la
Guerre’, dedicated to Friedrich Wilhelm ofPrussia. Board 11x11 (a1 black), 25 men aside: 1 x King, 2 x Body Guard (moves as Q),
2 x Light Cannon (as R), 2 x Dragoon,
Cuirassier (both as B), 3 x Hussar (as N), 2 xBattery (see below); 11 x Fusilier (as in Le Jeude la Guerre). Note that the cuirassiers andhussars have changed roles. The battery moves
as a rook up to three squares in any direction.

New pieces with limited range 129
It captures similarly but need not move to doso; it cannot give check itself, but only withanother piece. No castling; if a check isunannounced, the attacker is huffed. BaKBa
centred on ranks 1/11, CaHDCuGHGCuDHCa
on ranks 2/10, 11xF on ranks 3/9. (Photocopy
of Das preussische National-Schach up to
page 31, plus diagram showing the board)
Silberschmidt’s Game (H. Silberschmidt,
1827). Described as ‘New, Improved
Kriegspiel’, this is another development of
M.M’s ‘Le Jeu de la Guerre’. Board 11x11, 27
men a side: 1 x King, 2 x Royal Guard (moves
as Q+N), 2 x Guard (as Q), 4 x Hussar (as B),
2 Cuirassiers (as N), 5 x Cannon (as R), 11 x
Soldier (move one square forward or
sideways, capture one square diagonallyforward). RKR e1-g1/e11-g11, CaCa on a1/k1
and a11/k11, CaHHCuGCaGCuHHCa on
ranks 2/10, 11xS on ranks 3/9. The
preponderance of heavy pieces unbalances theplay. (Photocopy of chapter 6 of Das
Schachspiel unter Zweien)
Schachdame, also known as Chess-Draughts[Richter] (Heinrich Richter, 1883). A blend ofchess and draughts, described as ‘a new family
game’. Board 8x8; a1 black. Each side has aDame, a Ritter (literally: knight) and 6 pawns.
Play is on the black squares only. The dame
moves one square diagonally in any direction,

the ritter like a bishop. Pawns move one
square diagonally forward, and promote toritter. Capture is by displacement. The object
is to capture the opponent’s dame. Array (a1g1/h8-b8 and inwards, black squares only)
PRDP, 4xP. The rule book cost 3d in English,in German or Slovene (!) 4d. (Photocopy ofbooklet Schachdame, also notes apparently
derived from a copy of the English edition in
the British Library)
Nemesis Chess (Philip Cohen, 1973). Usual
set-up but pawns on a, b, g, h files replaced bynemeses. A nemesis moves and captures like aking but only towards the opposing king.
Marking time is not allowed. (Example: BKf4;
WNeg2. Ne can move to f2, f3, g3, but noth3.) A nemesis can only be captured by Q, R,
B, or N (knight). (Manuscript notes
presumably
deriving
frompersonal
communication)
New Chess [Bajon] (Michael Bajon, 1991).
Board 9x9; extra piece is the King’s Pawn
(Pion du Roi) that moves like a king but neverbackwards. It has no royal powers except thatthe opposing K cannot occupy a squareadjacent to it. Baseline (others have been
tried) (a1-i1/i9-a9) RNBQKKpBNR (queens
on d1/f9). (Manuscript notes in Elaine’s
handwriting, apparently a translation from anunspecified source)

15.2 Pieces which can move up to two squares[The only such piece in orthochess is the knight, but several other such pieces will be found in
the chapters devoted to historical and regional versions of chess. Particularly prominent havebeen the ‘horse’ (moves as knight but one step orthogonally and then one vertically, and theintermediate square must be empty), the ‘fil’ or ‘alfil’ (leaps two squares diagonally), and the‘elephant’ (moves two squares diagonally and the intervening square must be empty). Some
more flavours follow.]Arch Chess [Piacenza], also known as
Piacenza’s Chess (Francesco Piacenza, 1683).
Arch was a term given, according to the authorof Chess (1784), ‘to improvements andcorruptions of chess’. Board 10x10 a1 black;extra pieces are a Centurion (leaps as N or twosquares as R or B) and a Decurion (moves one
square diagonally); baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10)
RNBCKQDBNR. Many authorities areunreliable. (I Campaggiamenti degli Scacchi)[The D is of course the ancient fers; the C

may have originated with Piacenza, but it will
reappear many times.]
Siege d’Anvers (J. A. Bordier-Marcet, 1833).
Inspired by the capture of Antwerp by the
French and intended to represent moreaccurately the military nature of the game.
Board 10x10; 20 pieces a side, 1 x King, 1 x
Marshal (moves as queen), 2 x Lunette(bastion, as R), 2 x Ensign (as B), 2 x
Brigadier (as N), 2 x Bomb (two squares

130 Other games using square lattice boards
orthogonally, can leap over any man but notover the king, ‘out of respect’, except to parrya check), 2 x Sappers (one or two squares
diagonally in any direction, but captures likeP) 2 x Grenadier (as P, but always has optionof moving one or two squares), 6 x Fusilier (asP). Fusiliers and grenadiers promote to any
piece lost, sappers do not promote. Array (a1j1/j10-a10 and inwards) LBrBoEMKEBoBrL(kings on f1/e10), SGFFFFFFGS. (Faidutti)
Decimal Chess [Obert] (Carl Obert, 1880).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are Guardians,
which move one square diagonally andcapture one square orthogonally. In thestarting position, the guardian can leap twosquares forward (and may do so again if
returning to the start square). On reaching theend rank, a guardian promotes to an Orderly
which moves like a Q but captures like a R.
Pawns move 1 or 2 squares initially (if 1, canthen move 2 subsequently). In castling, K
moves 3 squares to right or left. Basline(a1-j1/a10-j10) RGNBQKBNGR. (Brentano’s
Chess Magazine)
Moody’s Game (Francis Moody, 1895).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are Squires (leap as
N or two squares as R or B); baseline (a1j1/a10-j10) RSNBQKBNSR. Pawns can move
up to three squares initially. (Photocopy of
patent application)
Neunerschach (H. Ranneforth, 1901). Board
9x9; extra piece is Marshall (moves as Q); thequeen is a ‘Hausfrau’, which moves as Q but
only two squares. Baseline (a1-i1/i9-a9)
RNNMKHBBR(marshalls
on d1/f9).
(Deutsches Wochenschach)
Spy Chess [O’Flyn] (Proprietary game,
George S. O’Flyn, 1907). Board 10x8; extra
pieces are Spies, which leap two squares as R
or B; baseline (a1-j1/a8-j8) RNBQSSKBNR.
‘To thus ruthlessly separate the royal pair may
be in questionable taste’ (American Chess
Bulletin, 1907).
Pinsard’s Chess (J. Pinsard, 1919). Board
10x10; extra pieces are Piacenza’s Centurions(leaping as N or two squares as R or B);
baseline not recorded. (Les Jeux d’Echecs
Non-orthodoxes)

Gérams World Chess (Proprietary game,
Gérams Skaakbureau; G. Menssink, 1937).
84-square board made up of an inner 8x8
board b2-i9 plus four groups of five squares inan L (c1-a1-a3, a8-a10-c10, etc); two extra
men a side known as Gerams. These additions,
supposes the inventor, should satisfy those
grandmasters (he mentions Capablanca andLasker) who are striving to avoid draws. Usualarray on inner 8x8 board, with the Gerams in
the four outside corner squares. Once a Gmoves, its initial square disappears. The G
moves two squares orthogonally, thus always
staying on its original colour. However, whenentering the inner board a single diagonal
move is made. Thus Ga1-a3 and then either b2
or b4; or Ga1-c1 and then b2 or d2; Ga1-b2 isillegal. All pieces can enter the extra squares
and pawns can promote there (example: b8xa9
promotes) but Gs are immune from capture
except on the inner board. (Photocopies ofauthor’s rules booklets)
Arrow Pawn Chess (R. Persson, 1938). Usualarray but all pawns are Arrow pawns. An
arrow pawn moves one or two squares
orthogonally in any direction and captures one
square diagonally, also in any direction, butdoes not promote. En passant capture may
occur on any two-step move. An AP of either
colour on b2, for example, has a choice of six
moves and can capture on any of the blacksquares around it. (Fairy Chess Review,
February 1938)
Tank Chess [Drobnic] (Franjo Drobnic,
1935). Board 10x10; extra pieces are Tanks,
which leap to second square as R; baseline(a1-j1/a10-j10) RNBQTKTBNR. Played inclubs and schools in Vienna at the time.
(Photocopy of letter from the inventor
addressed to the City of London Chess Club)Greater Chess (W. Day, 1942). Board 10x10(a1 white); extra pieces are Dukes, whichmove one or two squares in any direction;baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10) RNBDQKDBNR.
Pawns can move up to three squares initiallyand can be taken e.p. on either the third or
fourth ranks; K moves two squares in castling.
William Winter, the British master, advocated
the game pointing out that the weakness ofCapablanca’s Chess was that the heavy pieces

New pieces with limited range 131
dominated the board, the light pieces being
merely cannon-fodder, whereas the dukes’
powers are sufficiently restricted to enable
them to combine effectively with the minor
pieces. A duke ranks between a B and a R but
is stronger in the endgame. (Chess, November
1942)
Paciﬁc Chess (Hawaiian game, 1960s). Board
10x10, 26 men a side; extra pieces are Castle(leaps as N or two squares as R or B), Fortress(moves one square diagonally or leaps tosecond square as R), Guard (moves as K but
not subject to check), Nobleman (asorthochess Q), Q (as orthochess Q+N). Array(a1-j1/a10-j10 and inwards) C-F-GG-F-C,
RNNoBQKBNoNR, 10xP. (Correspondence
between John Gollon and Philip Cohen)
Modern Courier Chess (Paul Byway, 1971
with later amendments). An attempt to reformthe medieval Courier Chess by emulating thedevelopment of modern chess. Board 12x8;
extra pieces are Fers (moves one squarediagonally) and Courier (leaps two squares
orthogonally or diagonally); baseline (a1-l1/
a8-l8) RNCBFQKFBCNR. An unmoved fers
has the option of a double move but not tocapture (a later modification of the originalrule, which allowed it a courier leap), and an
unmoved K can do the same provided that it is
not in check and does not pass through check.
There is no castling. The weak points in thearray are c2/7, j2/7; in consequence, theinventor believes the key central squares are
e4/5 and h4/5. Openings and endings are being
researched and a databank of games has been
started. (Variant Chess 46)[When playing this game, I find its mostinteresting features are the strategic
implications of the wide board and thepossibility of sacrificing fers for two pawns tosmash a hole in the enemy position. The
inventor has since suggested that a gamecloser to the spirit of the original would beobtained by reverting to the ancient ‘man’(moves as king but is not subject to check)instead of the modern queen.]
Courier-Spiel (John Gollon, 1972 or earlier).
Board 12 x 8; orthochess bishop renamed as
Courier; extra pieces are ‘Bishop’ (one or twosquares diagonally, may jump), Fool (as K but

not subject to check), Councillor (as N+K);
baseline (a1-l1/l8-a8) RNBCrCnKQFCrBNR(kings on f1/g8). In castling, the king moves tothe c or j file, and neither king nor rook may
castle away from or over an attacked square.
(Chess Variant Pages, based on a description
in a Gollon manuscript; Variant Chess 37)[Text editorial]
Zgome (Proprietary game, Smurfet Group; J.
B. McCarthy, 1975). Board 11x7, each player
has 8 pieces: 1 x ‘Z’ (moves as king), 2 x ‘+’(as R), 2 x ‘X’ (as B), 2 x ‘0’ (one spacevertically or diagonally forward), 1 x ‘†’ (as 0but one or two spaces). The Z piece is placedin the centre of the ﬁrst rank; the other pieces,
whose identities are screened from the
opponent, are placed at choice on designatedspaces on the ﬁrst two ranks. The aim is tocapture the opponent’s Z piece. Capture is bydisplacement. Concealed pieces move as 0s,
but instead of moving a player can elect toexpose a concealed piece which thereafter
moves according to its power. A concealed
piece reaching the end rank is immediately
exposed. (Manufacturer’s publicity leaflet)
Bear Chess, also known as 10x10 Chess[Sosnovsky] (Mikhail Sosnovsky, 1985).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are Bears, whichleap as N or two squares as R or B; baseline(a1-j1/a10-j10) RNBBeQKBeBNR. Pawns
can move up to three squares initially (e.p.
permitted). In castling, K moves to c/h files.
There are at least three sub-variations of thegame, in all of which only the pawn moves
and array are altered. Bear Chess received
much publicity in newspapers and magazines
in the U.S.S.R., and considerable interest in
the game amongst the young was reported at
the time, particularly in Central Russia.
(Personal communication)
Balaklava Chess (Gianluca Vecchi, 1994).
Mammoths (leap two squares as R or B)
replace knights in the array, and all men
except kings (but including pawns) may makenon-capturing moves like orthochess knights
in addition to their normal powers. (Nost-algia
364)
Kings Court (S. LeVasseur, 1997). Board
12x8; extra pieces are Chancellor (covers all

132 Other games using square lattice boards
the squares of a 5x5 grid of which it is at thecentre but cannot leap except to make a knightmove) and Jester (moves one or two squares
diagonally and can change its direction
after the first); baseline (a1-l1/a8-l8)
RCJNBQKBNJCR. K in check from C canmove two squares. In castling, K moves up to
4 squares, R leaping it to adjacent square.
(Variant Chess 37)

Cannons and Crabs (David Short, 2001).
Board 7x6; extra pieces are Cannon (moves as
Q up to 2 squares, may leap but not to captureK) and Crab (pawn with option of moving one
square diagonally forward); array (a1-g1/a6g6 and inwards) RNCaKCaNR, PPCrCrCrPP.
Promotion (crabs and pawns) to Marshall(R+N) or Cardinal (B+N). (Chess Variant
Pages)

15.3 Pieces which can move up to three squares[Here and elsewhere, a move described as an ‘x-y leap’ is like a knight’s move but x squares in
one direction and y squares in the other. The knight could therefore be described as a ‘2-1
leaper’.]Paulovits’s Game (István Paulovits, c.1890).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are a General(moves as king or with a 3-1 leap) and a Pasha(as Queen but 1 or 2 squares only; may leapintervening square); baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10)
RNBPaGQKBNR. Pawns move up to threesquares initially. In the ending, K+Pasha wins
against K+B or N, draws against K+Q; K+G
only draws against K+B or N. A number ofgames were published. (Photocopy of pages
24-35 of a book Dames de Paulovits, noted byDavid as ‘van der Linde #4809’)
Arch Chess [Moody] (Frank Moody, 1898).
Board 10x10, a1 white; extra pieces are
Squires (move one square orthogonally andthen a knight’s move, or ‘the second ring of its
own base colour in any direction’); baseline(a1-j1/a10-j10) RSNBQKBNSR. Pawns have
option of 1,2,3 squares initially (with e.p. on 2or 3). In castling, K moves 3 squares (short) or
4 squares (long), rook on inside. (British
Chess Magazine, July 1898)
Cavalry Chess (Frank Maus, 1921). All men
have the additional power of a normal knight
but pawns, as knights, can only move forward.
In addition, the king can move two squares inany direction but only if the intermediatesquare is unoccupied; thus if a piece is ﬂanked
by the two kings, it is pinned. The knight is a
powerful piece, moving as a knight or with a
3-1 or 3-2 leap; thus from the centre of a 7x7
board it would command all squares notcommanded by a queen occupying the samesquare. Castling, e.p., promotion (to cavalry
piece) normal. The game was played in the

U.S. for several years in tournaments, matches
etc. Fianchetto openings were commonly
practised in early games. Later, the Gruer
Attack (1 dd4, 2 Qe2), named after the
Californian chess champion, and the Denton
opening (pawns to d3/e3, knights to d2/e2),
found favour. The principal endings wereanalysed with the outcome the same as inorthochess, K+R v K being one of the hardest.

wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdw0wdwd$wdw0kdw
wdwdw)wd
dwdwdKdw
An ending from actual play. White, in check
and with his pawn pinned, was persuaded by aspectator to resign, only for his opponent topoint out that he could have won: 1 Rxe3+
dxe3+ 2 Kd3! after which it is Black’s pawn
which is pinned while White’s is guarded. The
resulting K+P v K ending is book.
A later development, Magic Chess (Maus,
1925) differs only in the pawn move. The
pawn advances one rank at a time, either on its
own ﬁle or as a knight; it captures diagonallyforward as usual, but also as a knight although
only to an adjacent file. This slight change
makes for an entirely different game according
to the inventor, who comments, in an odd
blend of deprecation and conceit, that Magic

New pieces with limited range 133
Chess is ‘deadly dull, lacking all the vivacityof Cavalry Chess’. (Author’s pamphlet, also
Chess Amateur, February and April 1925)
Jetan (variant made famous by Edgar Rice
Burroughs in his novel The Chessmen ofMars, 1922). Board 10x10, chequered blackand orange. Forces represent the Black Raceof the south and the Yellow race of the north.
20 pieces a side comprising 1 x Chief,
Princess, 2 x Thoat, Odwar, Dwar, Padwar,
Warrior, 8 x Panthan; array (a1-j1/a10-j10 andinwards) WPaDOCPrODPaW, TPPPPPPPPT.
The pieces move as follows.
Chief: three squares straight or diagonally.
Princess: as chief, but may leap any numberof occupied squares - known as ‘the escape’ once in a game. The princess does not capture.
Thoat: as knight but one step orthogonallyfollowed by one diagonally, and theintervening square must be empty.
Dwar: three squares orthogonally.
Odwar: three squares diagonally, may leap.
Warrior: two squares orthogonally.
Padwar: two squares diagonally.
Panthan: one square straight or diagonallyforward or sideways.
Pieces may change direction during a move,but they must move the specified number ofsquares and may not cross or alight on asquare more than once during the move.
Capture by displacement. Win by capturing
the princess, or the chief by the chief; thegame is drawn if the chief is captured by anyother man (a fairly common result). The gameis also drawn when each side is reduced tothree pieces or less of the same value (?) andneither player can force a win within fivemoves. There is no advice as to what happens
when a panthan reaches the 10th rank; it has
been severally suggested that it be allowed tomove laterally or backwards. The game wasmuch played at one time by a national fantasy
club in the U.S. Gollon describes it as ‘very
playable and entertaining’. [Text revised]
Dreadnought Chess (Max Rieck, 1929).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are Dreadnoughts(3-1 leapers); initial position unclear.
Promotion only to previously captured piece.
‘Some interest in Cape Town chess circles’
according to the inventor. (British Chess
Magazine, December 1929)

Meﬁsto or Mephisto (Proprietary game,
Stanislaw Hofmokl-Ostrowski, 1955). Board
10x10; extra pieces are Devils (3-1 leapers);
baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10) RNBDQKDBNR.
(Photograph of board and inventor’s
description, in Polish with an accompanying
French translation, also Gizycki)
Cuban Chaturang (Germán A. Mentz, 1960).
Developed over many years, the game reﬂects
the ancient Indocuban civilization. Board
10x10; most pieces move as in chess: Cacique
Nerey (N, as king), Dama Cacica (C, as
queen), Semi (S, as rook), Behique (B, asbishop), Dog (D, as knight). In addition, there
is a formidable piece, the Bat or Vampire (V),which moves as king or knight or with a 3-2
leap (e.g., Va1 can move to c4 or d3 as well as
to a2, b1, b2, b3, c2). The Taino (T, pawn) has
the option of moving 1, 2 or 3 squares on its
first move and can be captured e.p. whenmoving more than one square. Promotion to
any piece except nerey. Array (a1-j1/a10-j10
and inwards) SDBVNCVBDS, 10xT. Object
is to checkmate opponent’s nerey. Piece
design is symbolic; for example, the semi is
the protector idol and is represented as an
asexual nude with arms crossed on the chest.
Some opening research has been done. Playedin Havana. (Personal communications, also
Nost-algia 376)
Mexican Chess (Prince Joli Kansil, 1965).
Board 10x10, a1 white; extra pieces are
Conquistadors (3-1 leapers); baseline (a1j1/a10-j10) RNCBQKBCNR. In keeping with
their historical image, the pieces are mounted
and carry long swords. Pawns move up to
three squares initially; e.p. possible. Reviewed
in Chess Life. (Personal communication, also
leaflet ‘Mexican Chess’)
Chess II [Trone] (Bruce Trone, 1976). Board
12x12; extra pieces are Super queen, Super
rook, Super bishop (Q+N, R+N, B+N), Superknight (as N or a 3-2 leap), Super pawn (cancapture up to two squares diagonally forward);
baseline RSrSbBQSqKQBSbSrR (kings on
g1/g12), NNNNSnSnSnSnNNNN on ranks
2/11, PPPPSpSpSpSpPPPP on ranks 3/10. All
pawns move initially up to 3 squares; up to 2
squares on second move if only 1 on first. No
castling with Super rooks. Coherent strategy

134 Other games using square lattice boards
about as manageable as in the great shogis.
(Nost-algia 194)
Kaissa (Proprietary game, Port Kar Industries;
Jeffrey Shaffer, 1979). The game originatedfrom one described in a fantasy novel The
Players of Gor by John Norman. Pieces (21 aside) and board (10x10) are red and yellow.
Most pieces have moves corresponding toorthochess pieces, one exception being theTarnsman (3-2 leaper). The Spearmen are
pawns which can move up to three squares
initially but apparently do not promote.
The array ﬁlls the first two ranks of each side.
A curious feature is that one piece, the Home
Stone, is only entered on the 8th, 9th or 10th
turn. (World Game Review 3)
Threespace Chess (quoted by Tony Paletta,
1980). The moves of the line pieces (Q, R, B)
are limited to a maximum of three squares.
(Chess Spectrum Newsletter)
Falconry(BorisTroschichev,
VasilyVarkentin, Yuri Ribakov, Oleg Skaletsky,1982). Board 10x10, a1 white; extra pieces are
Dolphin (as rook but up to three squares only,
may leap intervening men, Falcon (as bishop
or 3-1 leaper), Prince (moves one squareahead either straight or diagonally, captures
like an orthodox pawn, may promote to any
piece, two-square option initially, e.p.
permitted); array (a1-j1/a10-j10 and inwards,
centred) DRNBQKBNRD, PPPFPrPrFPPP,
PPPP. The new pieces are distinctly coloured,
blue on the White side, red on the Black. This
is to assist recognition, and, more obscurely,
because together with white they are thecolours of the Three Muses and also thenational flag. No mention of castling. Noticethat none of the new pieces challenges thepower of the queen. The powers of the line
pieces (Q,R,B) are increased and those of the
N and P are diminished. Fool’s mate is justtwo moves: 1 Fe5 f7 2 Fg7.
A little fantasy appears to have crept into
the decision-taking. The Dolphin is described
as a symbol of virtue and intelligence and weare reminded that the dolphin was a favouriteof Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. The Princes,as children of the monarchs, rightly standdirectly in front of them, whilst the Falcon isseen to have many virtues. Sokol, the Russian

word for falcon, is controversially described as‘the most beautiful word in the Russian
language’.
Falconry has quite a pedigree. In 1982 it
was demonstrated to the Tchigorin club in
Leningrad by the co-inventors. Russian design
patents 42591 (1995) and 54537 (2004) wereapproved for the game. Tournaments havebeen running for the past 15 years and in 2002
the Falconry Chess Club was founded in St.
Petersburg. In 2004 the authors were honoured
with laureates by the Russian and European
Academies of Natural Sciences and wereawarded the Pyotr L. Kapitsa and Albert
Schweitzer medals. In 1987-1990 thousands ofsets of Falconry were manufactured andreportedly exported to the U.K., Netherlands
and other countries, but these have apparently
disappeared
without
trace.
(Personal
communications)
Braithwaite’s Game (D. A. Braithwaite,1976). Board 10x8; extra pieces are Dames(3-1 leapers); baseline RNDBQKBDNR, kings
on f1/f8. (Copy of U.K. patent application)
Cardinal Super Chess (Proprietary game,
Cardinal Super Chess and Super Checkers,1986). Board 10x10; extra pieces are
Cardinals (move one square diagonally andthen two squares diagonally at right angles
or vice versa); baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10)
RNBCQKCBNR. (Proprietor’s rules leaflet)
Wildebeest Chess (R. Wayne Schmittberger,
1987). Board 11x10; extra pieces are Camels(3-1 leaper) and Wildebeest (N+C); baseline(a1-k1/k10-a10) RNBBQKWCCNR (queens
on e1/g10). Pawns on either 2nd or 3rd rank
may advance as far as 5th: e.p. possible if
move is of more than one square. Promotion to
Q or W. Castling under usual restrictions butwith greater latitude: K may move up to foursquares in either direction, R is brought overadjacent to it. Stalemate wins for the player
giving it. Schmittberger, a former editor ofGames magazine, wrote a paper describing his
approach to chess variant design using
Wildebeest Chess as a model. His method canbe summarized: begin with an idea, then seeka chess context for it (the idea in Wildebeest
Chess was to balance number and types ofriders, such as R and B and Q, and leapers,

New pieces with limited range 135
such as N, Chess and W). Start if necessary
with a complicated game, then simplify it.
Strive for symmetry and balance. (The extra
ranks were to give more freedom to thecamels, avoiding the 11x9 board which would
place too much emphasis on the central
square.) In the array, defend all pawns, avoid
set-ups that lead to early piece exchanges,
seek a set-up in which a variety of openings
are likely to be equally good. Some researchhas been done on the openings, particularly
those starting 1 f5. (Nost-algia 303 and later)
Omega Chess (Proprietary game, Somac Inc;
Daniel Macdonald, 1988). Board 10x10 withfour extra squares, one diagonally adjacent toeach corner square, thus a1/a12, b2-k11,

l1/l12; extra pieces are Champion (moves one
square orthogonally or leaps two squares likeR or B) and wizard (moves one squarediagonally or with a 3-1 leap); array(a1~l1/a12~l12, b2-k2/b11-k11 and inwards)
W~W, CRNBQKBNRC, 10xP. Pawns canmove up to three squares initially. (Cazaux)
Dukes Chess (Proprietary game, Northern
Games; L. and N. Kucher, S. Geutsche, dateunclear). Board 9x9; extra piece is a Duke(moves up to 3 squares in any direction, canleap 1st and 2nd and capture on 2nd or 3rd);baseline (a1-i1) RNBQKDNBR. (Photocopy
of part of manufacturer’s publicity leaflet withmanuscript notes in an unidentified
handwriting; only White’s baseline given)

15.4 Pieces which can move four or more squares
The Game Of Mighty Men (Frank Maus,
1925). Usual board, array, rules, but thepowers of pieces and pawns are exaggerated.
Thus Mighty Ka1 commands 15 squares(bounded by d1-d4-a4), MQa1 27 squares(as Ka1 and the usual file/rank/diagonal
extensions), MRa1 20 squares (rank/file andb3, b4, c2, c4, d2, d3), MBa1 13 squares(diagonal and b3, b4, c2, c4, d2, d3), MNa1 12
squares (b3, b4, b5, c2, c4, c5, d2, d3, d5, e2,e3, e4). Mighty pawns on their initial move
have the additional power of a MQ, thereafterof a MN. A mini-game with monstrous men.
(Chess Amateur, May 1925)
Victrix (A. N. Petrov, 1928). Militarised chessplanned as a series of games. Published in
Irkutsk and subsequently (1929) in Leningrad.
Three games were definitely published:‘Draughts-Chess’ (a 10x10 game with 58
pieces designed to familiarise beginners with
infantry and machine-guns, other pieces being
introduced gradually), ‘Victrix’ (the basic
game as described below), and ‘Civil War’ (afour-handed version). Three further games,‘Multi-topographical’ (map board with terrain
and other features), ‘Street Combat’ (toinclude armoured cars, miners, engineers), and‘Strategy’ (‘main battle’) were announced as‘in preparation’, but so far as can beascertained they were never published.
The basic game. Board 10x10; 30 men aside comprising 1 x Commander-in-Chief (K),

Chief of HQ (Q), Tank Division, Aeroplane, 2
x Artillery (R), Sapper (B), Cavalry (N),Machine-gun, 18 x Infantry (P). A machinegun moves one or two squares in any direction
except along the rank. It can only capture on
diagonal movement. On reaching the end rank
it is promoted to a piece previously lost or, if
agreed beforehand, to a Chief of HQ (Q).
The tank division moves as a K. If it reaches
the end rank it does not promote but the player
may place two additional infantrymen on any
vacant squares in own half of board. If a tankis surrounded on three sides by hostileinfantry, it can be huffed (removed fromboard) although this counts as a move.
The aeroplane is a combined 3-1 and 4-2
leaper, passing over men of either colour.
Infantrymen can move two squares if on
2nd or 3rd rank (even if previously moved
from 2nd to 3rd). Promotion and castling(between Commander-in-Chief and Artillery,
K and R) normal. Array (a1-j1/a10-j10 andinwards) TRNBQKBNRAe, MPPPPPPPPM,
10xP.
The four-handed game uses a 10x10 board
with four 10x3 extensions accommodating anarray identical to that of the basic game.
General rules of play are unchanged. Partners
face each other and, unwontedly, moveconsecutively. Aim is to mate both opponents.
The pieces of a mated player are frozen;
however they retain their power to check, andtherefore to constrain opponents’ kings. A

136 Other games using square lattice boards
player whose king is released from materesumes play. (Personal communication)
Helios (Proprietary game, The Polygon
Corporation; Bert J. Bratt, 1938). 360-squareboard (20x22 with 8x10 centre removed).
A blend of chess, astronomy, and Greek
mythology. Aim is the ‘total eclipse’(checkmate) of the sun-god Helios, whomoves like a king or with a star move as
described below. Other pieces are Mercury(leaps two squares in any direction), Venus(3 squares in any direction, no leaping), Earth(4 squares ditto), Mars (5 squares in a
combination of 4+1, any directions), Jupiter(6 squares as 2+2+2 zigzag, any directions, oras Q), Saturn (as Q but limited to 7 squares),
Uranus (as R but limited to 8 squares),
Neptune (9 squares as 3+3+3 zigzag, any
directions), Pluto (10 squares in any direction,or as K), the Moon (as R), and 2 Nodes (as K).
Only Mercury may leap. In addition, squares
a1/e9/f6/i5 and the corresponding squares inother quadrants are starred; Helios may jumpfrom one baseline star to the other, andMercury between any two stars. In the startingarray, HeMeVEMaJSUNeP occupy alternate
baseline squares from a1 and t22, with themoon at j3/k20 and the nodes at a3/t20 ands3/b20. Capture is by displacement, object
checkmate. (Photocopy of chief part of rulebook) [Text partly editorial]
Wehr-Schach (Rudolf Kuch, 1938). A warsimulation game which coincided with the riseof German militarism under Hitler andenjoyed considerable popularity in its earlyyears. Sets were widely available; Dawson
referred to ‘Nazi chessmen’, but failed to
identify the game (Fairy Chess Review,
December 1945). Booklets, including one ontactics by R. O. Schmeisser, ran to several
editions. Board 11x11 chequered; a1 black;squares b5 and j7 rippled (lakes); diagonal a1k11 is a highway, diagonal k1-a11 a river.
Each side (Red & Blue) has 18 ﬁgurine pieces
composed of a leader (hauptfigur), air forces(2 x ﬁghter, 2 x bomber) and land forces (4 x
artillery, 3 x panzer, 6 x infantry); Lf1,
Fa1/k1, Be1/g1, Ab2/d2 and h2/j2, Pc1/f3/i1,
Ia3/c3/.../k3, Black similarly.
All pieces can move in all directions.
Infantry 1 square but up to 4 on highway;

leader up to 2 squares but confined to ﬁrst
three ranks; panzer up to 3 but up to 4 onhighway; artillery up to 4; air forces up to 5.
Air forces can ﬂy over other pieces except
enemy artillery and air forces. Lakes cannot be
occupied and can be crossed only by airforces. Any piece can occupy or cross a riversquare, but only the air forces can move along
the river. Capture by displacement but
orthogonally only and only if a piece is twice
attacked. The game is over if a leader iscaptured, or any of the ﬁve squares within aplayer’s base area (ﬁrst three ranks) are
occupied by opposing land forces, or either
player is reduced to ﬁve land-based pieces, oreither player loses all six infantry. (Photocopy
of booklet Wehr-Schach)
Chessers [Phillips] (Proprietary game,
Phillips Publishers Inc, 1960). Board 8x8; 10
men a side composed of 1 x King; 2 x Circle;
3 x Triangle; 4 x Square; White array Ka1,
Ca2/b1, Ta3/b2/c1, Sa4/b3/c2/d1, Black
similarly in opposite corner. King moves as inorthochess, Circle one or two squares as Q,
Triangle up to 3 squares as B, Square up to
four squares as R. Capture by displacement,
but a man may capture or check only at its
maximum range (thus a square at d3 cancapture only at h3 or d7); when capturing,
though not when moving ordinarily, a man
may pass over any intervening men. Wineither by checkmate or by occupying arraysquare of opposing K with own K. (Photocopy
of publisher’s rules leaflet)
Rangers Chess (V. R. Parton, 1973). Board
10x10; each side has 20 pieces of which one,
‘ranger one’, is the king and moves exactly
like a king. All the other pieces move likequeens but over a fixed number of squares,
neither more nor less (no leaping), and areaccordingly called ranger two, three, four.
Array (a1-j1/a10/j10) 2233443322, (a2-j2/
a9-j9) 2233413322 or 2233143322. (Enduring
Spirit of Dasapada)Superknights (Adam Sobey, 1988). The
knights are allowed to make two consecutive
moves instead of one, with two restrictions:the ﬁrst move cannot be a check, and no
double move is allowed if any knight isunmoved. Superknights are powerful pieces.

New pieces with limited range 137
Created for a Christmas chess club meet where
the game was applauded. (Note apparently
reporting personal communication, also
Variant Chess 16) [David’s files also record a
Double Knight Chess [Sobey], invented byAdam Sobey for a Christmas club tournament,
which differs in minor detail, but the index
sheets do not include the cross-references
which David normally inserted in the case ofsimilar or related games and I suspect that thesame game has crept in under two different
names. If the games are distinct, it would
appear from Variant Chess 16 that the rules
given here represent the preferred form.]
Twiknight (Jens Nielsen, 1993). Once in agame, and not before move 3, a player may
make a double move with a knight The firstpart of the move may expose the player’s kingto check provided that the second part cancels
it. In a variation due to Ian Richardson, aknight always attacks the enemy king with adouble move even if the player’s double movehas already been used. Several further
variations of detail have been suggested.
(Variant Chess 16) [Text editorial]
Dodeca Chess (Michael Howe, 1994). Board
12x12; extra pieces are Archbishop (B+N),
Marshall (R+N), Cavalier (4-3 leaper),Viscount (N+C), General (B+C), Duke (R+C);
array (a1-l1/a12-l12 and in, centred) VGDV,RCNBAQKMBNCR, 12xP. (Author’s rules
document)
Big Battle (Proprietary game, Big Battle
Games; Keith Morrison with input from New
Zealand chess champion Sarapu, 1990s).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are Princes (moveas Q or N or can leap adjacent man to square
immediately beyond, capturing if applicable);baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10) RNBPrQKPrBNR.
King moves as N or can move up to twosquares in any direction, leaping if desired;queen moves normally but can also leap
adjacent square, as Prince; a knight, on its first
move, can make two orthodox moves,changing direction if desired but first square ofleap must be vacant; rooks and bishops
normal. A pawn, called a sol, can movestraight forward 1, 2 or 3 squares at any stage,e.p. permitted. In castling, the king can move
any number of squares towards the rook andthe rook can move to any square beyond theking, and castling out of or through check ispermitted. Prashant Mistry, Guinness Book ofWorld Records chess endurance record holder,
enthuses ‘Big Battle is undoubtedly superior
to chess in all respects’. (Variant Chess 24)
Toe-to-Toe Chess (Peter Aronson, 2002).
Board 8x8 uncoloured; each side has 1 x king,general, 2 x chariot, elephant, horse, and 8 x
pawn. King orthodox; general one or twosquares as Q; chariot as R but maximum foursquares; elephant one square diagonally in any
direction or one square straight forward; horse
as orthodox N; pawns one square at a time but
if blocked by man of either colour may leap it(no capture) to square immediately beyond if
vacant. Promotion on end rank to any piece
previously captured, but the act of promotion
counts as a move; hence the pawn moves to
the 8th rank at one turn, and promotes at alater turn. Initially White’s pawns are placedon squares a3-d3/e4-h4, Black’s on squares
a5-d5/e6-h6, and the players then take turns to
put their pieces on the board behind theirpawn lines: Black two pieces, White four,Black four, White four, and finally Black two.
Each player, White starting, may now
interchange any two of his men (including
pawns if desired), and this is repeated threetimes (a player may interchange two likemen). Loosely based on Burmese Chess(Sittuyin). (Chess Variant Pages)

Chapter 16
New pieces (3) : Pieces with unlimited range[This chapter introduces pieces which can keep moving until they hit the edge of the board orsome other obstacle, as can the rook, bishop, and queen in orthochess. We restrict ourselves here
to pieces which capture by ‘displacement’ (occupation of the square of the target man); pieces
which capture otherwise, for example by leaping over the target man, will be considered in alater chapter.]
16.1 Pieces with orthogonal or diagonal movement, obstructions respected[This section considers pieces which are variations and developments of the orthochess rook,bishop, and queen.]
Ciccolini’s Game (Giuseppe Ciccolini, 1820).
Board 10x10 (a1 black); extra pieces are
General (moves as Q but when moving
orthogonally can only stop on alternate
squares, thus always staying on one colour)and Elephant (3-2 leaper, see last chapter);baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10) RNGEKQEGNR, thebishops being discarded. Pawns move up to
three squares initially and a pawn that moves
one square may subsequently move two.
Castling is ‘free’, allowing alternative squares
to the K and R, as practised in Italy at thattime. Ciccolini was a strong player and inconsequence his game attracted a measure of
support. (Photocopy of Un Nuovo Giuoco di
Scacchi)Emperor Chess [Lambert] (H. R. Lambert,
1954). Board 12x12; extra pieces are Emperor(as Ciccolini’s Generalabove) andCommander (Q+N); baseline (a1-l1/a12-l12)
RNBEQCKQEBNR. Gollon suggests pawns
have option of moving up to three squares
initially. The game is something of a
misnomer since the emperor has less power
than a queen or commander. (Correspondence
between John Gollon and Philip Cohen)
Mideast Chess (originator unknown, 1960s?).
Board 10x10, 16 pieces plus 10 pawns per
side; extra pieces are Cavalier (moves any
number of squares orthogonally followed by
one diagonally or one diagonally followed byany number orthogonally, no leaping), Castle(leaps as N or two squares as R or B),

Chevalier (3-1 leaper), Courtier (4-3 leaper);array (a1-j1/a10-j10 and inwards) Cr-ChCasCas-Ch-Cr, RNBCavQKCavBNR, 10xP.
Originated in Santa Cruz county, California,
also played in Hawaii. (Correspondence
between John Gollon and Philip Cohen)
Edgehog Chess [Driver] (John Driver, 1966).
Usual set-up but queens must always begin or
end a move on the edge of the board; hence if
on a perimeter square a queen can movenormally. (British Chess Magazine, February1966) [According to Anthony Dickins in
A Guide to Fairy Chess, the piece wasinvented to fit the name.]
Gutzwiller’s Chess (James Gutzwiller, 1969).
Developed by Cincinatti Chess League when
Gutzwiller mated in a league match after
inadvertently transferring a bishop move to an
adjacent diagonal. Bishops move only on
diagonals through adjacent orthogonalsquares, and hence change square colour at
every move. (Manuscript note presumably
deriving from personal communication)
Hobbler Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). Queens,rooks and bishops are ‘hobbled’ - they cannot
move one square, only two or more. Hobbled
pieces cannot vault nor capture adjacent men.
(Chess Spectrum Newsletter)
Archer Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). Board
7x7; rooks are hobbled (see above); bishops
are replaced by Archers (move one squareNew pieces with unlimited range 139
orthogonally or two squares diagonally,
leaping intervening square); baseline (a1g1/a7-g7) RNAKANR. An archer is about
equivalent to a knight; two archers cancheckmate. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter)
Warrior Chess [Paletta] (Tony Paletta,
1980). Board 7x7; no bishops, but each side
has a Warrior which moves one squareorthogonally (where it may not stop) andthen diagonally as a bishop (no leaping),
thus always changing square colour. Baseline(a1-g1/a7-g7) RNQKWNR. (Chess Spectrum
Newsletter)promotes to piece lost on 10th; F can promote
to Gu on 10th rank. No castling. Variations:(a) 12x12 board (suggested by LeLand
Lankford); (b) 12x12 board but pieces set up
on ranks 2/11 inwards; (c) 12x14 board, pieces
on ranks 2/13 inwards. Inspired by Timur’s
Great Chess (see chapter 29), theincorporation of whose pawns is not included
as official due to possible set construction
problems but is ‘strongly recommended’.
(Chess Variant Pages) [Text revised. Not onlyis the name deliberately misspelt, but the dateof invention is given as ‘April 1, 1980’;
I cannot help feeling suspicious...]Renniassance Chess [Greenwood], also
known as Rennchess (Eric Greenwood, 1980).
Name deliberately misspelt. Board 12x10;
extra pieces are Guard (as K but not subject tocheck), Fox (one square orthogonally), Page
(K+N), Squire (one or two squares in any
direction, may leap), Castle (as N or exactly
two squares in any direction, may leap),
General (3-1 leaper), Archbishop (B+N),
Nobleman (R+N), Prince (Q+N), Cavalier (Rthen one square as B, or one square as B thenas R), Duke (B then one square as R, or one
square as R then as B); array (a1-l1/l10-a10
and inwards, centred) Ge-Pr-DSPaCav-Q-Ge,
RNCasBAGuKNBCasNR, 12xP, FF (kings on
g2/f9). P can promote to F on 9th rank,

Modern American Chess (Proprietary game,
Modern American Chess Inc, 1984). Board
10x10; extra men are Archbishop (moves asbishop but may also move to an adjacentempty square of the opposite colour and cancontinue from that square, on the same move,as a bishop ‘in order to capture an opponent’s
piece’) and Power Pawn (as ordinary pawn but
promotes to ‘any two Chessmen that theplayer desires, except the King’); array(a1-j1/a10-j10 and inwards) ARNBQKBNRA,
PwPPPPPPPPPw. The 60 squares between thetwo forces are described as being ‘reminiscentof a tournament battlefield of the ancient
Knights’. (Photocopy of manufacturer’s rules
leaflet)16.2 Pieces with oblique movement, obstructions respected
The ‘nightrider’, traditionally represented byan inverted knight, moves in straight lines
through squares a knight’s move apart :+dwdwd+ddwdwdwdw
w#wdw#wd
dwdwdwdw
wd+d+dw#
d+dwd+dw
wdwHwdwd
d+dwd+dw
It was invented by T. R. Dawson for use inproblems (Die Schwalbe, February 1925), butthere have been two forms of Nightrider
Chess. In the simpler, knights are replaced bynightriders in the array, and pawns may
promote to nightriders but not to knights(Nost-algia 150). In the version developed by
V. R. Parton in the 1950s, the knights areomitted altogether (hence only 14 men a side),
the queens are replaced by nightriders,promotion is only to nightrider, and the pawns
start on the third rank to prevent immediate
forays by the nightriders. Boyer described theresulting game as ‘very attractive’ (Nouveaux
Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants).
[It was the nightrider which seems to haveprompted David’s first appearance in the chess
literature, as the composer of a simple but neatproblem which appeared in Fairy Chess
Review in April 1941. David would not havethanked me for reproducing this problem here,
but it was typical of the early work ofsomebody who was going to become good.]140 Other games using square lattice boards
We have called the knight a ‘2-1 leaper’,and the nightrider might be called a ‘2-1
rider’. From it, Dawson developed Five-Rider
Promotion (British Chess Federation problem
tourney 21, 1936) in which promotion ispossible to any of the five basic riders which
can take a two-step or longer ride on the 8x8
board (rook, bishop, nightrider, 3-1 rider, 3-2
rider) but not to the orthochess queen or
knight. [In the first edition, David gave thisunder the name ‘Five-Rider Chess’, but no
initial array was specified and I am not awarethat anyone has ever tried to play it as a game.
Some of the problems are remarkable: forexample, after White’s first move, Black can
promote a pawn, and whichever of the fiveriders he chooses White’s counter is topromote a pawn of his own to exactly thesame rider. But to Dawson, this sort of thing
was merely a technical exercise.]In addition, we can imagine a ‘2-0 rider’
which skips along files and ranks in twos
ignoring anything on the intervening squares,a ‘3-0 rider’ which skips along in threes, and a‘2-2 rider’ and ‘3-3 rider’ which skip along the
diagonals similarly. Putting all these together
gives Ninerider Chess (originator unclear,1979). Kings and pawns are unchanged, butother pieces are replaced by riders: knights bynightriders, rooks by composite 1-0/2-0 riders(pieces which can move either as 1-0 riders or
as 2-0 riders), bishops by composite 1-1/2-2
riders, and queens by composite 3-0/3-1/3-2/
3-3 riders (Philip Cohen recommended
moving the 3-0 rider and 3-3 rider powers to
the rook and bishop respectively). Thus in thenormal starting position White could playh1xh7 (moving as a 2-0 rider and henceskipping over the pawn at h2) and threaten toplay h7xh8 as a 1-0 rider, and if Black himself
captured by h7xh8 White could mate by d1xh7(moving as a 3-2 rider and giving mate as a
3-1 rider). Wayne Schmittberger suggested
reversing the black K and Q (Nost-algia 234).

Wolf Chess (Arno von Wilpert, 1943). Board
8x10; extra pieces are Wolf (R+N), Fox(B+N), Nightrider as above, Sergeant (seebelow); KNrBBRFWQ on a1-h1/h10-a10(kings on a1/h10), PSSPPSSP on ranks 2/9,
further pawns on b3/c3/f3/g3 and b8/c8/f8/g8.
A sergeant moves and captures one squarediagonally or straight forward. An unmoved P
or S can advance two squares. Unlike a P, an S
cannot capture e.p. P and S promote to any
array piece; a P can promote in addition to an
Elephant (Q+N). No castling. A number ofcorrespondence matches and tournaments
have been played, and what were claimed tobe the ﬁrst international over-the-board
matches in a chess variant were played in
September 1960 between Paris and Augsburg.
The German side won both.
Wolf Chess appears to suffer from two
drawbacks. Firstly, the thicket of pawns
hampers quick development; and secondly,with the kings in opposite corners and the
major pieces facing them in the array, strategy
tends to be stereotyped with the players
perforce attacking on opposite wings.
(Photocopy of booklet Wolf-Schach)
Twenty-First Century Chess [Trone] (Bruce
Trone, 1991) Q has added power of N, Bs
move like Qs, Ns are Nightriders (see above),pawns can move one square sideways or
backwards. (Unprovenanced note presumably
deriving from personal communication)
Cavalier Chess (Fergus Duniho, 1998). Board
8x8; K moves as K+N; extra pieces are
Marshall (R+N), Paladin (B+N), Nightrider(as above), Cavalier (as N but one squareorthogonally followed by one diagonally, andthe intervening square must be empty); no
pawns, but cavaliers promote to file piece onreaching the 8th rank (any piece in the case of
the e-file); array (a1-h1/a8-h8 and inwards)
MNrPQKPNrM, 8xC. (Chess Variant Pages)

16.3 Reflecting pieces
Billiards Chess, also known as Reflection
Chess [Billiards] and Snooker Chess (origins
unknown). The edges of the board serve as‘cushions’ off which pieces rebound in themanner of billiard balls, the rebound being
part of the move and the angle of reflection

equalling the angle of incidence. In its virgin
form, only bishops and queens reflected. In theearly 1950s, Jacques Berthoumeau developed
a widely played version in which all men canreflect (Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes). The king rebounds by single

New pieces with unlimited range 141
squares (Kg3-h2-g1-f2), a pawn can only do
so in capturing (bxa6-b7), a knight reﬂects
either at an acute or obtuse angle (Nc2-a3-c4,
Nb2-a4-b6) but cannot rebound from a corner.
A capture on an edge square does not
terminate a move, a capture other than on anedge square does, and a move that ends on thesquare it started is always illegal unless a
capture is made in the process. The maximum
number of captures possible in a single moveis ﬁve (for Q or B), four on the edge and one
in the centre. Rooks are the lame pieces of thegame but can sometimes reﬂect to advantage
in making an edge-capture. Subsequently
Berthoumeau amended his game (Nouveaux
Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants). The principalchanges required that only one capture could
be made on a move (though if on an edge
square it could be followed by rebounds), a
man did not command squares beyond an edge
piece which it could capture, the king could
not rebound through check, and the knight’s
power was enhanced to allow it to bounce outof a corner (Nc2-a1-b3) and also to have adouble rebound (Nb4-a6-b8-c6) including asingle capture on any of these squares.
Billiards Chess has been played in AISE in
conjunction with Progressive and Losing
Chess (Eteroscacco 8, 9, and later). Philip
Cohen offered an 8x7 variant with pawns
restricted to a single-step move (Nost-algia193). The feature of this board is that thebishops can command every square. Bouncy
Chess (Patrick Donovan and Paul Novak,
1980s) allows knights to reﬂect at any angle(Variant Chess 3). Lambeth Conference(Adam Sobey, 1980s) is an attenuated version
in which only bishops reflect (the Lambeth
Conference is a decennial convocation of
Anglican bishops). It was played at Haslemere
Chess Club Christmas gatherings, and‘acclaimed’ (note in David’s files).
[David described this as ‘originally aproblem theme, later played as a game’, butwhen publishing some original problems in
The Problemist Fairy Supplement in 1932
Dawson wrote that the ‘reflecting bishop’ hadbeen suggested previously but that so far as heknew it had not hitherto been used inproblems. So it would seem that the players
were there first.]
Pocket Chess, also known as Dutch Billiards(J. B. Verdonk, 1949). A form of Billiards
Chess in which rebounds are limited to Q and
B. A piece played into a corner square(pocketed) is at once re-spotted (replaced on
its original square of the same colour). Anypiece of either colour occupying the originalsquare is removed from play. (Fairy Chess
Review, November 1949, also Stone)
Ricochet Chess (Philip Cohen, 1968,
subsequently modified). A form of Billiards
Chess in which men rebound off other men as
well as off the board edges. A number of subvariants were later developed to tame the wild
play generated by the original rules: stop on a
capture, or rebound only from enemy men or
board edges, or only from friendly men or
board edges, or only from pieces and not fromboard edges, or make not more than a given
number of rebounds in a move. (Author’s
rules sheet)
Bates’s Game (Jim Bates and Paul Schooling,1961). Board 12x12; pieces are 1 x K,
Empress (Q+N), 2 x Archbishop (reflecting
bishop), Deacon (B+N), Q, Squire (composite
3-2/3-0/2-1 leaper), Vizier (R+N), 4 x R, B, N,
12 x P; array (a1-l1/l12-a12 and inwards)
VSADQKEQDASV,RNBRNBBNRBNR,
12xP. P as in orthochess except that initially it
can move up to three squares forward or one
back. K moves twice as orthochess K and can
only cross check to take the checking piece. If
K is in check with only one escape square, it ismate. Castling and e.p. possible. Persistently
played within a small group; there was someresearch, and the array underwent changes.
(Manuscript notes presumably deriving frompersonal communication)
Knightrider Bouncy (Stuart Conquest, 1983).
Knightriders (spelt with an initial K but having
the same move as the nightrider we havealready met) replace knights in the starting
position. The name of the piece was takenfrom a Batman-like character in a comic, andits movement conceived in ignorance of theuse of such a piece by problemists for overhalf a century. In Knightrider Bouncy,
knightriders can bounce off board edges,changing direction as desired as many times as
they like during a move provided squares
visited are vacant. If Black tries to pin White142 Other games using square lattice boards
Krd2 against White Ke1 by playing Qc3,
White can escape by Krxc3 (via b1) provided
that b1 is empty. Queens and bishops are also
reﬂected. The game developed a small cultfollowing and a ‘World Championship’.
The question was raised at a Hastings Chess
Club meeting whether this ‘non-chess’ activity
should be permitted.
A knightrider is probably stronger than aqueen (K+Kr mate a bare king) but aweakness of the game is that the knightriders
are inclined to be exchanged. Conquest
suggests this could be overcome by making
them immune to capture by each other. Thereis no forced win for White; for instance,
1 Krb1-a3-c4 is not mate on account of 1...d6.
(Manuscript note presumably deriving frompersonal communication)
Camelot Chess (Walter Hagemann, dateunclear). Board 8x12 (a1 black) with invisible
bumper bar surrounding the board off which
Q, B, N rebound. Array as orthochessadvanced one rank, K and Q reversed (so firstrank clear, Q on own colour). Pawns may
move up to three squares initially. The bumper
bar is at a half-square’s distance from theboard. Thus Bc1 moves via a3 to a5 etc.
Similarly, Na1 via a2 to a4 or via b1 to d1.
Variations: Horsey Camelot Chess (kings andqueens, and their pawns, have their normal

starting squares, and queens have added knight
powers); Maad Camelot Chess (as Horsey
Camelot Chess, and rooks also, though nottheir pawns, have their normal starting
squares, and have added knight powers).
(Author’s
rulesheet,
undatedbut
typographical style suggests late 1970s or
1980s) [Text revised. The spelling ‘Maad’ inthe source, possibly in error, possibly toimitate the neighing of a horse. David thought
it should be corrected to ‘Mad’; I am not sosure.]
Rollerball (J.-L. Cazaux, 1998). Board 7x7
less central nine squares; PBR on c1-e1, PKR
on c2-e2, Black mirrored about the centre. R
one square only backwards but as normal
forwards or sideways, and in addition a rookon the edge can bounce once off a cornersquare and come off at right angles, thus arook on b1 covers the whole a and b files (theboard edges have little 45-degree insets acrossthe corners to make this clear). B one square
only backwards but as normal forwards, one
bounce allowed off a side wall (external orinternal). P moves and captures one squarestraight or diagonally forward, promotes to R
or B on an opposing pawn’s start square. Win
by checkmate or getting K clockwise (only) toopposing K square. (Chess Variant Pages)[Text revised]16.4 Other pieces which change direction in mid-moveHaffner’s Chess (Don Haffner, 1969). Board
10x8; extra pieces are Archbishops, whichmove like bishops but must make a right-angle
turn to move or capture; baseline (a1-j1/a8-j8)
RNBAQKABNR. (Nost-algia 112)are not affected except that pawns promote on
end squares of any of the 16 ﬁles. A king is
not in check from a zonal piece unless the two
are in a straight line (knights excepted).
(Photocopy of rules booklet)

Zonal Chess (Proprietary game, Check MateGames Corp, 1970). 104-square board madeup from a normal 8x8 board (now e1-l8) andtwo 20-square triangular zones d1-a4-a5-d8
and m1-p4-p5-m8; usual array on files e-l plus
additional pawns on d2/7 and m2/7. The foursquares d1/8 and m1/8 are neutral. Usual rules
except that Q, R or B can make any number ofmoves within a zone (but not when moving
into it), a move terminating on (1) a capture;(2) exit from the zone (even if the piece moves
directly across into the other zone); or (3)occupation of a neutral square. The other men

Right-Angle Chess (David Moeser, 1971).
The ranks and files of the 8x8 board areconsidered to be joined so as to form new lines(Flanks) for orthogonal-moving line-pieces(Qs and Rs). There are 14 ﬂanks hinged on the
a1-h8 diagonal, a8-a1-h1, b8-b2-h2, etc, anda8-h8-h1, a7-g7-g1, etc, but only two corners(a8 and h1). All-Angle Chess (David Moeser
and James Gutzwiller, 1971) is the same witha further 14 flanks hinged on the a8-h1
diagonal. (Neue Chess 6/7) [Right-Angle
Chess was the mature form of the game whichappeared in the first edition as TruncatedNew pieces with unlimited range 143
Pseudosphere or TPS Chess. It was apparently
found simpler to play on an ordinary board
and allow certain moves at right angles than todraw a two-dimensional representation of atruncated pseudosphere and then try to workout where the lines went.]
Elbow Chess (G. Balbo, 1975). Pieces apartfrom the king are obliged to make a rightangle turn midway through a move or capture.
Thus a rook moves only to squares of its own
colour (e.g. Ra1-a5 via c3). A bishop mustmove first along a rank, then a file, or viceversa (e.g. Bc1-f4 via f1 or c4). A knight’s
move is a compromise: one square on the rank
then two on the file, or vice versa. The pawn
moves two squares at a time (e.g. e2-e4 via d3
or f3, e.p. allowed on the elbow square). Pawn
captures are normal. Note that a pawn whichmakes an odd number of captures cannot
promote. Squares traversed must be vacant, so
Ra1-a3 is possible only if b2 is vacant;whether or not a2 is occupied is immaterial.
Castling allowed as under normal gameconditions except that the rook on a1 moves
one square further via the third rank. (LeCourrier des Echecs, April 1976)
Circuit Chess, also known as “Round
Chess” [Schwind] (Rudolf Schwind, 1977).
Co-existent with the 8x8 board there are four
circuits, respectively of 28 (perimetersquares), 20, 12 and 4 (centre squares).
Orthochess, but in addition a Q or R can travel
any distance round a circuit provided the moveis over vacant squares. Castling is perilous.
(Rochade 157) [Schwind called the game“Round Chess” in inverted commas because it
arose by taking an idea from a chess game ona round board, but I think this name will cause
confusion with the genuine round-board
games to appear later and I have taken theliberty of suggesting an alternative.]
Chess on Four Boards (Ralph Betza, 1996).
Board 16x16; extra pieces are Archbishop(B+N), Chancellor (R+N), Elephant (one or
two steps diagonally, may leap, or one steporthogonally), Superknight (as knight but also
3-1 and 3-2), Unicorn (one step diagonally or
two orthogonally, may leap), and Rose as
described below; baseline (a1-p1/a16-p16)
RNUEBRoCQKMSBEUNR. The Rose makes
a sequence of knight moves as long as the roadis clear, veering consistently to left or rightafter each. On a sufficiently large andotherwise empty board, a rose on g7 can moveto e8 and then on to c7, b5, c3, e2, g3, h5, andback to g7, or on to d10, e12, g13, i12, j10, i8,and again back to g7, and similarly after eachof its other initial jumps; a drawing of theresulting pattern makes the name obvious.
It was invented by Robert Meignant in 1968
for use in problems. (Cazaux) [Text editorial]16.5 Pieces which ignore obstacles
Aviation (L. Legan, 1913). Usual array exceptthat b- and g-pawns on both sides are replaced
by Aviators. Aviators behave as bishops but
can also ﬂy over any number of men of either
colour on the diagonal either to move or
capture. An aviator on its start square can only
be captured by a pawn (getting over the
awkward fact that the aviators attack one
another in the starting position). All four rooks
are en prise initially, but a rook would be apoor exchange for an aviator. Played in Paris
during World War I. (Chess Amateur,
February 1922)

by Graham Taylor in the March 1990 British
Chess Magazine as having been invented byhimself in 1958, but George Jelliss pointed outthat T. R. Dawson had composed a problem tothis or a similar rule in 1913: White Ka7, Rc7,
Bd7, Pb7/a2 (5), Black Ka5, Pa3 (2), mate in 2
by 1 b8(N) Kb4 2 Nc6. There have been otherreinventions subsequently. According toTaylor, inexperienced players often start
1 Qh5+ intending 1...g6 2 Qe5 ‘mate’, butthere are two objections: Black can block thecheck from e5 by playing 2...Be6, and in any
case he can meet 1 Qh5+ by 1...Rxh5.]

X-Ray Chess (origins unclear, see below).
Line-moving pieces, including a pawn making
its two-step move, may pass through one
intervening man. [X-Ray Chess was claimed

Dabbabante Chess (V. R. Parton, 1971).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are Dabbabantes,
which move like a rook but to every second
square, so staying on squares of one colour,144 Other games using square lattice boards
and can pass over occupied squares even of
the colour on which they travel; array(a2-j2/j9-a9 and inwards, end ranks empty)
RNDBQKBDNR, 10xP. (100 Squares for
Chess and Damante)
Lighthouse Chess (Hans Muthopp, 1976).
Queens may leap pawns but not pieces. This
time 1 Qh5 does work, being indeed mate, andthe array needs adjustment. (Neue Chess 10)
Vault Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). In addition
to their usual powers, queens, rooks andbishops have the option when moving (notcapturing) of vaulting over a single man of
their own colour and landing any number ofvacant squares beyond. The powers of theother chessmen are not affected. (Chess
Spectrum Newsletter)

Screen Chess [Paletta] (Tony Paletta, 1980).
In addition to their usual powers, knights act
as screens for friendly line pieces (Q, R, B).
Suppose White Ba1/Ne5, Black Bh8: Ba1
attacks Bh8 but not vice versa. Conditions for
castling must take account of screened pieces.
(Chess Spectrum Newsletter)
Separate Realms Chess (Mike Nelson andPeter Aronson, 2002). Board 8x8; standard
array. Movement and capturing vary. K moves
one square diagonally, captures one squareorthogonally. R moves in two-squareorthogonal leaps, B in two-square diagonalleaps, Q as R+B; all three pieces capture as inorthochess. N moves or captures like a N
forward or backwards (four squares) but can
only capture sideways (4 squares). Pawns are
orthodox. (Chess Variant Pages)

16.6 Pieces which exploit obstacles
Grasshopper Chess. The Grasshopper moves
on queen lines, leaping the ﬁrst man of either
colour it encounters and landing on the square
immediately beyond (a G on an empty board
cannot move). It was invented by T. R.
Dawson in 1913 for use in problems, but twogames using it have evolved. In the simpler,
the queens in the normal array are replaced bygrasshoppers. In the version developed by
J. Boyer in the 1950s, the back ranks are
standard, there are 8xG on ranks 2/7, and 8xP
on ranks 3/6 (no two-step move). (Nouveaux
Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants)

wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdw1P0
dwdwdKdk
A problem by V. Onitiu, Die Schwalbe 1929.
The inverted queen on f2 denotes a
grasshopper. White mates in 6 by 1 g3 (giving
Black a move, and forcing him to play it since
he has no other) Gh4 2 g4 Gf4 3 g5 Gh6 4 g6
Gf6 5 g7 Gh8 6 gxh8(G)!

Columbia
CannonChess(CCC)(cooperative creation, 1965). Usual board andmen; kings and pawns behave normally. Linepieces (Q, R, B) move by leaping over a manof either colour to any square beyond provided
the way is clear, and if the first man beyond is
hostile it can be captured or checked.
‘Knights’ are knights only in name; they
move, capture and check as rooks but one or
two squares only, and when moving two
squares they may leap the ﬁrst. The gametends to violence in the opening stages, but as
the forces are diminished so also is the powerof the remaining line pieces, and the knights,
the most powerful pieces on the board, takeover. Promotion to knight is usual. Subsequent
opening analysis found that 1 Qb3, attacking
both knights, gave White too big anadvantage, and this was overcome (1975) byreversing the black K and Q in the array.
In the ending, K+N can mate a K. (Nost-algia
168, 179, and later)
Twenty-First Century Chess [Jelliss](George Jelliss, 1991, revised 1998). Board
10x9; 30 men a side, the basic idea being ‘toemploy all the R, B, and N-line riders andhoppers’. We have already met theGrasshopper, which acts along Q-lines, and an
equivalent piece can be defined along any
straight line (so if there is a Nightriderhopper

New pieces with unlimited range 145
on a1, nothing on b3, and a man of either
colour on c5, the Nrh can ride up to c5, jumpover it, and land on d7, capturing any enemy
man that may be there). Additionally, thegame uses an Equihopper, which uses a man at
any distance as a pivot and lands the same
distance away on the far side of it.
Baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10) R, Nr, B, R+Nr, Q,
K, B+Nr, B, Nr, R, all being riders apart fromthe K; corresponding hoppers on next rank in,with an E in front of the K; third rank 10xP.

Pawns can move two squares at any time (e.p.
permitted) and promote on either of the last
two ranks; promotion to the piece which
occupied that square initially (promotion on
K-square to Q+Nr). Castling permitted,
randomized start if preferred. In the original
formulation, the K had the added power of an
E and the man in front of it was a Lion (as G
but can ride on to any square beyond the man
hopped), but this was changed in the later
version. (Variant Chess 6/28) [Text revised]16.7 Pieces which move normally but must jump to capture
Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) will appear inchapter 27, but its Pao or Cannon has inspired
the invention of similar pieces in games
otherwise derived from Western chess and it isconveniently described here. It moves as arook, but can capture only if there is exactly
one man between it and its target.

wdwdkgn4
dwdw0wdpwdw)w)wd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdR
In the diagram, the upturned rook at h1
represents a cannon. It can move to e1, andthis is check; the pawn on e7 can nullify thecheck by capturing and moving off the file,
but it cannot do so by moving along it. The
cannon cannot take the pawn on h7, but it cantake the rook on h8, and by doing so it will pin
both the knight and the bishop.
Akenhead’s Chess (named for J. Akenhead,
1947, but partly anticipated by Z. Mach in1939). Usual array but only K behavesnormally. Q, R, B move as normal except tocapture, but to capture they must leap over aman (not more) of either colour to any squarebeyond on the same line. N moves as normal
but without leaping, moving first one squareorthogonally, then one diagonally. The pawns
are Berolina pawns, moving diagonally andcapturing straight ahead. Akenhead andDawson composed a large number of gametasks (both sides conspire to achieve theresult). The family is popular with problem
composers. (Fairy Chess Review, November
1939 and April 1947) [The R is the cannon(Pao) of xiangqi, which we have just met.
The Q and B have no parallels in xiangqi,
but Mach introduced the B with the name‘Vao’ and ‘Leo’ was subsequently coined for
the Q.]
Lion Chess (J. Boyer, 1950s). Usual array; K,
N, P orthodox, Q, R, B respectively as Leo,
Pao, Vao in Akenhead’s Chess above. Pawns
promote to orthochess pieces only. (Nouveaux
Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants)
Cohen’s Error Chess (Philip Cohen, 1977).
In his Olla Podrida column in Nost-algia 210,
Philip Cohen published the rules of Columbia
Cannon Chess (see previous section) but
confused them with Lion Chess, thereby
giving birth to a not unattractive hybrid inwhich the line pieces move as in Lion Chess(and Akenhead’s Chess) and everything else is
as in CCC.
Decimal Oriental Chess (V. R. Parton, 1971).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are Minister (moves
one square diagonally), Elephant (leaps two
squares diagonally), Camel (3-1 leaper),Cannon (as Pao above); K is known as
Commander, R as Chariot; array (a1-j1/j10a10 and inwards) ChCnCmEMCoECmCnCh,
PPNPPPPNPP. (100 Squares for Chess andDamante) [David described this game in thefirst edition as ‘Pseudo-Xiangqi’, but in truth
the differences seem more significant than thesimilarities.]

146 Other games using square lattice boards
Shako, also known as Uniﬁed Chess (J.-L.
Cazaux, 1990). Board 10x10; extra pieces are
Elephant (moves one or two squares
diagonally, may leap intervening square) andCannon (as above); CC on a1/j1 and a10/j10,
ERNBQKBNRE on ranks 2/9, 10xP on ranks
3/8. The name means chess in Esperanto.
(Cazaux)
Toulousain Chess (Jean-Louis Cazaux,2003). Board 12x12 (a1 black); extra men are
Gryphon (moves one square as B, then
optionally any number of squares as R), Lion(as K, or as N, or two squares orthogonally,
jumping permitted), Cannon (as above),
Elephant (one or two squares diagonally,
jumping permitted), Camel (3-1 leaper),Corporal (see below); array (a1-l1/a12-l12 andinwards) CnCmCoCo...CoCoCmCn (8xCo),
ERNBGKQLBNRE, 12xP. Pawn as inorthochess but with two-step move allowed at
any time; Corporal as pawn but may also

advance one square diagonally without
capturing. Pawn and Corporal promote on thelast row to Q, Lion, or Gryphon, and may takeeach other en passant. Board coloured red andblack in honour of Toulouse rugby club.
(Chess Variant Pages) [Text editorial][David’s files also include a description by
George Dekle Sr of a ‘Kriegsfield Chess’ onan 11x11 board with 2 x alﬁl (leaps two
squares diagonally), 2 x cannon as above, nopawn-two, promotion to B only, baseline
RNACBKBCANR, and he reported this in thefirst edition as one of two games called‘Kriegsfeld Chess’. However, I have to saythat I find it completely unbelievable, and I
have taken it upon myself to omit the game.
The name is curiously bilingual, and the rules
are so eccentric as to suggest mistranscription
or misunderstanding somewhere along theline. If the game had genuinely existed, there
would be a reference to it somewhere else.]

Chapter 17
Unorthodoxy relating to capture[We have already met some unorthodox forms of capture in Chapter 3, but in that chapter the
moves of the men were orthodox and the same altered capturing ability normally applied to allof them. The present chapter is much more general. The moves of some of the men may beunorthodox, the alteration in capturing power may be peculiar to the individual piece, and pieces
with different powers may coexist in the same game. The chapter also covers some otherunorthodox features relating to capture.]
17.1 Capture by leaping over the target piece
Leapfrog Chess (Bruce Zimov, 1976). A
combination of chess and draughts (checkers)
in which men move by leaping any distance inany Q-direction and capture by leaping to
the square immediately beyond the screen.
The king is vulnerable to a leap capture aswell as to an orthochess attack, even though
the latter cannot be executed since it doesn’t
involve a leap. (World Game Review 10)
Airplane Chess (R. Wayne Schmittberger,
1981). Board 10x10; extra pieces are a
Cardinal (B+N), a Minister (R+N), and two
Airplanes which move like queens regardlessof the number or colour of men on the line of
movement. An airplane captures by moving toa vacant square immediately beyond its
victim. Array (a1-j1/a10-j10 and inwards,
centred) RACBQKBMAR, PPPPNNPPPP,
PP. Pawns may advance directly to the ﬁfth
rank and can be captured en passant on any
square they pass over. The king moves threesquares towards either rook to castle. (Nostalgia 256)
Congo (Demian Freeling, 1982). Board 7x7,
central rank is a river; men are 1 x Lion (royal
piece), Giraffe, Ape, Crocodile, Zebra, 2 x
Elephant, 7 x Pawn; baseline (a1-g1/a7-g7)
GAELECZ. Lion moves as K and is confinedto the middle three files on its own side of theriver, but if it ‘sees’ the enemy lion either
diagonally across the river or down a file withno intervening piece of either colour it may
capture it. Ape moves as K, captures bymoving two squares orthogonally or
diagonally (may leap). Giraffe moves as K,

captures as an omnidirectional draughtsman
with the right to multiple captures (captured
pieces are not removed before the move iscompleted but no man may be jumped twice).
Elephant moves one or two squares
orthogonally, may leap. Zebra moves asknight. Crocodile moves and captures as K,
and also as R towards or within the river.
Pawn moves one or two squares straight ordiagonally ahead and captures similarly, whenacross the river may move but not capture one
or two squares straight back, promotes on theend rank to Superpawn, which has the
additional power of moving and capturing
sideways and can also retreat two squares
backwards either diagonally or vertically.
A piece other than a crocodile which ends its
move in the river ‘drowns’ (is removed fromplay) if it does not leave the river on thefollowing turn. Object is to capture the lion.
(Personal communication)
Edgehog Chess [Stone] (Jed Stone, 1982).
Normal array, but rooks are Edgehogs, knights
are Nightriders, bishops are Reflecting
Bishops and queens are Locusts. Kings andpawns are normal. An Edgehog in this gamemoves like a queen but if on a perimetersquare must move to a non-perimeter squareand vice versa (thus it cannot give a back-rank
check). Nightriders move as a succession ofknight moves but not over occupied squares;
reflecting bishops can bounce off edge squares(RBc1-a3-f8-h6-c1); locusts move on queenlines but only to capture, and do so by leaping
a hostile man to a vacant square immediately
beyond. (Stone)

148 Other games using square lattice boards
Byelorussian Cheskers (N. N. Grushevsky
and P. A. Shkludov, 1984). A combination ofchess and Russian draughts. Board 8x8, arrayrjb1kjnj
jpjpjpjp
pjpjpjpj
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
fPfPfPfP
PfPfPfPf
fNfQIBfR(eleven draughtsmen). Chess pieces behave
normally; draughtsmen move and capture as
Russian draughtsmen (move one squarediagonally forward, capture by jumping
forward or backward over a diagonallyadjacent man to an empty square immediately
beyond), promoting to Damka on end rank.
A damka moves like a bishop and captures byleaping its victim to any empty square beyond.
Capturing by a draughtsman or damka iscompulsory but a player can choose between
alternatives. A draughts capture takes
precedence over a check. If a draughtsman,after making a capture, has another subsequentcapture available, it must continue capturing.
If a draughtsman promotes with a capture,
it must continue to capture as a damka if able
to do so. Chess pieces can capture
draughtsmen and vice versa. In certain
circumstances, kings can even mate kings.
The object remains checkmate. (Personalcommunication)
Chivalry Chess (George Dekle Sr, 1986).
Combination of halma and chess. In addition
to their normal powers of movement, allpieces may make a leap or series of leaps overfriendly men. Similarly, all pieces may captureby leaping over one or more enemy men. A
compound leap (a leap or series of leaps
followed by a capture or series of captures)
can only be made by a king or knight. Knights
leap like a king or queen: orthogonally or
diagonally. Other pieces leap as they move;
pawns diagonally forward only. Kings may
not be leaped. Win by checkmate, occupying
opponent’s king square (e1/e8) or baring king.
(Inventor’s rule sheet)

Jesskers (Jesse Del Quadro, 1988). A
marriage of chess and draughts (checkers). Set
draughtsmen in starting arrangement on 8x8
board, then chessmen ditto. Half the chessmen
will be on top of draughtsmen. All men moveas in their respective games. A chessman and adraughtsman may occupy the same square ifof the same colour, but both are captured if
leapt by opponent’s draughtsman or displacedby chessman. Object is to mate opponent’s(chess) king. (Chess Life, January 1989)
Shashmaty (lit. Draughts-chess), also known
as Moscovitchs’ Game (Alexander andDimitri Moscovitch, 1989). A game thatcombines chess and draughts with a minimumof modification. Board 8x8; each side has 12
chessmen (four pawns) and 12 draughtsmen :e4eie1e4
hegegehee0e0e0e0dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd)a)a)a)aaHaGaGaH$a!aIa$a
Draughtsmen move, capture and promote as indraughts (move one square diagonallyforward; capture by leaping one or more men
forward only; promote to draughts king thatmoves/captures as draughtsman but in any
direction). Chessmen move and capture(including draughtsmen) normally, but only
capture chessmen on black squares; however a
king can be checked on either colour.
Draughtsmen can capture both chess anddraughtsmen and also give check. Capture
between draughtsmen is compulsory, but adraughtsman is not obliged to capture achessman. Pawns move one square only.
A compulsory draughts capture that leaves
one’s own king in check loses. Strategy would
appear to be limited on account of the inherent
black-square weaknesses of both sides.
(Inventor’s rules sheets)
Jumping Chess (Peter Aronson, 2000). Board
10x10, but normal set of men and normal
array on central 8x8 and perimeter squares

Unorthodoxy relating to capture 149
empty. Men capture by leaping as indraughts/checkers. Knights capture on eitherof the two squares crossed (orthogonal or
diagonal, but not both) during a normal move.
Bishops capture as a queen in international
checkers (i.e., anywhere on the diagonal
beyond the victim subject to the squares being
empty). Rooks capture as a king in dama (likethe bishop, but orthogonally) whilst the queen
captures like either piece. The king and pawn
can only capture an adjacent man The
perimeter squares may not be occupied except
as the result of a capture. A piece on aperimeter square must capture if able to do so,even if his king is exposed to attack. Capture
opposing king to win. (Chess Variant Pages)
Takeover Chess (Tony Quintanilla, 2001).
41-square board a3-a5, b1-f7, g3-g5; pieces
move as in orthochess except that knights
move one square orthogonally followed by
one square diagonally and there are also
Mirror-Knights which move one squarediagonally then one orthogonally; RBKQB on
b1-f1 and f7-b7, PMPNP on b2-f2 and b6-f6,
further pawns on c3/e3 and c5/e5 (so opposing
bishops and queens are at opposite ends oflines through the centre while opposing
knights and mirror-knights are on the samefile). As well as displacement capture, capture
can be by leaping as in draughts/checkers(kings excepted) but only if the victim is
undefended. A knight or mirror-knight,

exceptionally, may capture two men in one
move, the first on the square over which it
passes and the second on the square on which
it alights. (Chess Variant Pages)
Quangtrung Chess (Vu Q. Vo, 1993 andsubsequently). This game was developed
through 12 editions, each a major revision of
the previous one, and was finalized in 2003.
Board 9x8 with inner 5x6 marked off; eachside has 1 x General, 2 x Boat, Cannon,
Elephant, 3 x Horse, 5 x Infantry. Sides Red(starts) and Blue, two moves per turn (Red’s
first turn one move only) but with differentmen (or both with the general) and only thesecond may capture. General one step
diagonally on its first move (may not capture),
one step orthogonally on its second, may notleave the inner 5x6 region. Boat as R but
captures by leaping over the target piece andlanding on the square beyond, which must be
empty. Cannon ‘slides orthogonally in odd
number of paces while jumping over evennumber of paces’. Elephant leaps two squares
diagonally or three orthogonally. Horse one
step diagonally and then one orthogonally,
may not jump. Infantry one pace diagonallyforward provided that the position in front of it
is not occupied, or one pace backward. Array(a1-i1/a8-i8 and inwards) C-E-H-E-C, B-H-GH-B, I-I-I-I-I . To win, capture the enemy
general or give stalemate. (Copy of author’s
rules sheet) [Text largely editorial]17.2 Capture by attacking
Chess-Battle (A. S. Yurgelevitch, 1933).
Board 12x12 with 2x2 corners removed (128squares). Men are military-oriented withlogical movement and capture restrictions: HQ(flagpole symbol, moves as orthochess K),
Aircraft (bomber symbol, moves along Q-lines
and can leap one friendly man), Tank (tanksymbol, moves one or two squares along Qlines), Machine Gun (cartridge symbol, moves
as K but captures by firing up to three squares
along Q-lines, cannot fire over own men),
Cavalry (knight symbol, moves two steps as R
or B then one as R or B in a different
direction, or one step as R or B then two as R,
the second part always at an obtuse or rightangle to the first, can leap own men but notenemy), Heavy Gun (projectile symbol, moves

as K and captures by firing up to five squares
forwards, diagonally forwards, or sideways,
can fire over own men), and Warrior (RedArmy helmet symbol, moves as K with theadditional option of two squares diagonallywhen on a white square, cannot capture whenretreating either directly or diagonally or when
making its two-step move). M/C/W cannot
capture T, T/C cannot capture A. Array(c1-j1/c10-j10 and inwards) HCMAKMCH,
WWWWTWWW, 8xW (ranks 3/8 centred).
There is no promotion; instead, a W reaching
the rank (‘infantry breakthrough’) is removed
from the board and its owner is allowed toremove any enemy man except the K. Object
is checkmate of HQ. Although the opening isslow and the infantry feeble, this is one of the150 Other games using square lattice boards
better kriegsspiels combining war and chess.
(Letter giving an extract from Voennoshakhmatnaya Igra)
Novo-Schaakspel (L. J. Weijden, 1937). A
kriegsspiel rather than a chess variant; board
12x8; 24 men a side, pieces are military units
ranging from the General down through tanks,
aeroplanes, submarines, spies and even the
Red Cross. (Author’s booklet Handleiding
voor het “Novo-Schaakspel”) [This booklet
runs to 32 pages and the translation which was
being done for David was interrupted, butthere is a reference to men being ‘eliminatedat a distance’ and I have assumed that thegame belongs in this section.]Star Chess (Proprietary game, Videomaster;Peter Gebler, 1979). One of the ﬁrst truecomputer variants, if not the very first. Usual
set-up but the men are renamed: Commander(king), Destroyer (queen), Supercruiser (rook),
Starcruiser (bishop), Superﬁghter (knight),
Starﬁghter (pawn). Commander stands onsquare of its own colour in the array. The
squares occupied by the Commander and
Destroyer are known as the Star Base and may
not be occupied by the opponent. The objectof the game is to eliminate the opponent’s
commander. Pieces move as in chess except
the starﬁghter which moves one squareorthogonally. All men are armed with shields
and a corresponding number of missiles:
commander and destroyer 7; starﬁghter 2;other pieces 4. No promotion, castling orcheck. Capture is by displacement but missiles
provide an additional, random factor. Insteadof moving, a player may use a man to fire a
missile, the probable hit factor depending on
the distance between man and target. Results
vary from a miss (launcher is damaged) to a
hit with one or more shields damaged. When apiece loses all its shields it is eliminated anddisappears from the screen. Pieces may rearmby staying a few turns in star base, but may
not acquire extra shields. Pieces may also
move into superspace when they disappear
from the screen and return at random with an
audible signal a few moves later. A piece
returning from superspace can arrive on any
square, and if occupied destroys its occupant,whether friend or foe. A championship, staged
in London in 1979 with much publicity andwon by Peter Bond, was umpired by Harry
Golombek. The game vanished shortly
afterwards. (Games and Puzzles 75, also
David’s book Brain Games)
Warrior Chess [Stone], also known as
Assassin Chess (Jed Stone, 1982). Pieces
move normally but capture as in Rifle Chess(Chapter 3). Capturing is compulsory but
player has choice between alternatives. Pawns
move one square orthogonally in any direction
but do not capture. Only kings and knights cancapture pawns. King has no royal powers.
Object is to capture all the opponent’s pieces(pawns disregarded). (Stone)
Lazer Chess [DeFluiter and Ryan](Proprietary game, Think Tank Games; Steve
DeFluiter and Roger Ryan, 1986). Ordinarychess set but pieces are named after space
ships with initial strengths ranging from 7 forthe Deth Star (sic) to 1 for Starﬁghters. Pieces
attack as in Riﬂe Chess. An attacked piece has
its strength reduced according to the strengthof its attacker and the distance between them.
Pieces reduced to zero are eliminated. The
object is to capture the enemy command
vessel, value 0, but it can be protected bytransferring power from friendly pieces.
A game of attrition. (World Game Review 7)
Laser Chess [Duppong] (Proprietary game,
Compute!’s Gazette; Mike Duppong, 1988).
Software program that won first prize of$5,000 in a Compute!’s programming contest.
Board 9x9; each side has 18 pieces made up of
1 x King, Laser, Hypercube, Beam Splitter;2 x Straight Mirror, Diagonal Mirror; 4 x
Block; 6 x Triangular Mirror. Capture bydisplacement, but also if hit by laser beam on
non-reﬂective surface. Two moves per turn
(options are rotate piece, move piece one or
two squares, fire laser). Moving the hypercube
to an occupied square causes the man there to
reappear at a random location; moving a manto the central square does the same.
Elimination of king, which moves as inorthochess and has no reﬂective surfaces, wins
the game. (Article in Compute!’s Gazettespecial 1988 issue)
Randomized Rifle Chess (George Jelliss,1991). Untested variant inspired by scenes inUnorthodoxy relating to capture 151
Western films where gangs shoot it out frombehind improvised barricades. Players, whose
men are conﬁned to their own half of theboard, move simultaneously behind a central
screen. Rooks, bishops, and queens move bysingle steps only. Pawns, which represent thebarricades, do not move independently but arepushed or pulled by pieces that move, forexample Nb1-d2 pushes Pd2 to f3.
When the screen is raised, the shooting
starts. Any piece in the sights of a gunman isassumed to be shot, and is removed from theboard at the end of the turn. Rooks, bishops,
queens shoot along their normal lines, knights
along N-lines, kings along 3-1 and 3-2 lines.
Pawns normally block shots, but a ‘backed-up’
piece (e.g. R in front of Q) can shoot through asingle barrier P. The king is immune to asingle shot, but is ‘mated’ (killed) by a double;
pawns are invulnerable to single or double
shots, but are knocked out by a triple. Likeshooting men, for example bishops facing
each other along the same diagonal,
successfully shoot each other, and both areremoved at the end of the turn. If both kings
are still alive, the players put back the screen
and have another go. (Variant Chess 6) [Textlargely editorial]
Outback Chess (Timothy R. Newton, 2002).
84-square board consisting of a 6x6 squarewith four 6x2 extensions, thus a3-b8, c1-h10,

i3-j8; men are Echidna (royal piece),
Kangaroo, Platypus, Spearsman, Ranger,
Bushman; PSKESP on c1-h1/h10-c10(echidnas on f1/e10), RBBBBR on ranks 2/9,
BBBB centred onranks 3/8. Echidna moves as
K, captures two steps away orthogonally andthe intervening square must be empty.
Kangaroo leaps as N or two squares
diagonally. Platypus moves orthogonally, up
to three squares forward or two to the side.
Spearsman moves one square orthogonally inany direction; to capture, it moves one or two
steps forward, no leaping, and then attacks andkills an adjacent diagonal man without further
movement (so S at d4 can move to
d5/c4/e4/d3, or move to d5 and kill a man at
c6 or e6, or move to d6 and kill at c7 or e7).
Ranger moves one or two squares as a bishop,
no leaping, or leaps as a restricted knight: onesquare forwards and two to the side, or two
backwards and one to the side. Bushmanmoves one square orthogonally forward or to
the side, captures one square diagonallyforward; initial two-step move permitted, noe.p. P and B promote on last two ranks; P
becomes orthochess R, B gains all-roundmovement but still moves one squareorthogonally and captures one squarediagonally. It is only the Spearsman which has
the unorthodox method of capture; all othermen capture by displacement. (Chess Variant
Pages) [Text editorial]17.3 Capture by moving as the target piece
Imitante Queen Chess, also known as
Mimotaur Chess (V. R. Parton, 1971).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are Imitante Queens
or Mimotaurs; baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10)
RNMBQKBMNR. A mimotaur moves like aqueen but captures in the manner of the piece
it is taking. MxM is not possible, and amimotaur must stand next to a king to give
check. (100 Squares for Chess and Damante,
Enduring Spirit of Dasapada)17.4 Destruction of men on nearby squares
Atomic Chess [Benjamin] (H. D. Benjamin,
1949). Benjamin adapted the atomic bomb for
problem purposes to the 8x8 board, giving it adestruction range of root-8 from the squarecentre. Michael Solomon extended the idea in
Radiation Chess (1970), in which radiation
lingers for a while on the square of the
explosion and less strongly in the surrounding
region, and any piece alighting or remaining
there is killed or subjected to various

debilitating effects. (Fairy Chess Review,
August 1949, Neue Chess 11)
Bomb Chess (Duncan Suttles, 1973).
Standard set-up but QRs (a1/a8) inverted torepresent bombs. Bombs move like kings, one
square in any direction. Instead of making a
move, a player may detonate the bomb, whichcauses all men on surrounding squares, as wellas the bomb, to be removed from play. The

152 Other games using square lattice boards
best strategy is to escort the bomb forward toachieve maximum damage with what Suttles
calls ‘the bomb’s rush’. (Chess to Enjoy)
Stratomic (Proprietary game, Robert MontayMarsais, 1974, relaunched 1998). Board
10x10; extra pieces are Missiles which moveand capture like kings but also have the power
to launch to any square whether occupied ornot. Any man on the square, and any on theimmediately surrounding
squares,areeliminated together with the missile, with the
exception of kings who are immune. Thiscounts as a move. A missile cannot however
be launched until a piece (not a pawn) of
either colour has been captured. A missile
under attack from a hostile man is ‘pinned’andcannot be launched. Array (a2-j2/a9-j9 andinwards, ranks 1/10 empty) MRNBQKBNRM,
10xP. (Proprietor’s booklet)
Military Chess [Grachev] (V. P. Grachev,1958) was a 12x12 game including ships andarmoured cars. There are pictures of Soviet
schoolchildren playing, and the game waspossibly an update of Yurgelevitch’s ChessBattle (see section 17.2). It appears to havedeveloped into Military Chess [Mironov] (V.
A. Gracheva, V. Y. Grachev, V. A. Mironov,1988), described as for ‘older schoolchildren’,
which was publicized in newspapers andmagazines throughout the U.S.S.R. and wasdisplayed at the Soviet Exhibition of
Economic Achievements (VDNKh). With atouch of irony, it was awarded a prize in its
section of the 1989 Games for Peacecompetition. Board 12x12, central 8x8 area incontrasting colour; 24 pieces a side of 10
types. Six men have exact chess counterparts:
HQ Staff (K), General (Q), Tank (R),
Aeroplane (B), Horseman (N), Infantryman(P) (promotes to general). Shell moves like B
but may jump, captures similarly but only at a
distance of two squares; Armoured Vehicle
like R similarly, captures at a distance of threesquares; Rocket as Armoured Vehicle andShell combined. Mine moves like K anddestroys an enemy man on adjacent square.
Array(a1-l1/a12-l12
andinwards)
SAvTAeRGHqRAeTAvS,HoMIIIIIIMHo.
Object of game is to capture (mate)opponent’s HQ Staff (K). There is a merit
scoring system which awards 1, 2 or 3 points
for a win (based on material advantage whentime is reached, mating the king on an edge
square, or mating the king in the centre).
Conversion (V. A. Mironov and S. B.
Smirnov, 1989) was a pacific metamorphosis
with the slogan ‘It is better to fight on a board
than on a battlefield’. The dark squares of the
12x12 board shade from dark blue (central
8x8) to light blue (perimeter squares). The
pieces are abstract in design but the gameitself, including the names of the men
engaged, moves, rules of play and the array,
are for practical purposes those of Military
Chess [Mironov] above, and the system ofawarding 1, 2 or 3 points for a win is alsosimilar. Amongst minor changes, theHorseman has become a Paratrooper and, in
harmony with the game’s concept, theInfantrymen (pawns) promote to Farmers(who still move like Generals). The game had
favourable coverage in the Soviet Press.
(Personal communications,photographs,
cuttings, carbon copies, and photocopies)[Text revised. No details appear to be to handfor Grachev’s 1958 game beyond aphotograph of a tournament in progress and aclose-up photograph showing one set of men.
These appear to be Shell, Mast (?), Ship,
Armoured Vehicle, Horseman, General,
HQ, Aeroplane, Tank, and Infantryman,
SlMSpAvHoGHqHoAvSpMSl fronted by
AeTIIIIIIIITAe. The source material for thelater games is voluminous and somewhat
confusing, and I will take responsibility for the
moves of Shell, Armoured Vehicle, andRocket, and for the array.]Beirut Chess (Jim Winslow, 1992). Bothplayers secretly attach a red dot to the bottomof any one of their pieces except the king. This
piece is a bomb carrier. On any turn, instead ofmoving, a player may say ‘Boom!’ and turnover his bomb carrier. All men of both colours
on squares adjacent to the carrier, and thecarrier itself, are removed from the board. A
player wins when the opposing king ischeckmated or blown up. (Leaflet ‘Beirut
Chess’ apparently emanating from theinventor)

Unorthodoxy relating to capture 153
17.5 Subversion and treachery
Fools’ Chess (Proprietary game, Ida Games,
1994). Usual board and more or less usual
men, but a player secretly nominates one of
his opponent’s four minor pieces to be atraitor. At any time after the third move, hecan claim this piece and take it over. Three ofthe pawns are also subject to special rules.
(Proprietor’s rules pamphlet) [Text editorial]17.6 Other forms of capture
Chessenat (originator unclear,1960s). An
amalgam of chess and the ancient Egyptian
game of senat (believed to be a race game, therules of which are unknown anyway). Usual
setup but each player has a line of kelbs on the
3rd/6th ranks. Kelbs move one squareorthogonally and adopt the custodian capture(kelp either side of enemy piece). Slow
moving, but apparently popular at Columbia
University at the time. (Nost-algia 164)
Best Decimal Butter (V. R. Parton, 1970).
Board 10x10; baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10)
RRNBQKBNRR. All men move as inorthochess but capture is by butting, notdisplacement. A man butts another man when
it moves to a square adjacent to it, either
orthogonally or diagonally. The object is toannihilate the opposition. Kings arecommoners and are treated like any otherpiece. (Challenge and Delight of Chessicaland Decimal)
Tank Chess [Suttles] (Duncan Suttles, 1973).
Standard set-up but QRs (a1/a8) inverted torepresent tanks. A Tank moves as a king but
does not capture. Instead, it pushes an adjacent
man of either colour one square in the
direction of movement. If further men are on
the same uninterrupted line (no vacantsquares) then they too are pushed one square;thus if White chooses to meet the Caro-Kann
Defence 1 e4 c6 with the Two Knights
variation 2 Nc3 d5 3 Nf3, 3...Ta8-b7 pushes
his Rh1 off the board. (Chess to Enjoy)
Tank Chess [Paletta] (Tony Paletta, 1980).
Standard set-up but Tanks replace knights inthe array. A tank moves and captures as aking, but pushes a friendly man, and any othermen of either colour in the same uninterrupted
line, one square in the direction of movement,

the last man possibly being pushed off theboard. Pawns may be pushed back to theirstarting rank (where they regain their twomove option) but not beyond. Promotion totank possible. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter)
Custodian Chess (George Dekle Sr, 1986). In
addition to orthodox displacement, men can betaken by custodian capture, orthogonal or
diagonal. This ancient form of capture occurs
when a man is flanked on either side by menof the opposite colour. It only applies after amove by the capturing side; on his own move,a man may move safely between two opposing
men. Apart from checkmate, the king can bemated by custodian capture but only if all four
orthogonally adjacent squares are occupied by
opposing men, an unlikely death. (World
Game Review 10)
Coordinator Chess (George Dekle Sr, 1986).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are Coordinators
which move as queens but capture incooperation with the king; baseline (a1-j1/
j10-a10) RNCBQKBCNR (kings on f1/e10).
After a C move, any opposing man that standson the same rank as the K and ﬁle as the C, orvice versa, is captured. (World Game Review
10)
Withdrawer Chess (George Dekle Sr, 1986).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are Withdrawers
which move like queens but capture adjacentmen by moving away from them on the sameline (Wb2 can capture a hostile man on a1 bymoving to any square from c3 to h8);baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10) RNWBQKBWNR.
A withdrawer on a corner square cannot
capture. The piece derives immediately from
Ultima (see later in the chapter), but its origins
are in the Madagascan game Fanorona. (World
Game Review 10)

154 Other games using square lattice boards
17.7 Immobilization
Valentine’s Chess (Ken Valentine, 1969).
Board 10x10; 20 pieces and 10 pawns a side;
Q renamed as Earl; new pieces are Cardinal(moves one square as R then as B, or as B then
one square as R), Duke (R+N), Grand
Chancellor (Q+N), Monk (to squares in a zigzag, forward only, thus a1-b2-a3), Squire(non-retreating knight), Templar (B+N),
Viscount (two squares orthogonally, mayleap), Wizard (see below); array (a1-j1/j10a10)
andinwards
RVDEGKGCTR,
WNBSMMSBNW, 10xP. Wizard moves toany square in 5x5 sector around it; does not
capture; immobilizes man on square it lands
on, if enemy man, then both are immune from
capture; if W and piece of same colour onsquare and are captured, W is removed andpiece transported to array square of theattacker. Promotions on back rank: P to D, N,
R, V only; S to E, G, T only; M to B, C, T
only. A strangely-assorted company. (World
Game Review 10, personal communication)
Gorgona Chess (V. R. Parton, 1970). Board
10x10; extra pieces are Gorgonas, which movelike queens but do not capture. Instead, any
enemy man coming under the G’s gaze (i.e.,along queen lines) is ‘petriﬁed’ and has no

power to move, capture or check, but only solong as the gaze persists. Gorgonas cantherefore only be captured by knights. A
petriﬁed king cannot move to escape check.
Hostile Gs petrify each other but continue toexert their inﬂuence over other men. Baseline(a1-j1/a10-j10) RNGBQKBGNR. (Challenge
and Delight of Chessical and Decimal)
Demigorgon Chess (V. R. Parton, 1971) is
an 8x8 version. Pawns are on the 3rd rank, theK and Q on the two central squares of the 2ndrank, and the gorgonas, renamed todemigorgons, in place of the K and Q on the
1st rank. (Chesshyre-Cat-Playeth-LookingGlass Chessys)
Gorgon Chess (V. R. Parton, 1973) is thesame as Gorgona Chess except that the extra
pieces are Gorgons. These have the power ofgorgonas, but can also capture and check likequeens. (Enduring Spirit of Dasapada)
Immobilizer Chess (George R. Dekle Sr,1986). Board 10x10; extra pieces are
Immobilizers which move as queens but do
not capture (hence do not check); instead, they
paralyse adjacent enemy men. Baseline(a1-j1/a10-j10) RNIBQKBINR. (World Game
Review 10)

17.8 Interchange of pieces
Decimal Champion Chess (Proprietary game,
T. A. Poppé, probably late 1920s). Board
10x10, a1 black; extra pieces are Champions,which move as kings or as 3-1 leapers andwhen leaping can capture a friendly man,except the K or Q, and can change places witha friendly pawn. Baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10)
RCNBQKBNCR. Pawns can move up to threesquares initially, e.p. permitted. A pawn on theﬁrst rank (as a result of an exchange with achampion) can only move one square, but thenregains the 1-2-3 move option. Pawns promoteon the 10th rank but a pawn moved there as aresult of a champion exchange is frozen (andsubject to capture) until released by anotherexchange. (Inventor’s rule leaflet) [This leaflet
is undated but includes a hope that the game
‘will hopefully serve to enliven and update theclassic chess as advocated by the great
Capablanca’.]

Permutation Chess [Berthoumeau-Loiseau](J. Berthoumeau and R. Loiseau, 1950s). The
king may change places with a friendly piece
up to four times in the course of a gamefollowing the strict sequence N-B-R-Q. Theinterchange counts as a move and may bemade when in check. If a type of piece is nolonger on the board, then that piece is skippedin the sequence and the number of possible
interchanges is reduced. (Nouveaux Jeuxd’Echecs Intéressants)
Chimaera Chess (V. R. Parton, 1969). Board
10x10; extra pieces are Chimaeras whichmove like queens but cannot capture or be
captured; instead, a C can change places withan enemy man that it attacks. The tactics are
curious, since a C will frequently elect tomove away from a target piece in order to lure
it afar, a traumatic experience if the piece

Unorthodoxy relating to capture 155
happens to be the king. Baseline (a1-j1/a10j10) RNCBQKBCNR. Philip Cohen has
suggested an 8x8 arrangement, deploying themen on three ranks: RCBQKBCR on rank 1,
NN on c2/f2, 8xP on rank 3 (no two-step pawnmove). The impact of the chimaeras tends toovershadow the actions of the other pieces,
and as an alternative Parton proposed
Chimaerine Chess, identical with Chimaera
Chess except that chimaerines can be
captured. (Challenge and Delight of Chessicaland Decimal, also Nost-algia 182)
Exchanger Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980).
Exchangers replace knights in the starting
position. An exchanger moves and captures asa knight but may additionally change places
with any friendly piece a knight’s move away.
The only exception is that a pawn may not be

moved to the first rank. (Chess Spectrum
Newsletter)
Compact Chess (M. Dean-Smith, 1988).
Board 6x6; RNKQNR on a1-f1 and a6-f6,
BPPPPB on ranks 2/5, PP on a3/b3/e3/f3 anda4/b4/e4/f4. There are two main rule changes.
(1) A pawn may not capture if the square in
front of it is blocked but instead may change
places with the man attacked, called a‘shuffle’. Suppose White Pd3, Black Nd4/Pe4;
White can shufﬂe (pawns change places), but
Black cannot. (2) A piece (not P, nor K to get
out of check) may replace an adjacent(including diagonally adjacent) pawn of thesame colour, called an ‘own shuffle’ - ineffect, an own-pawn capture. Curious tactics
spell short games. Played in South Africa.
(Inventor’s rules pamphlet)

17.9 Multiple forms of capture
Baroque (Robert Abbott, 1961). The nameoriginally given by the inventor to Ultima (seebelow). In Baroque, the Longleaper cancapture only one man in a turn, otherwise rules
are those of Ultima. The dubious name change
is credited to the original publisher.
(Manuscript note presumably derived frompersonal communication)
Ultima (Robert Abbott, 1961, later revised).
This complex and highly original game haslong been appreciated by connoisseurs. Its
origins lie in an observation of Abbott’s that instrategy games pieces tend to have different
moves but capture in the same way. Ultima
reverses this: the pieces have similar moves
but capture in different ways. The object
remains checkmate. The normal board andmen can be used, but it is necessary to
distinguish between the rooks.
There are two versions of the game. In bothversions, the kings move as chess kings,
pawns move like rooks (in any direction), andall other pieces move like queens. In theearlier version (‘old rules’), men can move as
far as they like provided that the way is clear.
In the later version (‘new rules’), the numberof squares moved by a man depends on therank on which it stands. If on the first rank, it
can move only one square; if on the second,
one or two squares, and so on up to theseventh and eighth ranks where a man has
maximum mobility (up to seven squares).
It is the method of capture which
differentiates the pieces, and this is the sameunder both the old and the new rules.
The King has its normal displacement
capture.
The Pawn has the custodian capturecommon in strategy games of the ancientworld: if a friendly man of any rank has anenemy man next to it orthogonally, and thesquare on the other side of the enemy man isvacant, then a pawn captures by moving to itsuch that the enemy man is sandwiched
between them. It is possible for a pawn tocapture up to three men simultaneously. It isaxiomatic that a capture is made by the manthat moves, so it is safe to move between two
enemy men even if one is a pawn.
The Withdrawer captures by moving awayfrom a piece to which it is adjacent (seeWithdrawer Chess above).
The Longleaper leaps over its quarry to avacant square beyond. If there are two or more
successive vacant squares, it can move to any
one, and it can capture more than one man at atime provided that they are on the same line
and there is at least one vacant square between
each. A longleaper cannot jump friendly men.
The Immobilizer paralyses all hostile men it
stands next to. A player on turn may, instead

156 Other games using square lattice boardsof moving, elect suicide for a man (other than
the king) that has been immobilized, the usual
object being to disclose an attack on theimmobilizer. Immobilized men recover theirfull powers if the immobilizer moves away oris captured. Adjacent immobilizers immobilize
each other as well as any enemy man withwhich they are in contact. A king can mate animmobilized king.
The Coordinator captures in cooperation
with its king (see Coordinator Chess above).
After a C move, any opposing man that standson the same rank as the K and ﬁle as the C, orvice versa, is captured. The coordinatorinspired Coordinate Chess (see Chapter 12)
and its countless offspring.
The Chameleon captures in the manner ofthe man it is capturing. A chameleon moving
adjacent to an immobilizer paralyses it anditself. The immobilizer continues to paralyze
any hostile pieces adjacent to it but thechameleon has no such power. Chameleonscannot capture one another.
In the starting position the immobilizer(normally represented as an inverted rook) ison the left of the king under the old rules, oneither side at the player’s choice under the
new rules. The complete baseline (a1-h1/h8a8) is ILChKWChLCo (old rules) or
CoLChKWChLI if preferred (new rules).
Notice that the kings are on d1/e8. There is no
promotion or castling, and a stalemate is a win
for the player giving it. Some work has been
done on the endgame but Ultima remains
largely virgin territory for researchers. Drawby exhaustion is possible.
The inventor has contended that the game is
ﬂawed on two counts: defence is generally
easier than offence (partly corrected by the
new rules), and the game lacks clarity which
inhibits planning in depth (World Game
Review 8). (Abbott’s New Card Games, plus
numerous references in Eteroscacco, Nostalgia, World Game Review, and elsewhere)
Ultima has generated several variants. In UltiMatem (Bruce Trone, 1967), the pieces retain
their standard move, that of the queen, butthere are ﬁve different types of pawn move (asif Ultima wasn’t complicated enough). The
pawns move like the chess pieces they stand in
front of; e.g., pawns a/h ﬁles move as rooks.
The exception is the king’s pawn (d2/e7 in

Ultima), which is known as the Double Knight
pawn, and which makes two knight moves insuccession in any pattern as one move. Pawns
retain their special moves when changing files,
so must be severally distinguished. Capturing
and other rules as Ultima. (Nost-algia 91)
Unorthodox Ultima (John S. Thayer, 1967)
introduces two new pieces: the Neutralizer andthe Repeller. The neutralizer is similar to theimmobilizer but instead of paralysing a man it
moves next to, it deprives it of its power tocapture. A neutralized man can therefore moveaway but not to capture. When no longer
under the inﬂuence of the neutralizer, thepiece regains its full powers. Following the
Ultima principle that it is the moving piecethat captures, a neutralizer moving next to an
immobilizer deprives it of its power toparalyse but not to move, whereas animmobilizer paralyses a neutralizer it moves
next to. A repeller, in occupying a squareorthogonally adjacent to an enemy piece,
repels it along the line of movement as far as it
will travel. If the piece cannot move, either
because of the board edge or because thesquare immediately beyond it is occupied, it iscaptured and removed from play (note that thiscapture is identical to the pawn capture in
Ultima). All other Ultima rules apply. The
neutralizer replaces the longleaper g1/b8 andthe repeller the chameleon c1/f8 in the array.
(Nost-algia 86)
Renaissance [Monchalin], also known as
Baroque Renaissance Chess (Matthew
Monchalin, 1975) uses a 9x9 board with extra
pieces Bomb, Resurrector, Pusher, Puller, andsome renaming of the standard Ultima pieces;baseline (a1-i1/i9-a9) ILChWKBRPsCo, andplayers may have extra pieces by agreement ina queue awaiting entry. Captured pieces
change sides and can be dropped back into
play, and the four new pieces are transformed
when captured; a Ps becomes a Pl, a R
becomes a B, and vice versa. The game’s
origins are in Baroque and the moves andmethods of capture of the other pieces are asin that game (in effect, as in Ultima to the oldrules except that the L can only capture one
man a turn). The four new pieces move, when
not capturing, like a queen, and their actions
when capturing are as follows.
The Pusher can push an adjacent hostile
man one square provided the square it isUnorthodoxy relating to capture 157
pushed to is vacant. A pusher cannot capture.
The Resurrector can change places with any
adjacent man. When a resurrector moves to an
adjacent empty square, the player may
introduce any man in hand (i.e., previously
captured) on the square vacated.
A Bomb can be exploded instead ofmoving, destroying all men on adjacentsquares as well as itself. Men destroyed by abomb cannot reenter play.
A Puller cannot capture, but can pull anadjacent hostile man with it when moving. If it
pulls a hositle puller, this in turn pulls anadjacent man if on the same line, and so on.
A player must move if able to do so, but canpass if unable to move - a not uncommon
situation due to the effect of the immobilizers.
Some remarkable situations can occur. At thestart of a game White may interchange thecorner pieces (C and I), when Black has thesame option, as in Ultima. (Manuscript notes
presumably
derivedfrompersonal
communication, also photocopy of rules
booklet as codified in 1994)
Bogart’s Chess (K. Bogart, 1985) is avariant in which a Longleaper and a
Chameleon are replaced by an Absorber,
which acquires the added power of a captured
piece, and a Golem, which moves two squares
at a turn, captures by replacement, but must
itself be captured twice to remove it from thegame. Baseline (a1-h1/h8-a8) ILAKWChGCo,
but IAGKWChLCo is suggested as analternative.
(Photocopy
ofpersonal
communication)
Rococo (Peter Aronson and David Howe,
2002) is a modification originally designed tofavour attack over defence. Board 10x10, newpieces are Advancer and Swapper, and thepawn move is altered; perimeter squares
initially empty, array (b2-i2/b9-i9 andinwards) IWLKChLAS, 8xP. The Advancer
captures by approach (hostile piece next to it
on line of movement). A Swapper may change
places with any man in its unobstructed path.
Pawns move as a K, or leap adjacent man ofeither colour to square immediately beyond; if
this square is occupied by a hostile piece, it iscaptured. Perimeter squares may not be
occupied except as the result of a capture.
Take the opponent’s king to win. (Chess
Variant Pages)
Maxima (Roberto Lavieri, 2003). 76-squareboard, 8x9 rectangle a2-h10 plus goal squares
d1/e1 and d11/e11; extra men are Mage andGuard, and K and P moves are altered. K
moves and captures like orthochess N but canalso move as if board is cylindrical (e.g., b to h
file or vica versa). Mage moves one squarediagonally and may continue moving
orthogonally away from the starting square; it
captures by displacement, and cannot be
immobilized. Guard moves and captures as
orthochess K. The Pawn moves as orthochessR, and takes by custodian capture. Array (a2h2/h10-a10 and inwards, centred) M-KW-M,
ChLCoILCh, GPPPPPPG (only six pawns).
Win three ways: by checkmate, occupying
both opponent’s goal squares, or reducing
opponent to bare king. (Chess Variant Pages)
Fugue (Mike Nelson, 2004). Extra pieces
are Archer (captures by shooting but musthave a friendly ‘spotter’ if the target is morethan two squares away), Pushme-Pullyu(combines the powers of the Advancer in
Rococo and the Withdrawer), Shield (does not
capture but secures immunity for all friendly
pieces adjacent to it); pawns move and capture
as in Rococo; baseline (a1-h1/h8-a8)
IPAShKQLSw. The K and Q are as inorthochess. (Chess Variant Pages)
2000 A.D. (V. R. Parton, 1972). Described byParton as ‘the game for Future Players in the
Next
Millennium’
and
by
Wayne
Schmittberger, a former editor of Gamesmagazine, as ‘very good’. Board 10x10; 20
pieces a side (can be increased to 22). The
feature of the game, possibly inspired by
Ultima, is that all the major pieces move as aqueen but each has its own method of capture.
One piece behaves exactly like a Q: theEmpress. The object of the game is to capture
the opponent’s Empress (there is no checking).
The Gorgon moves and captures as a Q but
also petriﬁes any enemy man, including anempress, it observes (attacks). The petriﬁed
man loses all power of movement so long as it
is observed (an intervening piece for example
would release it). Gorgons can petrify eachother but even then do not lose their power topetrify. The Ximaera (Chimaera), Dragon,
Capricorn and Mimotaur all move as a Q. The
ximaera (a nonce-spelling, convenient fornotation) can change position with any man it
attacks. (If it switches with another ximaera,

158 Other games using square lattice boards
the opponent cannot reverse the move on thenext turn.) The dragon captures by leaping to avacant square beyond the victim and cancontinue to capture (but not a gorgon, whichfreezes it) on the same line. The capricorn
takes by moving to a vacant square adjacent toits victim(s). The mimotaur (presumably a
minotaur that mimics) captures in the mannerof its victim and similarly counter-petriﬁes agorgon. The minor actors are puny bycomparison. The Attendant has the king’s
move but without royal powers and serves as ascreen for the empress. The Unicorn is aknight. The pawn moves a square at a timeand can promote on crossing into the
opponent’s half of the board to any piece
previously lost. The gorgon is the mostformidable of the pieces since it can first
petrify and then capture, and is itself only
vulnerable to a capricorn or unicorn. Parton
was relaxed about the array, proposing severalof which one was (a1-j1/j10-a10 and inwards)
DXGCEACGXD, MPPPUUPPPM. He alsooffered, as an optimum extra, two pawns on
the centre ﬁles of the 3rd/8th ranks. Not
content with this monstrous zoo, Parton
proposed an alternative piece, the Fury, ‘thesupreme glory of my idea’. The fury combines
the powers of all the pieces and replaces agorgon in the array. (My Game for 2000 AD
and After)
Royal Fury (V. R. Parton, 1974).
Described by Parton as ‘a futuristic game for2000 A.D. and beyond’. Board 10x10; 24
pieces a side, made up of 2 x Capricorn,
Dragon, Fury, Gorgon, Harpy, Jumper,
Mimotaur, Ximera; 8 x Advancer. All pieces
except A and J move (but do not capture) as
queen. A moves one square forward (including

diagonally), capturing similarly; promotes to J
on entering opponent’s half of board. C
captures by moving to a square adjacent tovictim. D captures by leaping victim to vacantsquare beyond, may continue to capture on
same turn provided no change of direction. F
has additional move of J, captures as C, D, G,
H, J, can interchange as X. G immobilizes allmen it attacks; G can petrify G but both retain
their immobilizing powers. H captures by
displacement, but only by ﬁrst leaping a manof either colour. J moves and captures as an
orthochess knight. M mimics the capturing
power of the victim. X does not capture, butinstead can change places with any man it
attacks. Furies are royal pieces. Array (b1i1/b10-i10 and inwards, files a/j empty)
GHCFFCHG, MXDJJDXM, AAAAAAAA.
Object is to capture both furies; if each side
captures one, the game is drawn. It may be no
surprise that Parton loosely based his ideas forthis game on the mad tea party in Alice inWonderland. (Chessery for Duffer andMaster)Snowplow Chess, also known as MultiCapture Chess (David L. Silverman, 1971)
The linear pieces (Q, R, B) may capture any
number of men on a line in a single move,occupying the square of the last piece taken. A
multi-capture move is terminated by any
friendly man, the opponent’s king, the board
edge or at the player’s option (Your Move).
Another version allows the N to capture like anightrider (makes successive knight moves
along a straight line as long as the road isclear) and gives the king no royal powers, theobject being to eliminate the opposition(Chess Spectrum Newsletter).

17.10 Immunity from capture
Kristensen’s Game (Ejnar Kristensen, 1948).
A conscious attempt to restructure chess inorder to give the game symmetry and balance.
Board 9x9; extra queen, rooks have additional
powers of knights; bishops can move, but not
capture, one square forwards or backwards;
pawns can move backwards. The e-pawn is
known as the Barrier pawn as it serves as a
block. It moves like a king but can only
capture men of its own colour. It is itself
immune from capture except by its own kingand the opposing barrier pawn. Baseline (a1i1/a9-i9) RNBQKQBNR, c/e/f/g pawns
advanced one rank; every pawn is protected bya piece, and every piece can move. Only thewing pawns (a/b/h/i) can move two squares.
No castling or e.p. More radically, it isforbidden to resign (how, one wonders, is thisenforced?) and to be stalemated or give
perpetual check is a worse defeat than being
mated (the victor collects an extra half-point).
(Les Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)

Unorthodoxy relating to capture 159
Star Wars (Marco Fabbri, 1987). Queen is
Jedi; moves as Q and is immune from capture
if within three squares orthogonally, a knight’s
move, or one square diagonally, of its own
king. Suppose Ke1; jedi immunity zone

extends throughout the triangle b1-e4-h1. All
pieces except K can move into hyperspace(parallel universe) but only one piece of eachtype allowed in hyperspace at a time. Return
only to unoccupied square. (Eteroscacco 40)

17.11 Captured men change sides and can be re-entered[Games which have ‘shogi’ as part of their name have been placed in chapter 28.]
Dragonfly, also known as Shuttle Chess(Christiaan Freeling, 1982). Board 7x7;
baseline (a1-g1/a7-g7) RNBKBNR, later
altered to RBBKNNR. Captured pawns are
removed from play, but a captured piecechanges sides and can be entered on any

empty square in place of a normal move.
Pawns have no two-square move and promote
to any piece the opponent has in hand.
Promotion is not permitted if the opponent has
no piece in hand. Castling is allowed. (Variant
Chess 14)17.12 Captured men can be recovered by their owners
Priséchec (Proprietary game, Ateliers de laBalme). Board chequered 10x8 but a1/2/7/8
and j1/2/7/8 in different colours. These areprisons. Usual baselines b1-i1/b8-i8 withpawns in front, and both sides have two extra
pawns placed a3,j3/a6,j6. Orthochess exceptthat a captured piece (not a pawn) is placed in
the captor’s prison (square of correct colour incase of bishop). If this is impossible (no room,or square wrong colour) the piece is out of thegame. A player occupying two or more of thecentral squares (ef4/5) can move a prisonerback into play. A piece captured on a central
square is removed from play. Prisons cannot
be entered by active pieces. (Manufacturer’s
catalogue, undated)
Strategie 2000 (Proprietary game, Peri-Spiele;
Forster and Muller, 1984). Curious adaptationof chess to the oil industry. Board 8x8(unchequered); each side has 16 pieces:
1 Company (king), 1 Manager (queen),
3 Platforms (rooks), 3 Drill Rigs (bishops),
2 Pipelines (two squares in any direction),
2 Supertankers (ditto), 4 Storage Tanks (as K)
and, in addition, 600,000,000,000 dollars(noughts are a necessary ingredient of oil).
Array(a1-h1/h8-a8
andinwards)
DDDQKPlPlPl,
StSuSuStStPiPiSt.
Twomoves a turn but must be with different pieces.
Each square moved costs a hundred million
dollars, so a three-square move costs 300
million. Capture by displacement; capturedmen, other than Company, can be bought backand are replaced on starting squares. Victoryby capture of enemy Company or bankrupting
the opponent. (Photocopy of rules pamphlet)[The array above is as given in the rules
pamphlet, and differs from that pictured in thefirst edition.]
Chromopolis Simpliﬁed (Alexandre Muniz,
1999, editorial version produced for present
purposes). Chromopolis is a variant in which
captured men are not removed from the game,
but are bound to the square on which they arecaptured and can be recovered later on (kings
expected). The idea is that a man does not
capture but ‘applies force’, and at the end of aturn any enemy piece subject to force fromtwo or more of a player’s men is captured(bound) and is out of play until subsequently
unbound. Bound men remain inert on thesquare of capture and other men can occupy
the same square (so flat discs will work better
than figurines), but if at the end of some future
turn a bound man is subject to force from two
or more men from its own side, and is not
subject to force from any enemy man, it is‘unbound’ and comes back into play. If there
are two or more bound men on the samesquare, the owner chooses which to unbind.
The order of play within a turn is ‘move,
capture if possible, unbind if possible’, andforce from men just unbound does not counttowards the unbinding of further men in thesame turn. The game was designed to beplayed on a 7-file cylindrical board and it will160 Other games using square lattice boards
be found in its original form in chapter 24,
but the basic idea seems just as applicable toconventional boards.
For a flat-board version, therefore, try a 6x6
board with King, Knight, Pawn (all of whichmove normally and apply force with theirnormal capturing move), Advocate (moves
and applies force one square away
orthogonally or two diagonally, leaping theintermediate square when moving), andPrelate (moves one square diagonally, applies
force one square away orthogonally and tosquares a knight’s move away), baseline(a1-f1/a6-f6) PANKAP. No pawn-two, andnotice that since a pawn merely ‘applies force’and does not physically move to capture it
remains on its original file throughout thegame. If this appeals, try the original
cylindrical version as described later. (Chess
Variant Pages) [Name and text editorial]

Chapter 18
Mutation games[In a normal game of chess, men other than pawns retain their original nature and powers
throughout the play. This chapter describes games where their nature may change. Shogi isconsidered later under regional and historical games, and games which seem best regarded as
shogi variants appear there also.]
18.1 Taking the power of a captured piece
Absorption Chess, also known as Cannibal
Chess (origins unknown). ‘Of great antiquity’according to one source (Chess, September
1952), this game has been independently
invented several times. There is basically only
one rule: a capturing piece or pawn absorbs
the powers of the man captured. Two rules
extend from this: a K cannot cross attacked
squares (but may give check over them), and apieces+pawn combination can only promotewith a P move. It is quite possible to gain a
Q+R+B+N+P, which effectively reduces to
Q+N+P (the P gives the option of an e.p.
capture). The game has an inherent weakness:
it is unwise to make a capture if the opponent
can recapture unless it is the start of a series of
captures in which the first player makes
the last capture. However, Progressive
Absorption Chess works well, particularly for
postal play, as it produces short, exciting
games - it is rare for a game to go past move 7.
White starts with a large initial plus, but does
not always win. (Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs
Non-orthodoxes)
In Absorption Chess, capturing can never
weaken a man. The Protean King (Albert
Kniest and John Niemann, 1948) was a
problem theme in which the king took on the
powers of any man it captured in place of its
own (Fairy Chess Review, August 1948), andthis has quite a different flavour. It wasdeveloped into Frankfurt or Chameleon
Chess, in which any capturing man, including
the king, assumes the powers of its victim(Feenschach, January 1959). A king may notcross an attacked square, but king can checkand even mate king if their current powers aredifferent. A pawn that captures when

promoting must take the powers of thecaptured piece. An example of naïve opening
play: 1 e4 b6 2 Bc4 Bb7?? 3 Bxf7(P)+(becomes P, and checks as P) Kxf7(P) (forced,
but having taken a P the Black king now has
to move as a P) 4 Nf3 (threat 5 Ne5+ Kf6
6 Ng4 mate, and if 4...Bxe4(P) then 5 Ne5+
Kf6 6 Ng4+ Kf5 7 Ne3+ Kf4 8 g3 is stillmate) d6 (stopping Ne5, but it isn’t enough)5 Ng5+ Kf6 6 Qf3+ Kxg5(N) (the Black kingnow moves as a knight instead of a pawn, but
any rejoicing is premature) 7 Qf5 and the
king-knight is neatly mated.
Mutation Chess (John Bosley, 1987) differsin two respects: king captures are orthodox,
and a queen may not give check or checkmate.
Bosley explains that this second rule isnecessary because it would otherwise be tooeasy to capture an unmoved pawn andpromote next move. The queen’s power to pin
or control ﬂight squares is unaffected.
Mutation Chess was created for the New
Zealand team in the 1st Heterochess
Olympiad, in which each side was required tonominate a variant of its choice. It has been
played by correspondence as Progressive
Mutation Chess but is equally amenable tonormal play, and certainly in its progressive
form is rarely dull. (Eteroscacco, special
Olympiad number and subsequently)
Escalation (George Jelliss, 1973, revised1992). Usual board, but the men initially on
the board are wazir (moves one squareorthogonally), fers (one square diagonally),
dabbaba (leaps two squares orthogonally), alfil(ditto diagonally), and knight. Composition offorces is based on the requirement for each162 Other games using square lattice boards
type of piece to be able to reach every squareon the board, thus 1 x N, W (since they canreach every square), 2 x F, 4 x D, 8 x A;
recommendedarray (a1-h1/a8-h8
andinwards) ADANWADA, AAFDDFAA. The
W is the royal piece and its capture ends thegame; stalemate is a draw.
The pieces as set up initially consist of an
opaque white or black base to indicate
ownership with a detachable transparent
overlay to indicate power. On making acapture, the power of the capturing piece isincreased by the power of the piece captured,and it takes over the victim’s overlays toindicate this (any duplicates being set aside foruse as described below). A piece initially has‘one-step power’ only, but on reaching the 7th
or 8th rank it assumes ‘riding power’ (theability to take two or more consecutive steps
in a straight line as long as the way is clear) in
all its permitted directions, and its overlays areturned over to indicate this. Subsequentcaptures may result in ‘hybrid pieces’ whichhave riding powers in some directions andonly one-step powers in others, and suchpieces cannot be promoted further.
Additionally, and instead of a normal move, aplayer may place one or more duplicate
overlays captured as above on top of one ormore of his existing pieces, the giving ofcheck being permitted. (Variant Chess 8)[Text largely editorial]18.2 Promotion and demotion
Change-Over Chess (Russell Chauvenet,1943). A man other than a king changes after
moving in the sequence P-Q-R-B-N-P.
Complicacious Chess [Single King] (V. R.
Parton, 1961) makes the changes the otherway round. Chauvenet comments that several
sets of men may be needed, and Parton
suggests imposing a restriction, if desired, thata player have not more than 4xN, 4xB, or 4xR
on the board at any time. (Letter to Chess,January 1944; Chess - Curiouser andCuriouser)
Joyful Chess (Karl Schulz, 1945). Twosquares on the 4th or 5th ranks, chosen by lot,
are designated Paradise and Hell and aremarked accordingly. Pieces that occupy thesesquares have their powers increased anddiminished respectively; kings and pawns areunaffected. A piece occupying Paradise
augments one step in value on the scale
N<B<R<Q (the Q is unaffected); a piece
occupying Hell drops one step on the same
scale (the N is unaffected). The line pieces
may not traverse Hell. (Nouveaux Jeuxd’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Degraded Chess (V. R. Parton, 1958). A typeof Replacement Chess in which a captured
man is at once put back on any vacant square
but its rank is degraded in the sequence
Q>R>B>N>P (no P on 1st or 8th rank; B must
be on same colour). Pawns are not replaced.
The advantage of this form of game is that it

usually leads to a conclusion whereas
Replacement Chess between well-matchedplayers is often a non-event. (Nouveaux Jeuxd’Echecs Intéressants)
Schooling Chess (Paul Schooling, 1960s).
Usual array but Ks, Bs, Ps only. On capturing,a man promotes one step on the scale N-B-RQ. A Q making a capture creates a friendly P
on the square vacated; a K making a capture
creates on the vacated square a friendly manof the same rank as the man captured. Pawn
promotion to B only. (Manuscript notes
presumably
deriving
frompersonal
communication)
Ambition Chess (Ralph Betza, 1977). Aftereach move a player may promote or demote aman of either colour one step up or down theprecedence order P<N<B<R<Q. A player may
not immediately reverse a change effected by
the opponent nor convert an opponent’s pieceto evade a check. A recommended option is tolimit the number of pieces on the board of thesame type. Fool’s mates abound: 1 e4 (g7N) f5(g7B) 2 Qh5. (Nost-algia 214)
Cubic Chess [Pribylinec] (Proprietary games,
Vladimir Pribylinec, 1977 and later). A
succession of games based on cubes whichshow chessmen on four sides, the remaining
two being blank. In the version originallymarketed, also known as Echos, the board was
7x7 and each player had 10 cubes, 1 x KKKK

Mutation games 163
and 9 x PNBR; initial array White Kd1, Pb1/f1
and a2-g2, Black similarly. K, R, B, N moved
normally, but P could both move and capturestraight or diagonally forward (no pawn-two);
additionally, a player could rotate a cube
instead of moving, subject to his men notexceeding a total of 8 on the scale P=0,
N=B=1, R=2, men continuing to count evenafter being captured (Variant Chess 2). In alater version, Virtual Chess, the pawn
reverted to its normal move and the scale ofvalues was abandoned; instead, alternate facesof the king cubes were marked to show ‘up’and ‘down’, and the array became Kd1,
Rb1/f1, Nc2/d2/e2, Pa1/b2/f2/g1, the kings
initially showing ‘down’. If a player’s kingshowed ‘down’ he could only rotate a cube inthe ‘down’ direction (R>B>N>P), but hesimultaneously rotated his king, which thenshowed ‘up’, and the effect was to produce‘down’ and ‘up’ rotations in turn (Variant
Chess 24). The number of PNBR cubes per
side was later increased to 13, the board wasincreased to 7x8, the array became Kd1,
Rb1/g1, Ba1/e1, Nc1/f1, Pa3/g3 and b2-f2,
Black reflecting across the centre, and an extra
rule was added whereby a player could win bygetting his king to one of his opponent’s
corner squares without immediately being
captured (Variant Chess 29). A further change
altered the game much more radically. The
board size became 8x8, the number of PNBR
cubes per side became 14, a standard queen
was added, and the rules governing rotation
effectively converted the game into a versionof Chessgi (Variant Chess 48). [Text largely
editorial]
Vicente Aguado’s Chess (Proprietary game,
J. M. de Vicente Aguado, 1980). The
chessmen are replaced by cubes on the sidesof which are the six chess symbols. With the
cubes correctly orientated a normal game canbe played, but rules for other games involving
chance are given. (Ludi-Math 4) [David’s
Encyclopedia files do not contain a detailed
statement of the rules, so the classification ofthis as a mutation game is conjectural, but theassumption seems reasonable.]
Progression Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). The
power of a pawn augments as it advances. On
the 5th rank it moves like a knight, on the 6th

like a bishop, on the 7th like a rook and on the
8th like a queen. No promotion or e.p. (Chess
Spectrum Newsletter)
Einstein Chess (Adam and Barthommier,
1981). A piece is demoted each time it moves
withont capturing (Q>R>B>N>P, P stays asP), promoted each time it captures (Q stays as
Q). Kings do not change. Castling demotes R
to B. No conventional 8th-rank promotion;
pawns act as blocks on 8th rank. They canmove up to three squares if on 1st rank, e.p.
permissible. Problem theme but probably
playable. (Feenschach, December 1981)
Tactical Chess (David Coutts, 1981). A potpourri of rule changes. B, N forward only, R
forward or sideways. However, if moving toor from a position next to its own K, the piece
behaves normally, reflecting ‘the king’s
qualities of leadership’. The same pieces may
also move one square as K but not to capture.
Pawns on a, b, g, h files move diagonally andcapture straight. A pawn reaching the end rank
does not promote but signals a charge: all that
player’s pawns henceforth have the option ofmoving two squares. If a pair of pieces (R, B,
N) is lost, the player removes one of his pawns
who has ‘suffered from demoralisation’. Apartfrom checkmate, if at any time the defending
pieces are outnumbered on the back row, theplayer has one move in which to rectify this orlose the game. (Author’s rules pamphlet)
Applied Chess (V. N. Afanasyev, 1986).
Usual array. Aim is to capture opponent’s K.
Once a Q moves, both Rs and Bs of that side
move as Q’s but capture normally. A K can
only make one move in a game and if forced
to do so, the player’s Q, if still on the board, isremoved. A threat to capture the K can becountered with a similar threat. If as a result
both Ks are captured, both players have lost. If
a player’s Q is unmoved, pawn captures aremandatory. Published in Svetlana (Leningrad).
(Personal communication)
Retrogression Chess (Bruce Trone, 1991).
Every time a piece, other than a K, makes acapture its rank is reduced in the sequence
Q>R>B>N>P.
(Unprovenanced
note
presumably
deriving
frompersonal
communication)

164 Other games using square lattice boards
Flip Chess (John W. Brown, 1997). All men
except may be flipped instead of or after
moving. 45-square board, 7x7 less the corners;
men include Fers (moves one squarediagonally); array (b1-f1/b7-f7 and inwards,
centred) BFKFB, PPPPP; B flips to R, F to N,
P to Berolina Pawn (moves diagonally,
captures straight). Pawns promote on last rank
to Princes (move as K, but are not subject tocheck); bare K loses. Flip Shogi has the
additional rule that captured pieces may be
dropped either side up but only to attack an
opposing man; pawn drops are limited to firsttwo ranks. (Chess Variant Pages)
Patricia Chess (Rob Nierse, 1997). Board
5x5; BKB on b1-d1, PP on b2/d2, Black
similarly. When a king moves it becomes aqueen, next move back to king, and so on;
similarly bishop transposes into rook and backagain. Capture of King or Queen ends thegame. A pawn promotes to knight on either ofthe opponent’s first two ranks (knights do nottransmute). Captured pieces change sides andcan be dropped in the form they were captured
on any subsequent turn (but instant pawn
promotion disallowed). (Chess Variant Pages)
Cannon Chess (Peter Michaelsen, 1999).
Board 9x9; men other than K can optionallypromote when making a move that begins orends in the last three ranks, or in capturing.
Captured men change sides, and may bereintroduced on any empty square (in place ofa normal move) in either their normal or theirpromoted forms. Men are Iron General, whichmoves as orthochess K or two squares byleaping an adjacent piece, captures a man two
squares away by leaping an adjacent piece,
promotes to Iron General which moves andcaptures as orthochess K; Copper Cannon,
which moves as B or can leap one man,
captures only if there is one man between it
and its target, and promotes to B; Silver
Cannon and Gold Cannon, which do the sameon R and Q lines and promote to R and Q;
Copper General, which moves and captures as
IC+IG and promotes to N; Silver General,
which moves and captures as GC+IG andpromotes to Gold General, which moves andcaptures as IC+Q; and King, the royal piece,
which moves and promotes as GC+Q.
(Eteroscacco 86-88) [Text editorial]

Ambassador Chess (James Wittman, 2002).
Board 3x2(!), each player has two pieces; an
Archbishop (B+N), the royal piece, and a
Changeling. The C begins as a Thorny Rose(move as K, capture as B), then after eachmove changes in sequence to R, B, Q, andback to a TR. When captured, its original
owner may, on any subsequent turn, drop it
back on an empty square in the form it wascaptured; it thereafter resumes its movesequence as above. Checkmate the A to win.
Array: Aa1/a3; Cb1/b3. (Variant Chess 44)
Pocket Mutation Chess (Michael Nelson,
2003). Orthochess array; at any stage a player
may remove a piece (not a K) from the board
and keep it in hand to be dropped, except on
the 8th rank, on a subsequent turn instead ofmoving. No castling, e.p. normal; P on second
rank has two-square move option however it
got there (P dropped on first rank does not).
Pieces are placed in classes: (1) P; (2) N, B;(3) R, Nightrider (as in chapter 16),
SuperBishop (as B or one squareorthogonally); (4) Cardinal (B+N), SuperRook(as R or one square diagonally); (5) Q,
Chancellor (R+N), CardinalRider (B+Nr),
SuperCardinal (as B or N, or one squareorthogonally); (6) ChancellorRider (R+Nr),
SuperChancellor (as R or N, or one squarediagonally), SuperCardinalRider (as B or Nr,or one square orthogonally); (7) Amazon(Q+N), SuperChancellorRider (as R or Nr, or
one square diagonally); (8) AmazonRider(Q+Nr). If the piece was removed from 1st-7th
rank, it may be changed into any other piece inits class before being put into the pocket; iffrom the 8th rank and not already in thehighest class, it is promoted to any piece innext higher class, again before being put into
the pocket. There is no normal promotion; apawn moved to the 8th rank stays there as apawn until pocketed. (Chess Variant Pages)
Abstract Chess (João Neto, 2003). Board
8x8; pieces are stones in stacks of 1 to 6. 1
moves like P, 2 like N, 3 like B, 4 or 5 like R,
6 like Q. Aim is to capture royal stone (moves
like K). On turn, player may move friendly
stack, transfer a stone to an adjacent friendly
stack, or capture an enemy stack byreplacement. Array (a1-h1/a8-h8 and inwards)
4236K324, 8x1. (Chess Variant Pages)

Mutation games 165
18.3 Combination and separation
Combination Chess, also known as Check(W. S. Campling, 1898). Described as ‘Being
the Game of Chess slightly modified, to admit
the introduction of a new principle calculated
to enhance both its variety and interest’(British Chess Magazine, July 1898). Normal
board and set-up, but the queen has only themove of the king. Pieces, other than the kingand pawns, can combine in pairs and threes(couplets and triplets), pooling their powers.
This is achieved by moving one piece onto thesquare occupied by a different friendly pieceor pieces. This allows six different coupletsand four triplets. Combinations move, capture
and are captured as a unit. Combinations canalso split, but not to check or capture. Castling
is not permitted if the rook is part of a
combination. Pieces combining share the samesquare. A large chessboard (or a small set) is
recommended. [Campling is referred to as ‘E.
S. Campling’ in an editorial note to Maus’s
article in the May 1925 Chess Amateur (seebelow), but on what authority I know not.]Coronation Chess (Frank Maus, 1924).
Beneaththisumbrellatitle
Maus
recommended a change to the game which hebelieved was ‘the long-sought answer to thequestion ‘What will be the next permanentchange in chess?’’ (Chess Amateur, May
1925). He argued that there are two special
moves in chess; castles (associated with the
opening) and promotion (associated with theendgame) and proposed that a third move be
introduced, essentially linked to the middle
game, that of coronation. Coronation consists
in moving one of the three pieces R, B, N, to asquare occupied by one of the others of thesame colour and fusing their powers.
In Coronation Chess proper, only the unionof rook and bishop is permitted and that only
when the queen has been lost, but there are no
restrictions on promotion. In Empress Chess[Maus], a player who has lost his queen may
crown either a new one or an Empress (R+N)
or Princess (B+N), but he may not have morethan one crowned piece on the board at a time.
In Union Chess, this restriction is removed,
and he may have as many crowned pieces as
the supply of rooks, bishops, and knights may
allow, and in Confederate Chess a crowned

piece may be separated back into its
component parts. Maus eventually settled on
Empire Chess, where a player is normallyallowed only one combination piece on theboard at any one time; additional combination
pieces can be obtained by pawn promotion(pawns can promote to empresses andprincesses), but a player can in nocircumstances have two identical combination
pieces on the board together. Empire Chess
was dedicated to T. R. Dawson, who described
it as ‘the ultimate and perfect method ofbringing the Empress and Princess into a greatgame’ (Chess Amateur, June 1925). However,
the inventor admitted that the majority ofgames turned out to be standard chess fromstart to finish, and in an exhibition gamearranged for the Chess Amateur between
Maroczy (on a U.S.A. chess tour) and E. W.
Gruer (a former California State Champion)
the first seven moves were agreed beforehandin order to guarantee a queen exchange. The
name came to Maus when standing on the
bluffs of San Francisco as the British
battleship Hood came in through the Golden
Gate. [A problem in the June article wasdedicated to Maus ‘on his birthday, 29/12/24’,
hence the assumed date ‘1924’.]
Chessers [Maus] (Frank Maus, 1925).
Normal board and set-up except that pawns
are draughtsmen whilst conserving their usualchess moves. A piece (including a king) may
at any time be played, according to its normal
movement, to a square occupied by a friendly
pawn, forming a chesser, but not vice versa.
Thereafter the chesser may move as the pieceor pawn, but only forward. The piece may at
any time leave the pawn with a normal movebut the pawn cannot separate from the piece.
If the unit reaches the end rank, the pawn islost and is removed from play. A pawn on its
own promotes normally. Chessers may take,but may not be taken, e.p. The game offersinteresting features. By forming chessers,
bishops can change colour, line pieces cantransport pawns to the 7th rank before leaving
them, and kings can escape back-rank mates.
Because promotion prospects are greatly
enhanced, games tend to be shorter than inorthochess. (Chess Amateur, May 1925)

166 Other games using square lattice boards
Augsburg Chess (Erich Bartel, 1965). Major
pieces can divide or be formed by
combination. Q=R+B. The idea has been
extended to include the king (Kombischach)and unorthodox pieces. Problem theme but
playable. (Variant Chess 16)
Nuclear Chess (Garry Crum, 1967, modiﬁedby Bruce Trone). Two or more men of thesame colour can occupy the same square.
When this happens, either fusion or ﬁssion
occurs, at the player’s choice, but fusion
cannot take place on the player’s ﬁrst two
ranks. Fusion combines the powers of thepieces occupying the square (in theory, all 16
men of a side could fuse into one piece);ﬁssion causes the fused piece to split up, theseparate pieces breaking away by their own
moves, the catalyst (the piece that moved tounite with the fused piece) remaining on thesquare. A fused piece subject to ﬁssion may
explode in any way desired. A queen isconsidered as R+B. Men that ‘explode’(move) as a result of ﬁssion may capture orcheck but no two men may explode in thesame direction. Men that explode may cause
chain-reaction by fusing or causing further
ﬁssion. All the elements of a fused piece arelost if it is captured. A pawn on the first rank
can move 1, 2 or 3 squares; on the second rankpawn-2 is always possible; no e.p. A fusedpiece moving to the end rank results in all
pawn elements promoting; promotion is toorthochess pieces only. A king may move intocheck if this results in ﬁssion that removes thethreat. The nuclear reactions can bebewildering. (Nost-algia 173)
Thurrow Chess (David Moeser, 1971). Each
player may have one Thurrow in a game.
Instead of moving, the player creates a T
which ‘detaches’ itself from one of theplayer’s pieces (not the king or a pawn) andmoves to any square the piece could move to.
The T acquires the powers, including those of
capture but without the right to check, of theparent piece. It may be captured like any otherpiece. The game is named after Thur Row,
publisher of Chess Ultimates. (Neue Chess 1)
Crescendo Chess (Proprietary game, StratoVarious Products; Walter Dykoski, 1973).
Standard board and set-up. Pieces, which areadapted for the purpose, can stack one on topof another. First two moves of each side arenormal. During the next four moves, players
can stack no more than two pieces; thereafter
up to three pieces can be stacked. This remains
the limit for the rest of the game. Stacking isachieved by moving one piece to a squareoccupied by a friendly piece. Subsequently,
the combined piece moves first as the lower orlowest piece, which can then be shed, next as
the upper (or middle piece), and so on, thisprocess counting as a single move. Captured
men can be removed at once or ‘pinned down’for removal later. (Photocopy of proprietor’srule booklet)
Parton Chess (Philip Cohen, 1974). There arebasic pieces called Partons, into which regularpieces can decay: Wazir (moves one squareorthogonally) Fers (one square diagonally),
and others not required in the basic game.
Instead of moving, a piece (not K or P) may
decay into its component partons: a bishop
into four fers, each adjacent diagonally to it
and capturing any enemy man in the process, arook to four wazirs, a queen to four of each, aknight to one of each. Decay cannot take place
if any of the adjacent squares is off the board
or occupied by a friendly man. A variation
allows pieces to decay even if squares are notavailable to accommodate all partons; anothervariant permits a parton to move to a squareoccupied by a piece, thus ‘exciting’ it withfurther complications. A theoretical game of
doubtful playability, named in honour of V. R.
Parton. (Nost-algia 171)
Ferry Chess (inventor not recorded, 1979).
Game submitted in variant competition(Games 5). Pieces are ranked in descendingorder Q, R, B, N, P, K. A piece may move to asquare occupied by a piece of the same colour
provided the moving piece is ranked higher.
Up to six pieces may be so stacked (numberedtokens can be used to avoid overcrowding).
Subsequently the combined piece moves in themanner of the highest-ranking piece (called aferry move) when the next highest-ranking
piece has the option of moving on; thus
(B+N+K) a1-g7 can be followed by (N+K)
g7-e8. Only one disembarkation is allowed aturn. A capture is legal only if there is no split.
In the example, a capture on g7 would be legal

Mutation games 167
provided the knight did not then move.
Combined pieces are captured as a unit. Somenovel play. (Photocopy of letter submitting
entry, author’s name not included)
Dominator (Proprietary game, Capri, date notrecorded). Space battle in which pieces can
combine and separate. Capturing according toprecedence; combined pieces have greater
combat
power
but
lower
mobility.
(Proprietor’s rule sheet)
Troja-Schach (Proprietary game, M+A
Spiele; Martin Arnold and Armin Müller,
1994). A piece or pawn, other than a king,may move to a square occupied by a friendly
man and create a Trojan piece. A trojan piecemoves in the manner of the top man of thestack. At any time a trojan piece may add
further men and/or move and leave the bottom
piece(s) on the square vacated. Troja sets,
which enable pieces to stack, are available
from the proprietors. (Proprietor’s literature)
Superchess [Montagna] (John Montagna,
1995). A man other than a king may move to asquare occupied by a rook of either colour,
creating a superpiece which thereafter may
move as either element. The occupying man
may also move away if desired, and an
occupier can be captured thus changing an
occupation from ‘friendly’ to ‘hostile’ or viceversa. A pawn must leave a superpiece topromote. (Eteroscacco 76) [This is a summaryof a three-page article in Eteroscacco, andeven that is described as consisting of‘excerpts from’ a book Superchess Basics.]
Spirits of the Knight, also known as SSpirits (Peter Fayers, 1997). Four special
rules. (1) When a knight is captured, its spirit

lives on, joining the captor and endowing itwith the power to move as a knight in addition
to its normal movement. (2) Spirits are flighty,
and will immediately leap to another unit if its
host moves to a square a knight’s move awayfrom that unit. (3) Where there are two or
more units a knight-leap away from where thespirit ends its move, it doesn’t transfer but
remains with its current host. (4) A spirit will
also leap to any unit that ends its move aknight’s move away. Spirits are totally
impartial, and under rules 2 and 4 they transfer
their allegiance to friendly and enemy unit
alike without fear or favour. Problem theme
but playable. (Variant Chess 23)
Thunder Chess (Fergus Duniho, 2001). Usualboard and men plus plenty of spares, and themen should be small enough to allow two ofthem to occupy the same square. Usual array,but replace the queens by R+B. A simple piece(K, N, B, R) may combine with a non-royal
simple piece of either side by moving on to its
square. The new piece belongs to the player
who made the move. Like pieces may not
combine. A non-royal piece may not move to
combine with a K. Compound pieces may not
combine further. When a simple non-royal
piece (N, B, R) is attacked, it may promote bymoving to an empty square. N promotes to
R+B, B to B+N, R to R+N. When a non-royalcompound piece captures a piece, it demotes
to the piece whose move it has just used.
When a royal compound piece captures apiece, it demotes to a K. The player may split
a compound piece into its components bymoving one away and leaving the otherbehind. No castling, promotion only to N, B,
or R. Object is to checkmate the opponent’s
royal piece, whatever its current moving
power. (Chess Variant Pages) [Text editorial]18.4 Movement dependent on square occupied
Free Chess [Capellen], also known as
Baroque Chess (G. Capellen, 1915). Normal
board and men, but the ﬁle on which eachpiece stands is determined by lot (if White hasboth bishops on black squares, the black
bishops will be on white squares). Pieces noton their usual squares add the power of thepiece whose normal square they stand on; thus
Na1/a8 = N+R. A piece moving on the backrank changes its role; N/Ra1 moving to c1
becomes N/B. Demanding on the memory.
Capellen published the game in a booklet(dedicated to Hindenburg) Zwei Neue Kriegspiele (the other was a card game) declaringthat Free Chess ‘should outlast chess’.
Transition Chess (A. N. Percival, 1947). The
board is divided into four rings, each ring168 Other games using square lattice boards
designated by a piece. The innermost ring (d4d5-e5-e4-d4) is the Q’s ring; c3-c6-f6-f3-c3
the R’s; b2-b7-g7-g2-b2 the B’s; a1-a8-h8-h1a1 the N’s. Array (a1-h1/h8-a8) PKPPPPPP (8men only, kings on b1/g8). On the ﬁrst move aman (P or K) may advance one or two squares;
thereafter a man moves according to the ring it
is on. (Fairy Chess Review, August 1949)
Smess, also known as The Ninny’s Game andTake The Brain (Proprietary game, Parker
Bros; Perry Grant, 1970). Board 7x8, eachsquare of which is marked with arrows which
control the direction of movement of pieces
stationed on it. 12 men a side comprising 1 x
Brain, 4 x Numskulls, 7 x Ninnys. Brains andninnys move one square, numskulls as queens
in any direction indicated. Ninnys promote tonumskulls on the array squares of the
opponent’s
numskulls.
Capturebydisplacement. Aim is to take opponent’s brain.
All The King’s Men (Proprietary game,
Parker Bros; Reuben Klamer, 1979) is a
successor. The setting is medieval (the pieces
are now Kings, Knights and Archers), theboard has been rationalized and altered indetail, and the object is checkmate. No piece
may jump over any other piece. The mostradical change however is that ninnys nolonger promote, which transforms the endgame. Considered a less pleasing production
than the original. (Photocopies of rules andboards)Migliore’s Game (Proprietary game, Fred
Migliore, 1971). U.S. patent 3,761,093 of1971, ﬁled by Migliore, has indicia on thesquares, each indicium representing a
conventional chessman. All pieces are of thesame design, their moves governed by thesquares they stand on.
Lumberjack Chess (Bruce Zimov, 1973). All
pieces (including kings but not pawns) behave
according to the files they stand on. They
move and capture in the manner of the piecethat occupied the file in the initial position;
thus a piece on the e-file moves as a king but
otherwise has no royal powers. Kings retain
royal powers wherever they move. The
combination of Lumberjack Chess andGiveaway (Losing) Chess produced Fishaway
Chess (Mike Rice as ‘Ekim Ecir’, 1975), a

felicitous marriage. (Neue Chess 7, manuscript
note presumably deriving from personalcommunication)
Frontier Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). Board(8x8) is notionally divided between 4th and5th ranks. Kings and pawns have usual
powers, other pieces can change. Whenstarting a move in opponent’s half of board, arook moves as a bishop and a bishop as a rook.
R, B, N move normally if starting move in
own half of board. The queen has limited
powers, moving up to 2 squares in any
direction in its own half and as a knight in
opponent’s half. The knight moves as a(limited) queen if in opponent’s half. (Chess
Spectrum Newsletter)
Cataclysmo (Bruce Trone, 1991). Mobility isdetermined by the square a man occupies.
Men on even-numbered ranks move as pawns,
on odd-numbered ranks a piece moves as thearray piece on the file on which it stands.
(Personal communication)
Arlequin (Proprietary game, Mango Games
Storming; Gilles Monnet, 1985). Board 8x8;squares in three colours: yellow, blue, red.
Each side has 16 square pieces, of which 15
are transparent (3 yellow, 12 blue) and 1 isopaque. On each transparent piece there is asymbol combining two primary colours andone secondary (yellow pieces), one primary
and two secondary (blue). The combination ofpiece and square gives a new colour; forexample, a yellow piece on a red square yields
orange. The two remaining piece colours (heregreen and yellow) reveal the contour of a rook.
The usual chess pieces are displayed and thegame is orthochess (opaque pieces are kings)
except that each time a man moves it is most
likely to assume a new rank. (Jeux etStratégie, December 1985, also Die PöppelRevue, May 1988)
Bauern-Schach (Proprietary game, Scholten
Partner; Willi Scholten, 1986). Board 8x8;squares in four colours (16 of each) randomly
arranged. Colours correspond to movement
factors 1-4. Each side has a king (e1/d8) andseven pawns on the first rank. A king or pawn
moves orthogonally the number of squares
indicated by its station; but a right-angled turn

Mutation games 169
may be made if the move is of two squares ormore. Men may not move over occupied
squares and capture is by displacement. Object
is to mate the opponent’s king. Check is
countered normally. [Information presumably
taken from a specimen in David’s gamecollection; nothing in his ‘Encyclopedia’ files]
Square Chess (Veli Toukomies, 1986).
Certain squares carry movement indicators:
N/S, E/W, NE/SW, NW/SE, all four
orthogonal directions, all four diagonal
directions, and all eight. Pieces or pawns
alighting on these squares subsequently moveor capture any number of squares in a straightline in one of the directions shown. A pawn
thus moving to the end rank is promoted. A
man alighting on a movement square may inthe process deliver check. All men not on
movement squares behave normally.
The game can be played in several ways.
(1) The indicators are placed on the board
initially as determined by lot or by agreement
between the players. They are notsubsequently moved. (2) The indicators areentered during play. A player on turn either
moves a man or enters an unallocatedindicator on a vacant square. (3) As game (1)or (2) except that instead of a normal move aplayer may transfer an indicator from one
vacant square to another. (Unprovenanced
note presumably deriving from personalcommunication)
Tula Chess (inventor unknown; from regionof Tula, Russia, 1990 or earlier). Pieces moveaccording to the ﬁles on which they stand. Q
moves as Q on ﬁles d/e, as B on files c/f, as N
on ﬁles b/g, as R on ﬁles a/h. R, B, N movenormally on own ﬁles and ﬁles d/e, otherwise
as ﬁle piece. Pawns move as usual but
promote to Q only on ﬁles d/e, otherwise toﬁle piece. Kings are unaffected. (Personalcommunication)
Chess Mutation (Proprietary game, Moebius
Evolution; J.-P. Mercier, 1993). Board 8x8,
coloured squares; each side has 1 x K, 15 x P.
Array: Ks e1/e8 ; Ps ranks 1/2, 7/8. Pawns
move according to the colour of the square
they stand on. White: as P; Yellow: as N;
Blue: as B; Red: as R; Black: as Q.
(Photocopy of leaflet ‘Chessmutation’, also
cuttings from Libération, 6 May and 13 July
1994)
Ren’e-Zans’ (Proprietary game, Bi-Triad;
Linda Blömer, Howard Brittain, Stephen
Schweim, 1993). Board 9x9; each side has 1 x
K, Q, Vicar (moves as N or as 3-1 leaper), 2 x
R, N, 3 x B, 8 x P; array (a1-i1/a9-i9 andinwards)
RNBQKVBNR,
PPPPBPPPP.
Occupation of the central square e5
temporarily empowers a man to move as any
piece (so with bare kings, Ke5 mates Ke7). A
tactical point is that the power of the bishops
is enhanced at the expense of the knights, withthe twist that the bishop on the e-file may beexchanged for a knight with advantage since itcannot reach e5 whereas the knight can. The
name is derived from Webster’s phonetic
spelling of Renaissance.

18.5 Relay games
Relay Chess (Mannis Charosh, 1957).
Developed by its inventor as a problem theme,
later as a game (‘Kafkaesque’ is Paul
Yearout’s description), and now largely
played in the modified form of Knight Relay
Chess below. Rules: (1) Any piece other than
the king may, in addition to its own powers,
move and capture in the manner of any
friendly piece guarding it, excepting the king;(2) A pawn may not move to the ﬁrst rank nor
promote except by a normal pawn move; (3)A piece, advancing one square or capturing asa pawn, does not promote on the 8th rank.
(Fairy Chess Review, April 1957)

Knight Relay Chess (Mannis Charosh, 1972).
Developed from Relay Chess above, Knight
Relay is popular with serious variant players.
The basic rule is that any piece a knight’s
move away from a friendly knight has the
additional temporary power of a knight. The
game
has
been
subjecttomuchexperimentation. Philip Cohen’s codiﬁed rules(Nost-algia 268/9), now generally accepted,
are:(1) Knights are blocks. They can move but
cannot capture, be captured or check. Thisapplies also to promoted knights.
(2) Any man except a king, if a knight’s170 Other games using square lattice boards
move away from a friendly knight, is‘knighted’ and has the power of a knight inaddition to its own power (knights defending
each other are unaffected).
(3) A knighted man cannot relay its powers
and loses them when no longer ‘guarded’ by afriendly knight.
(4) A knighted pawn cannot move as aknight to the 1st or 8th ranks.
(5) A knighted pawn that returns to the 2nd
rank regains the right to the initial two-stepmove.
(6) There is no e.p. capture.
At least ﬁve variations of the game have been
tried, of which two are deserving of record: (a)knights can capture, check or be captured likeother pieces (the original version); (b) knights
relay their powers to men of either colour.
The concepts behind Knight Relay, and theextent to which they change the ordinary
game, are easily grasped by a brief look at
familiar openings. (R) indicates a relay move.
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 (the knight is not attacking thepawn since it may not capture) Nc6 (nor is thisknight defending it; in fact, by removing
knighted powers from the d-pawn, Black has
abandoned its defence). Now the usual 3 Bb5
or Bc4 are both unplayable as the bishop
would be en prise respectively to the black apawn and e-pawn. Another example: 1 e4 Nf6
and now 2 e5 is not playable on account ofdxe5(R). After 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5, 3 c3
attacks the queen but 3 Nc3 does not. Even thelegendary Fool’s mate is transformed: 1 f3 e5
2 g4 Qh4+?? 3 fxh4(R). Pawns gain most frombeing knighted whilst bishops convert easily
from one colour-complex to the other. Knights
are useful blockaders, particularly in theendgame. Here is an attractive cameo fromplay: White Rd7, Nb6/c5 (K unimportant),
Black Kb8, Ba5, Nc7, Pb7, White plays
1 Rd8+ Ka7 2 Na6!! and 3 Rc8(R) is
unstoppable. It is good strategy to occupy thecentre with knighted pawns, often leaving theknights at home in the early stages of a game.
The leaders in the ﬁrst internationalcorrespondence championship of Knight
Relay were: John McCallion (10/10), Paul
Yearout (8.5/10), Phil Cohen (8/10),
Alessandro Castelli (7.5/10). National
championships have also been held.
The rules of Bishop Relay Chess (Mannis
Charosh, 1975) are essentially identical exceptthat bishops replace knights. Appropriately,
pieces are ordained rather than knighted.
There is one restriction: in the initial position
the b- and g-pawns on both sides are notordained since otherwise each side gains asecond queen after two moves. However, bpawns and g-pawns that move andsubsequently return to their starting positions
may be ordained. (Nost-algia 183)
Strange Relay Chess (Ralph Betza, 1970s).
Men have no intrinsic power to move or
capture but have relay powers. The movement
power of a man is derived from any friendly
man guarding it, the capturing power from any
enemy man attacking it. Another version only
allows a man to capture the piece that isrelaying its power. Suppose White Pb3, Black
Ka5/Nd4; in the first version, the king is incheck, in the second version it is not; in bothversions the knight is attacked by the pawn. In
the initial position, the d- and e-pawns havemaximum movement power (Q+N) and therooks none. (Nost-algia 263, Eteroscacco 50)
Rampage Chess (Bruce R. Trone, 1976). Men
do not move or capture normally; instead, aman may move or capture directly to any
square controlled by its own side. ‘Controlled’
is deﬁned as being attacked by more of its own
men than those of the opponent; if thenumbers are equal, the special power cannot
be used. Bishops can change square colour. A
king in check can only move as in orthochess.
(Nost-algia 194 and later)
An-nan Chess (M. Hanazawa, 1978). A man
moves and captures in the manner of afriendly man stationed on the square
immediately behind it, otherwise play isorthochess. The name and the game arederived from An-nan Shogi which has asimilar rule. An-nan is a word without
meaning. (Chessics 4)
Wizard Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). Queens
may move a maximum of two squares in any
direction. Kings are wizards which affect the
movement of pieces of either colour adjacentto them. A rook next to a wizard moves like abishop, a bishop like a rook, a queen like aknight and a knight like a (limited) queen.
Pawns are not inﬂuenced. A piece adjacent toMutation games 171
both wizards behavesSpectrum Newsletter)normally.

(ChessMaya Chess (R. Ravi Sekhar and others,
1987). The name is from the Sanskrit:‘illusion’. Pieces (but not kings and pawns)
adopt the power of a supporting man(including a king or a pawn) provided that the
supporter has made at least one move. If a
man has two or more supporting pieces heassumes the powers of all of them, in bothcases surrendering his own powers; thus arook defended by a bishop can only move as abishop. An unsupported piece moves andcaptures normally. Castling is only permitted
under normal conditions and if the rook is
undefended or defended only by the Q. For
example a fianchettoed B turns the R into a B,so castling with this R is illegal. A piece on
the 8th rank supported by a pawn on the 7th(and hence with the power of a pawn) must
promote at once although it can of course
promote to itself! K+B or K+N force a win
against bare king; K+2B, K+B+N, and K+2N
win against K+B and K+N, and also against
K+R. K+Q however cannot win against K+B
or K+N.
A Maya Chess Federation of India wasfounded by R. Ravi Sekhar, K. Muragan (bothmembers of the Indian orthochess team at theDubai Olympiad), and others. The Federation
has included a number of masters as wellasinternationallyknown problemists.
Championships are held and a regular bulletin
is published. (Maya Chess Informant, January
1993, also personal communication)
Synchronism (Bruce Trone, 1991). A piece,
but not a pawn, can move or capture in thesame manner as any man protecting it inadditiontoitsnormalpowers.
(Unprovenanced note presumably derivingfrom personal communication)
Necromancer (Proprietary game, Kevin
Cullen, early 1990s). Board 11x7, a1 white,with squares in three colours: grey (ordinary
black squares b1 etc, 38 squares), white(ordinary white squares ac...13.., 24 squares),and black (the remaining 15 squares
bdfhj246). The grey and black squares
together form the ‘Demon Grid’ which is
divided into five zones: centre zone (efg files,

13 grey and black squares), two inner zones(cd and hi files, 10 grey and black squareseach), and two outer zones (ab and jk files,
again 10 squares each). Each side has 11
pieces, 1 x Necromancer (moves as K); 2 x
Wizard (as B), Crusader (as R); 6 x Thrall (asN but forward only; promotes on last rank to
W on a grey square and to C on a white). In
addition, there are five neutral Demons, whichstart on the black squares bdfhj4.
A demon cannot be captured, but cancapture a hostile piece when invoked by amagic piece (N or W). The invoking magicpiece must move into or within the zone of thedemon, and the total number of magic pieces
within the zone must satisfy certain
conditions: one only (the invoker itself) in anouter zone, two (not more) in an inner zone,
and all three in the centre zone. The invokeddemon is moved within its zone to any vacantsquare or to capture an enemy piece. A player
may also elect to pass (i.e. not invoke thedemon). The object is to checkmate the
Necromancer. (Variant Chess 21)
Dynamic Chess (inventor unknown; perfectedby Hugh Denoncourt, 1995). Usual board andset-up. The power of a man is derived fromthe nearest man of either colour on the samerank towards the a-file. The board isconsidered as a cylinder (a-file adjacent to hfile). Thus in the starting position the only
piece to keep its original rank is the QR since
it stands adjacent to the KR. If a man stands
on an empty rank, it moves as normal. No P-2
or castling. A main tactic is to force out
opposing K next to a P where it is an easytarget. Another is the move of Q or B to the
2nd rank when Ps can be shot off like missiles.
P promotion is commonly to N. (Personalcommunication)
Induction Chess [Kommerell] (Hartmut
Kommerell, 2000). A man can move, but not
capture, in the manner of a friendly or hostile
man on an adjacent square. (Manuscript notes
apparently
resultingfrompersonal
communication)
Interdependent Chess (Fergus Duniho,
2001). Board 6x7; men are King, Universalist,
Knight, Spider, Conservative, Steward,
Guardian; array (a1-f1/a7-f7 and inwards)

172 Other games using square lattice boards
SpNUKNSp, CGStStGC. Men move normally(well, more or less) but capture by moving
directly away from another piece ‘which istoroidally adjacent’ (i.e. is orthogonally or
diagonally adjacent, or would so be if the aand f files were contiguous and likewise ranks
1 and 7). K and N move normally. Sp leaps
two squares orthogonally or diagonally. C
moves like a rook, but horizontally only. All
these pieces have a ‘capturing power’ which isthe same as their ordinary move. St moves one
square orthogonally and its capturing power is
one square diagonally, and G is the other way
round. U moves away from a toroidally
adjacent piece using the latter’s moving power(an isolated U cannot move). One U moves
away from another as a bishop on a torus (allother moves are limited by the board edge).
Pieces capture by withdrawal, using thecapturing power of the victim. Captured pieces
change sides and are held in hand, and can be
dropped in any empty space on a later turn inplace of a normal move. (Chess Variant
Pages) [Text editorial]
Life, the Universe and Everything (JoãoNeto, 2002). Board 6x7; kings (as orthochess)are Arthur Dent (White) and Zaphod
Beeblebrox (Black); other men are

Wowbagger (moves one step orthogonally),
Ford Prefect (one step diagonally), Marvin (asP but no 2-step option), Life, Universe, andEverything (see below); array (a1-f1/a7-f7 andinwards) WEUKLF, 6xM. Life on its own
cannot move or capture, but it may transmit
movement and capturing powers from any
adjacent piece (diagonally or orthogonally) of
either colour to itself or to any adjacent
friendly piece. The Universe doesn’t capture,but moves like a K or by changing places witha non-royal piece of either colour (swaps
cannot repeat the last board position). If aswap moves a Marvin to its last rank, the M
promotes to a piece chosen by the player
making the swap. Everything can move withthe ‘iterated power’ of any adjacent piece ofeither colour (an iterated F is an orthochess B,
iterated W is R, iterated K is Q, iterated U is
non-capturing Q, iterated M can move forward
like a non-capturing R, or capture an unbroken
chain of enemy men in a diagonally forward
direction). L and E have no effect on eachother. M may promote to any non-royal piece.
White starts with one move, after which theplayers make two moves per turn but withdifferent men. To win, capture the opponent’s
K or leave him with no legal move. (Chess
Variant Pages) [Text editorial]18.6 Other mutations
Von Ranson’s Game (J. von Ranson, 1820).
68-square board consisting of an 8x8 board
a2-h9 plus additional squares at d1, e1, d10,e10; kings on e1/d10, pawns on ranks 2-9 (noother men initially present). Each player has inaddition a reserve piece that can be entered onan empty square during the game and moved
four times only as a Q or N, but can only
check or mate moving as a knight. Kings as
usual; pawns move like kings, and promote on
ranks 2/9 to the orthochess ﬁle piece.
Promotion on the king’s file is to rook. If aking moves to the square initially occupied by
the enemy king, a queen materialises on thesquare beside him provided the square isempty. According to Faidutti, ‘without a doubt
the only German game of this period that does
not resort to military terminology’.
(Photocopy of title page and pages 51-62 ofAnweisung zum Schachspiel by ‘J. v. R.’,
pages 54-5 currently missing)

Genius Chess (T.V.R., 1827). 68-squareboard consisting of an 8x8 board a2-h9 plus
additional squares at d1, e1, d10, e10; kings on
e1/e10 (a difference from von Ranson’sgame), pawns again on ranks 2-9. Each player
has in addition a Genius in reserve. Kings as
usual; pawns move like kings, and promote on
ranks 2/9 to the orthochess ﬁle piece.
Promotion on the two central ﬁles is to rook,
but a player cannot have more than two rookson the board at the same time. If a king moves
to the square initially occupied by the enemy
king, a queen materialises on the square besidehim. The genius, which can represent any
orthochess piece, may be used only four times
during a game. The player puts the genius on avacant square not attacked by the enemy, atthe same time announcing its role. This counts
as a move. There is one restriction: the genius
cannot be entered as a knight to give check if
the opponent’s king is guarded by one of its

Mutation games 173
own pieces. Thereafter the genius moves andcaptures as the piece nominated. However, it
can only make a total of four moves in a game.
After moving the genius the player can opt toremove it from the board. It can later be reentered as the same or another piece always
subject to the four-move restriction. If a
genius is captured it is still permitted to reenter play if it has not exhausted its quota ofmoves. A player cannot have a queen and a
genius on the board at the same time. A player
who is stalemated loses. (Verney)[These clearly refer to the same game,particularly as the ‘J’ in Gothic script could
easily have been misread as ‘T’. However, vonRanson admits that his game is only an idea,
and Verney’s differences of detail may
represent the fruit of experience or deeper
contemplation. The identification of ‘v. R.’
with ‘von Ranson’ must rest on evidence
which I have not seen.]
Chakra (Christiaan Freeling, 1980). Board
8x8; men are Emperor (K), Empress (Q),
Samurai (R+K), Monk (B+K), Ape (N),Sword (P), Courtesan, Chakra. The object is tocheckmate the emperor. Swords have usual
pawn powers but only promote to pieces
previously captured. The courtesan moves as aking but whenever she faces her own emperor
along an open ﬁle, rank or diagonal, shecommands the length of that line in both
directions: up to the emperor in one direction
and to the end of the line or up to andincluding the first occupied square in theother. Suppose White emperor e1, courtesane3, sword e7; the courtesan defends the sword.
(Co-operation between emperor and courtesan
is not without historical precedent.)
Chakras are flat pieces with a circle on one
side and a square on the other. In the starting
position they are placed circle-side up. Array(a1-h1/a8-h8 and inwards) ACoMQKSaCoA,
ChSSSSSSCh.
Chakras may be occupied by men of either
colour and they may also move, but only if
unoccupied and to a vacant square; a chakra
cannot move on to another chakra. Circle-side
up, a chakra moves as a king, square-side up
as a knight. A vacant chakra may be reversed
after moving in order to change its power, or it
may be reversed without moving, but thiscounts as a move.

The two chakras together form aTransmitter. Whenever a piece can move to avacant chakra of its own colour, it may movesimultaneously to the other chakra of the same
colour provided that this is unoccupied or
occupied by a hostile man, which it captures.
Suppose White chakras (either side up) b4/f8,
swords b2/b3; White can play b3-b4 (transfer
to f8 and promotes), and the sword at b2
defends the promoted piece.
Capture is by displacement but chakras do
not capture and only an emperor can capture achakra, which must be vacant. In doing so, thesecond chakra is automatically captured (butnot the occupant, if any) i.e. the transmitter islost. However, if an emperor occupies one of
his own chakras, the opposing emperor may
not occupy the other. An emperor, like anyother piece, may capture on a chakra, but in sodoing he does not capture the transmitter
although when he vacates the chakra he will
threaten to do so.
A friendly chakra, if vacant, is no
impediment to mobility, but a hostile chakra,
whether vacant or occupied, acts as a blockand may not be crossed. A chakra of either
colour does not affect the eye-contact ofemperor and courtesan, but a hostile chakra
interposed between them cannot be crossed by
the courtesan.
A piece occupying one chakra (for example,
after making a capture on it) cannot move or
capture on the other unless its normal
movement allows it to do so, for example if an
ape occupied one of a pair of chakras
separated by a knight’s move.
The chakra is a difficult piece to focus but
its powers make for some remarkable play. In
the ending, for example, two apes can often
mate an emperor if they can use a transmitter.
A feature article on the game (The Gamer3) attracted widespread interest and sold many
sets. Dakini Chakra (see below) is a variant.
Dominance (Proprietary game, Jansen, 1984).
Board 9x9; 18 cubic men a side of which one
is the king (e1/e9) and eight have framed card
suit symbols on their faces (first rank); ninewith unframed symbols (2nd rank). Kingmoves as orthochess, moves and capturing
ability of other pieces determined by rotationof cubes and hence symbols displayed.
(Photocopy of rules leaflet)174 Other games using square lattice boards
Dakini Chakra (Gianluca Vecchi, 1996) is a
Chakra variant with some renaming of pieces(ignored here) and the following differences:
A leaps as N or two squares in any direction;
Courtesans replaced by Gauris as described
below; Black K and Q reversed in the array,and chakras start with square side up.
If a gauri is on the same rank, file, ordiagonal as a friendly chakra, with nointervening unit of either colour, it may move

any number of squares along that line in either
direction; in doing this, it may pass over the
chakra which is giving the power. If the otherchakra is vacant, it may be transported to it
and continue its progress, in the same sense(orthogonal or diagonal) but not necessarily inthe same direction. It also has the same
options as other units in combination with the
chakras. (Originator’s rule sheet) [Texteditorial]

Chapter 19
Changed or multiple kings[In normal chess, the king moves one square at a time except when castling, a player only has
one king at a time, and the same piece retains the kingship throughout the game. In this chapter,
all these will be changed.]
19.1 Kings with unorthodox powers of movement
La Victoire, also known as Le Jeu Français(J. B. Loysel, 1822). Board 10x10; pieces havemilitary names but the disguise is ﬂimsy. Each
player has 1 x king (K), general (Q); 2 xartillery colonel (R), infantry colonel (B),cavalry colonel (N), engineer colonel (also N);
10 x captain (P). No castling, but a king has
two formidable privileges: provided it has not
moved, it can capture, without moving, any
opposing man attacking it that is unguarded,
and it can also make one move in the mannerof any piece (effectively Q+N). Once moved,
the king reverts to its normal status. Captains(pawns) have the initial two-square option.
Promotion to General (Q) provided that piecehas been taken, otherwise to aide-de-campwith facility to move like B and capture likeR. Baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10) RNNBQKBNNR,
with 10xP on 3rd/8th ranks. The game wasmodified for 8x8 and 6x6 boards. There wereseveral subsequent editions. The inventor
apparently got carried away with his creation,for in the edition of 1838 he proposed no lessthan 18 different versions of the game.
(Faidutti)
King Chess [Letzen], also known as Letzen
Chess (originator unknown, 1940s). Problem
theme, possibly playable. Kings move as
queens but may not pass over attacked squares
except to capture the attacker or if the attacker
is pinned. (Nost-algia 191)
Centaur Royal (V. R. Parton, 1970 and later).
Board 10x10, 21 men a side. A Centaur Royalis a king that moves like a knight. Object ofgame is to capture (not mate) opponent’s CR.
Parton changed the starting array every year orso: 1st rank CR f1/e10 only, 2nd rank
RRBBQQBBRR, 3rd rank 10xP (Challenge

and Delight of Chessical and Decimal, 1970),
1st rank pieces, 2nd rank CR a2/j9, 3rd rankpawns (100 Squares for Chess and Damante,1972), 1st rank pieces, 2nd rank pawns, 3rd
rank CR e3/f8 (Enduring Spirit of Dasapada,1973). We met the same idea in Part 1 under
the names Knightmate and Mate the Knight.
Liberation Chess (Michael Juhasz and David
Moeser, 1971). The king is an ordinary piece;
it is the queen that must be checkmated.
Pawns promote to K, N, B, R, or Fischer,which can leap to any square within a foursquare radius. Unless a pawn promotes to F, adraw is likely. Gardez (Peter Krystufek,
1986) is the same game without the F, andRole-Reversal Chess, also known as
Feminist Chess (Ralph Betza, 1992) issimilarly without the F but has the additional
rule that bare Q loses. (Neue Chess 1, 100 mal
Kniffel Schach, personal communication)
Rettah Chess (V. R. Parton, 1974). Parton’s
first major variant (1952) introduced theRettah, a piece with a name derived from
Carroll’s Mad Hatter. The idea was developed
from a theory that the king should be thestrongest piece on the board, not the weakest.
The rettah moves and captures as all otherpieces combined, effectively as Q+N, and theaim of the game is to capture the opponent’s
rettah (there is no checkmate). This would benear-impossible if it were not for the rule that
if a rettah is attacked (‘check’), the attacker
must be captured (always possible, if only by
the rettah). The defender may choose between
alternatives. The early versions of the game
had two rettahs a side, but Parton eventually
produced a single-rettah version using anormal board and men with a king for the176 Other games using square lattice boards
rettah. The array is ugly: (a1-e1) KQBRN,(a2-e2) PPBRN, (a3-f3) PPPPPP, BKh8 etc.
Pawns move one square only. Other flavoursof the game are Absolute Rettah Chess (onlya rettah can take a rettah) and Giveaway
Rettah (rules as Losing Chess). (Nouveaux
Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes, Chessery for
Duffer and Master)Emperor Chess [Schmittberger], also known
as Emperor King Chess (R. Wayne
Schmittberger, 1983). Orthochess except thatkings are Emperors and have the right to move
anywhere on the board including to an enemyoccupied square. The object is to capture theopponent’s emperor. An emperor cannot
capture a defended emperor. Not as wild as it
sounds since if an emperor moves to a square
where it is not defended it is subject toimmediate capture by the opposing emperor.
The piece is borrowed from Tai Shogi. (World
Game Review 10)
Sting, also known as Scorpion Chess (origins
unclear, see below). Orthochess except that K
has the additional power of a Grasshopper(moves along Q-lines until it meets anotherman, when it hops over that man and alights
on the square immediately following). Play 1
f4 Nc6 2 f5 Nf6 3 Kc3 Nd5+ 4 Kxh8 and theWhite king has mated the Black (4...Kg8
would be met by 5 Kxg8 moving as an
ordinary king). (Chessics 1/9/30, Variant
Chess 31-33) [I have only traced the Scorpion
back to a 1976 problem by George Jelliss (seeChessics 1, the name appearing in the index
which appeared as part of Chessics 16), but
the idea is simple enough and I suspect it isolder. The first edition gave the K as having
only the power of a grasshopper, not as having

the additional power of a grasshopper, but I
think this was due to an error in the secondary
source that David used. I have not seen thisdefinition anywhere else, and if a king has
only the power of a grasshopper there is noneed to give it a special name; it is simply aroyal grasshopper.]Rolling Kings (Peter Aronson, 2000). Normal
array set forward one rank (White on ranks 23, Black on ranks 6-7) but Mock Kings (notroyal) on e2/e7; true kings on h1/h8. On eachturn, after moving, the true king is rolled one
square along the rank. Kings advance snakesand-ladders fashion (thus white Kh1-a1-a2-h2h3 etc.) No double pawn move, promote as
usual or to Mock K. The MK moves as an
orthochess K or slides as true K over any
number of vacant squares (thus MKd3 could
slide to c3,b3,a3,a4 etc.) Win by capturing
opposing true K. The game is limited to 32
turns when the game is drawn as the kings willmeet on h4/h5. (Chess Variant Pages)
British Chess (Fergus Duniho, 2003). Board
10x10; 22 pieces a side: 1 x Queen, Prince
Consort; 2 x R, B, Dragon, Lion, Unicorn; 10x P. Q is royal and subject to check etc,
otherwise orthodox. PC moves as R or B but
captures as K. B and R orthodox except that
B can also move one square orthogonally.
D moves as Q but in 2-step leaps. L moves
as R or B but must leap a man to capture.
U moves as B or Nightrider (straight lines ofknight moves as long as the way is clear:
Ua1 to b3, c5, etc) Array (a1-j1/a10-j10)
DRUBQPcBUND, (b2,i2/b9,i9) L, 10xP
3rd/8th ranks. Ps move as in orthochess but
promote to a captured piece or a Knight (not in
set-up). (Chess Variant Pages)

19.2 Substitute kings
Royal Chess (Fred Herschler, 1972). Board
10x10; extra pieces are Queen’s Champion (32 leaper) and Prime Minister (moves as Q but
limited to four squares), with one of the pawns
nominated as Jester (moves as a K but can
only capture pawns, can exchange places with
K if latter is checked); array (a1-j1/a10-j10)
and inwards RNBCQKPBNR, PPPPPJPPPP.
Submitted unsuccessfully to 3M, theAmerican games company, with the advice

that the ‘subtle yet interesting changes’ could
be covered by copyright. (Personalcommunication)
Power-Schach 2000 (Proprietary game,
Kreuz+Quer-verlag; Johannes Volkmann,
1991). Board 9x9 (centre square marked);each side has 1 x Boss (moves as K), Lady
(Q), 2 x Agent (B+N), Manager (R), 3 x Robot(moves as K but captures diagonally only).

Changed or multiple kings 177
Object is to checkmate boss or to occupy
centre square with boss. Boss in check (but not
checkmate) can change position with either
manager. The nine men occupy the centre
three ﬁles of the ﬁrst three ranks on either sidein the array, thus (back rank ﬁrst) MBM,
ALA, RRR. (Manufacturer’s publicity leaflet)

Heir Apparent Chess (Stephen Lewis, 1995).
Board 9x8; extra piece is an Heir Apparent;
baseline (a1-i1/i8-a8) RNBQKHNBR. H
moves as Q but up to three squares; if the K is
mated, H assumes the role of K and now
moves as a K. Checkmate or capture K and H
to win. (Variant Chess 19)

19.3 Concealed kings
Incognito Chess (Ralph Betza, 1978). Each
player secretly chooses a ‘royal’ piece inaddition to the king, and also a royal pawn
(which may not promote). These have thesame attributes as the king. For example, if
any royal is in check, the player must at once
move out of check without if possible
revealing that he has been in check. Mate ofany royal ends the game. (Nost-algia 216)
Robber-Baron (Seth McGinnis, 1998). 39square board obtained by taking a 7x7 board
and removing squares bdf2, aceg4, bdf6.
Pieces are robbers. Every time after moving, apiece changes role (R to B, B to R); initialarray (a1-g1/a7-g7, no pawns) RBRBRBR.

Before play, the players write down secretly
which of their pieces is the robber-baron. His
capture ends the game. (Chess Variant Pages)
Crown [Kisliuk] (Lev Kisliuk, 1999).
Standard set-up. The queen moves like a kingand is also a royal piece. Both can castle under
the usual rules. Before play, each player writes
down secretly which of his two royal pieces iscrowned. Check is abolished, and the loss ofthe crowned piece ends the game. A pawn
may promote to a chess queen, known as a
Generalissimo, or to any other piece including
an uncrowned royal piece. Several variants aresuggested by the inventor. (Document ‘New
chess game Crown’)

19.4 Kings of other kinds
Puzzo (H. M. Read, 1946) Board 11x9; eachside has 1 king (moves as rook), 3 queens and
10 pages (2 squares diagonally in any
direction or combination of directions). Pages

promote to queens but do not capture. Kings
occupy four squares, queens occupy two;
object is to move king to squares occupied byenemy king. (Provisional patent 914 of 1946)

19.5 Kings created in play
Cheskers (Solomon W. Golomb, 1948).
Probably the best-known of all games
combining chess and draughts. Played on theblack squares only, 12 pieces a side: Bishop,
Cook (knight in the diagram), 2 x King, 8 x
Pawn.

whwiwiwg
0w0w0w0w
w0w0w0w0
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd)w)w)w)w
w)w)w)w)
GwIwIwHw

The bishop is an orthochess bishop, the cook a
3-1 leaper, and both capture by displacement
as in chess. The pawn moves and captures likea draughtsman (moves one square diagonallyforward, takes by leaping diagonally forward
over adjacent man to vacant square
immediately beyond), and promotes to B, C,
or K. The king moves and captures as adraughts king, i.e., as a pawn but also
backwards. Draughts captures, including
multiple captures, are compulsory, chesscaptures optional; if both exist, the player canchoose. Promoting with a capture completes
move even if further captures are available.
Black starts; object is to capture all opponent’s
kings; a player unable to move loses.
(Gardner, Mathematical Magic Show)

178 Other games using square lattice boards
Complicacious Chess [Multiple Kings], also
known as Gryphon Chess (V. R. Parton,
1961) Usual set-up but kings omitted. After its
move, a piece changes rank in the sequence
P-N-B-R-Q-K. Once a king, a piece does notchange, so a player may have several kings on
the board at the same time. The object is tomate one of the opponent’s kings. Strategy is
to force an opponent to promote a queen
whilst avoiding doing so oneself. To maintainbalance, no more than four each of R, B, N are
allowed in play at any one time. A simpliﬁed
form of the game is played with king and 8
pawns a side. Circean Chess [Parton](Parton, 1971) is a 10x10 version. Each player
has 20 pawns initially, placed on 1st/3rd(8th/10th) ranks, and the number of pieces on
the board at the same time is restricted to 4xN,
3xB, 3xR, and 2xQ. Brecht Schach (Stefan
Eisert, 1980) makes the changes according to
the circuit K-Q-R-B-N-P-K-N-P etc, no pawns
on 1st/8th ranks. (Chess - Curiouser andCuriouser, 100 Squares for Chess andDamante, Die Schwalbe, December 1980)
Simpler Chess [Kings] (A. Wardley, 1977).
One version of Wardley’s 6x6 game allows
the K and Q to be removed, giving thebaseline RNBBNR. This results in a droll, if
not absurd, game in which pawns can bepromoted to kings. ‘It is a matter of honour,’declares Wardley, ‘to do all you can to achievethis.’ (Games and Puzzles 66)
Way of the Knight, also known as WOTN
(Ralph Betza, 1992). Usual board and array,but pieces gain in ‘experience level’(effectively, power of movement) as they
advance across the board and also by judicious
capture. Additionally, they must choose fromthree ‘alignments’ (effectively, promotion
paths), one ending in a chancellor (R+N), one
in a queen (R+B), and one in an additional
king. Kings other than the last may be
captured normally; mate the last king to win.
(Eteroscacco 69-70) [Text largely editorial]
Gess (Puzzles and Games Ring of theArchimedeans, 1994). Chess with constantly
mutating pieces, played with go stones on thesquares of a go board (the name is pronounced‘guess’). The stones occupying any 3x3 square
can be regarded as a ‘piece’ and moved as awhole. The permitted directions of movementof this piece are determined by the occupancy
of its eight outside cells; for example, it may
move directly forward if and only if its top cellis occupied, and it may move diagonally NE if
and only if its top right cell is occupied.
If its central cell is occupied, it may move as
far as it likes as long as the way is clear; if not,the length of its move is limited to three cells.
In either case, it advances one cell at a time,and may continue only as long as the
successive 3x3 squares on which it lands are
fully empty; if any cell within the square on
which it has just landed is occupied, all thestones already there (whatever their colour)
are removed, the piece is deposited in theirplace, and the move terminates. Stones on theedge can be treated as forming part of a 3x3
square whose centre is off the board. There isno natural analogue of the chess knight, but
the board is initially set up with recognizable
representations of RBQKBR along the first
three rows (the ‘rook’ has the centre and thefour orthogonal cells occupied, the ‘bishop’
the centre and the four diagonal cells, the‘queen’ all nine cells occupied, the ‘king’ alleight outside cells but not the centre) and
PPPPPP (only the ‘forward’ cell occupied)along the next three :However, the players can use these stones as
they like. An example game (which isunfortunately disfigured by an illegal move,suggesting that even the game’s originators
found it difficult) starts with a single step
forward by the stone at e6 (actually the 3x3group centred at e5) followed up by athree-step move bringing d3/c2/e2/d1 forward
to d6/c5/e5/d4, creating a long-range diagonalChanged or multiple kings 179
piece e7/d6/c5/e5 bearing across the centre(how to create your own fianchettoed bishop).
The objective is to leave the opponent
with no configuration representing a K. If amove leaves neither player with such aconfiguration, it is the player who has justmoved who loses. (Eureka 53, also Scientific
American, November 1994) [Text editorial.
‘The Archimedeans’ is a student mathematicalsociety at Cambridge University, England.]19.6 Multiple kings present from the outset
Double Chess [Howard] (J. T. Howard,1885). 160-square board consisting of an 8x8
central area with four 8x3 extensions; four
distinguishable sets of normal men (the use ofwood and ivory or bone is recommended as adiscriminant), two forming the ‘light’ side andtwo the ‘dark’. Each army is set up on the last
two ranks of one of the extensions, the lightarmies side by side and similarly the dark, andin each case the queen is placed to the right of
the king (arrays otherwise normal). The object
is to mate both kings of the opponent. Pawns
promote on end rank. A curiosity is that aqueen’s knight is allowed to make twoconsecutive moves on its ﬁrst turn provided
the intervening square is vacant. First player
starts by making one move; the second playerthen moves a man from each side of his twoarmies in either order. Thereafter each player
in turn makes two moves, one with each army.
The forces of a mated king are paralysed but
still subject to capture. Both sides may now
only make one move each, the allies witheither army, unless and until the mated king isreleased from mate. If one king is stalematedthe game is drawn. (Photocopy of booklet
Guide to Double Chess)
Double Chess [Hayward] (Julian Hayward,1916). The rules were originally published inpamphlet form under the pseudonym
Craigelachie and subsequently in the British
Chess Magazine (January 1929) andelsewhere. Board 16x12; black square a1. Twosets of chessmen arranged side-by-side,
repeating the array (i.e., WK e1/m1 BK
e12/m12). Pawns can move up to four squares
initially with e.p. possible. Kings can only
castle within their own half-board; pawn
promotion on end rank. Object is to mateeither one of the opponent’s kings. Hayward
drew Capablanca’s attention to the game. The
Cuban found it ‘remarkably interesting’ and amatch was between him and the Hungarian
master Geza Maroczy took place at the Royal

Automobile Club, Pall Mall, 22nd-26th April
1929. Capablanca won two and two weredrawn (Evening Standard, London, 29 April
1929).
The inventor’s son, J. G. Hayward, in
correspondence with the author, conceded that
he was ‘never much of a chess player’ but
confessed to finding the ordinary game‘positively dull’ compared with the double
variant, an opinion, he added, ‘shared by many
besides myself’. These apparently included
several well-known players but the gamenevertheless seems to have died with thematch.
Sic ’Em Europe (Frank Maus, 1927).
Standard board divided by grid lines between
files a/b, c/d, e/f, g/h and ranks 4/5 into ten‘countries’, of which six are combatant andfour (those comprising ﬁles a and h) neutral.

wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
Two players, 12 men a side: one each ofEmperor, Empress, King, Queen, Prince,
Princess, plus six pawns. Empress moves like
R-N, emperor similarly but restricted to onesquare rook move; princess like B-N, prince
similarly but restricted to one-square bishop
move. Male royalty is randomly allocatedto ceg1/8, accompanying spouses occupying
bdf1/8. Pawns are placed b2-g2/b7-g7. No
castling; pawns promote to empress, queen or
princess.
The boundary lines between the combatantnations disappear at the start of play, being

180 Other games using square lattice boards
used only for setting up, but the distinction
between combatant and neutral territory
remains. During play any piece (not a pawn)
can move into a neutral country but cannot
capture in doing so. A piece in a neutral
country has no powers of check/capture but
can move out again at will. Thus adjacentkings are legal, either one in a neutral country
and one in the combatant zone, or both in aneutral country or countries. All male royalty
is subject to check, and the game is over when
one is mated. If two or three monarchs are incheck simultaneously and the checking piececannot be captured, or if two or monarchs are
threatened in line and no capture orinterposition is possible, the attacker says‘scoot’. The defender may then (if he can)move all but one of the threatened monarchs
into neutral sanctuary and escape check withthe other one. (Scooting is a forced action that
does not constitute a move.) A player loses if
he cannot escape check or if all of his
monarchs are forced into neutral territory. A
game full of ideas in the view of George
Jelliss. The bilious title comes from the verb
‘sic’, meaning attack, set upon. (Copy of letterfrom the inventor to T. R. Dawson) [Textslightly revised]

give symmetry to orthochess. Board 10x10;
each side has 20 men, the extra pieces being asecondking
andqueen;
baselineRNBKQQKBNR. The object is to checkmate
either king. Kings are referred to by Parton as
Tweedledum and Tweedledee, hence the name
Tweedle Chess (Challenge and Delight ofChessical and Decimal). Pawns move one or
two squares at any stage; short castling only.
Boyer comments that the variant gives‘magnificent games’ because there are two
directions of attack and two points to defend(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes).
Twin Chess [Parton] (Parton, 1961) puts thesame men on an 8x8 board, with baseline
NKBQQBKR, RR on a2/h2 and a7/h7, PP on
d2/e2 and d7/e7, 8xP on ranks 3/6, and notwo-step pawn move (Chess - Curiouser andCuriouser). Twin Chess [Trouillon] (D.
Trouillon and others, 1960s?) reverts to the
10x10 board, with baseline RNBQKKQBNR.
This game was established in and around New
York, where there was divided opinion as towhether the mating of one K ended the gameor whether it was necessary to mate both
opponent’s kings, the first K being removed
from the board when mated (correspondence
between John Gollon and Philip Cohen).

Le Bartasso (Proprietary game, Marcel
Bartassot, 1950). Board 10x9, a1 white. Eachside has 15 pieces: 1 x Diplomat, Knight, 3 x
Crowned Pawn, 10 x Pawn. Play on blacksquares only; pieces arranged on first threeranks (principal squares marked); capture bydisplacement. Knight moves as 3-1 leaper.
Pawns move and capture as men in continental
draughts; they do not promote but can capture
backwards. Crown pawns differ from pawns inthat they can promote to kings (continental
draughts). Diplomat moves one square
forward, cannot capture or be captured, onreaching opponent’s diplomat square earns
choice of privileges. Object is to capture allkings and crowned pawns or deprive them ofmoves. Also for 3 or 4 players. (Proprietor’srules booklet) [No, ‘Bartassot’ isn’t an error;
there is an explicit ‘sic’ beside the name on
David’s index sheet for the game.]

Double Rettah Chess (V. R. Parton, 1952).
Similar to Rettah Chess above but with two
rettahs (kings) and queens a side. Boyer gives(a1-h1) RNKQQKNR, bishops c2 and f2,
pawns on third rank; Parton himself latersuggested(a1-f1)KQPBNR,(a2-f2)KQPBNR, (a3-f3) PPPPPP, (a4-b4) PP, withBlack Kh8/h7 etc. Pawns move one square
only. Unlike in Rettah Chess, check andcheckmate apply (no special capturing rule)and the object is to mate one of the opponent’s
rettahs. Parton also suggested a version
without pawns (4 x R, B, N, 2 x K, Q) and an
hexagonal game. (Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs
Non-orthodoxes, Chessery for Duffer andMaster)Twin Orthodox Chess, also known as
Tweedle Chess and Double-King Chess[Parton] (V. R. Parton, 1952). Designed to

Decimal Rettah Chess (V. R. Parton, 1952).
Double Rettah Chess on a larger board;
possibly the earlier version, and arguably thebetter. Board 10x10; 20 men a side including
two rettahs and two queens. The baseline(a1-j1/a10-j10) depends on which source you
follow: RNBQKKQBNR (Fairy ChessChanged or multiple kings 181
Review, December 1952), NBKQRRQKBN(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes),
RNKBQQBKNRandNBKQRRQKBN(Feenschach); the inventor ducks the
responsibility. Pawns move up to 3 squares
initially, and also one square diagonally(in order to open ﬁles) if previously agreed.
No e.p. or castling. Pawn promotion to rettahbut only if one has been previously captured.
The aim is to take both the opponent’s rettahs.
A game of assault and sacrifice, highly praised
by Boyer.
Double-King Chess [Moeser] (David
Moeser, 1970, later revised). Board 10x8;
extra pieces are a second king and a Squirk;baseline (a1-j1/a8-j8) RNBKQSKNR. The
squirk moves like a R-N but also has thepower to leap to a square two spaces away,
orthogonally or diagonally. There is no checkor checkmate until the ﬁrst king of a side iscaptured; thereafter normal rules apply, thus
the aim is to capture a king and then mate theremaining king. Pawns can promote to squirk
but not to king. Short castling is normal but inlong castling the king moves four squares
towards the rook. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter,
Nost-algia 244)

write down their moves and declare themsimultaneously. If players move to samesquare, H captures F, otherwise both pieces
are removed. If an F-capture is made and theopponent’s piece is simultaneously moved, thediagonal move stands. Illegal moves incur
penalty points, two such points losing thegame. White Ha1/e1, Fa2/e2 and b1-d1, Black
similarly. (Games and Puzzles 53)
Alliance Chess [Paletta] (quoted by Tony
Paletta, 1980). A form of two-move chess inwhich the player moves one man on thequeen’s side (files a-d) and one on the king’s
side (files e-h) in either order. The queens are
replaced in the initial position by secondkings. All pieces except the kings may movefrom one side to the other provided no captureor check is made in the process. (It is notstated whether a piece that crosses the centre
line may move again on the same turn.) A
player unable to move on one side of the board
simply loses that move. Usual conditions forcheckmate, stalemate etc. The object is tomate either of the opponent’s kings. Noticethat all four kings are effectively in corners inthe starting position. (Chess Spectrum
Newsletter)

Ambi-Chess, also known as L and R Chess(V. R. Parton, 1970) Board 10x10; each side
has an extra K and Q and two extra Ps.
Baseline RNKQBBQKNR (Challenge andDelight of Chessical and Decimal), latermodified to RNKBQQBKNR with the pawns
on the 3rd and 8th ranks (100 Squares for
Chess and Damante). In each case, the men
must be distinguished as to whether they starton the player’s left-hand side (L) or right-handside (R), and two moves are made per turn, of
an L man followed by an R man. The object is
to mate either king. [David adds a rule ‘A kingis not obliged to get out of check until thesecond move of a turn’, but while this isclearly reasonable I cannot see it in either
source; perhaps it was added as a result ofpractical experience.]

Tandem Chess [Paletta] (Tony Paletta,
1980). The board is considered to be divided
down the middle. Each player (designated K
and Q) controls half the white and half theblack forces, the ﬁrst player having two kings
and the second player two queens (forconvenience: they are in effect kings).

Apocalypse (C. S. Elliott, 1976). Board 5x5;
each side has 2 x Horsemen (N) and 5 x
Footmen (P). Footmen (no double move)promote to horsemen on end rank. Aim is tocapture all opponent’s footmen. The players

Bishops move as queens but not more than
two squares; other men normal. Play starts
with K making a white move, then Q moving
both white and black in either order.
Thereafter a player’s turn consists of a move

RHB!qgrh)P)P0p0p
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
p0p0P)P)
4ngkIBHR

182 Other games using square lattice boards
on each half-board. Captured men become theproperty of the capturing player and may be
re-entered at any time, after the opponent has
played, on an empty square of the other halfboard. The square must be in the player’s half(ﬁrst four ranks) and a pawn may not be
dropped on the first rank. A drop counts as amove. Pawns dropped on the 2nd rank havethe two-square option. Promotion to R, N, or
B (modiﬁed Q). The object is to mate either
opposing king. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter)(no 2-step or e.p., promotion to any piece
except Duke). Array (a1-j1 and inwards,
centred) DLRCHHCRLD, PPPBNNBPPP,
PPPPPP, but experimentation encouraged.
Capture both opposing Grand Dukes to win(stalemating the second is good enough).
(Author’s rules leaflet) [Text largely editorial]

Abdication (Proprietary game, Bryn; Brian
Hughes, 1990). An attempt to rationalize
chess. Board 9x9; extra piece is Duke (movesas Q). Three (out of 9) pawns are designatedRoyal Princes; they can promote to K if K is
captured. King and queen reverse roles (Q cancastle) and are classed as monarchs; otherpieces (Rs, Bs, Ns, a, e & i Pawns) are thecourt. Win by eliminating either monarchs or
the court (when remaining monarchs must
abdicate). Game can also be played as a seriesof battles with an accounting system.
(Proprietor’s instruction booklet)

Wildlife Great Chess (Gianluca Vecchi,
1995). Board 12x12, 30 pieces a side. Pieces(not pawns) normally move twice per turn,their moves being built up from K and Q
moves (orthodox), Zebra move (3-2 leap), andMammoth move (leap of two squares
orthogonally or diagonally). Royal pieces are
Lioness and Tigress, which move respectively
as K then K and as Z then Z, capturing on thefirst move if desired (so being able to make adouble capture) and omitting the second move
if desired (but making two cancelling moves
without capture is forbidden). Non-royal
pieces are Jackal (K then Z), Panther (Z thenK), Deer (Q then Z), Elk (Q then M), Stork (Zthen Q), Heron (M then Q), Kangaroo (Z thenM), and Ostrich (M then Z). The second move
may be omitted if desired, and only the second
may be a capture. The pawn is a frog, whichmoves one square forward orthogonally or
diagonally and captures in the same direction
as it moves, but jumping over an adjacentenemy unit and landing on the square
immediately beyond (which must be vacant);
promotion to any array piece optional on rank
10 or 11, compulsory on rank 12.
ESDHPTLPHDSE on a1-l1/a12-l12, KK on
b2/k2 and b11/k11, OO on d2/i2 and d11/i11,
JJ on f2/g2 and f11/g11, 12xF on ranks 3/10.
Capture a royal piece to win. Repetition of
position forbidden; if a player cannot moveother than to repeat a previous position heloses. (Eteroscacco 74) [Text largely editorial]

Hero Chess (Michael Howe, 1994). Board
10x10; men are Grand Duke (D, moves as K),
Rook (R, orthodox), Bishop (B, orthodox or
one step orthogonally), Knight (N, leaps 3-2 or
4-3 but not 2-1), Cavalier (leaps 4-2 or 5-2),
Hero (moves as R or B or N or C, B and N as
above), Lion (may make one or two
consecutive one-step moves in any direction
or combination of directions, passing overunits of either colour if desired and capturing
on either or both parts of the move), and pawn

Prince Chess (John W. Brown, 1997). Board
9x9; each side has 1 x Q, 2 x Prince, R, B, N,
9xP; baseline RNBPrQPrBNR. Prince moves
like K with an initial option of a three-squareleap forward (including diagonally forward) if
not under attack. One B can move one vacantsquare orthogonally initially provided both Bs
on the board. Pawn-two allowed, promotion
only to a piece previously captured. If one
Prince is captured, the other reverts to a kingwhen the object is checkmate. (Meta-Chess)

Vincere Mori (Matthew Pritchard, 1987).
Board 8x8; men are 1 x Beast Master (movesas Q), Priestess (up to three squares in any
direction), 2 x Monarch (royal piece, moves asK), Duke (as N), Marquis (as Q but exactly
two squares), Reaper (one square forwards or
sideways); White Beast Master c1, Priestesse1, Monarch a1/g1, Duke d2/f2, Marquisb2/h2, Reaper c3/e3, Black reflected about thecentre (all men on black squares). Reaper may
only be taken by Beast Master; Beast Master
only by Monarch, Beast Master, or Reaper;
Monarch cannot help to checkmate an
opposing Monarch. Object is to mate bothmonarchs. (Author’s rules pamphlet)

Changed or multiple kings 183
19.7 Anti-kings
Contramatic Chess (V. R. Parton, 1961).
Three rules: (1) It is forbidden to make any
move or capture that would put the opponent’s
king in check; (2) When the opponent’s kingis in check, the player is obliged to make amove or capture to release the check; (3) If a
player elects to put his own king in check, hemust not at the same time put his opponent’s
king in check. If a player is forced to place theenemy king in check, this loses the game.
Kings cannot occupy adjacent squares. Parton
suggests using a 9x9 or 11x11 board, nopawns, and a force made up of 1 x K, N, 2 x
Q, R, 4 x B. White places his king on any
square of his near rank and his pieces
anywhere within his own half of the board.
Black then does likewise. White starts. Each
player attempts to get his own king in check.
To win it is necessary to get into a position
where the king is attacked by two or more
enemy men at the same time. The peculiarfeatures of the game are that the king tends tomove more than any other piece and captures
are rare (if you capture, you reduce thechances of getting your king mated). In
Complete Contramatic Chess each side has
two kings, one orthodox and the othercontramatic, and there are two ways to win:either checkmate orthodox king or get own
contramatic king checkmated. Start with anempty board (9x9 or 11x11 recommended)
and an agreed number of pieces (no pawns),
placing these in turn in their own halves of theboard; the orthodox kings should be placed
last. (Chess - Curiouser and Curiouser)
Week (Steve Tarin, 1970). Each side has eight
pawns and a king in the usual starting array. In
place of the pieces are seven Days, which are
the opposite of knights, moving to any squarea knight can’t reach. No day may occupy asquare a knight’s move away from another dayof the same colour. Both kings start in check.
The winner is the player whose king is not incheck when it is his turn to move. ‘Sounds so

stupid that no one ever seems to have tried it’,was the remark of a commentator who wasthereby inspired to invent a game with a stupid
title - see Weak! in chapter 9. (Nost-algia 162)
Anti-King Chess (Peter Aronson, 2002).
Board 8x8; usual men plus Anti-Kings (whiteand black, inverted in diagrams).

wdp4biqI
dw0whngr
wdp0p0p0
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd)P)P)Pdw
RGNHw)wd
iQIB$Pdw
Pawns are Berolina pawns (move diagonally,
capture straight). An A is in check when it is
not under attack. Ks do not attack As; a K or
A can move as a N initially. You lose bycheckmate or if your A is not attacked when it
is your opponent’s move.
Another version of the game has theorthochess array with the white and black
Anti-Kings on d6 and d3 respectively. In thisversion the Ks and Ps are orthodox.

rhb1kgn4
0p0p0p0p
wdwIwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdkdwdw
P)P)P)P)$NGQIBHR
Anti-Kings may capture friendly men inboth versions. (Chess Variant Pages)

Chapter 20
Games presented as families[We have seen several informal families of games in this book, often reflecting second and later
thoughts by the inventor. Some games have been more formally presented in the form offamilies, originality usually lying in the assemblage rather than in the individual components.
There are two broad flavours: a set of games is presented and the players choose one either by
lot or by agreement, or each player makes his own choice and the two are then put together.]20.1 The players choose jointly
De Saagh’s Games (Albert Saaghy de Saagh,1898). In Le Jeu des Echecs Agrandi et
Perfectionné, the author argues for a numberof board sizes (9x9 up to 13x13) with added
pieces: Lions (placed between rooks andknights, move like knights but 3-1 instead of2-1) and/or an extra queen for the larger
boards. His reason for introducing an extra
queen has the merit of novelty: he remarks ‘it
has always appeared to me astonishing that thewhite king has his spouse on the left side’. A
morganatic marriage in other words: bigamy isclearly preferable. De Saagh also advocates
open lines and lines of retreat to avoid theconstricted openings of the 8x8 board. He
offers several alternatives for the 10x10 board:(1) The 32 men are placed in the usual
order but on the 2nd/3rd and 8th/9th ranks
with the outside files empty.
(2) As (1), but with the rooks and knights
and their respective pawns on the 1st/2nd and9th/10th ranks.
(3) As (1), but with the c and h ﬁles empty.
(4) A combination of (2) and (3).
Superchess [Letmanji Stevan] (Letmanji
Stevan, 1954). Prompted by the 12:12 draw inthat year’s World Championship match, theauthor proposed various forms of ‘Superchess’on 6x6, 8x8, and 10x10 boards withmodifications including playing to take all the
opponent’s men instead of just the king,setting up the initial array by lot, and using
additional pieces (Reforma u Sahu). [Textrevised. Unfortunately the photocopy of
Reforma u Sahu in David’s files is now
defective, and it would appear that the key
pages were removed for translation and havenot been replaced. The material that remains
includes a picture of an aeroplane and areference to a 10x10 game ‘sa 2 raketna
aviona, sa miniranim poljama e5, f5, e6, f6’,
but it is not possible to be more precise.]
Jet Chess (Proprietary game, Interplay Inc,
1972). Board 3x3 on one side, 4x4 on theother. Pieces are ﬂat discs representing
chessmen, any number of which may be
stacked on a square. 3x3 game starts with
WKb1, WP on top, and BK/BPb3. At eachturn a player has two choices: (1) move an
uncovered man to an empty square, or on topof a friendly man, or to the square of an enemy
man thereby capturing it; (2) introduce a newpiece to the board, putting it on an empty
square or on top of a friendly man (not anenemy). Only the top piece of a stack cancapture or be captured (so if you capture withyour K and thereby leave it immediately on
top of the enemy K, you effectively forfeit all
chance of mating). P on first rank has two-step
option; P on 3rd rank is temporarily a Q, butreverts to P on departure. In the 4x4 version,
start with kings b1/b4, queens c1/c4, friendly
P on top of each. (Rules as reported by Philip
Cohen, personal communication; original
game apparently not seen)
Chezz (D. Trouillon, 1975). Without defining
board dimensions, composition of forces orarray, the choice of which was left to theplayers, the inventor expanded the powers ofthe various chessmen. Any originality would
appear to have been confined to minor detail.
(Correspondence between John Gollon andPhilip Cohen) [Final sentence editorial]Games presented as families 185
Flexichess and Varichess (Roy Keene, 1980s
onwards). Board 9x8 or 9x9, six basic arrays
on both boards. Extra pieces can include
Archbishop (B+N), Chancellor (R+N), andEmpress (Q+N). (Author’s rules pamphlets)
Babylon, The Game of Empire, Mad,
Moslon (Thomas Varghese, 1986-7). Games
forming a complicated family featuring
enlarged boards, combined pieces, multiple
square occupancy, piece transformation,
reintroduction of captured men, etc. It is notclear whether they have ever been published.
(Author’s rules pamphlets) [Text editorial]
Quantum Chess (Proprietary game, Quantum
Development Corp, 1993). Compendium of
five games: (1) ordinary chess; (2) board
10x10, 20 pieces a side; (3) as (2) but 30
pieces a side; (4) as (3) but board 12x12;(5) as (4) but 36 pieces a side. Additional
pieces familiar apart from the Bowman, whichmakes a knight move to an unoccupied squareand then, without further movement, capturesor checks any enemy man a further knight’s
move away along the same line of movement.
Pawns retain the two-step move at all times(e.p. permitted), promote to any previously
captured piece and themselves return to any
vacant second-rank square, and in addition are‘knighted’ (replaced by a knight) on
promotion if a previously captured knight isavailable. Men are identified by movement
symbols. (Manufacturer’s publicity leaflet,also Variant Chess 17) [Text editorial]
Superchess [van Haeringen] (H. van
Haeringen, 1993). Not a game but a systemthat offers a range of boards and some 50 newpieces to choose from. These include theAmazon (Q+N), the Empress (R+N), thePrincess (B+N) and the Veteran (K+N). The
aim is to negate opening knowledge and in thelong term to establish an ideal combination ofboard and pieces since, as van Haeringenobserves, chess is an imperfect game. Players
agree a set-up before play. A 10x10 and 10x8
versionwascalledMonarch[van
Haeringen]. A handsome book Schaak en
Superschaak describes the system in detail.
There is also a briefer book in English,
Superchess. Chess, declares the inventor
modestly, is just a variant of Superchess.

Augmented Knights (Ralph Betza, 1995).
Knights have additional powers selected bylot. A first number 0-9 specifies the power tobe added (none, move of one squareorthogonally, ditto diagonally, leap of two
squares orthogonally, ditto diagonally, leap of
three squares orthogonally, ditto diagonally,
3-1 leap, 3-2 leap, ability to proceed in straightlines of knight moves as long as the road isclear), and a second number 0-2 says whether
the added power can be used both formovement and for capture, or only for capture,or only for movement. Additionally, cases 1-5
are very close in value, which opens up the
possibility that the players may restrict
themselves to these five and choose
independently as in Equal Armies below.
(Eteroscacco 74) [Text editorial]
Heraldic Chess Games (Módest Solans,c.1996). Proprietary games system featuring
chessmen, playing cards, and dice, including
scope for the players to make their own rules.
(Variant Chess 22) [Text editorial]
Meta-Chess [Brown] (John W. Brown,1997). Meta-Chess is really many games many different boards, many different men,many different rules. It is inspired by Herman
Hesse’s ‘game of games’ in The Glass Bead
Game and draws on the rich fabric of chessbefore it was shaped in its present form
sometime in the 15th century. A studiously
researched book by the inventor, Meta-Chess,runs to over 300 pages.
Chessquito (Proprietary game, SentoSphère,1999). Board 4x4; each player has 1 x Q, R, B,
N (no pawns). Three games are offered; in allof them, the pieces are placed alternately on
empty squares. First player to place also
moves first. (1) Capture all opponent’s pieces
to win; (2) Q moves forwards or backwards
one square, captures one square diagonally inany direction; (3) Q is K, win by checkmating.
If no capture in five successive moves, a gameis decided by pieces remaining. Charming
painted wooden men, ideal for the very young.
The games are far more skilful than theymight appear. (Photocopy of review in
Fairplay 58, possibly supplemented byinformation from a set in David’s games
collection)

186 Other games using square lattice boards
20.2 The players choose independently
Equal Armies (Ralph Betza, 1979). A gamein which the players have different butbalanced forces. Betza’s concept was to form
armies equal in strength, though not incomposition, to the orthochess army. An army
could then play any other army, including theorthochess army, on level terms, creating awide range of different, but well-matchedgames. The task was approached by devising acomputer-generated system for calculating thevalue of a great variety of pieces, giving eachpiece a points value based on a common
datum. The system analysed a number offactors including interaction, strength ratio atdifferent stages of a game, and so on. Certain
conclusions were reached as a result of which
a total of ten armies, called Simple Armies,
were assembled and researched; two were
subsequently abandoned, and two revised. The
orthochess array can be used in all cases, theregular pieces substituting for the new pieces.
Pawns are identical on both sides but need not
be those of orthochess; players can agree to
use Berolina pawns, shogi pawns, etc.
Many of the new pieces are based on theelementary Fers (moves one squarediagonally), Wazir (ditto orthogonally), King,
Alfil (leaps two squares diagonally), Dabbaba(ditto orthogonally), Knight, and Horse (as N
but one step orthogonally and then one
diagonally, and the intermediate square must
be empty). A rider is the correspondng piecethat continues to move in the same direction aslong as the road is clear. Thus a rook is awazir-rider, a nightrider a1 moves to b3, c5,
e7, c2, e3, or g4, and a dabbaba-rider a1
moves to a3, a5, a7, c1, e1, or g1. In the lists
that follow, the royal piece is given first, thenhis consort, and then the other three pieces.
Simple Army 1. Royal piece e1 moves as D
or W, captures as K. Consort d1 moves as A
or D or N or K, captures as B or N. Piece c1/f1
has a two-part move: as A, then optionally one
square straight back (the two parts making aknight’s move). The second step is forbidden
if the first is a capture. Piece b1/g1 moves andcaptures as N but can also capture forwards
and move backwards as B. Piece a1/h1 moves
as R but can capture only if there is one man
between it and its target (as Cannon in
xiangqi).

Simple Army 2. Royal piece e1 moves as K,
captures as D or W. Consort d1 moves andcaptures as B or D or N. Piece c1/f1 moves
and captures as D or F. Piece b1/g1 moves as
H, captures as A or D but only if there is aman on the intervening square. Piece a1/h1
moves and captures as D or N, castlingallowed.
Simple Army 3. Royal piece e1 moves as N,
captures as A or D or W. Consort d1 moves
and captures as A or K or N. Piece c1/f1
moves as A or D or F, captures as D or F Piece
b1/g1 moves and captures as H, or as A but
only if leaping a man, or as D ditto, or one
square straight forward (as P) . Piece a1/h1
moves as A or D or N, captures as D or N.
Simple Army 4. Royal piece e1 moves as W
or D, captures as K. Consort d1 moves andcaptures as A or D or K or N. Piece c1/f1
moves and captures as D or F. Piece b1/g1
moves and captures as H, also as A or D if
leaping a man. Piece a1/h1 moves andcaptures as A or K.
Simple Army 5. Royal piece e1 orthodox.
Consort d1 combines piece a1/h1 and piecec1/f1. Piece c1/f1 moves and captures either as
A or as Horse whose ﬁrst move is diagonal.
Piece b1/g1 moves as N, captures by leaping
one or two squares diagonally. Piece a1/h1
moves as rook but takes as F, not W, on
adjacent square.
Simple Army 6. Royal piece e1 moves as W
or A-rider, captures as K. Consort d1
combines piece a1/h1 and piece c1/f1 Piece
c1/f1 moves and captures as F or A-rider Piece
b1/g1 moves and captures as A-rider or Drider. Piece a1/h1 moves and captures as W or
D-rider.
Simple Army 7. Royal piece e1 moves as K,
captures as W or A-rider. Consort d1 moves
and captures as K or Nightrider (Nr). Piece
c1/f1 moves and captures as F or A-rider.
Piece b1/g1 moves and captures as D-rider or
one square straight forward. Piece a1/h1
moves and captures as Nr or one squarestraight forward.
Simple Army 8. Royal piece e1 moves as K,
captures as N or A. Consort d1 moves andcaptures as K or Nr. Piece c1/f1 moves andcaptures as Camel (3-1 leaper) or A. Piece
b1/g1 moves and captures as Gold General (asGames presented as families 187
W or one step diagonally forward). Piece
a1/h1 moves and captures as N or A-rider.
More armies were added later (2003) with
the improvement that kings and pawns
remained orthodox. The association of theregular pieces with the various Simple Armypieces poses a problem for players. (Nostalgia 247 and later, Chess Variant Pages)
Free Choice Chess (Bruce Gilson, 1984).
Board 10x16, of which the ﬁrst three ranks ateither end are deployment zones with a 10x10
playing area between them. The concept, notaltogether new, is to offer a variety of pieces,both orthodox and unorthodox, individuallyvalued in points according to their powers,
from which the players select their own forces.
Each player is limited to 20 pieces totalling
not more than 200 points, and must include atleast one single-step mover, denominated the
K piece, whose loss decides the game.
Gilson gives a total of 17 different pieces
from which to choose, divided into threegroups (moves and piece values in brackets).
Group 1 (single-step pieces): Fers (one step
diagonally, 5), Wazir (one step orthogonally,7), Silver General (as F or one step straightforward, 8), Gold General (as W or one step
diagonally forward, 10), King (as orthochess,
13).
Group 2 (medium-range pieces): Alfil(leaps two squares diagonally, 4), Dabbaba(ditto orthogonally, 5), Giraffe (as orthochessN but 4-1 instead of 2-1, 8), Camel (ditto but
3-1, 9), Zebra (ditto but 3-2, 9), Knight (asorthochess, 11), Squirrel (as A+D+N, 23).
Group 3 (long-range pieces): Bishop (asorthochess, 14), Rook (as orthochess, 22),
Princess (as B+N, 28), Empress (as R+N, 33),
Queen (as orthochess, 38).
Each player sets up his army in his own
deployment zone. Pieces are placed in turn,except that if one player uses up his 200 points
the other player can continue to place pieces
until his allocation is exhausted. A piece in theplaying area may not be moved if the player
still has a piece in the deployment zone,
except to capture, avoid capture, or check. The
royal piece must not be the last piece to enter
the playing area. No piece may leave theplaying area once entered. A long-range piecemust enter the playing area on the ﬁrst

(nearest) rank. No castling.
This is the basic version of the game. In theadvanced version, a captured piece can be reentered on the side of its captor at any time
anywhere in that player’s deployment zone.
The game was experimental. It was foreseenthat up to a couple of hundred different pieces
might be approved, their values constantly
updated by computer. Commentators observedthat the absence of pawns was a serious
drawback. One solution suggested was todispense with the deployment zones and insert
a line of pawns initially along the 3rd/8th
ranks. (World Game Review 6/7)
Generalised Chess [Schmittberger] (R.
Wayne Schmittberger, 1980s). A theory on theform that chess might assume in the future.
The idea is that each player has a number ofpoints with which to buy pieces from acommon pool, the men then being set up withthe players alternately placing their pieces on
the starting ranks. Some consideration has
been given to the pieces, but not so far to theboard sizes which would inﬂuence theirpowers. There would only be one of eachpiece (which would represent a power that
could be transferred to a familiar chessman) sothat a piece once purchased would be denied
to the opponent. If Generalized Chess were
universally adopted, the value of each piece,
initially assessed by detailed analysis onwhich the inventor has done much work,
would be constantly under review, based on
supply and demand in major events. A‘starter’ idea is that the 8x8 board with normal
array is employed, kings and pawns
unchanged, the players ‘buying’ new powers
for the pieces. In the ﬁnal form of the game,
different kinds of kings and pawns might beavailable; for example, an immobile king
which
would
earn
negative
points.
Schmittberger imagines grandmasters of the
future not exploring new opening variations (apointless exercise) but instead attempting toevaluate different piece combinations andthereby assessing those pieces that are underor over-valued; an interesting concept. A
practical weakness in the idea would seem tobe the difficulty players would have in
identifying and mentally controlling a range of
unfamiliar pieces. (Personal communication)

Chapter 21
Miscellanea[As in Part 1, there are games which do not fit easily into any other chapter but are too few innumber to merit chapters to themselves.]
21.1 One-dimensional boards
Linear Chess (V. R. Parton, 1961). Linear
board of 21 squares. Each side has sevenpieces; 1 x King, Jumper, Runner; 2 x Hopper,
Stepper. Steppers move a square at a time;
hoppers move two squares leaping theintervening square whether occupied or not;runners move over any number of vacantsquares; jumpers move by leaping over a manof either colour into the square immediately
beyond. Pieces can only advance; capture bydisplacement. Array (1-7/21-15) KJRHHSS.
Parton also suggests a 25-square or 27-squareboard an with additional jumper and runner oneach side, which he suggests seems to be the‘natural form’ of Linear Chess, ‘but the game
may, of course, be played on larger (longer)
boards and with more pieces than those whichhave been mentioned so far’. (Chess Curiouser and Curiouser)

issue of Scientific American. Linear board of 8
squares, array (1-3/8-6) KRN. K and R moveas normal; N moves exactly two spaces andmay jump. Clearly the first player can draw atonce by RxR, but who wins? Another version
adds a square between the forces so that theknights can threaten each other. OneDimensional Chess [Sackson] (Sid Sackson,1990) is an expanded version: 12-squareboard, array (1-5/12-8) RNKNR. To bring theback rook into the game. the K is allowed a
modiﬁed castling move: the two pieces
exchange places. This can be done at any time(i.e., after either or both have moved) and isnever forced (castling is not obligatory toescape stalemate). Again there is a variation
with an additional square between the forces
so that the knights can threaten each other.
(Personal communication)

One-Dimensional Chess [Glimne] (DanGlimne, 1977). Linear board of 18 squares,
square 1 black; array (1-7/18-12) KQRBBNP.
Pawns move one square forward only but may
move two initially. Knights move either twoor three squares, leaping any intervening men.
Bishops move on own colours ignoring men
on opposite-coloured squares. Rooks movenormally. Queens move as bishops or rooks.
Kings move one or two squares. Castling (Kand R exchange places) under orthochessrestrictions. All men capture by displacement
as they move. The inventor has a suspicion
that White has a forced win. (Inventor’s rule
sheet)[All this seems to pale into insignificancecompared with what T. R. Dawson and others
did in the problem field between 1925 and1945 (see Fairy Chess Review, February 1939,
December 1943, April, June, August, October,
December 1944, and February 1945). The key
to their fecundity was the use of what might
be called ‘n-skippers’, which skip along inhops of n squares ignoring anything on thesquares skipped over (so Glimne’s bishop is a
2-skipper). Some of the boards used to exploit
these skippers would have been too large forpractical play and there is a case for letting askipper follow its skips with a one-step moveso that it can change the set of squares on
which it travels, but if one-dimensional boards
are tried again this would seem to be the way
to go.]

One-Dimensional Chess [Gardner] (Martin
Gardner, 1980). Described in the July 1980

Miscellanea 189
21.2 Games with hidden information
Chess In Disguise (origins unknown). Kings
and pawns as normal array; other pieces are
draughtsmen or numbered pieces of cardboard
with their ranks on the underside. Players
arrange their own pieces as they wish
(but bishops on opposite-coloured squares)
without revealing their identities. Play isnormal except that check must be announced
and a captured piece revealed. Castling
permitted if rook in corner and usual
conditions apply. Players deduce opposing
pieces by the way they move. Agreed
unorthodox pieces may be used instead of
conventional ones. (Stone)[A natural choice is to replace one knight
and one rook by B+N and R+N, when theidentity of the pieces can be kept hidden for alittle longer. George Jelliss called thisvariation Knighted Chess in Variant Chess 1.
I had used it in Chessics 4 as a vehicle for atrick problem, but I am not sure if anyone hasever tried to play it as a game.]
Mimikri (Proprietary game, 3M; Alex
Randolph, 1970s). Board 8x8; each player has
16 cubes representing the usual chessmen. The
piece symbol is on one side of the cube only,
the reverse side depicting an arrow (with the
exception of the king, whose symbol is on
both faces), the remaining four sides of eachcube being blank. All the men, with the

exception of the two kings, are shuffled,
arrows uppermost. Each player counts out
eight pieces of the opponent’s colour andpasses them over. Both players now put theirpieces, symbols face-down and unseen, along
the second rank, and then place the kings,
symbol uppermost, on any square of their firstranks. There are two distinct games, the Decoy
game and the No game. In both games the aim
is to mate the opponent’s king.
In the Decoy game, each player arranges his
men so that the arrows point towards him, thentilts them a quarter-turn away from him so thatthe symbols face him and the arrows face theopponent; thus each player knows his own
pieces but not his opponent’s (except theking). Pieces move normally but are only
disclosed to the opponent when captured.
Check must be announced. Bluff plays animportant part.
In the No game, the pieces are arranged sothat the arrows point towards the opponent andare then tilted a quarter turn towards the player
so that the player sees his opponent’s men but
not his own. Each move is vetted by the
opponent. A call of ‘No’ means an illegal
move, and the player loses his turn. Captured
pieces are not disclosed and check is notannounced. Each move, a player discovers
something about his own strengths andweaknesses. (Notes based on an actual set)

21.3 Directional pieces
Super Chess [Ginsberg] (Proprietary game,
Super Chess Inc; Ed Ginsberg, 1984). Among
Games magazine’s top-ten strategy games of
1987; NOST correspondence tournament 1990
(US $1,000 prize fund!). Board 10x10; extra
men are a Cyclops, an Archer and two
Super Pawns. Baseline (a1-j1/a10-j10):
RNBCKQABNR; White places his two SPs
anywhere on his second rank; Black does
likewise, and the remaining pawns are filled inon the empty squares of these ranks. The
cyclops, having one eye, can move 1,2 or 3
squares only in the direction he is facing or in
the opposite direction. Moving forward, it runs
down enemy men in its path and can leap
friendly men to do so; running backwards(‘blind retreat’) all men in its path arecaptured, including friendly men. At the endof its move the cyclops can rotate to face any
direction, orthogonal or diagonal; it can also
rotate on its square without moving but thiscounts as a turn. The archer has the knight’s
move and can also shoot (capture) an enemy
man four squares away orthogonally; thus Aa1
moves/captures on b3/c2 and can also capture(without moving) on a5/e1. Super pawns canmove two squares initially even if intervening
square is occupied, and they can capture one
or two squares diagonally ahead, leaping theintervening square if occupied. The e.p. rule isadjusted logically for SPs. Promotion (Ps andSPs) to any piece except king. In castling, kingto c1/h1, rook d1/g1. Several thousand matchgames have been played. (Nost-algia 298/335)

190 Other games using square lattice boards
Ploy (Proprietary game, 3M; Frank Thibault,1973). Board 9x9; pieces carry directional
indicators which govern the directions inwhich they can move and which also
correspond to the number of spaces they
move, the exception being the Commander(K) who can move in any of four directions
but only one space at a time. Each side has 15
men: 1 x Commander, 3 x Shield, 5 x Probe,
6 x Lance. Shields can move and then rotate tochange direction; all other pieces rotate at theexpense of a move. Capture by displacement;
object is to win opponent’s commander.
[Information presumably deriving from a set
in David’s game collection]
Rotary (Christiaan Freeling, 1981). An
attempt to improve on Ploy. Board 9x9; pieces
are octagonal in shape and carry directional
indicators: King (four directions initiallyoriented diagonally), Rook (three directions,
initially left, right, and straight forward), Axe(three, initially straight and diagonallyforward), Trident (three, initially diagonallyforward and straight back), Scythe (two,initially straight forward and straight back).
Rooks initially on a/i1 and a9/i9, SATKTAS
centred on ranks 2/8, 9xP on ranks 3/7:

Pieces can only move in a direction in which
they are pointing. King moves one square andcan then rotate if desired; scythe moves any
distance and can then rotate; other pieces
move one square with optional rotation
afterwards, or more than one square without

rotation. A piece may rotate without moving
provided that at least one of its directions
changes. Pawns move as in orthochess but nopawn-two, promote to queen (four directions)
optionally on 7th or 8th rank, compulsorily on
9th. When a pawn promotes, the resulting
queen may be rotated as the player wishes.
The object is checkmate. King can mateking; stalemate is impossible since if the kingis not in check it can always rotate.
[Information presumably deriving either frompersonal communication or from a set inDavid’s game collection]
Tines and Barbs (Tony Berard, 1990). Board
8x8; usual array but pieces are octagonal, havenew names and carry directional indicators.
Each turn has an allocation of 5 points. Points
are required to capture (5), move (3), promote(2) and rotate (1), so for example a player
cannot capture and rotate in the same turn.
Unused points do not carry forward. (Personalcommunication)
Centenniel Chess (John W. Brown, 1999).
Board 10x10; extra pieces are Camels,
Rotating Spearmen, Stewards, and Murray
Lions. The Camel leaps as an extended N, 3-1
instead of 2-1. The Rotating Spearman points
straight forward (its initial orientation) or 45
degrees to either side, and moves forwards orbackwards on this line like a R or B; after on
instead of moving, it may rotate 45 degrees toface in a new direction, but it cannot rotate
before moving. It can capture on the advancebut not on the retreat. The Steward is an allround P, moving in any of the four orthogonal
directions and capturing in any of the four
diagonal. P and St may advance two squares
forward on first move (St not sideways), but
no e.p. The Murray Lion moves by leaping
two squares orthogonally or diagonally, andcaptures as a K. Until he has made his first
capture, a player moves two pieces each turn;a capture must be made on the first move ofthe turn. Array (a1-j1/a10-j10 and inwards)
RCBLKQLBCR, -SpN-StSt-NSp-, 10xP;
castling by moving K to bishop’s square, R tolion’s. (Chess Variant Pages) [Text largely
editorial.]Miscellanea 191
21.4 Other unorthodox pieces
Megasaur Chess (V. R. Parton, 1973).
Outline game only. Board 10x10; pieces havenames of prehistoric animals, Dinosaur (Q),Brontosaur (B), Hipposaur (N), Megasaur(Q+N), and move only to capture, as does theking; pawns are normal. No initial arrayspecified. Capture opponent’s king to win.
(Enduring Spirit of Dasapada) [According to
Anthony Dickins in A Guide to Fairy Chess,
all apart from the Megasaur date back to J. de
A. Almay (Fairy Chess Review, April 1940),
and the identity of names suggests that either
GFC or FCR must have been Parton’s source.]
Exotic Chess (R. Wayne Schmittberger,1986). Usual array, but a counter ordraughtsman is placed under each man.
Counters represent special powers, varying
with the rank of the piece, which can be used
once in a game. When a right is exercised, thecounter is removed. Players agree powers
beforehand. (World Game Review 10)
Mirrors [Nielsen] (Jens Nielsen, 1990). Bothplayers start with two ‘mirrors’ each twosquares long, placed vertically between the c/d
and e/f files and across the 2nd and 3rd ranks.
Mirrors block kings and pawns, alter the pathsof the line pieces (diagonal pieces reflect atright angles, impacting orthogonal pieces are
deflected at right angles to either side), but do
not affect knights. Mirrors meeting at a corner
prevent passage along the diagonal. A mirror
may slide one or two units lengthwise, or may
rotate about its centre, or move bodily one
unit, provided that the cells are vacant. Mirrors
are captured by placing two enemy pieces ofthe same kind next to them. A mirror may not
capture another mirror, but may block its
moves. (Variant Chess 6) [Text revised]21.5 Twinned pieces
Gemini [Groman] (William Groman, 1981).
A unique game that introduced the concept oftwinned pieces. Board 8x10; each side has 1 x
K, Q, 2 x twinned R, B, N, P, 4 x single P :rhb1kgn4
4ngp0bhr
p0pdw0p0
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd)P)WDP)PRHB)PGN$$NGQIBHR
The six pairs of pieces on each side aretwinned vertically (e.g. Ra1+Ra2), and thepawns on the b/c and f/g ﬁles are twinned
horizontally. Single pawns a/h and twins canmove 1 or 2 squares initially; pawns d/e 1, 2 or
3 squares. A single pawn promotes normallyon 10th rank, a twin pawn to twinned R, B or
N. No castling, but K has the right to move
two or three squares, on the rank only, once ina game (subject to the usual castling

restrictions). Twins move as a unit like theirsingle-piece counterparts. No part of a twin
may cross an occupied square. Capture bydisplacement. If a twinned pawn captures, theother moves diagonally with it. If one part of atwin is captured, the other becomes a single.
Twinned R, B and N can also make orientation
moves but not to capture. One rook can pivot
90 degrees round the other rook so that they
are horizontally linked. Bishops can be linked
horizontally and diagonally as well as
vertically. This is achieved in a single moveby pivoting one of the pair diagonally ororthogonally. Knights can change orientation
similarly, one of the pair remaining unmoved,
the other moving like a knight; for example,
Nc3/c4 (vertical) can change to b2/c3, d2/c3,
b5/c4 or d5/c4 (all diagonal) and fromdiagonal to horizontal or vertical. Knights
cannot change from vertical to horizontal (orvice versa) in one move. (Author’s rules
pamphlet)Invisible Chess (Bruce Trone, 1986). Eachman (‘mother unit’) has an invisible
counterpart (‘invisible man’). The IM
advances from the MU and must return before
it can be deployed to another square. The

192 Other games using square lattice boards
advance and the recall each require one turn.
An IM can only be captured by another IM.
All invisible men (including the IK) can checkand mate even though they don’t have thepower to follow through. A mother unit withIM deployed has no power of movement nor
can it give check, but it regains these powers
when the IM returns or is captured. Capturing
the MU also captures the IM whether
deployed or not. A visible man (carrying its
IM within) can pass through a square occupied
by a deployed IM. (Inventor’s rule sheet)[Text revised]

Forest Chess (Michael Schmahl, 1995).
Board 8x8; extra pieces are Grand Druid(royal piece, moves as K), Bear (as Q), Ranger(as nightrider, chapter 16), Druid (as B+K),
and Trees, which move together in parallel
along Q-lines but need not move the same
distance and cannot both capture in the same
turn. No pawn-two, castling replaced by ‘Passtree’: if the G is adjacent to either tree, he may
move to any unoccupied square orthogonallyor diagonally adjacent to the other tree.
Baseline (a1-h1/a8-h8) DRaTBeGTRaD.
(Author’s rules leaflet) [Text largely editorial]21.6 Men created during play
Creation Chess (Bruce Trone, 1991). If twopieces other than a K stand on the opponent’s
back rank with an odd number of empty
squares between them, a new piece combining

their powers is created halfway between them.
Neither parent can then contribute to anotheroffspring for three moves. (Personalcommunication)

21.7 Men belonging to both sides
Neutral Men (T. R. Dawson, 1912). On histurn, a player can regard a neutral man as his
own and move it, or he can regard it as his
opponent’s and take it. Neutral pawns promote
to neutral pieces. Invented for use in problems
and of limited use in normal play, butsuggested as a way of dealing with a matedplayer’s men in a three-player game (see‘Hexanova’ in chapter 37). A problem by Kurt
Smulders, Europe Echecs 1970, has White
Kh2, Rh7, Bc8, Nc7/b6, Pc5/a3 (7), Black
Ka7, Ra5, Nb5, Pa4 (4), Neutral Pb7 (1),White to play and mate in 2. The solution is
1 Na6 waiting, after which 1...Rxa6 is met bycapturing the neutral pawn and every otherBlack move by promoting it to a uniquelydetermined piece: 1...Kxa6 2 b8(N) (not R
because Black could play 2...Rxc8/Rb7 andnullify the check, and not B/Q because thiswould put White’s own king in check), 1...Nc7
2 b8(B) (not Q because Black could play
2...Qxc8), 1...Nd6 2 b8(Q) (not B because
2...Bc7 would remove both checks), and
1...Nd4/Nc3/Nxa3 2 b8(R) (not N because
2...Nd7 would stop the check). [Text editorial]
Neutral King Chess [Parton] (V. R. Parton,
1953). There are no queens, the king is shared,and each side has only six pawns; array(a1-d1/a8-d8 and inwards) RBNP, RBNP, 4xP

with the king initially on h5 and the rest of theright-hand side empty. Both players can movethe king, which is neutral. It may be moved
freely to capture or to escape check;otherwise, it can only be moved along the rank
or up the board by White, rank-wise or down
the board by Black. A player may move it tocapture a piece of either colour, but it is illegal
to move it to a square attacked by either side.
The K cannot be exposed to check from an
opponent’s piece, but a player may expose it
to check by moving one of his own. In thisevent, the opponent, on moving, must get outof check. The object is to checkmate. The
pawns move normally one square at a time,and promote only to R, B, N. (Nouveaux Jeuxd’Echecs Non-orthodoxes) [Text revised. The‘neutral king’ as used by problemists behavesquite differently; see for example Kurt
Smulders’s book Sprookjesschaak.]
Neuter Queen Chess (origins unknown). An
extra queen (the ‘blue queen’) is placed at thestart of the game on one of the four central
squares (by agreement). The piece, whichmoves like a Q but has no powers and may not
be captured and hence acts as a block, may beplayed by either player instead of a normal
move. (Correspondence between John Gollon
and Philip Cohen)Miscellanea 193
Knightmare Chess [Parton] (V. R. Parton,
1961). Certain pieces of disparate powers (forexample, Q/N, R/B) have dual identities, one
white, one black. Thus a piece might be usedby White as a bishop and by Black as a knight,
a knightmare for both players. A concept
never formalised into a game though Parton
did suggest what he described as a diluted
Soup à la Knightmare: each player can movethe opponent’s king as a knight and may also
capture with it or place it in check; however, itcannot be moved on the first two turns nor insuccessive moves. (Chess - Curiouser andCuriouser)
Carnivore Chess (quoted by C. Pickover,1992). Standard set-up; an additional piece,
the Carnivore, which captures but cannot be
captured, is placed somewhere near the middleof the board. Before each move the player
whose turn it is moves it one square in any
direction. (Mazes for the Mind)

21.8 Walls and obstacles
Centigrade Chess (Proprietary game, Zodiac
Games, late 19th century). Board 10x10, four
central squares are forts. Usual set plus 2
Centurions and 2 pawns a side. Centurions
command two squares in any direction. Piece
occupying fort cannot be captured. No piece
can cross over fort, even if unoccupied. Linepieces (Q, R, B) must ﬁrst move into fort, thenout again. Object: checkmate. (Note referring
to Zodiac Games by ‘Mercury in Virgo’,
published by Britten of Dudley)

Chad (Christiaan Freeling, 1979). Board
12x12, with brick walls at b3-b5, c6-e6, f5-f3,
e2-c2, and k10-k8 etc similarly. These walls
create two 3x3 ‘castles’. The players sit
cornerwise, each with a king and eight rooks
which initially occupy his castle :Simmons’ Game (Proprietary game, SamuelSimmons, 1899). Board 10x10; four central
squares designated a sanctuary with forts d4,
d7, g4, g7. Additional pieces are two generals(rooks) at e1/f1 and e10/f10 plus pawns. Win
by checkmate or when sanctuary is occupied
by king and three pieces of same colour andall forts are cleared of enemy. Pawns ignore
sanctuary and do not check king when in it.
(Note referring to ‘Patent 24210 of 1899’)
Merlin et Mat (Proprietary game, R.-P.
Ragosa and P. Fauvet, 1995). Board 12x12with eight squares (b7, c6, c7, d6, h7, i6, i7,j6) coloured red. Each player has the usualchessmen plus a Merlin and eight extra pawns.
The M moves three squares in any direction oras a N. Pieces are orthodox, but pawns move
one square straight forward or one squarediagonally back. They capture and promotenormally. Red squares may not be occupied or
crossed. To start, a barrier is placed across thecentre of the board and the players assemble
their men in their own half except that no man
may be entered on a rank that contains a redsquare and the M must be placed adjacent to
the K. (Photocopy of rule booklet)

The aim of the inventor was to create a gameof tactical and strategical depth that was both
simple and elegant to express the concept of‘mate’ - the ‘pure’ chess game.
The king moves as a king or knight but may
not leave the castle. The rooks move normallyand are unhindered by castles or walls. A rookthat completes its move on a square in the
opponent’s castle promotes to queen. Captureis by displacement but may only be made if
the capturing piece is on the opponent’s walland its victim within his castle or vice versa,
otherwise the pieces act as blocks. It follows
that a queen within the opponent’s castle can194 Other games using square lattice boards
only be captured by the king. A king in thecorner of a castle does not control the squares
in the other three corners, and if at the side ofa castle, does not control the square directly
opposite. It is these weaknesses that are best

exploited by sacriﬁcial attacks aimed atforcing the king out of the centre.
Chad was played for many years at the
Fanaat games club in the Netherlands. It was
the subject of a feature article (The Gamer 6).

21.9 Square-swallowing
Sjakti (Christiaan Freeling, 1982). Board 7x7;
tiles (counters will do) are placed on all 49
squares. Each player has a king and two men,
initially set at d2/6 (kings) and b2/6, f2/6
(men) :

The aim is checkmate. A man may move tothe first tile he encounters in any direction(i.e., like a queen) provided it is vacant. If thenext tile beyond it is also vacant, the man may
move there instead, removing the first tile. The
king moves in the same manner with two
exceptions: it can only move to the first vacanttile encountered and, if in check, can only
move to an adjacent empty tile. No moves
may be made to empty squares. A king cancapture a man provided that it is both adjacentand undefended. The two kings cannot standon the same line if there are no tiles between
them. Notice that if a king and an opposing
man stand on the same line with a vacant tile
between them the king is not in check since
the tile he occupies does not fulﬁll the vacancy
condition. Sacrifices are common both in amating attack and to achieve stalemate (whenalmost invariably both men are sacrificed).
(Manuscript notes presumably deriving frompersonal communication)
Caissa (Christiaan Freeling, 1982) has many
similarities with Sjakti. The game uses a 7x7
board, a queen (Caissa), rook, bishop andknight on each side and 49 counters, one oneach square. Caissa has also been played onother boards.
The first player arranges the initial position(in which neither queen must be in check) andthe second player chooses sides or elects toplay ﬁrst. The pieces move as in chess butwith a number of modiﬁcations. It is an
inviolate rule that no piece may make a moveif, on completion of its move, any counter orgroup of counters is isolated from theremainder. The object of the game is tocheckmate the queen, who moves and captures
undefended pieces normally but can only
move one square when in check (hence pieces
checking from a distance need not be
guarded). Queens cannot face each otherdirectly however many squares there are
between them. When a queen moves, thecounter on the square she was occupying isremoved from the board. Empty squares canbe passed over but never occupied, hence theplaying area is gradually diminished.
The other pieces move normally but do not
capture one another. They have two additional
powers: a piece can move with its counter toan empty square (thereby of course leaving
empty the square it occupied) and a piece canchange places with a piece of either colour
provided it can legally move to the squareoccupied by that piece (in this way bishops areable to change their colour-complex provided
the move is initiated by a rook or knight).
Some beautiful combinations are possible andno draw has so far been recorded. (Manuscript
notes presumably deriving from personalcommunication)
Magician Chess (Jonathon Whittle, 1999).
Board 7x7 with holes initially at a3/4/5,
g3/4/5, and d2/4/6; men are KRNP and
Magician; array (a1-g1/a7-g7 and inwards)
RNMKMNR, PPP~PPP. Magician moves one
square orthogonally or leaps two squares
diagonally, and can cast a spell on a hole at aMiscellanea 195
distance one square diagonally or two
orthogonally; this spell causes a squareorthogonally adjacent to the hole to slide
across and cover it, leaving a new hole in its
place. The magician chooses which square isto slide, and whether any occupant (of either
colour) is to slide with the square or to be left
behind to fall into the new hole (a magician
cannot capture normally). Suppose 1 Mbd3
Ncd5 2 Mc3; White’s magician is now

threatening to cast a spell on d4 and to cause
the square d5 to slide from under the knight tofill it, leaving Black a knight down.
Rooks and pawns may not move acrossholes. Pawn-two allowed from first or second
rank even if the pawn has moved previously,e.p. permitted. Pawns promote to composite
pieces, R+N or R+M or N+M. Castling
permitted. (Chess Variant Pages) [Texteditorial]21.10 Use of the intersection points
Simo Pieces (David Moeser, 1971) move on
the intersections rather than on the squares of
the chessboard. They have their usual names
preceded by ‘S’, thus Sking etc. Simochess isplayed with nothing but simopieces (andhence is simply a 9x9 game with ordinarymen); the interest comes from combining
using the two on the same board. Pieces
moving on the ranks and ﬁles are unaffected
except that they can be pinned by simo as well
as by diagonal-moving pieces. Diagonalmovers (K, Q, B, P when capturing) can electto move normally or to an intersection where
they are invulnerable from Rs and Ns, thereby
becoming simopieces. The diagonals of Qs
and Bs can be blocked by simopieces. Regulardiagonal movers can capture simopieces andconvert to simopieces and simopieces cansimilarly capture orthochess diagonal movers
and convert to regular pieces. In Schess(Moeser, 1973), the ordinary K, Q, B, and P
when capturing are allowed simodiagonal
movement. Simoco (Moeser, 1973) is afurther development in which the midpoints ofthe square edges can be used as well. Pieces
using these points have the prefix ‘Co’, thus
Coking etc. (Neue Chess 6)
Chesquerque (George R. Dekle Sr, 1986).
Board 9x9 points. Movement along marked
lines between points. All points are joined
orthogonally but alternate points only arelinked diagonally (a1, c1, ... b2, d2 ... etc).
Usual pieces plus Archbishop (B+N); baseline(a1-i1/a1-i9) RNBQABNR. Rooks can also
move one point diagonally and bishops one
point orthogonally. Pawns move and capture
one point diagonally forward or straightforward and have initial two-point option (e.p.
allowed). King moves three points whencastling. (World Game Review 10)
Echecs + (Proprietary game, TLM création;
Yvon Picard, 1991). Board 12x10 with the 20
intersection points between files b/c, d/e, f/g,
h/i, j/k and ranks 2/3, 4/5, 6/7, 8/9 marked
with small circles. Each side has two Jacks,
which leap two squares in any direction, plus
two extra bishops; baseline (a1-l1/a10-l10)
RBJNBQKBNJBR. In addition, each side has
two Bishop Blocks, which start the game on
the two intersections in front of the K and Q
and subsequently move only from circle tocircle. A BB blocks the path of an adverse
bishop along the two diagonals through theintersection on which it stands; it cannot
capture nor be captured, and it has no effect on
men other than the Bs (not the Q). The game
won a bronze medal at the 1991 Salon
International de l’Invention de Paris. [There isa photocopy of the award certificate inDavid’s ‘Encyclopedia’ files; the remaining
information presumably comes from a set in
his games collection]

21.11 Games on two or more boards
Duel Chess (Erez Schatz, 2003). Two boards,
5x7 missing central square and 3x3; extra
piece is Dabbabah which leaps two squares
orthogonally. All men start on the larger(main) board, baseline (a1-e1/a7-e7) DNKBR;

smaller (reserve) board initially empty. Pawns
do not promote; a lone king on the main board
loses. When a man is captured, it is placed on
the reserve board by the player who made thecapture. When both players have at least one

196 Other games using square lattice boards
man on the small board, a player can elect tomove on it instead of the main board. A piece
captured there is removed from play and thecapturing piece is returned to the main board,but may not be dropped to give check.
If a capture is made on the main board when
the small board is full, the captured piece
replaces one of the same colour on the reserveboard. The main board may be enlarged andadditional men used, but the reserve board
should always be 3x3. (Chess Variant Pages)
Sub-Chess (Alexander Chebotaryov, 1988).
There are two branches of the game, Chess112 and Chess-M-48, each based on the same
simple and original concept of an 8x8 board
within which the 16 central squares are eachsubdivided into four small squares. This has
the effect of creating two 8x8 boards, the large
one (L) subsuming the small (S) :We denote the squares on L by La1-Lh8 andsubsquares on S by Sa1-Sh8; the subsquares
Sa1, Sa2, Sb1, and Sb2 all form part of Lc3.
Chess-112. The normal array is set up on L,
S being initially empty. When a move is madefrom L to S, the player must nominate thesubsquare (which must be vacant) on which
the man is to be placed. Suppose White opens
Nc3; he must nominate one of the subsquares
Sa1, Sa2, Sb1, and Sb2 to receive the knight.
Let us suppose that he chooses Sb2.
The knight now stands simultaneously on L
and S. On its next move, it can move on L toe2, d1, b1, a2, a4, or b5, and also to d5 or e4though in these last two cases he must againchoose a specific destination subsquare on S
(so moves such as Sb2-d6 or even Sa1-d6,

being played as c3-d5 on L, are valid knightmoves on S). Alternatively, it can move on S
to Sa4, Sc4, Sd3, or Sd1. Notice that in eachof these three cases the knight has effectively
moved to an adjacent square on L. And as athird option, it can move to another vacant
subsquare without changing its L square, sofrom Sb2 it can move to Sa1, Sa2, or Sb1 (ifthese subsquares are free). These same rules
hold for all pieces (including K) and pawns.
Moves on L outside S, and moves from S to L,
are normal. A man moving on L to a
subdivided square captures all enemy men on
its destination; thus our move Nb1-c3 (Sb2chosen), if played later in the game, would
capture any enemy men standing on Sa1, Sa2,
or Sb1. A diagonal move from L across asquare forming part of S is treated as goingalong a white diagonal in S if moving NW/SE
and a black diagonal if moving NE/SW.
Suppose 1 Nb1-c3 (Sb2) e7-e5 (Se5) 2 d2-d4(Sd3) Bf8-b4. This is check, since the knightat Sb2 is off the line of movement of thebishop, and if White wants to play c2-c3 toblock the check he must choose Sa2 or Sb1;
Sa1 would not do. An orthogonal move fromL across a square forming part of S is treatedas a move along the central line dividing thesubsquares; it ignores single men on adjacentsubsquares, but is blocked by two men
standing side by side. Suppose 1 e2-e4 (Se4)e7-e5 (Sf6) 2 Se4-e5 Qd8-e7; this is check, but
if Black’s first move had chosen Sf5 instead of
Sf6 it would not be.
Chess-M-48. The array on L (a1-h1/a8-h8
and inwards) is RNBQKBNR, PPNBBNPP,
with 8xP on the 1st and 8th ranks of S. The
rules differ from Chess-112 in that men do nothave the option of changing sub-squares
within an L square, and that pawns when
within S cannot elect to move as if in L. The
effect of this is that men of opposite colour
can occupy the same L square. Pawns canmove one or two squares if starting their movein their own half of the board. (Personalcommunication) [Text revised]
Orbichess (Proprietary game, D. E. de Vries,1975). Board 8x8, each square subdivided into
four coloured ‘fundamental squares’. Lightsquares are composed of light colours(including a white ‘basic square’), darksquares of dark colours (basic square red).

Miscellanea 197
Each dark square has its corresponding lightsquare, thus in effect four chessboards areinterlocked. The normal game is played on thebasic squares on which the men stand in theinitial array. The other squares are called
orbital squares and may be occupied by any

piece except kings and pawns. Pieces onorbital squares can neither take nor be taken.
By entering an orbital square a piece has anumber of paths open to it. This enables it toenter play via a basic square at a propitious
moment. (Proprietor’s rules leaflet)

21.12 Other games
Philidor and Stamma’s 140-square Game.
According to Anthony Dickins in A ShortHistory of Fairy Chess, Philidor and Stamma
played matches “which Philidor always won,even when they played on a 14x10 board witha number of ‘new’ pieces (probably Muslim in
origin)”. [Name editorial]
Flammhorst’s Game (N. N. Flammhorst,
1833). A war game elaborately argued but
much closer to chess than to kriegsspiel (theauthor concludes that chess is a good
representation of classic warfare). Board 9x9,22 men each side: ‘1 Roi, 2 Connétables, 1
Sénéschal, 2 Maréchaux, 2 Grands-Maîtres, 2Partisans, 2 Châtelains, 2 Chevaliers, 2
Gonfaloniers, 2 Bannerets, 2 Trompetoniers et
2 Piconiciers’ (Le Palamède, September 1846,
citing Flammhorst’s book of 1833). Involved
rules permitting mobilisation, securing theking in a fortress etc. (Faidutti)
Gérard Chess, also known as Jeu deBatailles (E. Gérard, 1860). An attempt tocreate a simple game in harmony with thencurrent military realism. The close relationshipwith chess was emphasized. The game ran toseveral editions and one Ladislas Maczuski
offered lessons. Board irregular octagon, 256
squares; each side had 28 chessmen in 12
tasteful designs. King as orthochess; Great
Cavalry (Q); Cavalry (N); Riflemen (B);
Escorts (R); Reserves move as K, capture as
N; Infantry move as K, capture one squarediagonally. In addition there were Artillery,
Ordnance, Engineers, Defences and Victuals.
Array predetermined on ﬁrst three ranks. The
players then positioned squares representing
terrain features, which in turn affectedmovement, in their respective halves of theboard. Each player nominated an HQ squareon the 6th rank which, if occupied by an
opposing man, allowed a captured piece to bereborn. Main aim was to checkmate opposing

king but players could agree lesser victories(e.g., capture all artillery). (Règles des EchecsGérard)
Neuschach [Ernst] (Proprietary game, C.
Abel-Klinger; Hugo Ernst, 1901). 144-squareboard, 25 men a side including 1 kaiser, 2kings, 2 queens, and some new men with new
moves. Ernst, of Buenos Aires, wanted thegame to replace chess, an ambition not
unknownamongstvariant
inventors.
(Deutsche Schachzeitung, October 1901) [Thesource gives no further information, and David
appears not to have possessed a set.]
Super Chess [Fort] (Charles Fort, 1930).
Game of seemingly daunting complexity by
the famous collector of the mystical andstrange in science and nature. A photograph ofthe period shows the auther ‘relaxing’ at aboard of many thousand squares dotted withscores of chessmen. (Mitchell and Richard,
Living Wonders, Mysteries and Curiosities of
the Animal World, 1982)
MAD’s Modern Chess (MAD magazine; c1963 by E.C. Publications Inc.) (Quote) ‘Note
terrified, neurotic pawns on brink of cracking
up. Note one thing hasn’t changed: pawns arestill in front rows and have to take most of thebeating. MAD’s pieces are not limited to
special moves. In fact, each move iscompletely unpredictable. Cunning, trickery,
accident, sneakiness, surprise, anxiety, fear ...
any of these could play a vital part in thegame. Strategy is limited to each player
waiting for the other to make the first move.
End of game is followed by deathly silence.
Unlike old-fashioned chess, there is nowinner’ (unquote). A diagram shows a board
with baseline Fallout Shelter, Air Raid Siren,
Anti-Missile Missile, A-Bomb, H-Bomb,ICBM Missile (sic), Radar, Fallout Shelter,plus 8xP as usual. (Chess, 22 August 1966)

198 Other games using square lattice boards
Warp Chess (quoted by Don Miller in 1974).
The third and fourth ranks of the board exist
simultaneously with the corresponding ranks
as viewed by the opponent; thus a man on b3
is simultaneously on g6 (and d4 on e5 etc) andcan be captured on either square. (Kittle
Pitchering Hubble de Shuff 10)
Fantasy Chess (Proprietary game, Little
Soldier Games, 1975). Board 8x8; usual arraybut men are redesignated (chessmen inbrackets): 1 x King (K), Wizard (Q); 2 xArcher (R); 4 x Rider (B/N); 8 x Spearman(P). The two sides are Good (W) v. Evil.
[Information presumably taken from a set inDavid’s game collection. His index sheet has anote ‘Different movements’ and so I have put
the game into this part of the book, but he wassometimes given permission to describe
proprietary games only in very general terms
and no further details are to hand.]
Shogun (Proprietary game, Ravensburger,
1979). Board 8x8 uncoloured; each side has a
Shogun (king) and seven identical pieces.
Shogun moves one or two squares, all otherpieces between one and four squares
depending on the action of a magnetic dial
which indicates number of squares to be
moved. The magnets only affect the man
played. Capture by displacement; ‘Shogun’(check) must be announced. Win by capturing
shogun or reducing opponent to shogun and
one piece. (Pergioco 3)
Chaos [Kensek] (Ron Kensek, 1980s). A
game devised chiefly to mystify spectators(especially effective with a 5-minute time
limit). A king (Monarch) moves as a K but canalso leap an adjacent man to capture. A pawn
(Butterfly) moves as N but forward only. It
may move to a square occupied by a butterflyof the same colour, which must then make aknight’s move backwards. If this move lands
on another butterfly of the same colour, this inturn must move forward as N, and so on. A
butterfly on reaching the 8th rank promotes toa Monarch Butterfly, equivalent to a monarch.
A rook (Row-runner) makes one or two R
moves at player’s option; one or both may
capture. A knight (Triangle) makes threeconsecutive K moves, not necessarily in thesame direction. The first two may be tooccupied squares, but not to capture. A queen(Juggernaut) makes a series of one-squareorthogonal moves in two perpendicular
directions (e.g. up and right), capturing as it
goes. It need not stop until it meets a friendly
man or the board edge. A bishop (Switcher)moves as a B or K, or by a series of B moves
over vacant squares. A player castles byexchanging the positions of a monarch and a
row-runner with which it has not previously
castled provided both are on the same rank orfile with the squares between them vacant. A
player can uncastle on the following move by
restoring the pieces to their original squares
and then moving one of them. A triangle
within range of a friendly monarch can change
places with it (‘geometrize’). No move is legal
that leaves the position unchanged. The gameis won by an unstoppable threat to capture theopponent’s (remaining) monarch. A player
who is stalemated also wins. A book on
strategy is awaited. [Source material missing
from David’s Encyclopedia files]
Conversion [Mazas] (Proprietary game,
Mazas Editions, 1986). Large chequered boardof irregular shape but regular design. Eachside has 18 pieces, God, High Priest, Priests,
Prophets, Monks, Missionaries, and Devotees,
with various moves. Two men are moved eachturn. Object is to ‘convert’ (capture)
opponent’s God. (Jeux et Stratégie 38)
Stealth (Proprietary game, Falcon Games;
Michael Gilano, 1986). Board 9x8 with cornersquares removed. Men are starship (king),
guardians and drones; first two move as
queens, drones have various powers and canbe stacked. Win by capturing or immobilizingstarship or capturing all drones. (Photocopy ofrules pamphlet)
Pole Chess (Piers Anthony, 1988). An
account of a game, Pole Chess, in which board
and pieces are made of ice, is given by Piers
Anthony in his Robot Adept. The usual pieces
are transformed into Goblins (Ps), Dragons(Rs), Trolls (Bs), Griffins (Ns), Ogress (Q),and Demon (K). ‘But this was Pole Chess, so
there was one additional set of pieces: thepoles. When all the other pieces were set up,
the white and black poles stood to either side,
just off the board, centred.’ A pole could move

Miscellanea 199
directly to any empty square; it could not be
captured and served only as a block. ‘Some
players swore that Pole Chess was the best
variant ever; others condemned it as adecadent offshoot.’ Further on, Anthonydescribes Huffdraw. ‘A device that had comeinto play in the last few centuries because too
many tournaments were being stymied byfrequent draws. There were several
applications, depending on the type of drawthat was threatened. But the basic element was
the removal of “dead” pieces; those that hadn’t
moved in some time.’

December 1994)

Excalibor (Proprietary game, Franjeux, 1989).
The Knights of the Round Table replace theusual chess pieces but retain their moves. The
sword Excalibur moves as Q. If captured, it isplunged into a ‘lake’, from where it can only
be rescued by King Arthur. Elaborate rules.
(Jeux et Stratégie 7)

Ruddigore Chess Peter Aronson (2002)
Board 8x8; usual men and array except that Ks
replaced by Baronets (move as K, capture as K
or N, can capture friendly as well as enemymen) and Ns by Gentlemen (can make one ormore knight moves in a straight line, but if
two steps from the edge of the board can only
move one and if three steps from the edge canonly move two). Pawns may move twosquares at any time, no e.p. Captured pieces
may subsequently be dropped back into play;promoted pawns retain their rank. On eacheven turn (2, 4, 6 etc) each player must capture
a man, either an opponent’s or a friendly man
with the Baronet (the captured piece is kept inhand), or move and give up a man either on
the board or in hand. Inspired by the Gilbert &Sullivan operetta. (Chess Variant Pages) [Textrevised]Supers Echecs (Proprietary game, SEI, 1994).
Board 9x9; extra pieces are a Prince and a
Mage. Pawns include a traitor and a plaguecarrier, and the game also features a treasury.
(Photocopy of a notice in Science et Vie,

Tigerchess (Glenn Nicholls, 2003). Standard
board and array but with additional squares,
extra pieces, and elaborate rules. Win bycheckmating opposing Q (not K) or occupying
opposing palace. (Chess Variant Pages)

Part 3
Boards of other kinds[We now look at boards based on cells other than squares: boards based on hexagons
and other figures, circlar and figure-of-eight boards, boards wrapped round cylinders
and spheres, and boards with three and even more dimensions.]

Chapter 22
Boards based on hexagons[In this chapter, every board cell away from the edge has a side in common with each of six
neighbours. There are hence six natural directions of rook movement, and the hexagons are mostoften arranged so that these are straight forwards and backwards and 30 degrees either side ofleft and right. The hexagons can also be placed so as to give rook movement directly to left andright and 30 degrees either side of forwards and backwards, but games with the hexagons soaligned have a different character and they are given a section to themselves.
Chess on a board composed of hexagons is a relatively recent phenomenon. The ﬁrst
approaches to such games were possibly Croughton’s Hexagonal Chess of 1853 and Jaques’s
Hexagonia of 1860, but in neither of these was the object checkmate. It was not until a halfcentury later that Ayres’s chess-like game Mars appeared, followed by Wellisch’s attempt totransfer orthochess - albeit without bishops - to a hex board as a three-handed game. Since then anumber of hex games have been created, with Glinski’s the best known and probably the mostwidely played. The hex board is now a popular medium for strategy games, particularly
wargames, since it offers six instead of four directions of movement, thereby increasing piece
mobility. Three cell colours are necessary in order to ensure that no two adjacent hexes becoloured the same, and it follows that any colour-restricted piece which is provided as ananalogue to the orthochess bishop needs to be present in sets of three if the game is not to beunbalanced. Not every inventor appears to have realised this.
As will be seen, while all the boards in this chapter have been built up from hexagonal cells,
there has been very little agreement between inventors concerning their overall shape and size.
The smallest boards in this chapter have 43 cells, the largest 169, and there are seventeen othersizes in between. But the 91-cell board of Glinski’s game has been used more often than any
other, and Glinksi’s was the first game to command significant attention. The rules of Glinski’s
game are therefore given in full, those of other variants by reference to Glinski at least as regards
the moves of the men (Glinksi’s treatment of stalemate has not been followed elsewhere).]22.1 Hexagonally symmetric boards with a forward rook move
[There have been almost as many notations for hex-based boards as there have been inventors,
and in this book we shall adopt a standard ‘count in twos’ system irrespective of any notationthat may be in use elsewhere. For boards with a forward rook move, we shall label the files
a, b, c etc in the usual way, but the cells in a file will be numbered in steps of 2 so that cells withthe same number are always at the same horizontal level.]
Glinski’s Hexagonal Chess (Wladyslaw
Glinski, 1936). Probably the most widely
played of the hexagonal chess games, in partdue to the inventor’s life-long enthusiasm andpromotional efforts. First launched in Britain(1949), the game enjoyed remarkable
popularity in Eastern Europe where there wereonce reportedly over half-a-million players,mostly in Glinski’s native Poland where
130,000 sets were once sold in the space of afew months, but also in Czechoslovakia,
Hungary and Russia. The ﬁrst British Cham-pionship was held in 1976. Subsequently, aEuropean Championship was inaugurated(the ﬁrst title holder was Marek Mackowiak of
Poland) and World Championship candidates
tournaments were held in London, Moscow
and Subotica (1987-8). At its height here wasan International Hexagonal Chess Federation
as well as several national organisations. The
game appeared to go into decline on the deathof its inventor.
The game is played on an hexagonal boardof 91 cells as shown overleaf :204 Boards of other kinds

The usual men are employed, but there are an
extra B and P on each side. For clarity,
occupied squares are shown uncoloured, but
on an actual board the cell colouring extends
throughout.
The rook moves on the files and at 30
degrees to the horizontal (if the board were
empty, Rc4 could move to c6/c8/.../c18 on thefile, b5/a6 and d3/e2/f1 along its second line,
d5/e6/.../k12 along its third). The bishop
moves horizontally and at 30 degrees to thevertical (Bf5 to d5/b5 and h5/j5 horizontally,
e8/d11/.../b17 and g2 in its second direction,
g8/h11/.../j17 and e2 in its third); each bishop
is restricted to cells of one colour, and thethree between them cover the whole board.
The queen moves as R+B, the king one step asQ (thus a midboard K has 12 possible moves
and even a K in a corner has 5). The knightleaps the equivalent of one B-step then one
R-step at 30 degrees, so Nd3 has 6 possible
moves (to b7, c8, e8, f7, g4, or g2) and amidboard N has 12. The pawn advances one
cell straight forward, captures obliquely
forward (WPf9 moves to f11, captures to e10
or g10). Pawns promote on the opponent’s
back line. Opening pawn-two permitted, and if
a pawn in its initial position makes a capture ismade towards the centre it retains the two-step
option since in effect it has not advanced.
No castling.
The array has some interesting features. All
the pieces can move initially so thatdevelopment is rapid and tactical clashes earlyin the game are common. The Bf3 has two
open lines, the Q one. Every pawn istheoretically ﬁve steps from promotion and theﬁrst move can result in a pawn clash on the eor g-files. There are a number of recognized
openings. Knights are on the whole stronger
than bishops. Fool’s mate: 1 Qc8 Qc14 2 b7
b15 3 Bb5 e12 4 Qxf17.
In match play, stalemate earns threequarters of a point for the player delivering it,
quarter of a point for the player stalemated.
In the unlikely ending K v K, a false step canlead to a stalemate in a board corner.
The opposition in end-play is as important as
in orthochess. In most endings K+P v K thestronger side wins; however the win is
impossible in some positions. Suppose White
Kf13, Pf15, Black Kf17; White to move canonly draw: 1 Ke12 Kg14 2 Kd15 Kf17 etc.
With a wing pawn, the same position wins.
Suppose White Ka6, Pa8, Black Ka10; now
1 Kb5 Kb13 2 Kb7 Kb11 3 a10+ Ka14 4 Kc8
Ka12 5 Kc10 Kb15 6 Kb11 Ka16 7 Ka12
(Kc14 is stalemate!) Kc16 8 Ka14 etc. K + R
wins easily but K + two minor pieces can only
force a win in certain positions. John Jackson
contends in A Player’s Guide to Table Games
that the game would be improved if the central
pawns (three or ﬁve) were set back one cell inthe starting position. Glinski’s booklet First
Theories of Hexagonal Chess provides aconvenient introduction. [Text revised]
Honeycomb Chess, also known as
Hexabrain and Six-Way Brain Game
(Proprietary game, Douglas Reid, 1972).
91-cell hexagonal board as Glinski. Each sidehas 22 men: 1 x king; 2 x queen, castle; 6 x
hopper; 11 x pawn. King moves to any
adjacent hex; queen as Glinski’s R; castle
vertically as Glinski’s R, laterally as Glinski’s
B (so can only move to alternate files); hopper
one step as Glinski’s B; pawn as Glinski.
Promotion normal, object checkmate. Baseline(a6-f1-k6/a16-f21-k16)
CHHHQKQHHHC
fronted by 11xP. As in many hex games, thepawns live in an unequal world; wing pawns
can promote in three moves, the central pawn
takes eight. (Author’s rules leaflet, alsomanuscript notes presumably deriving frompersonal communication) [Text revised]
McCooey and Honeycutt’s Hexagonal
Chess (David McCooey and Richard
Honeycutt, 1979). 91-cell hexagonal board asBoards based on hexagons 205
Glinski; extra B but only 7 x P:

cell as the friendly K are Bs, otherwise Rs(so in the initial array, the men on e7/i7 ande19/i19 show B, the remaining men show R).
Pieces are reversed as necessary as part of amove; a K moving to escape check forexample can cause the attacker to be attacked
through piece reversal. The K is confined tothe castle but, as in Chad, may also move likea N. The Ks may not face each otheruninterrupted on B or R lines. (Personalcommunication)
Sjakti [Hex] (Christiaan Freeling, 1982) is thehex version of Sjakti (see chapter 21). 61-cell
hexagonal board, a5/a7/.../a13 out toe1/e3/.../e17 and back to i5/i7/.../i13; pieces
initially set at e5/e13 (kings) and c5/c13,
f5/f13 (men).

K, Q, R, B, N move as in Glinski. P moves
one step forward as R, captures one step
obliquely forward as B; pawns other than thecentre pawn have a two-step option (e.p.
permitted). The aim was to create a hex gameas close to orthochess as possible. (Chess
Variant Pages) [Text slightly revised]
Hexchad (Christiaan Freeling, 1980). The
hexagonal version of Chad (see chapter 21).
127-cell hexagonal board, a7/a9/.../a19 out tog1/g3/.../g25 and back to m7/m9/.../m19; kings
on g7/g19, eight rooks on e7-g9-i7-g5-e7 ande19-g21 etc, walls on d8-g11-j8-j6-g3-d6-d8
and d20-g23 etc. Rules are identical to thoseof Chad with one addition: kings may not faceeach other on the same ﬁle if the hexes
between them are unoccupied. This has
considerable implications for the attacker who
can use his king to protect a queen in the
opponent’s castle or cut off ﬂight hexes. The
fundamental difference between Hexchad andChad is that in Hexchad the forces face eachother directly down ﬁles so that practically thewhole front is restricted to forward movement.
Because of the tightness of the position, any
mistake is likely to be grievous. There are anumber of opening traps. Stalemate is
unknown. (Manuscript notes presumably
deriving from personal communication)King’s Colour (Freeling, 1976) is a Chadsystem but without promotion to queen. Rooks
and bishops are discs showing R on one side
and B on the other. Pieces on the same colour

Loonybird Chess [Hex] (Christiaan Freeling,1983), played on a 61-cell hexagonal board, isa hex version of Loonybird or Dragon Chess(chapter 14). Baseline as before on b4-e1-h4,
9xP on a5-c7-e5-g7-i5. Caissa [Hex](Freeling, 1982) is a hex version of Caissa(chapter 21). [A note in the Addenda to thefirst edition gives an illustration of ‘the’ arrayin the latter case, but this would seem toconflict with the statement that the first player
arranges the initial position and the second
player chooses sides. There are also references
to hex versions of Bird Chess (chapter 13)
and Dragonfly (chapter 17) as being playedon a regular 61-cell board with two extra
pawns a side, but there is no further detail inDavid’s Encyclopedia files.]Rose Chess (Peter Krystufek, 1986). Playedon the points of a 61-cell hexagonal lattice.
Usual men, array (a5-e1-i5/a13-e17-i13 andinwards, centred) PRBQNKBRP, PPPNPPP,
d4/f4/d14/f14 are Rose points. Pawns on rose
points have two-step option (e.p. possible);other pawns one step only. Pawns promote topreviously captured pieces. Rooks and queens
have identical moves (any of six directions)but rooks cannot alight on rose points andcannot check if on point immediately in frontof or behind rose point. The K and Q ‘castle’at any time by exchanging places, even if K incheck, but not if K on rose point. Claimed to
be an improvement on ‘the Arabic game’.
(100 mal Kniffel Schach)206 Boards of other kinds
Troy (members of the Fanaat games club,
Netherlands, 1988). A game developed for a
special occasion: the marriage of Anneke
Treep and Lukas Schoonhoven, prominent
members of Fanaat. A set, designed and madeby the members, was presented to the
newlyweds. The game is based on the Trojan
war and is played on a regular hexagon of 91
cells. One side are the Trojans, the other the
Greeks. Each side has 19 pieces made up of
Ares/Pallas Athene (moves as K), 2 Heroes(move as Q), Hector/Achilles (moves as Q but
cannot be taken by a Greek/Trojan), 3
Amazons/Spartans (two cells in any direction,
leaping adjacent cell whether occupied or not),and 12 Trojans/Greeks (move one cell straightahead or two cells diagonally ahead; capture
one cell diagonally ahead). Aim is tocheckmate
Ares/Athene.
Capturebydisplacement. Trojans/Greeks promote at endof board to any piece already lost. Ares andAthene on f3 and f19, Hector and Achilles on
f5 and f17, Heroes on e4/g4 and e18/g18,
Amazons and Spartans on e6/f7/g6 ande16/f15/g16, Trojans and Greeks on the 12
surrounding cells. (Inventor’s leaflet)
New Chess [Radovic] (Goran Radovic, 2002).
Regular 91-cell hex board; 22 pieces a side: 1
x king, queen; 3 x knight, spy; 2 x rook,bishop; 10 x pawn. Asymmetrical layout withpawns initially doubled on the c- and h-files.
Spies move one hex in any of up to 12
directions (to adjacent hex or through hex
corner to cell of same colour). There are only
two bishops on each side, and they stand on
like-hexes and so only cover a third of theboard. Subject of an ill-informed article in
The Scotsman (1 October 2002). [The arrayshown in the article is as Glinski but withspies on f1/f9/e6 facing f21/f13/g16, extra
knights on g6 and e16, extra pawns on d5/h5
and d17/h17, bishops on e4/g4 and e18/g18,
and f3/5/7/15/17/19 empty, but it seems
odd to have the spies and knights mirrored
across the centre while the K and Q are
mirrored on the file and the possibility oferror cannot be excluded. The spies appear
to be represented by men holding daggers,which is picturesque but curious; the lastthing a spy normally wants to do is to draw
attention to himself by committing gratuitousmurders.]

Asteryx Chess (David Jagger, 2003). 43-cellboard, regular 37-cell hexagon with a one-cell
extension at each corner, thus a5/a13,
b6/.../b12, c5/.../c13, d4/.../d14, e1/.../e17,
f4/.../f14, and so on to i5/i13. Usual men.
Array for White, Ke1, Qe3, Bd4/f4, Nc5/g5,
Ra5/i5, 8xP on rest of ranks 5-7. K one step inany direction; R, N as Glinski; P one or two
steps directly or obliquely forward, maychange direction in mid-move; B ‘snakes’
along path of two colours, say d4-d6-e7-e9f10-f12-g13 or d4-e5-e7-f8-f10-g11-g13; Q as
R+B. Pawns promote on opponent’s threeextension points (for White, a13/e17/i13).
Custodian capture: occupy two cells of thesame colour bracketing the target man, unlessno cell on the far side exists in which caseoccupying one cell is sufficient. Multiple
captures allowed by agreement. Win bycapturing or baring the K, or by stalemate.
(Chess Variant Pages) [Text largely editorial]
Walnut Chess (John Beasley, 2003). 43-cell
hexagonal board (a7, b4/.../b10, c1/.../c13,
d2/.../d12, e1/.../e13, and back to i7). Each
player has king, 1 x light cavalry, 2 x heavy
cavalry, 2 x gun, 12 x infantry. Setup at will;
all men apart from K are initially covered.
K, covered men, and empty covers move one
cell in any direction. When uncovered, lightcavalryman can move up to three cells ina straight line, heavy cavalryman one or
two cells changing direction if wished,infantryman and gun one cell only, but up to
three infantrymen (covered or not) can occupy
the same cell and be moved together. Up to six
moves per turn, and a player can then make up
to six ‘attacks’: he indicates a target cell andone or more uncovered attacking men on
adjacent cells, demands that any defender
occupying the cell uncover also, and the manor men of the weaker side are removed(K=L=I=1, H=2, G=0). If equality, both sides
stay. He may also fire either or both his guns
at units not more than three cells away in any
direction (straight or oblique), but a playerusing a gun to knock out a covered man is nottold what he has hit. A gun may not move andfire in the same turn. There is a preliminary‘you cut, I’ll choose’ handicap stage: one
player specifies a handicap to be suffered by
the player moving first, the other decides
whether to take first move in the face of it.

Boards based on hexagons 207(Variant Chess 47, also author’s leaflets‘Walnut Chess’ giving the rules and a
specimen game)[In Variant Chess 48, David briefly
compared this game with 19th century war
games, and pointed out various similarities.
Since he went on to say that he had explored‘dozens’ of these games when researching theoriginal Encyclopedia and had rejected them
all as too remote from chess, I was a little
surprised to find an embryonic entry for thegame in his text for the new edition. But it wasthere, and I have expanded it in the same waythat I have expanded similarly embryonic
entries for other games. The idea behind thename was that players could use matchsticks
or counters for the men, and cover them with
walnut shells. A probable improvement would
be to limit the guns to six shots each.]
Hexofen (Valery Trubitsyn, 2004). Regular91-cell hex board, 21 men a side: White Kf1,
Qg2, Rd3/h3, Be2/f3/i4, Nc4/e4/g4, 11xP on
ranks 5/6, Black mirrors diametrically (Qe20).
Pieces as Glinski; pawns promote on reaching
any rank beyond the opponent’s initial pawnline (nothing said about the difficulty thiscreates for the side pawns). A curiously
designed game. (Inventor’s rules document)[Text revised]22.2 Other hexagonal boards with a forward rook moveShafran’s Hexagonal Chess (I. G. Shafran,1953). 70-cell hexagonal board with nine files,
their lengths running from 6 to 10 :Extra B and P on each side. To compensate forthe varying distance pawns must travel topromotion, initially the d, e, f pawns can move
up to three spaces (e.p. possible), the b, c, g, hpawns up to two spaces, and the a and i pawns
one space only. Pawns capture by one-step B
move, not as Glinski. Castling permitted: K
moves three hexes towards R, thus after 0-0,
White position is Kh4/Rg3, and after 0-0-0,
Kb4/Rc3. Other moves as Glinski. A brief
game: 1 Nc9 Nf12 2 Qe5 Nd12?? 3 Nd14
mate. Notice that the queens do not face eachother and that all the bishops can move in theinitial position. (Nauka i Zhizn, March 1979)

Chex [Knizia] (Reiner Knizia, 1994). 44-cellhex board on seven files, a4/.../a12 out tod1/.../d15 and back to g4/.../g12; each side has
1 x K, 2 x R, B, N, 7 x P; baseline
BRNKNRB. K to an adjacent cell only; R as
Glinski; B as R but not vertically; N to any
cell not more than two away in any direction
direct or oblique, may leap (thus, if centrally
placed, attacking a total of 18 cells); P as
Glinski but no e.p. permitted. No castling.
(Author’s rules pamphlet)
Boar Chess (Ivan Derzhanski, 2000). 70-cellboard as for Shafran’s game; men are 1 x Boar
(royal piece), 2 x Bull, 3 x Horse, Ram, 4 xDog, 5 x Cock. Complicated rules governing
movement. The game is won when the
opposing boar is captured, stalemated, or
pushed out of its sty (a 7-cell hexagon), or
when a cock moves to the hex originallyoccupied by the opposing boar. (Chess Variant
Pages) [Text editorial]
Hexes (Proprietary game, Mike Layfield,
2002). 54-cell board in the form of a hexagon
with sides 8/4/3, thus a3/.../a17, b2/.../b18,
c1/.../c19, then d2/.../d20 and back to
f4/.../f18; array (c1/d20, b2-d2/e19-c19 andinwards) B, BK, RBQ, NNR, PPP, PPP.
Pieces as Glinski. Pawns move one R-step
forward or one B-step obliquely forward,
capture one R-step obliquely forward; twostep option straight forward for unmoved P,
e.p. permitted. (Chess Variant Pages)

208 Boards of other kinds
22.3 Rectangular and diamond-shaped boards with a forward rook move
Mars (Proprietary game, F. H. Ayres Ltd; M.
van Leeuwen, 1910). Russian edition,
Moscow 1911. Inspired by scientiﬁc talk of
the possibility of intelligent life on Mars, theinventor decided to create a game of skill inwhich Earth and Mars are seeking to make a‘full observation’ of each other. 77-cellrectangular board with 9 files. White is Earth,Black is Mars. Each side has 14 men made upof 1 king piece (Earth or Mars, shown as ‘K’and ‘k’ in the diagram below), 1 Sun, 1 Moon,
2 Astronomers, 2 Observatories, 1 Radium
Tower, and 6 Telescopes.

Alternate cells on files a, c etc are light,
remaining 54 cells are dark. Earth and Mars
move to any adjacent cell, regardless ofcolour; Moon any direction over any distance,
regardless of colour (the move to be adopted
later by Glinski’s R); Sun as Moon but onlight cells only; Astronomer ditto but on darkcells only; Radium Tower as Astronomer, but
obliquely only; Observatory on light cells
only, one step only but in any direction andmay leap; Telescope one cell (either colour)
straight forward or obliquely forward only.
Telescope promotes on last cell of ﬁles a, c, g
and j to the piece on that ﬁle in the starting
position providing one has previously been
captured. If not, it must wait until one isavailable.
White starts. Capture is by displacement.
Object is to place opponent’s king piece(Earth/Mars) under ‘complete observation’(checkmate) and then capture it next move. A
king piece under attack is said to be ‘inobservation’, and the player giving check mustsay ‘Take care’. (Notes based on Bodleian
Library 38491.f.15(12), also photocopy of
pages 4-7 of Saltikov-Shchedrin Library
18.294.5.123)
Baskerville’s Hexagonal Chess (H. D.
Baskerville, 1929). This game was born in the
period when Capablanca’s call for reform wasbeing widely heeded. In his booklet
Hexagonal Chess, the inventor remarks
controversially that ‘(orthochess) interests a
far smaller circle to-day than it did even one
generation ago’, adding ‘...so far it does notseem to have occurred to anyone that a moreradical reformation can be effected byconstructing a new board composed ofgeometrical figures other than squares’. 83cell rectangular board with 11 files, a1/.../a15,b2/.../b14, c1/.../c15 across to k1/.../k15;
normal men; White RBQKBR on rank 1,
NP-PN on rank 2 (cell f2 empty), 6xP on rank
3, Black similarly except Ke15 and Qg15.
A tinge of patriotism is detected in the cellcolours: red, white and blue. All men move as
in Glinski’s game except that the K is limited
to adjacent cells (one space as a R) and there
is no e.p. The game is ﬂawed throughBaskerville’s determination to keep the gameas close to orthochess as possible: bishops oneach side stand on contrasting colour
complexes so can never attack one anotherwhilst the third set of cells (coloured red andincluding the centre) is immune from
penetration by a B of either side.
Galachess (Proprietary game, Mathew B.
Harrer Co; Mathew Harrer, 1980). A maverick
amongst hexagonal chess games occasionedby the inventor’s geometrical perception of the(uncoloured) board, described as a ‘galaxy
with space corridors’. 67-cell rectangularboard with 9 files, a2/.../a14, b1/.../b15, acrossto i2/.../i14; NQQN on rank 1, RBKBR rank 2,
9xP ranks 3/4, Black similarly. R moves
vertically as Glinski R, laterally as Glinski B;
B moves obliquely (but not vertically) alongcell lines. This means that the rooks are
conﬁned to alternate files, whereas the bishops
can reach any cell. Q moves as R+B, K to
adjacent hexes only. In castling, the K moves
to a B hex and the nearer R to a hex on theBoards based on hexagons 209
same side. This gives a castled R access to theother set of files from which it cannot thenescape, so, for example, a player who castles
can never double rooks. The knight’s leap is
no less remarkable: the N moves to any of the
ﬁve cells in its orbit. Since however the cell
it occupies can be part of up to six orbits, theN can normally move up to two hexes inany direction, and being unimpeded isprobably more powerful than the queen. The P
alone is orthodox Glinski. (Information
presumably taken from a set in David’s gamecollection)

Hornyak’s Hexagonal Chess (Anthony
Hornyak, 1990s). 100-cell diamond-shapedboard witj 10 files; 1 x K, 3 x R, B, N, 10 x P,
no queens initially but promotion can include
Q.

Impact (Proprietary game, Anton Obermaier,1993). 100-cell square board with 10 files.
Each side has 20 men (chess equivalents inparentheses) 1 x Commander (K), General(Q); 2 x Chief (augmented B), Colonel (N),
Major (B), Lieutenant (R); 10x Pioneer (P).
Promotion to captured piece; no P-2 orcastling. (Fairplay 26)
Schach 2000 (Proprietary game, Schachverlag
Hoppe; Bodo Hoppe, 1994). 64-cell squareboard with 8 files. Orthochess array except
Black K and Q reversed; moves of men as
Glinski. The QBs are on hexes of the same
colour, the KBs on the other two colours,
hence an imbalance in the deployment.
(Information presumably taken from a set inDavid’s game collection)

R, B, N, Q as Glinski, K to adjacent hexes
only. Ps up to 3 cells initially, and if moving
only one preserve a 2-step option at their next
turn; e.p. permitted. No castling. (Personalcommunication) [Text slightly revised]22.4 Boards with a lateral rook move
[With these boards, it is the ranks along which we step in twos, a1, c1, e1 etc. The underlying
geometry is the same and the pieces can continue to be described with reference to Glinski, but
the pawns behave quite differently.]
De Vasa’s Hexagonal Chess (Helge E. deVasa, 1953). 72-cell diamond-shaped board,
extra B and P each side:

An attempt to retain as near as possible theorthochess array. All pieces move as in the
Glinski game. Pawns advance one cell at atime as a R (two alternatives in the array,
except for WPw2 and BPb7) with initial twostep option. Pawns capture ahead as a bishop(normally
three
alternatives),
greatlyenhancing their value vis-a-vis the pieces.
A revised form of the game, probably inresponse to criticism of the dominant pawns,
has the board extended by an extra nine-cellrank with the array pawns on the 3rd and 7th
ranks respectively. The pawn capture islimited to the two hexes on either side a

210 Boards of other kinds
bishop’s step in advance. Castling permitted:
K moves three (0-0-0) or two (0-0) hexes
towards the R, the R moving adjacent to K on
inside. (Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes, also a note in French annotated‘ex Martin Gardner’ but not otherwise
provenanced)

procedure. The same is not true of Glinski’sboard, nor of any hexagonal board where two
adjacent sides have the same length.]
Hyperchess [Groman] (Proprietary game,
Hypergames Co; William Groman, early
1970s). 72-cell board on 11 ranks, extra B but
only 7xP:

Brusky’s Hexagonal Chess (Yakov Brusky,1966). 84-cell board in the form of a hexagon
with sides 9/5/4, extra B+2P:

Pieces move as Glinski. Pawns advance one
cell at a time as a R with initial two-step
option (e.p. possible), but a pawn blocked by
an opposing man on one of its two lines ofadvance cannot move on the other either (soan enemy man on e3 would prevent not justd2-e3 but d2-c3 as well). Pawns capture
obliquely as bishops, one step only; unmoved
pawns can capture straight ahead also (WPf2
can capture to c3/i3/f5, WPg3 to d4/j4 only).
When castling, WK goes to s1 or i1.
The originator gives some notes on
elementary endings, which of course are also
valid for other games in which the pieces have
Glinski’s moves. K+R win easily against bareK, as do two knights. K+B+N v K is moredifficult and can only be achieved by driving
the K to a corner hex. The colour of the cornerhex, or that of the two hexes on either side ofit, must be of the same colour as that on which
the B stands. Mate with two bishops can only
be achieved if the pieces are on the same twocolours as those of the corner hex and the twohexes adjacent to it on either side. (Personalcommunication) [Text sightly revised. It
would appear that the conditions for mate with
K+B+N and K+2B can always be met on
Brusky’s board, since the six corners embrace
all possible colour combinations, but I havenot verified that there is a guaranteed driving

Pieces as Glinski. Pawns are unusually strong:they move straight forward one cell (i.e., to acell of the colour on which they stand), theyalso move or capture one cell diagonallyforwards, and in addition can capture (but notmove) one cell sideways; thus in the arraypawns defend one another. Promotion is on
the furthest row. No e.p. or castling. Jackson
describes a pawn line in Hyperchess as theGreat Wall of China - a formidable barrier.
(Sackson, A Gamut of Games, also Jackson, A
Player’s Guide to Table Games)
A variant, Hyperchess ‘A’, was suggested
by Ernest Groman (the originator’s son) and
Daniel Jacobson in 1975. The only difference
from the parent game is in the move of thepawn, modiﬁed possibly in response to player
criticism, and in the inclusion of the e.p.
move. The pawns remain a formidable force.
A pawn moves one cell at a time forward
along a file to the left or right with a two-cell
option on the first move. It can capture onehex straight ahead or diagonally forward to theleft or right (i.e., to a cell of the same colour asthat on which it stands). There are two e.p.
positions, one familiar (the pawn crosses a cellunder attack from an opposing pawn) and theother remarkable. This latter occurs when an
unmoved pawn faces an opponent’s pawn thathas advanced to the 7th rank, the two pawns

Boards based on hexagons 211
thus under mutual attack. If now the unmoved
pawn advances one hex there is no capture,but if it exercises its option of moving two it
can be taken ‘e.p.’ even though it does notcross an attacked hex. More remarkable still, it
is captured on the cell that it vacated.
(Personal communication)

Pieces as Glinski. Pawns can move or capture
one R-step obliquely forward, move one Bstep directly forward (WPb4 can move to
a5/c5/b6 and capture on a5/c5). Promotion on
the opponent’s ﬁrst rank, an unlikely
achievement. No castling. (Author’s rules
pamphlet) [Text slightly revised]

Ludus Chessunculus (John Cleaveland,1973). 61-cell hexagonal board; men are
King, 2 x Axial (R), 1-Hopper (inverted B), 2Hopper (inverted N), 5 x Block (inverted P):

Hexchess [Paletta] (Tony Paletta, 1980). 61cell hexagonal board, normal men but 7xP
only:

King moves one cell in any direction. Axial as
Glinski R. 1-hopper moves one step as Glinski
B. 2-hopper moves twice as 1-hopper; maychange direction but not to return to starting
point; intervening cell must be vacant. Blocks
move one hex to right, left, or diagonallyahead; can only capture ahead; no promotion.
Aim checkmate. (Ye Faerie Chesseman)Hexachess [Moeser] (David Moeser, 1970s).
80-cell board on 13 ranks, usual pieces with
3xB and 13xP:

K to an adjacent hex only; N as Glinski; B as
Glinski’s K; R as Glinski but not to an
adjacent cell; Q as R+B; P one step obliquely
forward (WPi3 to h4 or j4), capturing with its
normal move. Promotion normal. No P-2 orcastling. (Chess Spectrum Newsletter) [Textslightly revised]
Chessnik (Proprietary game, Drift Inc, 1985).
76-cell laterally symmetric board on 9 ranks of
8 and 9 hexes alternately; array (b1-p1/p9-b9
and inwards) NB-QK-BN, R-PP-PP-R, PP-PPPP. Little information on moves of pieces.
(Advertisement in Chess Life, January 1986)
Credo Chess, also known as Round Chess[St Alban’s] (Proprietary game, Friends of St.
Alban’s Abbey). Developed (1976-86) as partof the celebration of 500 years of printing in
the Abbeys of Westminster, St Albans andOxford which began with Caxton’s Game andPlaye of the Chesse (1474). The game is oneof many adapted to the Credo board, the board
itself having undergone change from 163 cells(1976) through 109 to 91 (1986). King one
cell in any direction, other pieces as Glinski. P
moves one step as B, captures on the square
laterally adjacent to that to which it could have
moved; can move two steps at any time

212 Boards of other kinds
provided that it could not have been captured
on the intervening square; promotes whenfurther forward movement is impossible.
Array (f1-p1/f11-p11 and inwards, centred)
BRQKRB, N-B-N, 6xP, P. Championships
have been held and booklets on the game
published. (Proprietor’s rules booklet)
Cr-Isis (Michael Taylor, 1980). 163-cell
Credo board (169-cell hexagon less the six
corner cells). Each side has 18 men (chessequivalents in brackets): 1 x King,
Commander (Q), Negotiator, Rocket, 2 x
Aircraft, Submarine (N), 3 x battleship (B), 7
x Marine (P). A negotiator can move to any
empty square. It cannot capture or be captured,and can move only six times in a game. A
rocket can be fired once to any square otherthan that occupied by a king, removing theoccupant (either colour) and itself from theboard. Aircraft must have an empty adjacentsquare to ‘take off’. They move and capture as
rooks, but once airborne can land on any
square on the rank or file. Marines, in addition
to behaving as pawns, may commit hari-kiri,
together with the occupant, on the cell
immediately ahead. Array (i1-s1 and inwards,
centred) apparently BACKAB, SRBNS, 7xM,
M, but while the kings are shown on o1/m15,
the rockets are on l2/l14. (Proprietor’s rules
booklet)Polka Chess (Proprietary game, Friends of
St Alban’s Abbey, 1989). Board 9x11, circular
cells in a regular three-colour pattern, central

cell marked with a rosette. Ranks are
staggered alternately to right and left. The
board design is said to symbolise, inter alia,
roses and crowns of the martyrs andreconciliation. The array is unusual: White
Kl1, Qj1, Rh1/n1, Bf1/k2/p1, Ng2/o2, 8xP on
d3-r3, Black opposite as usual. Play as for
Credo Chess. (Proprietor’s rules booklet)[Text revised throughout]
Hexanova (George Jelliss, 1995). 127-cell
hexagonal board; usual pieces with 3xB and
15xP; array (g1-s1/g13-s13 and inwards)
NBQBKBN, RPPPPPPR, 9xP, but Black K
and Q can be interchanged if desired. Pieces as
Glinski. Pawn moves one step forward as B
(initial two-step permitted), captures one step
obliquely forward as R. Various options forpromotion: on last rank only (in which casethe pawns which start on the second rank must
make at least one capture in order to promote),or on any cell from which no move directly
forward is possible, or to any piece on the last
rank but only to R/B/N on any other cell fromwhich no forward move is possible. Castling,
if desired, by moving the K two cells towards
the rook and placing the rook on the celljumped over; alternatively, in place of
castling, the K may be allowed a three-cell‘escape’ move along the back rank but not outof or through check. This may be done even if
the king has previously moved. (Variant Chess18)

22.5 Other boards based on hexagons
Strozewski’s Hexagonal Chess (Casimir
Strozewski, 1976). 81-cell board in which thehexes are elongated and tilted so that thedirections of rook movement are N-S, E-W,
and NE-SW. The result has some of theproperties of a 9x9 square board and some ofthe properties of a hex board. Array as in de
Vasa’s game, with Ks and Qs facing eachother. K and N move as if the hexes weresquares and the game was orthochess, eight
directions of movement in each case; B, R, Q
as Glinski; moves of P not recorded. (Copy of
U. S. Patent 4,045,030 of 30 August 1977,
possibly incomplete) [Text slightly revised.
I don’t why P cannot be treated like K and N

and given its ordinary square-board moves.]

Chapter 23
Other planar boards[We have had squares, and we have had hexagons. In this chapter, we consider planar boards
based on cells of other kinds.]
23.1 Boards based on triangles[A triangle-based board offers 12 natural directions of movement: across the middle of a side
(three cases), through a vertex (three more), and parallel to a side (the remaining six). Moves ofthe first and second kinds, if prolonged, take a piece through edges and vertices alternately;
moves of the third kind take it along rows of triangles which alternately face ‘left’ and ‘right’ (or‘up’ and ‘down’). Some games restrict themselves to moves of the first two kinds, others exploit
all three.]
Triangular Chess [Dekle] (George Dekle Sr,1986). Hexagonal board made up of 96
triangles arranged in rows of 9, 11, 13, 15, 15,
13, 11, 9, the triangles in each row being
alternately vertex-up and vertex-down :Men are 1 x K, Q, Unicorn, 2 x R, B, N, 11 x
P. K can move across any edge to the triangle
immediately beyond (three possibilities), or
across any vertex to the triangle directly
beyond in the same line (three more). R cancross any edge and continue in the samestraight line, crossing vertices and edges
alternately (three directions of movement).
B the same but starting by crossing a vertex.
Q as R+B. N two triangles as B and then one
as R, may leap. U two triangles as R and thenone as R in a different direction (see note
below), may leap. P moves one triangle
forward whether across a vertex or across anedge, captures to either adjoining triangle inthe same row (may capture even if the triangle
directly ahead is occupied), promotes onreaching the last row. A pawn which hits theside of the board before promoting may
advance by using its capture move even if
there is no man to be captured. Pawn-2 ande.p. allowed. K castles by moving threetriangles towards the rook. Baseline
RNBQUKBNR with 11xP in front, BK
opposite WK.
Tri-Chess [Dekle, two-player game] is thesame except that the powers of K, Q, R, B are
increased. K now moves one triangle as(previous) B or two as (previous) R; B now
moves as previous Q; R moves along rows of
triangles (so has six directions of movement);
Q as new R+B. (Author’s rule sheets) [Textrevised. The author’s text for the U moveactually specifies two steps as R and then one
as B, but an explanatory diagram to which herefers does not conform to this and David
followed the diagram. As specified, K-side
castling moves the K to the R’s triangle, but
the source is quite explicit.]
Enchantment (Tony Berard, 1988). Board of
76 chequered triangles; 12 pieces and 8 pawns
per side. The pieces are an odd assortment:
Emperor (K), Mother Nature (Q), Death (R),
Aphrodite (B), Mars (N), and two uniquepieces, Time and Fate. A novelty is that pawns
are either male (serf) or female (damsel) withpleasing promotion logic (e.g. serf cannot
become Mother Nature). Object is tocheckmate the Emperor. (Author’s rules
pamphlet)214 Boards of other kinds
Klin Zha (Leonard Loyd Jr, 1989). Practicalrealisation of a game featured in the Star Treknovel The Final Reflection by John M. Ford.
Triangular 81-cell board; 1 x Fencer (moves
up to three unobstructed cells in any direction
or combination of directions), 1 x Lancer(moves up to three unobstructed cells in astraight line in any direction), 1 x Swift(moves two, three, or four unobstructed cells
in any direction or combination), 2 x Fliers(move from three to six squares straight in any
direction, and may jump), 3 x Vanguards(move one cell in any direction), 1 x
Blockader (moves one or two unobstructed
cells in any direction, and controls the threecells adjacent to itself as described below); 1 x
Goal, which cannot move by itself but can be
carried to another cell by a Fencer, Lancer, orVanguard. Win by capturing the Goal or bystalemate. A man may not enter or pass any
cell controlled by the opposing Blockader; aBlockader may not be moved to a cell
occupied by or adjacent to an enemy man; thecells controlled by the Blockaders may notoverlap; the Goal may not be at any time on acell controlled by its Blockader. To start thegame, one player chooses a corner, anddistributes his men (apart from the Goal) as hewishes among the 24 cells which are nearer tothis corner than to any other; his opponent
chooses a second corner and does the same;the players in turn then place their Goals witha carrying piece, and play commences. It is
generally reckoned to be a disadvantage tohave to choose and place first. (Cazaux, also
Variant Chess 31) [Text editorial. After
drafting it, I came across a letter in David’s
files saying that he had decided to exclude thegame as being too remote from chess, but onbalance I am inclined to retain it. The movable‘Goal’ provides an objective with a flavour of
its own, being essentially a mutating king but
with the restriction that it is left immobile after
its previous carrier moves away and until its
next carrier arrives to take it up.]
Diamond Chess [Sirius] (Proprietary game,
Sirius Products; Bart D. Follis and James G.
Chapman, 1991). Diamond-shaped board
composed of 98 alternating black-and-white
triangles; usual men. Q can move in up to 12
directions, other pieces in up to six. Pawns
move and capture as in orthochess but whenfacing a cell apex the pawn moves sideways.
An optional game excludes the four board
cells at each end. (Proprietor’s rules brochure)
Chass (Peter Kirk, 2003). Board 6x6, eachsquare divided into a black and white triangle
so arranged that no triangle abuts another ofthe same colour, thus board 12x12 triangles.
Smaller board 8x12 triangles also offered.
Standard men in usual array on both boards.
(Inventor’s rules pamphlets)

23.2 Boards based on diamonds
Rhombic Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). Boardof 72 diamonds with angles of 60 and 120
degrees, 24 in each of three colours. White
diamonds are oriented E-W, black NE-SW (30degrees round from N-S), grey NW-SE
similarly. Six white diamonds across thecentre; five black and five grey nestled below
them; five white diamonds across the bottomof these; four more black and four more grey;
four white; three black and three grey. Normalmen; array RNQKNR (black and grey
diamonds), -BB- (white), 8xP (black andgrey), Black mirroring vertically as usual.
There are two directions of movement:
edgewise and pointwise. Edgewise is astraight-line move from one diamond toanother through a common side; pointwise is astraight-line move from one diamond toanother through a common 60-degree corner.
R moves only edgewise, two or more spaces;
B point-wise but also one space edgewise;
Q as R+B; K one space edgewise orpointwise; N two spaces edgewise and then
one space edgewise in a different direction,
may jump. Pawns move edgewise (two-step
option initially), capture as they move, andpromote on the array spaces of opponent’s
pawns. No e.p. or castling. (Chess Spectrum
Newsletter) [Text revised]
Hexstar Chess (Tony Paletta, 1980). Sixpointed star board made up from six 60-120
degree diamond-shaped sections meeting at a
central point, each divided into nine smaller
diamonds which are the board cells (hence 54
cells in all). Sections and cells are oriented

Other planar boards 215
E-W and 30 degrees either side of N-S. Each
player has two home sections in which his
men are placed initially, the two remaining
sections (those oriented E-W) being called‘side sections’ and being initially empty.
Moves are edgewise (between cells connectedby a common side) and pointwise (between
cells connected only at a corner); a pointwise
move across the centre is possible only
between cells diametrically opposite. R and B
always leave a cell by the edge or corner
opposite to that by which they entered, so they
move normally within a section but onentering a new section they change direction.
Q as R+B. N two steps as R then one step
across an edge adjacent to that of entry, mayleap. K one step edgewise or pointwise.
P in its home section or in one of its
opponent’s sections moves one step forward
only, in a side section may move one step
edgewise in any direction but may not return
to its home section; captures as it moves,promotes on its opponent’s back rank. No
castling. Players occupy two sections initially,array RBQ/KBR, -N-/-N-, PPP/PPP (sixpawns only), Black mirroring vertically as
usual.
Paletta also proposed Octostar Chess using
a 72-cell board based on 45-135 degree
sections and diamonds, and Hexagram Chessin which the 60-120 degree sections of
Hexstar Chess are divided into 16 diamonds
instead of 9 (array RNBQ/KBNR fronted by
8xP, P-2 permitted). So far as is known, noneof these games has been widely tested. (Chess
Spectrum Newsletter)
Omni-Chess [Holmes] (Proprietary game,
Rocket Games; Simon J. Holmes, 1987). Twodimensional board giving an illusion of a 3-D
board made up of cubes. There are 184
diamond-shaped cells of which 56 are black(tops of cubes) and 128 white (64 half-left and64 half-right side faces). Each player has 24men, the usual eight pieces and 16 pawns. The
rules, including those of movement, remainclose to those of orthochess. (Inventor’spresentation brochure)23.3 Boards based on rectangles
Masonic Chess (George Dekle Sr, 1983).
Tricolour 8x8 board consisting of staggered
rectangles (like a brick wall), even-numberedranks half a brick to the right of odd-numberedranks. Usual array. Rook moves to left andright, or up and down at 30 degrees to thevertical (six directions in all). Bishop moves at
30 degrees to left and right (four directions),
and also one cell as R. Q as R+B (tendirections), K one cell as Q. N up or down two
ranks at 30 degrees to the vertical, or the sameat 50 degrees to the vertical, or up or down

one rank at 20 degrees to left or right. Pawn
moves one step forward as R, captures one
step forward as B (but not by the B’s one-stepR move), usual pawn-two, e.p. allowed.
Castling normal. (Author’s rule sheet) [Textrevised. The knight’s move is curious, since
the moves at 30 degrees to the vertical are
merely two steps along R-lines and there is nopiece which can move to the cells two ranks
away and directly above and below, but the
diagram in the source document is quite
explicit.]

23.4 Boards containing cells of more than one shape
Circle Chess (Proprietary game, Alphonso
Stanonis, 1968). 77-cell board based on atesselation comprising hexagons, rectangles,
and triangles. Each hexagon is surrounded bysix rectangles; each triangle is surrounded bythree rectangles; each rectangle is surroundedby hexagons and triangles alternately. The
board contains nine hexagons in a diamondformation, 1-2-3-2-1, each surrounded by acircle of rectangles with interleaving triangles,
giving 38 rectangles and 30 triangles in all.

Straight paths unite hexagons and rectangles,
circle paths are composed of alternate
rectangles and triangles. No direct movement
is possible between hexagons and triangles.
Standard set except that each player has
only 4 pawns. Initially the men are set up in
the 12 spaces surrounding the black hexagons
at either end of the board. Array clockwisefrom outer triangle: PQNRBPPPBRNK. Twoways of winning: checkmate or occupying thecentre space with the king. Rooks move in216 Boards of other kinds
straight paths, bishops in circle paths; queens
in either. Kings move as bishops, or as rooks
within the circle(s) they occupy only. Knights
have two kinds of move; one or two spaces(circle or straight path, no capturing) but if
occupying a hexagon a knight commands(move or capture) all adjacent hexagons andtheir circle paths surrounding the knight. Thuson the central hex a knight commands 48
spaces. Pawns move one or two spaces oncircle or straight paths. Pawns promote on anyof the opponent’s array spaces. Stanonis edited
the Circle Chess Journal. (Rules booklet
Circle Chess, produced as volume 6 number 2of this journal)
Lotus Chess (David Moeser, 1998) uses a
39-cell board based on the same tesselation
except that the rectangles have becomesquares; four hexagons in a 1-2-1 diamond,surrounded by 19 squares and 16 triangles.
Each side has King, Counselor, Crook,
Wyvern, Lotussa, Knight, and 5 x Pawn, andthe smallness of the board is not matched byany simplicity of rule. Lotus Chess: the Book
explores the game in depth. (Chess Variant
Pages) [Text editorial]
Conquest [Berard] (Tony Berard, 1988).
Board effectively 9x9 made up of 65 cells (25squares and 40 hexagons of which 20 arealigned horizontally and 20 vertically) and 16
vertices (points where four hexes meet).
Pieces have fantasy names mostly disguising
regular chess pieces with movements adapted
to the board. Object is to checkmate theEmperor (K). (Originator’s rules pamphlet)

23.5 Circular boards
Round Chess is both a general term given tochess on a circular board and a name applied
to specific variants, in particular Byzantine
Chess. G. W. G. Moraes analyses the transfer
of orthochess to a round board in his Xadrez a
seu Alcance (1972). During a revival ofinterest in 19th-century Germany, two titles
were published in quick succession:
Praktische Anweisung zum Rund-Schach-Spiel(Schmalz, 1844) and Das Rund-Schach-Spiel(Crailshaimer, 1845). A round board iscommonly met with in modern commercial
variants but the detailed design can varyconsiderably.

The seminal circular-board variant, Byzantine
Chess, is a historical game and will becovered in chapter 26, but it is conveniently
mentioned here in order to set the scene. The
board had 64 cells arranged in four concentricrings of 16, and the original form of the gameis shown in the diagram. The ‘firzan’ and ‘fil’of shatranj had not yet been replaced by themodern queen and bishop, and there was nopawn promotion.
The game was revived in the late 18th
century, and many people have been inspired
to redesign it with modern accoutrements:
queens and bishops, pawn promotion, andkings on the same side of the board instead ofcrosswise. Modern proprietary versions
include Manolo Chess (Creative City; ManuelMacia, 1990) and Strategem (Logicsource
Ltd; John Lion, 1990). The latter wasendorsed by the British Chess Federation,
which expressed an interest in organising
tournaments and a U.K. Championship.
Whatever may have happened elsewhere,
Circular Chess [Lincoln] (Dave Reynolds,
1983) has been the subject of an annual‘World Championship’ since 1996. The
sponsorship normally runs to prizes but not
to travelling expenses and international
participation tends to be limited to foreign
nationals who happen to be in the U.K. on theday, but the leading regular players are of
regional champion standard at orthochess andOther planar boards 217
at least one international master has tried his
hand with success. The pieces have theirnatural modern moves, with pawn promotion
on the enemy piece lines; no castling, no e.p.
(most modern versions permit these). The
king’s side is to White’s left and Black’s right,
and the attractive wooden boards used on clubnights and for tournaments feature the city
emblem in the centre.
Here is part of the playoff game (15 minutes
per player), fought out in front of the camerasof TransWorld Sport, which decided the 1999
championship. The game can be conveniently
represented by two 4x8 half-boards set side byside, full algebraic notation being used formoves ‘round the end’ (thus ‘a1’ and ‘h1’ arein fact adjacent cells). Note that a1 is white.
White was Paul Byway, Black Francis
Bowers.

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dphpwwdndw
pHwdwwpdrd)wdPww)w)p
NdPdwww)wd
dPdQwwdKGB
Rdwdwwwdw$
Black opened things up by 19...Bxe4, thinking
it a reasonable gamble in a 15-minute game,and play continued 20 fxe4 Nxg4+ 21 Kf1 h3(this P is guarded by Ra8) 22 Bf3 Nxh2+
23 Rxh2 Rg1+ (guarded by Qb7) 24 Kf1-c1
Qb7-g3 25 Qd2-e2 Rb8 (Black now dominates
the b/g ring, White’s king is exposed, and few
onlookers expected White to hold out) 26 Rb1
Bh4 27 Rh1 Rg1xb1+ 28 Nxb1 h2 29 Rxh2
Qg1+ 30 Kc2 Be1 31 Qxe1 Qg1xb1+ 32 Kb3
Rb8-g1 33 Qe1-d2 Qb1-f1 34 Be2 Qe1
35 Qd2xe1 Rxe1 36 Bf3. Contrary to the
expectations of most of those present, Whitehas weathered the storm and should have won,but Black proved the more ruthless blizter inthe final stages and it was White’s flag which
fell. Black could however claim that it was
his enterprise in trying 19...Bxe4 which had
made the game what it was. (Variant Chess
31/32)[Text
revised.
All
thesemoderninterpretations have endgame differences fromorthochess which should not be overlooked.
K+R v K is only a draw unless the stronger
side’s king is already holding the defender’sagainst the edge. K+2B v K and K+B+N v K
are only drawn, though the first of these canbecome a win if the board dimensions aredifferent (see next chapter). K+Q v K+R isonly a draw. However, K+Q v K is still a win,
and it follows that K+P v K is a win as soon as
the pawn can be defended, even with a sidepawn, because there is no stalemate defence.]
Jabberwocky Chess (V. R. Parton, 1961).
The board is made up of ﬁve concentric circles
crossed by six equally-spaced diameters (12radii) making a total of 61 intersections,
including the centre point, on which the gameis played. Parton deﬁned the pieces, mostly of
Carrollian origin, but not the starting position.
All play is along board lines. The Snatch(king) moves only to adjacent points, theBandersnatch (queen) moves in any direction;
the Tove moves as a rook but only on its circleof origin (Parton suggested that players shouldhave a Tove on each circle); the Borogove islike a queen but must leap at least one man ofeither colour to move or capture; theOnewocky or Wonky moves like a king; theTwowocky or Twocky exactly two points inany direction; the Threwky three points in any
direction. The Jabberwocky’s move is unclear
but would appear to be that of theBandersnatch or Borogove. (Chess Curiouser and Curiouser, Chesshyre Cat
Playeth Looking Glass Chessys)
Concentric
Chess,
also
known
as
Capablanca Concentric Chess (Proprietarygame, Abercrombie and Fitch; Fernando A.
Capablanca and Douglas E. Whitney, 1971).
Round board with eight sectors and eightrings. The white pieces occupy the outermost
ring with the pawns in front of them, the black
men the two innermost rings. Usual array(rooks in adjacent spaces) but with kings
opposite queens. No rules are given, but thegame might be a realisation of Cylinder Chess(see next chapter) with rings and sectors forranks and files. (Photocopy of advertisementin New York Times, 23 March 1972, also U.S.
patent 3,776,554 of 1973) [Text revised]218 Boards of other kinds
Fourth Dimension, also known as 4D(Proprietary game, J. A. Ball and Co; J. A.
Ball, R. D. Carew, and K. A. Warburton,
1974). Played on a 60-cell round board
divided into rings containing successively 4, 8,
16, and 32 cells outwards from the centre, so atypical cell outside the central quartet is a
curved segment with five neighbours: two in
its own ring, one in the next ring inside, andtwo in the next ring outside. Additionally,each player has three off-board ‘time warp’
cells.

(so a player who has captured all his
opponent’s warriors can never lose). At thegame’s peak there were about 30 clubs in the
U.K., mostly combined with chess, and amagazine. There is (or was) a British 4D
Association and regular championships atdifferent levels have been held. In the U.S.,
TSR have run regular tournaments. Two books
on strategy have been published. (Proprietor’sbooklet 4D Strategy)[Text revised. I fear that ‘was’ is theappropriate word; an enquiry in 2005 as towhat was still available and at what pricecame back ‘not known at this address’, an
enquiry to a later address found in David’s
files also failed, and a Google search for thephrase ‘British 4D Association’ produced only
a library catalogue entry listing 4D Strategy.
A pity, because the game is a good one.
Perhaps the appearance of this book will cause
the proprietors to resume operations. If they
don’t, there is a copy of 4D Strategy in thelibrary of the British Chess Variants Society,there was an article on the game in issue 50 of
Variant Chess, and each will give enoughinformation for the game to be resurrected
when the proprietary rights have expired.]

Each player has a Time Lord, 2 x Guardian,
3 x Ranger, 6 x Warrior. Aim is to capture theopponent’s Time Lord. A turn normallyconsists of three actions: a move of a man to
an adjacent cell, a ‘beam down’ (except on aplayer’s first turn), and a ‘beam up’; the beam
down must precede the beam up, butotherwise they may be in any order. Beaming
up takes a man off the board into the first of
the player’s time warp cells, a marker being
placed on the cell it came from; beaming
down brings it back into play in a cell not
more than two spaces away from the marker.
As an alternative to beaming up and beaming
down, a player may advance a man within histime warp cells, but there are only three ofthese and when he has reached the last one hemust beam down whether he likes it or not;part of the skill of the game lies in arranging asuitable reception committee for a man whose
reappearance is imminent. Captures are madefrom adjacent spaces, not by displacement,
and in general a man can only capture aninferior (T>G>R>W); exceptionally, however,
W can capture T and not the other way round

Chess In The Round (Proprietary game,
Saxon Enterprises Ltd, 1974). Circular board,in effect a distortion of the regular board:
outer circle comprises squares a1-h1-h8-a8-a1(28), next circle squares b2-g2-g7-b7-b2 (20),next circle squares c3-f3-f6-c6-c3 (12),innermost d4-e4-e5-d5-d4 (4). Men, rules,
akin to orthochess. Qs and Rs have increased
powers since they can rotate within a circle inaddition to their normal moves, subject to not
being obstructed. This has the effect ofincreasing their range the nearer they stand tothe board edge. On an empty board, Qd1 forexample can move to any of 38 squares(including d1 by rotation), but Q on a central
square has only orthochess powers. (Nostalgia 168) [For an apparently equivalentnormal-board game, see Circuit Chess inchapter 16.]Imperial Chess [Fanning] (Proprietary game,
Chris Fanning, 1977). Round board 14 sectors
x 8 rings, chequered; two players each withusual pieces and 16 pawns. Pieces are set up in
standard array in opposite sectors (queens onOther planar boards 219
own colours) ﬂanked on each side by 8 pawns.
The game is thus orthochess but on two fronts
and with only one set of pieces. Pawns
promote in the sector occupied by the
opponent’s pieces in the array. (Manuscript
notes derived from personal communication)
An apparently similar game was later
marketed as Global Chess [Original Toy
Corporation] (Proprietary game, Original
Toy Corporation; republished 1985 byInternational Chess Company). Circular board
14 sectors x 8 rings with base map of theworld (apparently not used in the play); ‘uses
the same moves and strategies as standard
chess’. Usual pieces but with 16 pawns a side,
eight facing each way. (Photocopy ofadvertisement in Chess Life, November 1985)[Text revised]
Centre Chess (Proprietary game, Amerigames
International; Joe Miccio, 1991). Roundboard; four concentric rings of chequered

cells, divided into 18 sectors by lines radiatingfrom the centre point (72 cells). The men arearrayed round the outer two rings as for the
standard game. A sector on either side,through which there is restricted movement,
divides the two forces. (Proprietor’s publicity
leaflet, also manuscript notes presumably
deriving from personal communication)
Checkchess RoundBoard (Proprietary game,
Checkchess Co; Raymond H. Loomis, 1991).
Circular board of 64 alternate red and black
cells formed by eight concentric circles
divided into eight sectors by lines radiatingfrom the centre. Usual men arrayed round thetwo innermost circles (White) and twooutermost circles (Black) with like-pieces
occupying the same sector (e.g. white Q in red
cell faces black Q in black cell with pawn infront of each). Moves are those of orthochess.
(Manuscript notes presumably made from a
set in David’s game collection)

23.6 Spiral and ﬁgure-of-eight boards
Spiral Chess [Hitchcock] (Proprietary game,
David Hitchcock, 1973). Circular board of 24
sectors x 8 rings in which the two halves areoffset by one cell, producing two interleaved
96-cell spirals in which cells a distance 24
apart on the spiral are on the same radius. The
men are set up normally facing one anotheracross the board, the spiral preventing mutual
attacks by the rooks. The spiral also allows
queens and rooks to circle the board more thanonce in a single move. The centre can becrossed by pieces subject to certain rules.
(Copy of cutting from the Toledo Blade, 22
July 1973, also U.S. patent 3851883 of 1973)
Crazy 38’s (Ben Good, 1997). Figure-of-eightchequered board of 38 cells, most easily
obtained by taking an ordinary 8x8 board,
blanking off the 2x2 squares a1-b2 and g7-h8
and the L-shaped regions a5-a8-d8-d7-b7-b5a5 and h4-h1 etc, and writing in new curved
cells a1 joining c1 and a3, a6 joining a4 andc6, c8 joining c6 and e8, and h8, h3, f1
similarly. These new cells are quadrant
segments with the same width as a normal
square, and the spaces within them are left
unfilled (so the board now has holes at b2, b5,
d7, g7, g4, and e2). The players sit cornerwise,

White’s home cell being a1 and Black’s h8.
Each side has 1 x King, Rook, Bishop,
Knight, Gold General, and Silver General, and
4 x P. K to any adjacent cell edgewise orcornerwise. R across cells as long as the roadis clear, bending around quadrants in thenatural way (so Rc1 on an empty board has
moves c1-a1-a3-a6-c6-h6, c1-f1-f3-f8, and c1c8-e8-h8-h3-f3-a3). B and N as in orthochess,
N jumping as usual and being allowed to makeits orthogonal and diagonal steps in either
order (so Na1 can move to b4/c3/d2, Nc3 to
a1/a4/d5/e4/d1). Gold General as K but notdiagonally to the side, Silver General as K but
not diagonally forwards or backwards(regrettably, these are not the moves of thesimilarly named pieces in shogi). P one square
obliquely (i.e. orthogonally) forward, captures
as it moves, promotes to queen (R+B) on
opponent’s home cell. Captured men changesides and can be dropped (a P not on the
opponent’s home cell nor to give checkmate);a captured Q reverts to P before being
dropped. Aim is to give checkmate or to move
K to the opponent’s home cell. White array
Ka1, Gb3, Sc2, Nb4, Rc3, Bd2, Pa4/c4/d3/d1,
Black mirrored about the board centre. (Chess
Variant Pages) [Text editorial]220 Boards of other kinds
Inﬁnite Chess (Proprietary game, Mark
Colebank, 1997). 72-cell board in the form ofa figure-of-eight ‘infinity’ symbol comprising
two three-quarter circles, each with sevensectors and four concentric ranks, joined by a

4x4 central area. Men arrayed at opposite endsof the board as in Circular Chess except thatthe order of pieces is reversed (K, Q on
outside rank). (Manuscript notes presumably
derived from a set in David’s game collection)

23.7 Inﬁnite and inﬁnitely divisible boards
Inﬁnite Plane Chess (Lav Rajcic and Nenad
Petrovic, 1952). The board is extended in all
directions, and four points are addedanalagous to the ‘points at infinity’ ofgeometry. There are ‘E-W’ (at infinity on theranks), ‘N-S’ (on the files), and ‘NE-SW’ and‘NW-SE’ (on the diagonals). Line pieces canmove off the board to ‘inﬁnity’ and return at
will. For example, a rook moving off left to‘E-W’ can re-enter on any rank and fromeither side of the board. In Projected Chess(described by Sergei Zubkov in 1990,
apparently quoting an article by E. Gik in
Quantum in 1974) only the four ‘points at
infinity’ are added, the board remaining
otherwise normal. Essentially a problem
theme, the game has been little tried andaccording to Gik is impractical; Boyer
however gives two examples, and says it has‘interesting characteristics’. (Problem 7-9,
March 1952, Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes; personal communication) [There
were some inconsistencies in the original
treatment, since Zubkov’s board did not match
those shown by Rajcic and Petrovic and byBoyer, and I will take responsibility for thepresent disentanglement. There is some added
detail regarding the moves of KNP which
I haven’t gone into since it doesn’t affect thesalient feature of the game.]
Dense Chess (Richard Grandy, 1965). Play ison the rational points within the square [0,0][1,1] of a Cartesian plane. Usual men plus
three extra pawns a side. The pieces start at
the decimal points of the back row, points 0,
1/2, 1 being left vacant (so rooks at 1/10 and
9/10, knights at 2/10 and 8/10, etc), withpawns all across the board a distance 1/10 infront. King moves to any point not more than
1/10 away in any direction; R orthogonally,
B diagonally, Q both, N along any line with aslope of 2 or 1/2 (may not jump); P with anatural analogue of its normal move. The fullrules of the game, helpfully annotated, are inissue 7 of The Gamesman. The game has been
played, the inventor remarking that it is useful
to have a blackboard on which theapproximate positions of the pieces aremarked. [Text revised]23.8 Boards with transport mechanisms
Orion Chess (Steve Wilson, 1983). Chessplayed on the Orion principle. Orion is a
proprietary games system (Parker Bros, 1971)
which uses a 5x5 array of linked rotors thatcan be adapted to a number of games andpuzzles. Orion pieces are elliptical and fit in
the spaces between adjacent rotors. Eachquarter-turn of a rotor moves any piece within
the rotor through 90 degrees. A turn consistsof moving one or more rotors in sequenceaccording to the piece moved. Apart from therotary actions, Orion Chess is surprisingly
orthodox with the pawn moving two spaces

initially, e.p., and promotion on the last rank
whether or not achieved by a pawn move;
castling however is impossible. (World Game
Review 3)

Chapter 24
Cylindrical, toroidal, and spherical boards[The boards in this chapter occupy a half-way house between two-dimensional and threedimensional boards, being two-dimensional in nature but needing to be bent around in a third
dimension if they are to be accurately realised. That said, ‘cylinder chess’ is most often playedon a normal 8x8 board, the players imagining the join between the extreme left and right handfiles, and the other games in this chapter can be played on planar boards with a greater or lesser
degree of imagination.]24.1 Cylindrical boards
Cylinder Chess. Origins unknown: the board
was used by the Marquis Teodoro Ciccolini(whose main occupation appears to have been
the invention of a perpetual motion machine)in the early 19th century (feenschach, JanuaryMarch 1980, quoting an article by Adriano
Chicco in L’Italia Scacchistica, August 1939,
itself citing Ciccolini’s 1836 book Il Cavallo
degli Scacchi). It was later introduced as aproblem theme by A. Piccinini in 1907, andhas been claimed for others since. The 8x8
board is considered to be wrapped round a
vertical cylinder so that ﬁles a and h arecontiguous. This has the fortuitous effect ofguarding every man in the array. Continuous
movement, and a move which permits the
position to remain unchanged, are disallowed.
NOST allowed cylindrical castling: Ke1-g1,
Ra1-f1 and Ke1-c1, Rh1-d1. The game is
not difﬁcult to absorb but a little care isneeded initially: 1 b3 e5 2 Bxd8. Cylinder
Chess has been successfully combinedwith Progressive Chess. AISE, which called
this variant Tamerlane’s Progressive Chess,ran correspondence tournaments. Cylinder
boards of other dimensions have also beenused.
[It is instructive to compare the 8x8 boardof Cylinder Chess with the 16x4 Circular
Chess board which we met in the last chapter.
In many respects they are similar, and in eachcase K+Q v K+R is only a draw and K+R
cannot force a win against a bare K unless theattacking king is already holding thedefending king against an edge. However, thebishops are far stronger in Cylinder Chess, andK+2B have a fairly easy win against a bare K

whereas in Circular Chess they can only draw
(Variant Chess 48). And of course if thenumber of files is odd the distinction between‘black’ and ‘white’ bishops vanishes, and asingle bishop can reach all squares.
A curious endgame situation arises whenWhite has Ka4, Pa5/b7 (3) against Black Ka7(1). The winning move in ordinary chess is
1 a6 to defend the b-pawn, and if 1...Kxa6
then 2 b8(R) (promotion to Q would give
stalemate). This doesn’t work in Cylinder
Chess because K+R v K is not a win, but now
1 a6 Kxa6 2 b8(Q) wins because there is no
stalemate. Neither line works in Circular
Chess because K+R v K is still not a win and2 b8(Q) once again gives stalemate, but there
is no need to hold on to the b-pawn because
K+aP v K is a win once the pawn is defended;
the move 1 a6, needed to win in ordinary andcylindrical chess, is the only move not to win
in circular!]Moebius Chess (W. Pflughaupt, 1953). The
board is a moebius ring on which a chessboard
has been superimposed. It can be visualised asa cylinder board which has been twisted
through 180 degrees so that a1 and h8 areadjacent, as are a8 and h1. Problem theme, but
attempts have been made to play it as a game.
The twist effectively destroys the distinction
between ‘forwards’ and ‘backwards’, andPflughaupt apparently regarded the pawns asable to move in either direction at will; George
Jelliss prefers them to retain their originalorientation, only changing direction after
going ‘round the twist’. (Chessics 10) [Textslightly revised]222 Boards of other kinds
Incredulon (Bruce R. Trone, 1986). 8x8
vertical cylinder (a-file next to h-file).
Orthochess with some confusing additions. (1)A player can exchange the positions of two of
his men that are adjacent to each other. (2) A
man may move to any square controlled by his
own side. (3) Any number of men of one
colour can occupy a square and move as oneof them. (4) Any group can be dissolved byeach piece moving to a different squareaccording to its powers, this counting as one
move. (5) A man may be pushed any numberof squares by an adjacent man in the mannerof the latter; however, a pawn cannot be
pushed across the centre of the board. (6) Any
number of men adjacent to each other in astraight line may be pushed one square from apiece at either end of the line provided its

power corresponds to the direction of
movement. (7) Any block of four squares may
be rotated as desired by a player who occupies
more squares within the block than his
opponent (this counts as one move). And
concluding on a sober note: a king must getout of check with a regular move. [Personalcommunication assumed; source material
missing from David’s files.]
Chromopolis (Alexandre Muniz, 1999) is thegame from which Chromopolis Simplified
was generated (see chapter 17). 40-squarecylindrical board on seven files, a1-f6 andg2-g5; rules and array as for the simplified
game. The number of files being odd, prelates
are no longer restricted to squares of one
colour. (Chess Variant Pages) [Text editorial]24.2 Toroidal boards
Toroidal Chess, also known as Anchor-Ring
Chess and Torus Chess. Origins uncertain.
The board is bent into in the shape of a torus.
The 1st and 8th ranks are adjacent to eachother, forming a horizontal cylinder, as are thea- and h-ﬁles, simultaneously forming a
vertical cylinder. The square a1 is diagonallyadjacent to h8 and similarly h1/a8. Pieces havecomplete freedom of movement whereverplaced on an empty board.
A problem theme which poses various
difficulties as a game. Giving mate requires atleast three men since there are no corners oredges to which to drive the king (K+Q cannot
mate bare king). Philip Cohen proposed kings
restricted to orthogonal movement, bare kingand stalemate as losses. As regards the initialarray, one solution (Berloquin) is to start with
an empty board, each side placing a man inturn until all are entered, pawns being allowed
to move orthogonally in any direction; no
promotion (100 Jeux de Table). Philip Cohencame up with a similar idea (Nost-algia 248)
but restricted White to one half of the board
and Black the other, with two further
strictures: pawns may only be placed on thefirst three ranks and a check must be parried atonce or the game is lost (before it’s started!).

A king attacked on more than one line
succumbs. Pawns move one square at a time(and in one direction only), promotion on 8th
rank. Chris Tylor (Chessics 7, as Toral Chess)suggested a diagonal arrangement with White
Kc3, Qb3, Ra1/d1, Bb2/c2, Na4/d4, Pb4/c4(moving up), a2/a3 (moving left), d2/d3(moving right), b1/c1 (moving down),
promotion in any of the four squares
b2/b3/c2/c3, Black the same mirrored in the
diagonal h1-a8. Pawns would require
directional markings. Matthias (Eteroscacco
19/20) set WKc2, Qd2, Rf2/f3, Bb2/e2,
Na1/a2, Pb3-e3/b1-e1, Black mirrored in theboard centre, and offered a sample game.
Larger boards have been tried. Berloquinsuggested increasing the board to 10x10,
allowing each side to assemble within a 4x4
square without abutting one another. Bruce
Trone (Nost-algia 194, as Megachess[Trone]) has a 14x14 board with 22 pawns aside, normal baseline arrays on d4-k4/d11-k11
completely surrounded by pawns. Pawns
move directly away from their original
positions, corner pawns having a choice of
direction; promotion on opponent’s baseline.
[Text revised to lay greater stress on themating difficulties]

Cylindrical, toroidal, and spherical boards 223
24.3 Spherical boards
Spherical Chess. The idea of wrapping achessboard round a globe is a recent concept.
The board is in effect a vertical cylinder witha- and h-ﬁles adjacent. The end ranks
theoretically meet at a point (the poles) but inpractice the poles are often represented as
circular or octagonal zones which may or may
not be designated board spaces. There are twoconstructional problems; one is the suspensionof the board so as to give access to all squares,
the other is securing the chessmen in position(gravity can induce mirth when the pieces startfalling off). Added to these is the difﬁculty
players have in visualising the game position
since only half the board can be seen from any
viewpoint. All these problems can beovercome by using the 8x8 board andadjusting piece movement according to thegame rules. Another solution is to have twocircular plane boards, one centred on the Npole and the other on the S, with the perimeterof both boards serving as the equator.
Trans-polar movement poses no problem
for a rook in any game: the piece re-enters theboard four files removed from the file of its
departure (a1-a8-e8-e1). It should be notedthat when crossing a pole a R traverses
successively two squares of the same colour.
Pawns can never make a trans-polar move,whilst, since the board has no edge, kings
always have eight adjacent squares. Transpolar moves of bishops and knights are notclear-cut, and it is the rules on these which
separate some games.
Grayber’s Spherical Chess (H. D. Grayber,
1950s). Possibly the first game on a sphere(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Intéressants); rules
not given, but the game may equate to that
described by Berloquin (100 Jeux de Table).
The trans-polar move of a B forms a loop, its
path re-crossing the 2nd/7th rank square(Bh3-a2-b1-h1-a2-b3). Whether on the 1st or
2nd rank, the knight covers only six squares(Ng2 to a1/a3/h4/f4/e3/e1, Ng1 to a2/b2/h3/f3/
e2/d2). Notice that in two cases the knight
starts and ends its move on the same colour
square.
Miller’s Spherical Chess (Don Miller, 1965).
Played on a two-dimensional board. B as

Grayber (or Berloquin). N as Grayber from g1,
but from g2 has two additional squares: b1 andd1. The game has been used as a problem
theme. (Ye Fairie Chesseman 2)
Yaspan’s Spherical Chess, also known as
Global Chess (Peter Yaspan, 1970).
Gyromatic mount enables globe to be freely
rotated; squares are replaced by magnets
which,
whilstformingtheregularchequerboard pattern, avoid the linear
distortions associated with spherical chess.
Polar zones may not be occupied and a piecetraversing the pole may not capture. An
extension of this rule is that a piece cannot
give check over a pole. An inﬁnite move is
prohibited but a stay-still move, for example
by a rook circuiting the sphere, is legal. A
diagonally-moving piece (K, Q, B) makes aninter-polar move (e.g. a7-b1) but not a transpolar one. There are four possible ways tocastle subject to the usual conditions: K moves
two squares in either direction and either R is
moved to square the K passed over. The array
has WKe1 and BKd8. The first Spherical
Chess Tournament, won by Jeffrey Shuster,
was held in New York in 1972.
Carelman’s Spherical Chess (Proprietarygame, Delta Concept; J. Carelman, 1971).
Board 8x8 wrapped round a sphere; rules notrecorded. (Photocopy of postcard dated 1987
showing the set) [Text slightly revised. The
South pole of the globe appears to be occupiedby the supporting base, and the North poleappears to be similarly out of the game; its
apparent occupant is out of scale with the men
shown elsewhere, and may be merely thesmall protruding knob of an axis about which
the globe can be turned. I therefore suspectthat what is portrayed may perhaps be no morethan an attractive realisation of ordinary
Cylinder Chess, possibly produced as an objet
d’art.]
Nadvorney’s
Spherical
Chess
(Leo
Nadvorney, 1975). A conscious modificationof Miller’s game. The B changes squarecolour on crossing the pole, making a loop one
file wider: Bh3-a2-b1-g1-h2-a3. The N
commands eight squares wherever situated.

224 Boards of other kinds
Castling as in Yaspan. Nadvorney represented
the globe as a mercator projection, thus
allowing the game to be played with ease on
the usual 8x8 board. To facilitate both transpolar and lateral movement, he offered adiagram which afforded instant guidance whencrossing the normal boundaries. An inﬁnite
move or one which does not change theposition is illegal. Nadvorney also proposed
Sphericalice Chess, a next-to-unplayable (andprobably unplayed) mix of Spherical andAlice Chess. (Nost-algia 185/188)
Nelson’s Spherical Chess (Martin Nelson,
1976). An experimental game using magnetic
pieces. Polar zones are regular octagons, eachconsidered to be a one-square rank. These arelocations of great power, for a Q, R or B
commands from them every square on avacant sphere. Similarly a knight at the polecontrols the ﬁrst two ranks (16 squares). A
trans-polar move by a B does not involve a
colour-change: Bh3-a2-b1-f1-e2-d3. Ng1
crosses the pole to b1 or d1. (Personalcommunication)
Globe Chess [Boholy] (János Boholy, 1987).
Board 8x8 wrapped round a sphere with an
octagonal cell at each pole, giving a playing
area of 66 cells. Usual chessmen. Three games
are offered, one of which ignores the poles andreduces to ordinary Cylinder Chess. In thesecond, pieces may pass over the poles but notstop on them; in the third, polar cells are partof the board as in Nelson’s game. In boththese latter games, the Black men are offset
four files with respect to the White, thus
(a8-h8) KBNRRNBQ. The board was featured
on the front cover of Ceskoslovensky Sach
(12/1990). There is a book on the game by theinventor: A Gömb Sakkjáték Alapjai, now in
its third edition. (Personal communication)
Chessball [Gramolt] (Proprietary game, The
Original Chessball Co. Ltd; William Gramolt,1986). As reported in the April 1997 issue of
Science et Avenir, the board had twice thenormal number of squares, and theaccompanying photograph supported this; asmarketed in 1998, the number of squares had
increased to 160 (20 files). Three levels of
play, according to whether no, one, or bothpoles are used - or, of course, you can use justa portion of the board and play ordinary chess.
(Proprietor’s publicity leaflet)
Global Thinker (Proprietary game, Klaus
Schroer, 1990). Board 8x8 wrapped round asphere with two circular polar areas; typicaltranspolar bishop move is d2-c1-pole-g1-h2a3. (Schach Magazin 64)[All these games are affected by the ‘polar
anomaly’ whereby the poles have to be treatedspecially. Perhaps this is a good thing, perhaps
it isn’t, but reflections on how it might be
avoided caused me to look briefly at thepossibilities of what might be called 4-6-10
Chess, exploiting the semi-regular solid
whose faces comprise 30 squares, 20
hexagons, and 12 decagons (Variant Chess49). Suppose we choose two opposite cells asbases around which the two armies arearrayed, and give K, R, P their natural moves(K to any adjacent cell, R straight across cells
as long as the road is clear, P one step directly
forward, capturing on the next nearest cells to
directly forward and promoting on reaching
the opponent’s base). K+R v K is now a win,
so K+P v K will be enough to win if the pawn
can promote; in fact the defending king willdraw if it can occupy a square (not a hexagon
or decagon) immediately in front of the pawn,
otherwise the result appears to depend onwhether the stronger side has or can gain the
opposition (which here is held by whoever is
not to move when the kings are on cells of thesame kind). So at least the endgame behaviour
appears sensible, and I am sure that a playable
game using this board could be devised.]Chapter 25
Boards with three and more dimensions[We now move on to true three-dimensional boards. The earliest definite reference to threedimensional chess appears to be to the oft-quoted Kieseritzky board, and the earliest game ofwhich details survive is Maack’s ‘Raumschach’ of 1907. The multiple-board games of Part 1,
such as Alice Chess, may also be classiﬁed as 3-D games, though we shall normally restrict theterm to games where the boards are stacked one above the other rather than being placed side byside. The most popular 3-D board amongst inventors, and at the same time the most mentallyindigestible for the players, consists of eight normal boards mounted in this way. Less
demanding on spatial vision, and hence more practical, are games confined to two or three 8x8
boards and games with boards smaller than 8x8. A few multi-dimensional games beckon theintellectually courageous.
The rook generalizes immediately to three dimensions. The bishop does not, and threedimensional games employ two different pieces: a ‘bishop’ which moves in a plane with thenormal bishop move, and a new piece, often called a ‘unicorn’, which advances through all three
dimensions at once. (Imagine the piece in the middle of a cube. If it is a rook, it moves to the
middle of a face of the cube; if a bishop, to the middle of an edge; if a unicorn, to one of thecorners.) The queen is sometimes treated as R+B, more usually as R+B+U. When away from theedge, a rook has 6 directions of movement, a bishop 12, a unicorn 8, and a queen 18 or 26. A
king away from the edge has 26 squares available to it.
In orthochess, a rook or queen presents a barrier which the opposing king cannot cross. In
three dimensions, it doesn’t, and mating even a bare king can present difficulties. There are two
ways of dealing with this. The first is simply to make the board small enough (if the queen is
given the power of R+B+U, K+Q can mate a bare king if they can trap it against the side, and on
a 5x5x5 board all the stronger side has to do is to put its king in the centre and let the queen do
the rest). The second is to give the rook a double move, so that it can command a whole planeand not just a line. The danger is now that the rook becomes too powerful rather than too weak,
but it is an idea that can be made to work and a special section is given to the games which
embody it.]25.1 Square boards on two levels
Peruvian Army Chess, also known as
Military Game [Weaver] (Walter R. Weaver,1930). The West Coast Leader (Lima) reported
that the Peruvian army had hit on the novelidea of substituting the various classes of air
attack and ground defence for the chessmen‘to facilitate the teaching of air manoeuvres’.
Board 8x8x2; pieces on upper board represent
various types of aviation: Bombardment (R),
Attack (B), Pursuit (N), Local observation (K),Distant observation (Q). Orthochess on lower
board, but men can also be captured fromabove by bombardment or attack aircraft. Kingcan be checked and mated from above or byground (lower board) forces, or a combinationof the two. Pawns, if unmoved, serve as AA

artillery, the squares above them denied tohostile aircraft. Aircraft, with the exception ofobservation planes which serve simply as
blocks, can only be captured by pursuit
aircraft (British Chess Magazine, January
1931, also Abstract Games 11)
Two-Level Chess [Miller] (Donald L. Miller,
1948). Two 8x8 boards, one above the other;standard array on top board (Level 1), bottom
board (a1 white) empty. Play as orthochess oneither board. Instead of moving, a player may
transfer a man from one board to thecorresponding square on the other provided it
is vacant, with the exception that a king cannotchange levels if in check. Notice that a B

226 Boards of other kinds
would then change its square colour. A P for
its first move may drop to Level 2 and move
one square forward but cannot move back to
Level 1 unless promoted. A N makes the firststep of its two-square move on changing levels
and completes the move on the second board(first step is notionally either diagonal or
orthogonal, as agreed). The N is the only piecethat can change levels and capture in the same
move. A P must be promoted on reaching theend rank of Level 2. It may be promoted on
end rank of Level 1, but if not, must drop to
Level 2 to promote. (Ye Faerie Chesseman)
Trapdoor Chess [Hills and Bimler] (Greg
Hills and Trevor Bimler, 1976). Two 8x8
boards, upper and lower. Four squares on thefour central ranks of the upper board, decided
by lot, are trapdoors, the corresponding
squares on the lower board are mattresses.
Usual set-up on upper board. Any piececrossing or landing on a trapdoor descends toa mattress. A piece falling through a trapdoor
eliminates a piece of either colour on themattress below. On each turn, a player moves
on either the upper or lower board. Only
queens, promoted or otherwise, can ascend to
the upper board but must ﬁrst move tomattress, then to trapdoor (two moves). One

strategy is to drop pawns, perhaps with a pieceor two for protection, which come up as
queens a few moves later. Kings are dropped
only in desperation. If one player dominates
one board and his opponent the other, a draw
is the likely outcome. (Ye Faerie Chesseman)
Flying Chess (Proprietary game, David Eltis,
1984). Two-tier board, usual array on lower.
R, B, N can attain the upper level and fly.
A move directly up or down is permitted, as
are various other options: R can make a moveon the lower board and ascend to the next
upper-board square beyond, B can make amove on the upper board and descend
similarly, N can make a move on the upperboard and descend directly. All these moves
can capture, and additionally any man (not justa man that can fly) can capture by ‘head
butting’: if there is a flying man immediately
above it, it can capture this man without
moving (but the capture counts as a move).
(Author’s rules leaflet, also Chess Variant
Pages) [Text revised. Apparently the game isnormally played on a single large board
capable of holding two men per square, pieces
on the upper level being indicated by markers,
but the two-level presentation seems more
appropriate here.]

25.2 Square boards on three levels
Johnson’s
Three-dimensional
Chess(Proprietary game, Rick Johnson, 1966).
Board 8x8x3; usual men with White set up onlevel A and Black at opposite end of level C.
Movement of pieces is described as normal
except that each has also a vertical capability.
The inventor claims to have played well over a
thousand games. The game was marketedfrom 1967 onwards and was featured in the
media. (Nost-algia 115)
Space Chess [Paciﬁc Games] (Proprietarygame, Pacific Games Co, 1969). Board 8x8x3.
A proprietary game with rules developed byUS
chesschampion
Larry
Evans.
(Advertisement in Popular Science, March
1969, also Ye Fairie Chesseman)Star Trek Chess, also known as
Tridimensional Chess. This game, describedas ‘the most complex form of the ancientgame yet devised’, was issued as a technicalorder in the Star Trek Manual (1970s) and was
purportedly played on the U.S.S. Enterprise inStar Trek. Usual men move in usual way
except that they have ‘tridimensional freedom
to the extent of available consecutive squares’.
The board, made up of 64 squares of which 16
are movable in 2x2 groups, is on three levels:(top) Black’s defending board; (middle)
neutral field board; (bottom) White’s
defending board. No games, so far as is
known, have yet been recorded by spacetravellers. [Text revised]
Chess in the Third Dimension (Proprietarygame, Skor-Mor, 1976). Board 8x8x3; usualarray but Black chooses top or bottom level,
White is then on the other. Orthochess play,
but on its initial move every man must, after
moving, transfer to the corresponding squareon the middle board (if this square is occupied

Boards with three and more dimensions 227
the move is illegal). There are minor
exceptions: the king may elect to change
planes or not, and if castling the player may
elect to move both pieces or neither to thecentral plane. On each subsequent play a man
may be moved in the normal way or to thesquare directly above or below it, but only if it
is vacant. Captures, check, and checkmate canonly take place on the same plane.
(Proprietor’s rules pamphlet)
Hagemann’s Three-Dimensional Chess(Wally Hagemann, date unclear). Board
8x8x3; usual men with orthochess array,
White on top board and Black on bottom.
Pawns, which can move up or down, and havetwo-step option with e.p., promote in cells
occupied by opponent’s pieces in the array.
Moves of K and R as usual but B combines
moves of normal bishop and unicorn. N moves
to cells of board above or below that
correspond to those it can move to in theplane. N on level A or C may also move to thecorresponding squares of those that
immediately surround it on the other board.
Example: NCa1 can move to Cb3, Cc2; Bb3,
Bc2; Aa2, Ab1, Ab2. Spatial capturing movesof pawns not given. (Author’s rules pamphlet)[The game was dated ‘1960s?’ by David, but
the typographical style of the rules pamphletsuggests that it was printed in the late 1980s orlate 1970s)
Parallel Worlds Chess (R. Wayne
Schmittberger, 1980s). Board 8x8x3. A fullarray is assembled on both boards A and C,
board B being empty. On turn, a player may
move one, two or three men provided that notwo men end their moves on the same level.
Kings do not change level but all other men
may move straight up or down one levelprovided the square moved to is vacant. Level
B is a twilight zone in which all men move as
queens but cannot capture. Thus a pawn cantransfer to level B, later move to the ﬁrst rank
and subsequently move to board A or C on theﬁrst rank. It can then move only one square,
but on the second rank it regains its twosquare option. The object of the game is tocapture either of the opponent’s kings. Verywild. (New Rules for Classic Games)

3 Dimensional Chess [Carney] (Proprietarygame, Carney’s Compendium of Games; Paul
Cope, 1992). Board 6x6x3; 26 men a side.
Array (A bottom, C top) Aa1-f1/Ca6-f6:
RNQKNR;
Aa2-f2/Ca5-f5:
PPBBPP;
Acd3/Ccd4: PP; Ba1-f1/a6-f6: BRPrPsRB;
Ba2-f2/a5-f5: PPPPPP. The Princess (Ps)moves and captures as Q but additionally has‘devotional’ power. If the K is mated, it may
move to the square occupied by the Ps whichis removed from the board. The Prince (Pr) is
simply a third knight. Pieces may move fromone level to the next only to the square
immediately above or below and only if thesquare is unoccupied. No pawn-two;
promotion to captured piece only on Ca6-f6(White)/Aa1-f1 (Black). The game, which wasdeveloped over five years, has approximately
the same men-to-squares ratio as orthochess.
(Manuscript notes apparently deriving frompersonal communication)
3 Dimensional Chess [Mind Games](Proprietary
game,
Mind
Games
Manufacturing Ltd; Bernard Kennedy, 1992).
Board 8x8x3, a1 black all boards. Each sidehas 24 pieces and 24 pawns. The new pieces
are Prince (Pr), Princess (Ps), Abbey (A),
Cannon (C) and Galleon (G). Array (topboard: a1-h1/a8-h8) GCAPsPrACG; P x 8
2nd/7th rank; (middle board) orthochess array;(bottom board) as top board. Orthochess men
can move between boards, knights and pawns
excepted. Pr,Ps,G,A correspond respectively
to K,Q,R,B and move exactly as theirorthochess equivalents except that they cannotchange levels and princes can be taken likeany other piece. The move of the cannon
deﬁes simple description but always involvesa change of level. Win by mating K or
capturing both princes. (Manuscript notes
deriving from a set in David’s gamecollection)
Millenium 3D Chess (W. D’Agostino, 2001).
Board 8x8x3. Blank board on central level,
White has standard array on one level, Blackon the other. P-two, promotion, castling ande.p. semi-orthodox. [Information presumably
taken from a set in David’s game collection;
no source material in his Encyclopedia files]

228 Boards of other kinds
25.3 Square boards on four levels
Tedco
Three-Dimensional
Chess(Proprietary game, Texas Educational Devices
Co, 1966). Board 4x4x4 (a1 black all levels,
but may also be unchequered). The Tedcoboard was developed for psychological studies
on human ability to think in three dimensions
and was used for a number of games in
addition to chess. Usual chessmen. Moves: K
one cell in any direction on the same level orlevel immediately above or below, no castling;
R changes level straight up and down only
(maximum cells covered: 9); B when changing
level moves diagonally up or down in astraight line so can change colour; Q = R+B;
N one cell at a time diagonally (maximum
cells covered: 12); P moves one cell forward
or vertically up or down, captures only as
orthochess on same plane. Strategy focuses on
the four central squares of levels B and C. In
the endgame, K+R and K+B only draw against
bare K, but K+Q is an easy win. Array(all boards a1-d1/d4-a4): A, PNPR; B, PBKP;C, PQBP; D, RPNP (kings on Bc1 and Bc4).
(Nost-algia 90)
Isometric Chess (Proprietary game, Isometric
Chess International; John Oden, 1977). The
board is in the shape of a pyramid built up in
four tiers of cubes from an 8x8 base to a 2x2
centre. Pawns are placed on their usualsquares whilst pieces are entered one by one at
choice on the respective baselines, the only
restriction being that the bishops must be on
opposite colours. Oden predicted, unwisely as
it turned out, that people would be playing
Isometric Chess - ‘and only Isometric Chess’ in 2001, adding that ‘people who know chessand understand its place in history realize rightaway what a giant step it is in the evolution of
the game’. Robert Erkes, president of the
Maryland Chess Association (the inventor wasfrom Maryland) commented that ‘All it is is a
chess board that looks funny’. (Proprietor’s
publicity leaflet, also photocopy of cuttingfrom a newspaper which appears to be theBaltimore Sun)
3-D Chess [Enjoyable Hour] (Proprietarygame, Enjoyable Hour Products, 1979). Board
4x4x4, a1 black at all levels; usual men, array(White on D, Black diametrically opposite onA) RNNR, BKQB, 4xP, 4xP (kings on Db2
and Ac3). Moves (orthochess on same plane,
except P): K cannot change level; R can movestraight up or down between levels, B canmove one cell diagonally up or down;
Q=R+B; N moves as orthochess from cell
immediately above or below it (maximum 12
moves); Ps can move only down (W) or up(B), one cell at a time, and can capture
diagonally only on same level. Pawns promote
in any cell on opponent’s array level. One of
the fastest of the 3-D games. (Photocopies ofbox cover, board, rules leaflet)
Aztec Chess (Roberto Salvadori, 1982). The
8x8 board is in the form of an Aztec pyramid,
viz: 8x8 base, 6x6, 4x4, 2x2 (d4/5,e4/5). Usual
men but array (e1-h1/d8-a8 and inwards)
PBRK, PBQR, PPNN, PPPP and the board isplaced diagonally between the players so thatWhite’s ‘forwards’ direction is along the
diagonal h1-a8. Rules of play are elaborate.
(Eteroscacco 21)
Podionic Chess (Proprietary game, Prophecy
Games Ltd; Jonathan Pennell, 1994). Four 4x4
boards arranged one above the other in an
overlapping spiral formation; usual men. Seenfrom above, adjacent boards have a row offour overlapping squares, and all four innercorners overlap; these overlaps provide routes
between the boards. (Proprietor’s rules booklet
and publicity material; see also Variant Chess20) [Text revised]
Schach3, also known as Raum-Schach[Töttger] (Proprietary game, Peter-René
Töttger, 1994). Board 4x4x4; usual pieces plus
4 pawns a side. Array boards (A bottom, Dtop) Aa1-d1/Dd4-a4: RQKR; (Aa2-D2/Dd3a3) PPPP; (Ba1-d1/Cd4-a4) NBBN. Moves: K
one square orthogonally or correcponding
square to that occupied on next level up or
down; Q one square in any direction or
corresponding or orthogonally vacant squareon next level; R as R on same level orvertically to any level; B one squarediagonally on same or next level; N see
diagram; P on level or next level with usual
capture; promotion on end rank of D (White)or A (Black). (Personal communication)

Boards with three and more dimensions 229
25.4 Square boards on ﬁve levels
Raumschach [Maack], also known as Space
Chess (Ferdinand Maack, 1907 andsubsequently). The classic 3-D game. Its
inventor contended that to make chessproperly analogous to modern warfare, attack
must be possible from above and below(air/underwater) as well as on the surface.
Maackpromoted
space
chess
with
demonstrations, articles, booklets and amagazine (Raumschach). The game wasoriginally set on an 8x8x8 board as describedlater, but Maack experimented with otherboards and 5x5x5 became the normal form. In
1919 he founded the Hamburg Space-Chess
Club, which survived until World War II.
Dawson in particular was attracted to Maack’s
5x5x5 invention - ‘the game which will
naturally be the commonplace of the future’ and he ran a series of articles on it (Chess
Amateur, July-December 1926). Each player
has two extra pieces (unicorns as describedabove), and there are 10 pawns a side; WhiteRNKNR fronted by 5xP on board A, BUQBU
fronted by 5xP on board B, Black
diametrically opposite on boards E and D(unicorns on Da5 and Dd5). White pawns
promote on rank E5, black on rank A1. N
makes one step as R and one as B (if you
prefer a mathematical definition, it is a ‘2-1-0
leaper’). P moves one step at a time andcaptures diagonally forward, all movement
being towards the promotion rank. Thus WP at
Ab2 can move to either Ab3 or Bb2, and it cancapture on any of the ﬁve squares Aa3, Ac3,

Ba2, Bc2, Cb3. Another array halves thenumber of pawns and has all white men onlevel A, all black men on level E: (Aa1-e1/
Ee5-a5 and inwards) RNKNR, BUQBU, 5xP.
The game has attracted many leading
problemists. Troitsky studied the endings andshowed that K+Q always wins against K.
Stereoschach (Gerhard Jensch, 1975).
Derived from Maack’s Raumschach above,
Stereoschach was introduced by Jensch as aproblem theme (feenschach, May-July 1975),
but its merits as a game were soon
appreciated. Board 8x8 + 4x4x4, usual men in
normal array positions on the 8x8. The smallboards, A (bottom) to D (top), are directly
above the squares c3-c6-f6-f3-c3 on the baseboard. Three-dimensional moves are possibleon the 4x4 central squares. Movement on thesame level as in orthochess. Pieces and pawns
move between levels as in Maack’s
Raumschach (there is no corresponding pieceto the unicorn in Stereoschach). Pawns
promote in cells (White) (D)c6-f6; (Black)(D)c3-f3. Openings tend to start normally. Aninternational tournament held at Imperia(January 1987) was won by Friedemann
Arnold. Stereoschach was demonstrated byHans-Peter Rehm at the F.I.D.E. problemists’meeting in Bournemouth, August 1989. Spiral
Chess [Jensch] (Gerhard Jensch, 1984,
dedicated to Peter Kniest) is a refinement inwhich the a-ﬁle is assumed to be above the hfile (feenschach, February 1984).

25.5 Square boards on six levels
Cubic Chess [Parton] (V. R. Parton, 1970).
Board 6x6x6, levels A-F bottom to top; 6
pieces and 12 pawns a side. Array (Aa1-f1/
Af6-a6) KQBUNR; pawns Aa2-f2/ a5-f5 andBa1-f1/Ba6-f6. Unicorn U moves in straightlines through cell vertices. Pawns move one
cell forward orthogonally, diagonally, or
through the cell vertex, and capture as they
move; a pawn on Bd2 can move or capture to
any of 9 cells. In Compulsion Cubic Chess
capture is compulsory; no checks, aim is tocapture enemy king.

Parton also proposed Timur’s Cubic
Chess, which is Timur’s Great Chess (see thechapters on historical and regional games)
translated onto a 6x6x6 board. He retained oneach side a king and a fers, and two each of
the rooks, knights, dabbabas, alﬁls and giraffes
together with pawns. In the array the men arearranged on the two lowest levels. Level A(a1-f1/f6-a6) RGQKGR, 6 x P 2nd/5th rank.
Level B (a1-f1/f6-a6) DANNAD, again with 6
x P in front. Parton did not expatiate on spatial
movement. (Chessical Cubism)230 Boards of other kinds
25.6 Square boards on seven or eight levels
Cubic Chess [Kieseritzky], also known as
Kubikschack (Kieseritzky, 1851). Kieseritzky
is alleged to have shown a cubic game toAnderssen in London in 1851. According toJean Dufresne, Kieseritzky displayed a large
glass case separated into small cube-shapedboxes in which chess pieces were hanging on
strings. He is said to have exclaimed ‘I shallmate the black king from above with the whiteknight’ and proceeded to do so. The author(Maack?) of an article in Raumschach (No.1,
1908), commented that Kieseritzky’s model
should therefore be in London, adding that‘Enquiries into this affair have remainedunanswered. The rudeness accorded theGerman side would surely not have been
suffered by an English investigator’. Maack,when demonstrating his game earlier(September 1907) said that the model was in
the British Museum, but there is no trace of it
there, nor in any of the major London
museums, nor in the collection of exhibits
from the Great Exhibition of 1851. [Anthony
Dickins, in A Guide to Fairy Chess, cites
Deutsche Schachzeitung 1878, page 117, as
the source for the Kieseritzky anecdote. I haveassumed that it referred to an eight-levelboard, or at least that it didn’t explicitly refer
to anything else.]
Raumschach[original
formulation](Ferdinand Maack, 1907). Maack’s original
version used an 8x8x8 board with 24 men oneach side: the usual eight pieces, and 16
pawns. The array was as orthochess on board
A with each player having 8 pawns a1-h1/a8h8 on board B, the purpose of these pawns
being to protect the corresponding pieces fromoverhead attack. An alternative arrangement
had the black pieces on Ha8-h8 and pawns on
Ha7-h7 and Ga8-h8. Queen moved as R+B
only, K one step as R or B. Pawns moved
normally on the plane (no pawn-two), or could
move vertically up (with two-step initial
option).
For a dozen years Maack experimented withother arrays and smaller boards, ending up
with 5x5x5 as described above. One 7x7x7
variant included two Giraffes (4-1 leapers).
[There are numerous references in David’s
files, but the primary sources would appear to

be Raumschach, an article in Wiener
Schachzeitung in 1907, and Maack’s booklets
Das Schachraumspiel (1922 and 1930,
apparently two different editions). Dickins, in
A Guide to Fairy Chess, also cites a 1907
edition of Das Schachraumspiel and further
booklets Spielregeln zum Raumschach (1913)
and Raumschach: Einführung in die
Spielpraxis (1919). I presume that ‘4-1 leaper’
here means ‘4-1-0 leaper’ in the same way thatthe knight has become a 2-1-0 leaper.]
Kogbetliantz’s Game (Ervand Kogbetliantz,
1918). Board 8x8x8; 64 men a sidecomprising 1 x K, Q; 2 x N, Archbishop,
Favourite; 4 x R, B, Hippogriff, Fool; 40 x P.
K, Q, R, B as in Maack’s game (26 directions
for K and Q); Fool as Maack’s Unicorn;
Archbishop = B+Fo; Favourite = R+B. The
knight has three distinct possible movecombinations, as R/B (Aa1-Ab3), R/Fo (Aa1Bb3), or B/Fo (Aa1-Cb3); the Hippogriff is aleaper whose move is made up of one cell as aR, then one as a B, then one as a Fo. The P
moves as in Maack’s game except that it has
an initial two-step option (e.p. possible). At
the start, each player’s men occupy the firsttwo ranks of the four central boards. Pawns
occupy the second ranks on all four boards.
The piece array is (a1-h1/h8-a8) (3rd board)
PPFBBFPP; (4th) RHNFaKAHR; (5th)
RHAQFaNHR; (6th) PPFoBBFoPP. First
developed in Russia, where Kogbetliantz was
living at the time, the game was launched in
the U.S. in 1952 where it received a lot of
publicity (Newsweek, Time, New Yorker etc).
It attracted a large following according toBoyer (Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes) but this appears to be contradicted
by Life magazine which reported that there areabout 1,500,000 possible positions after the
first two moves of both sides, ‘which explains
why the Western Hemisphere contains only
eight players; six are pupils of Dr
Kogbetliantz, one is his daughter, and the lastand best is the doctor himself’. Don Miller,
who attended a presentation on the game,commented that ‘the first ten moves of thedemonstration game took three hours, at which
point the game was abandoned’. Miller
nevertheless found the game ‘fascinating’ andBoards with three and more dimensions 231
constructed a model board by welding wire
coathangers from which the men weresuspended. He described Kogbetliantz’s gameas ‘one of the best of all chess variants, andthe best of the three-dimensional ones’ (YeFairie Chesseman). [The primary source ispresumably what Miller describes as ‘a fourpage copyrighted booklet’ which was on saleat the 1952 presentation, but I don’t think
David had a copy of this and the present
exposition appears to follow Boyer.]
Godson’s
Three-dimensional
Chess(William Godson, 1930). Board 8x8x8; Aa1
black, alternating vertically. Usual eight pieces
plus 16 pawns a side. The arrangement differsfrom Maack’s game in that the white array isnormal on board A with 8 pawns above (Ba1h1) while Black’s array is on board H with 8
pawns on Ga8-h8. The men move as in
Maack’s game except that pawns have theinitial two-step option but no e.p.; whitepawns cannot move down, black pawns cannot
move up. Pawns promote in any cell occupiedby the opponent’s pieces in the array. Castlingnormal. (Author’s rules booklet)
Marks’s Three-dimensional Chess (J. David
Marks, c.1960). Essentially Maack’s 8x8x8
game with Fool = unicorn and Space knight =N. (Manuscript notes presumably derivingfrom personal communication)
Gollon’s Three-dimensional Chess (1960s).
Quoted by Gollon in his Chess Variations but
unascribed. Board 8x8x8. Normal array andgame on level A. When one king is mated, heescapes to the square above him on level B.
All the men now assume a 3-D role (seeMaack). If this results in the king being
simultaneously mated on level B, the game isover; otherwise it continues until a king isagain mated when it escapes to the next level,and so on. There are apparently several
versions. In one, the initial move upwards of a
K opens the whole 8x8x8 board to all pieces;in another, no man may move to a board
above the highest-placed K; another version
allows the K to move upwards when checked,
and yet another version permits a K to move
upwards at any time. Gollon, who considered
this a ‘fine game’, admitted to having invented
a variant on a 9x9x9 board in which eachplayer had 141 pieces (of which 81 pawns),
the details of which he spared his readers.
3-D Space Chess [Dimensional Enterprises](Proprietary Game, Dimensional Enterprises
Inc, 1967). Kogbetliantz’s game, marketedwith streamlined pieces. [There is an index
pointer to source material in David’s
Encyclopedia files, but the material itself
appears to be missing.]
Atkinson’s Three-dimensional Chess (TomAtkinson,early
1970s).
Same
as
Kogbetliantz’s game, marketed by Atkinson
who asserted, with what authority is notknown, that 3-D Chess was developed inEurope in the late 18th century - ‘a game stillplayed in Russia and some other countries’.
(Ye Faerie Chesseman) [David clearly felt
obliged to report this assertion, but unless anduntil some definite evidence comes to light I
think it has to be discounted.]
Cubical Chess [Berry] (Clive Berry, 1970s).
Board 8x8x8; each side has 1xK, 3xQ, 20xR,
B, N, 64xP to achieve the same ratio of men tosquares as orthochess. (Author’s booklet
describing a computer realisation)
Gregory’s Three-dimensional Chess (M.
Dorian Gregory, 1970s). Board 8x8x8, Aa1
white alternating vertically. Pieces 48 a sidecomprising 1 x K, Q, Regent, Bar-Q; 2 x R, B,
Centaur, Chancellor, Bar-R, Bar-B, BarCentaur, Bar-Chancellor; 4 x N; 24 x P.
Centaur = B+N; Chancellor = R+N; Regent =R+B+N. Bar pieces are restricted to threelevels, their array level and those immediately
above or below it. R and N have the samemoves as in Maack’s game, B=unicorn,
Q=R+B, P captures diagonally forward one
square (as B) but does not move vertically.
Array: White on E,F,H; Black on A,C,D. (H/A
a1-h1/h8-a8): RNBReKBNR, 8xP 2nd/7th
ranks; (F/C a1-h1/h8-a8): ChNCQQ(B)CNCh,
8xP 3rd/6th ranks; (E/D a1-h1/h8-a8):
RCBChChBCR (all bar pieces), 8xP 2nd/7th
ranks. Gregory also proposed a variant withthe same pieces but levels 2x2, 4x4, 6x6, 8x8,
8x8, 6x6, 4x4, 2x2, lower boards keyed to h1,
upper boards to a8. The game was presented ata symposium at the University of Victoria,
B.C. (Ye Faerie Chesseman)232 Boards of other kinds
Harper and Dietrich’s Game Board (JamesW. Harper and Gary L. Dietrich, 1971). A
vertical arrangement of seven boards
successively of 4, 16, 36, 64, 36, 16, 4
squares, for use in chess or checkers. No
details of moves are given, merely that thechess pieces include additional pawns and thatthe pieces may be moved in both horizontal
and vertical directions. (U.S. patent 3,767,201
of 1973, possibly incomplete)

Rohr’s Three-dimensional Chess (Chris
Rohr, 1975). Board 8x8x8; 28 men a sidecomprising 1 x K,Q; 4 x R,B,N; 14 x P. Theinterest is in the unusual array (White): Rs
Aa1,h1 Ha1,h1; Ns Bb1,g1 Gb1,g1; Bs Cc1,f1
Fc1,f1; K De1/Q Dd1 or K Ee1/Q Ed1 (BlackK/Q on alternative level); pawns on second
rank in front of pieces at all levels. No
castling. Don Miller suggested a revised arrayand movement rules. (Ye Faerie Chesseman)25.7 Square boards on more than eight levels
Prokoﬁev’s Game. In a letter to Capablanca(November 1922), the composer spoke of avariant which he had invented, and of which
Capablanca was aware, that was played ‘on 9compound boards’ (‘compound’ is underlined)

and in which one game ‘is often lasting
several nights’. In Izvestia (May 1936),
Prokofiev enthused ‘Chess for me is a world
apart, a world of combat, of plans and of
passion’. (Photocopy of part of original letter)

25.8 Other boards with three dimensions
Lewin’s Three-dimensional Chess [C. G.
Lewin, 1970). Board 8x8; orthochess array.
All squares (cells) on a ﬁle are considered to
be on the same level, the ﬁle level being
determined by the number of men of bothcolours on it at the time. (Photocopy of pages
65-67 of an unidentified typescript)

determined by viewing vertically down fromabove the board. Subject to the rules of
movement of individual pieces, transfer can bemade to any cell at another level the whole orpart of which is seen to overlap the cell on
which the man stands. The object ischeckmate. (Inventor’s rules leaflet)

Pyramid Chess (Proprietary game, RuffinEnterprises, 1977). Board is a squat pyramid
on a square base. There are 15 cells on eachface, progressively reducing bottom to top
5-4-3-2-1. The men are ﬂat, and the pyramid
has parallel ledges on which they rest. 11 mena side, one each of the normal pieces and six
pawns. The players occupy opposite sides andthe men are set up so that each player sees
RBKQN from left to right on the bottom rank,with pawns on the next rank up and on thenearest bottom-rank cell round each side.
Pawns may move one cell in any direction, K
may move two cells initially. Object
checkmate. (Proprietor’s rules pamphlet)

Dragonchess [Gygax] (Gary Gygax, 1985).
The inventor of this fantasy-based version oforthochess is probably the best-known andbest creator of fantasy games. Board 12x8x3
chequered (a1 dark all levels). The three levels
and their respective (and appropriate) squarecolourings are, top to bottom: air (blue/white),land (green/amber), subterranean (red/brown).
The players are Gold and Scarlet and each has
42 pieces: 1 x Cleric, Dragon, Elemental,
King, Mage, Paladin; 2 x Basilisk, Griffon,
Hero, Oliphant, Thief, Unicorn; 6 x Dwarf,
Sylph; 12 x Warrior. Pieces are adapted from
Dungeons & Dragons, also a creation of Gary
Gygax. The detailed rules, with explanatory
diagrams, occupied six pages of the August
1985 issue of Dragon Magazine, but the game,
although elaborate, is quite playable. Cazaux
provides an alternative source. [Text revised]

Xyrixa Chess (David Samuel, c.1980). An
exotic three-dimensional game played onseven levels: A - 1x7; B - 2x6; C - 3x5; D 4x4; E - 5x3; F - 6x2; G - 7x1. Each player has
19 men: 1 x K, 2 x Q, R, B, 12 x P. These are
deployed initially, like facing like, on alllevels (for example, P and R face P and R onlevels A and G). Movement between levels isSpace Hexagonal Chess (John Stratford,
1985, revised 1992). Three hexagonal boards,
each of 91 hexes as in Glinski’s game, are set
one above the other and designatedBoards with three and more dimensions 233
Underground (bottom), Ground (middle) andSky (top). The pieces are also identical (1xK,Q, 2xR, N, 3xB, 9xP) but are given militarynames, respectively Government, Anti-aircraft
units, Bomber units, Tank units, Fighter units,
Infantry units. The array is on the bottom twolevels. A turn consists of three actions(moves); if all three cannot be completed, or
the Government falls, the game is lost. All
pieces can capture without moving, but onlytank units can move and then fire. Moves,including inter-level moves, are comparable tothose of orthochess. (Author’s rule booklet)
Time Warp Chess (Jacob Richman, 1997).
Time is treated as a third dimension, and men

other than kings and pawns may move
forwards or backwards in time as in any otherdimension (so a knight can move one step
forward on the board and two steps forward intime, or two and one, or whatever combination
it likes). The ‘step’ interval in time is one
move by each player, so a man which has
moved two steps forward in time reappears
after two moves by each player. The idea wassimplified by Robert McGonigal as Time
Travel Chess, in which a man may move
forward and backward in time instead ofmaking a normal move, and simplified further
as Future Chess in which only moves forward
in time are allowed. (Nost-algia 362) [Textedtorial]

25.9 Three-dimensional games with double moves
Total Chess (Charles Beatty, 1945). The only
variant to have been invented by a living saint,
as the inventor was described by the thriller
writer Dennis Wheatley, a description that sits
uncomfortably with Beatty’s reputation as a
big-game hunter. Board 8x8x4 (a1 black allboards); vertical sequence of four squares iscalled a tier. Usual men; three types of move:(1) Flat (same plane), (2) Tier (vertically up or
down), (3) Total (different level, differenttier). A pawn is held to project a shadow to allcells in its tier. No ﬂat or total move, exceptthat of a knight, may pass over a shadowed
cell, and a piece may only move to ashadowed cell in order to capture. If a pawn
moves into a tier occupied by a piece, thepawn’s shadow is neutralized until the piecemoves away or is captured by a pawn. A
piece, other than a knight, does not give checkif any cell in a tier between it and the opposing
king is occupied. No man may pass through an
occupied cell in a tier move. Moves: all men
behave as in orthochess on the same plane,
subject to the restriction of shadowed cells.
Space moves: K tier move one cell up or
down, total move to any cell on the next levelup or down adjacent to the tier in which the K
stands. Q, R, B, N total move up or down any
number of levels to a cell in the same tier as
one which may be occupied in a ﬂat move; in
addition, Q and R may make a tier move up or
down any number of levels. P tier move up
one level, or two levels initially (P cannot
capture in a tier move); total move up one

level, forward one cell (captures in either cell
immediately above those on which it could
capture with a ﬂat move). Promotion on eighthrank of any level; e.p. possible. It will be seenthat the game has two guiding principles: (1) aman may move to any vertical projection of its
orthochess move; (2) Each pawn is, in a sense,
simultaneously present at all levels. The
mobility of the pieces compared withorthochess is increased by a factor of about
four, which corresponds to the increase inboard size. In the array, the men occupy theirorthochess positions but on different boards.
Level A (bottom) queens and pawns; B
bishops; C knights; D (top) kings and rooks.
Total Chess received considerable publicity on
its launch but interest in the game soon
subsided. Dawson, who had earlier nailed hiscolours to the mast of Maack’s 5x5x5 variant,dismissed Total Chess as a geometricalcuriosity, likely to be relegated to oblivion. It
was however revived in the early 1990s to
exercise management trainees at British
Aerospace. Quadrivalent Total Chess, afour-handed version with nine men a side, wasdescribed in Beatty’s booklet Total Chess(May 1945) but was omitted in subsequent
editions. [Dawson was a problemist andtheorist rather than a player, and I think he did
the game an injustice. Its rules may seem
somewhat arbitrary, but like Schmittberger’s
game below it addresses the fundamental
problems of three-dimensional chess in a waythat many versions have failed to do.]234 Boards of other kinds
Three-Dimensional Hook-Move Chess (R.
Wayne Schmittberger, 1980s). The inventor
observes that proprietary 3D chess games aremostly marketed with bad rules that makemate difficult, if not impossible, ‘even when
you are three queens ahead’. He argues thatthe rules fail to take account of the differences
between plane and solid geometry. This game,
which might have benefitted from a lesscumbersome name, is designed to overcome
these problems. For example, it allows K+R to
mate a bare K as in orthochess. Board 8x8x3;
eight extra pawns a side; array (Aa1-h1/Ca8h8) RNBQKBNR as usual, (Aa2-h2/Ca7-h7)
8xP, (Ba1-h1/Ba8-h8) 8xP.
Pieces always move within a single plane,
either 8x8 or 8x3.

K as normal K, or vertically to next level.
R as orthochess R, or two R moves
perpendicular to each other on the same level,
or one in the vertical plane and one laterally.
B similar to R move but diagonally (cannotchange square colour).
Q as R+B.
N to any square two moves away, leaping if
necessary, or to any adjacent square.
P as orthochess P, but can also capture one
square ahead on next level up or down; cannot
otherwise change level. Pawns promote on end
rank (any level).
Schmittberger points out that the hookmover is an ancient piece found in some of thelarge shogis of medieval Japan. (New Rules
for Classic Games)

25.10 Games in more than three dimensions
Maack’s
Four-dimensional
Chess(Ferdinand Maack, 1926 or earlier). Maack
added an extra dimension to his game to createa board 4x4x4x4 which, whilst appealing to
problemists, failed to recruit players. (Chess
Amateur, December 1926)
Continuum Chess (Yes Laboratories,
Suffolk, 1964). Board 9x9x15 and each piece
occupies a point along a temporal axis 9
quanta long, giving 10,935 points of play. The
rules are calculated to baffle, thus: ‘A red kingon extra space positive or a white king on
extra space negative lines shall be deemed thewinner unless adjacent to a minus chessman’.
For the resolute there is an advanced versionof the game. There appears to be no evidence
that either version has been played. (Booklet
Continuum Chess, British Library X441/255)[Text revised]
Sphinx Chess (V. R. Parton, 1970). Practicalchess in the 4th dimension, played on nine 4x4
boards arranged in a 3x3 pattern. The boards
are lettered a-i (arranged abc/def/ghi
horizontally, thus adg/beh/cfi vertically) andthe squares on each board are numbered 1
from (top left) to 16 (bottom right). Squares
with the same number are known ascorresponding squares. Each side has the usualcomplement; 1 x K, Q; 2 x R,B; 8xP and two
Centauras (modified knights). All men moveas in chess within each 4x4 board, the centaura

as a knight, except that there is no pawn-two.
The
moves
of
the
piecesarestraightforward. A king can move to its
corresponding square on an adjacent board;thus Kh6 can move to defgi6 but not to abc6.
A rook a1 moves to any of bcdg1, a bishop a1
to ei1, a queen as a combination of the two. A
centaura moves as a queen between boards. A
pawn moves to the corresponding square of
the board directly ahead (e.g., e11-b11).
Capture is by displacement, thus pawn e11
captures on a11 or c11. Array: White Kh15,
Qh14, Rg14/i15, Bh13/h16, Cg15/i14,
Pe13/14/15/16, g13/16, i13/16; Black Kb3,
Qb2, Ra2/c3, Bb1/b4, Ca3/c2, Pa1/4, c1/4,
e1/2/3/4. White pawns promote on abc/1,2,3,4
and black pawns on ghi/13,14,15,16. Perpetual
check is a win. Parton also proposed a reduced
version on four 2x2 boards and a variant,Compulsion Sphinx Chess, in which capture
is obligatory and the king has no royal powers,
the object being to annihilate the opposition.
This is extended to Losing Sphinx Chess,using Compulsion rules. (Chessical Cubism)
Ecila (V. R. Parton, 1970). A mind-crushing
6-dimensional variant played (?) on a 2x2x2
array of 2x2x2 cubes. The mix of pieces isagreed before play. Basically, there are three
types of piece: that of the rook, the bishop(which together embrace the moves of kingand queen), and the unicorn, a cubic piece
moving through vertices. However, modified

Boards with three and more dimensions 235
pieces combining these powers are introduced,
for example Narwhal (R+U), Hippogriff (a 4dimensional beast), Wyvern (5-dimensional),
these last two having no movement within asingle cell. Pieces are placed on the board
alternately, kings first, with the sole limitationthat kings may not be placed in check. Was
Parton perhaps aware of John Jenkins’s
masque Cakeless, an obscure work in which
Alice Liddell is given the see-through name of
Ecila? Probably not. (Chessical Cubism)
Lewin’s Six-dimensional Chess (C. G.
Lewin, 1978). Ordinary 8x8 board (!) divided
into four 4x4 areas. A one-dimensional step
takes a man to an orthogonally adjacent squarein the same area (the top and bottom ranks
within an area are considered as adjacent, as
are the left and right files) or to the samesquare in an orthogonally adjacent area; an ndimensional step takes a man to a square
which can be reached in n one-dimensional
steps but not in fewer (the occupancy of theintervening squares is ignored). Each player
has 1 x King (has a 1-dimensional move), 4 x
Rook (ditto), 2 x Bishop (a 2-dimensionalmove), 1 x Unicorn (a 3-dimensional move) ina curiously unbalanced initial array. The gameis described as ‘still experimental’. (Ye Faerie
Chesseman) [Text revised][While working on this book, I tried applying
Lewin’s approach to Ecila, and found it
surprisingly effective. Consider an 8x8 board
divided into 2x2 regions as for Grid Chess.
The six one-dimensional moves from any
square can now be now represented by thetwo orthogonal one-step moves within the 2x2
region, the two orthogonal two-step leaps
within the same quarter of the board, and thetwo orthogonal four-step leaps. The matter canbe made clearer by rechequering the board sothat a one-dimensional move always takes theman to a square of different colour. In the sixdimensional board, all 64 cells are equivalent(there is no distinction between ‘corner’,‘edge’, and ‘central’ cells), but each cell has
an antipode which is six one-dimensional
moves away, and in the case of a cell
represented by a corner square on the 8x8
board the antipodean cell is at the far corner. It
is therefore natural to give the players a pair of

opposite corners as home bases, and to set theboard cornerwise between them. This gives

where the spots denote the home squares.
That has dealt with the geometry; what
about the chess? Assume K/R/B/Q as alreadydefined (Q = R+B, and we note that bishops
are restricted to squares of a particular colour).
K+R v K is hopeless (it takes K+3R tocheckmate a bare K). K+Q can checkmate abare K, but the mate cannot be forced.
However, if we allow a K on its home square adouble-step move, K+Q can force stalemate
against a bare K, so if we count stalemate as awin we have the germ of a playable game.
If K+Q v K is a win, we can look at K+P v
K. Give the pawn its natural properties(advance by a forward R move, capture by aforward B move, promote on the opponent’s
home square). K+P v K now turns out usually
to be won if the pawn can be defended, though
there are positions of reciprocal zugzwang
with the pawn two steps from promotion, andif the defending king can blockade the pawn
one step from promotion it always draws(because it has its two-step move and canforce or keep the enemy king away from thepawn). But it would seem that a one-pawn
advantage should normally be enough to win.
And a final twist: not only can K+Q force
stalemate against a lone K, but so can K+B if
the bishop runs on white squares (which it
will if it has arisen by promotion). So we canconsider doing without queens, which may be
a good idea since experiment suggests thatthey are inconveniently powerful.
An article on the subject is scheduled for
Variant Chess 54.]

Part 4
Regional and historical games[We now proceed to games which developed independently of modern chess: theshatranj tradition, the xiangqi tradition, the shogi tradition, and other games which hador still have a significant regional currency. These are of course not ‘variants’ oforthochess in the normal sense of the word; indeed, in the case of shatranj, it isorthochess itself which is the variant and shatranj which is the parent game. But chessplayers who are interested in variants of the normal game are naturally interested also
in the other forms that became established, and it is entirely appropriate that thesegames be covered here.
Most of the book so far has been personal and immediate: David possessed thegame, or had played it, or had a copy of its rules, or had communicated with its
inventor at no more than one or two removes. The present chapters are much morederivative, and there is little in them that cannot be found with more direct authority
elsewhere. However, David believed he had sources for Burmese Chess, and to someextent for Indian Chess, which gave information not previously in print in the West.
It will be appreciated that what appears here is a very selective account of animmensely complicated subject, and readers seeking further detail should refer tomore specialized works.]

Chapter 26
The Near East, Europe, Africa[Although India may have been the birthplace of chess as we know it, the Near East saw its
growth and development, and it is convenient to look first at the main historical thread leadingfrom the earliest known forms of chess to our own and then at the most prominent regionalvariants.]
26.1 The thread leading to modern chessChaturanga. The seminal Indian game,considered in greater detail in chapter 29.
No contemporary account appears to havesurvived, but as reported in Arabic sources it
seems to have been essentially the same as thelater Persian and Arabic game except in threerespects: (1) the elephants started in thecorners and jumped two squares orthogonally,(2) a player won by baring his opponent’s kingeven if his opponent could immediately returnthe compliment (a rule retained by the peopleof Hijaz and called by them the Medinese
Victory), and (3) stalemate was a win for theplayer stalemated. Al-Adli, as quoted by
Murray: ‘And this form is the form of chesswhich the Persians took from the Indians, andwhich we took from the Persians. The Persians
altered some of the rules...’ [Text editorial,
relying on page 57 of Murray. According to alater note in Murray (page 159), the Persians
used elephants on their chessboards eventhough it was not a native Persian animal, andit was the Persian word ‘pil’ which was
subsequently Arabicized as ‘fil’.]Chatrang, also known as Shatranj (and also
as the Small Chess to distinguish it from thevarious forms of Great Chess on larger boards,
though the use of this name in the present eraof minichess and microchess would surely
cause confusion). Persian and Arabic names
for the old form of chess, as played in theIslamic world for more than a millennium. It
was replaced in Europe by the medieval game.
The ﬁrzan (fers) and ﬁl (alfil), pieces peculiar
to the game, survive in several regional formsof chess. Board 8x8 uncoloured; set-up as fororthochess with firzan and fil in place of Q
and B, but see (7) below; only the rules differ.

(1) The Firzan moves one square at a time,
diagonally only; opposing ﬁrzans can nevermeet unless one of them is a promoted pawn.
(2) The Fil moves two squares diagonally,
leaping the intervening square. It has access to
only eight board squares. The ﬁls cannot
attack one another.
(3) Pawns move one square at a time andpromote only to ﬁrzan.
(4) No castling.
(5) A player in stalemate may transpose hisking with any other of his pieces so long as
this does not put the king in check. The
transposition counts as a move.
(6) Win by checkmate, delivering stalemate
or depriving opponent of all his men (‘bareking’); however, if a player whose king isbared can bare the opponent on the next move,the game is drawn.
(7) The K and firzan could be transposed in
the initial position, but if so, the arrangement
would be mandatory for both sides.
(8) Either player starts.
The game is slow and tends to be positional.
Much of the skill lies in attaining positions inwhich the firzan and fils are active. Strongsquares are those that can be controlled bothby ﬁrzan and ﬁl, weak squares those that can240 Regional and historical games
be covered by neither (there are eight of each).
A ﬁl is worth only about the same as a central
pawn, the ﬁl on the same colour as the ﬁrzan
being slightly the stronger of the two. Because
these pieces are weak, lessening the danger,
the king can often be used as a ﬁghting piece.
The ta’bia, or battle array, was the openingstage of a game in which the players
endeavoured to establish a favourable position
based on the pawn formation. Often there wasno collision of forces until 14 or 15 moves had
been played. Ta’bias, of which Murray has asplendid collection in A History of Chess, had
imaginative names like the Goat-peg and the
Slave’s Banner. The ta’bia illustrated below
was one of three ‘starting positions’ laid down
for a correspondence tournament organized by
Deutsches Wochenschach in 1914.

The ta’bia could be played out formally. The
players each made an agreed number of moves
independently of the opponent, the only rule
being that neither player could cross the centre
line. Murray (British Chess Magazine 1903)
gives a complete early game which, becauseof its swift conclusion, cannot have been
typical. A match between H. Jacobs and G. A.
(later Sir George) Thomas took place at theCity of London Chess Club in 1914 (TheTimes, London, 5 March 1914).
The endings differ widely from those inorthochess because a promoted pawn cannot
mate without assistance. Murray records many
theoretical endings and their outcome.
Checkmate was apparently rare between good
players, the lesser victory of bare king being amore likely outcome, and hence it was usualfor play to be directed towards this end. Even
with disparate forces, draws were common
due to the relative impotence of ﬁl and ﬁrzan.
The end position below, which is over a
thousand years old, reflects the high degree ofskill attained at the time. The famous Muslim
player as-Suli (10th century) boasted that ‘noone on earth has solved it unless he was taught
by me’, and this was to remain true until
Averbakh demonstrated the winning method
in a pamphlet The Secret of As-Souli written
for the Dubai Olympiad of 1986. Subsequent
analysis by computer slightly refined
Averbakh’s solution, but he rediscovered
everything that mattered.

To win by ‘bare king’, White must capture theblack firzan without immediately losing his
own. If he moves ﬁrst, victory is swift: 1 Ka2
Kd3 2 Fb4 Kc4 3 Fa3 and the Black kingcannot approach. With Black to move the play
is more subtle, and the longest line runs to 20
moves by each side. Black’s best defence is
1...Kd5, putting his king the same distance anddirection from the White firzan as the White
king is from the Black firzan. We callpositions with this property ‘balanced’, and if
White is to move they are good for Blackbecause White cannot home in on the Blackfirzan; Black will play exactly the same moves
to home in on the White firzan, creating a newbalanced position at each turn, and will
eventually be able to answer KxF with KxF.
To win from such a position, White must firstmove away from the Black firzan until one of
the far edges of the board prevents Black fromsetting up a new balanced position, after
which he may be able to come back and force
the win. Play therefore continues 2 Kb4! Kd6!
3 Kc4 Ke6 4 Kd4 Kf6 5 Kd5 Kf7 6 Ke5 Kg7
7 Ke6, and Averbakh played 7...Kg8 thinking
that Black would do best to keep presenting
White with a balanced position as long as
possible. He then played 8 Kf6, which iscertainly simplest although 8 Ke7 forces thewin one move sooner, and after 8...Kh8 hecontinued with the elegant line 9 Kg6 Kg8

The Near East, Europe, Africa 241
10 Fd2 Kf8 (10...Fb2 loses more quickly)
11 Fc1 Ke7 12-15 Kc2 Ka3 16 Kb1 and17 Kxa1. However, the computer has shownthat Black can hold out longer by playing
7...Kf8, and the sequel is even more
instructive.
White must get back to the bottom cornerwithout allowing Black to set up anotherbalanced position, and the simplest way tostart doing so is to move to a balanced position
himself: 8 Kd6. Black, presented with abalanced position, must move away from it,and play continues 8...Ke8 9 Kc6 Kd8 10 Kb6
Kc8. Now 11 Ka6? would allow 11...Kc7
12 Kb5 Kd7 once more attaining a balanced
position, but 11 Kc5! leaves Black nothing
better than 11...Kd7, and after 12 Kb5 Whiteis back on track. Play continues 12...Kc7
13 Kc4 Kd6 14 Kb4, and with 14...Ke5 Black
tries one last throw: White cannot play thebalancing move 15 Kc3 because his firzan is
occupying this square. However, he can play
15 Ka3 forcing 15...Kd5 (so as to meet 16 Ka2with 16...Kc4), and after 16 Kb3! we are backat the position after Black’s first move butwith Black to play. The rest is easy: 16...Kc5(nothing else is better) 17 Fd2 Kd4 18 Kc2 K~
19 Fc1 K~ 20 Kb1 and 21 Kxa1. It is one of
the most remarkable chess endings of all time,
and there is nothing remotely like it in modern
chess.
[Treatment of the as-Suli ending revised. It
will be noted that the ta’bia illustrated assumes
kings and firzans interchanged as allowed byrule (7). The game quoted by Murray in the
BCM was repeated as column 47 on pages
263-5 of A History of Chess.]
Medieval Chess. A generic term for the gameof shatranj, as played and subsequently
modified in Europe for over seven hundredyears until the introduction of the modern
game. There were many national and regional
differences introduced by reformers who
attempted to rectify flaws they perceived in
the old game, particularly as regards its slow
pace. One manuscript of the 13th century
gives the rules of 44 variants. It was during
this period that chequered boards and the
double-step of the pawn were introduced, andthe modern bishop first made its appearance(in Courier Chess, described later in thechapter).

Sets of rules called Assizes were drawn up
to regulate the game within a nation or region.
Murray identifies five: the Long Assize(effectively the ordinary medieval game), theShort Assize (pawns and pieces advanced
before the game proper begins in order tospeed up play), and the Spanish, Lombard, andGerman Assizes (sundry provisions relating tothe opening privilege leap allowed to certain
men, the two-step pawn move, and thetreatment of stalemate and bare king). The
details, together with some other regionalvariations, occupy him for more than a dozen
pages.
At the end of the period Lucena publishedrules which included e.p. and unrestrictedpromotion. The king on its first move, if never
having been checked, could jump to the thirdsquare in any direction (from e1, to c1, c2, c3,
d3, e3, f3, g3, g2, or g1), though not across asquare commanded by a hostile piece; anunmoved firzan could leap to the third squareorthogonally or diagonally, though not tocapture, and a newly promoted firzan could do
the same. ‘Bare king’ and stalemate wereconsidered victories, the former even if theloser could immediately bare his opponent’s
king, but they now ranked below checkmate.
However, none of these new rules wasuniversal.
Sadly, no record of a game has survived
from this period. [Text revised.]
New Chess. Term used here to describe thesuccessor to Medieval Chess from its origins
in the late 15th century until the codificationof the modern rules. Throughout this period,
national and regional rule differences
persisted. New Chess is characterized by theincreased powers of Q and B:
The Bishop black, in black must march,
And therein use his skill,
For in the white he may not come,No man to hurt or kill.
The other major change was the general
acceptance of the two-step initial advance ofthe pawn. Many of the features of Medieval
Chess, such as the leap of K or firzan (now Q),
were retained for a while. Castling as we know
it had widely replaced the king’s leap towards
the end of the 17th century. In Italy and242 Regional and historical games
certain other countries, though not in Franceor Britain, the manoeuvre afforded a choice ofmoves. For example, White when castling
K-side could choose between Kg1/Rf1,
Kg1/Re1, Kh1/Rf1 and Kh1/Re1 (or evenRd1). ‘There can be no doubt’, wrote J. H.
Sarratt in his Laws of Chess (1817), ‘of thesuperiority of this method of castling overours’. Sometimes castling was performed in
two moves. The rules of stalemate and pawn
promotion were also diverse. There is recordof stalemate being adjudged a draw in the 15th
century, but in the 17th we have Barbier (afterSaul) stating ‘Whosoever giveth a stale; which
is when the distressed king is uncheckt, canremove nowhere but in Checke, and hath no
man to stirre, looseth the game and his side’.
In the matter of promotion, practice varied
widely. Salvio (1570-1640) thought thatpawns should only be promoted to queens, but
a century later Lolli favoured promotion to
any piece previously lost. Saul concurred:‘Whereas the bringing up of a Pawne of yours
to your Adversaries first Ranke, in any of his
Noble Houses (squares), is the absolute
making of a Queene; yet ye shall make no
Queene of that Pawne unlesse your Queene
bee already lost; but you may there make itwhat piece you please, that already you havelost’. A common stricture was to limit a player
to one queen on the board at a time on the
grounds that two might seem to endorse
bigamy! Amongst less popular innovations
was one that a pawn could promote to a
Hydra, a piece with two successive moves of aknight; another that a pawn should promote to
Cadet and move to the first rank, there to wait
as a replacement for the next piece lost by theplayer. Well into the nineteenth century it was
not uncommon for both players to makeconsecutive moves at the start of a game.
Although voices for radical change persisted
throughout the period, there were few who
listened.
The position in the next column is given in
Alexandre’s Collection des plus beaux
problèmes d’échecs (1846) as a win, butaccording to Oskar Korschelt it first appearedin Salvio’s 1634 book Il Puttino as a position
from play with promotion permitted only toqueen and conclusion 1 c6+ Ka8 2 b7+ Kxa7
3 bxc8(Q) stalemate. Promotion to knight orbishop, had it been permitted, would havewon.

wdrdwdwd)kdwdwdww)wdwdwddK)wdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdw
Orthochess. Term used here to describe thegame whose laws are regulated by the
Féderation Internationale des Échecs (FIDE)
and embracing, more loosely, the same gamein all essentials as played universally for the
past 150 years.
[‘Orthochess’ is not of course a fixed game,and even since the publication of the firstedition of this book there has been a change tothe laws as promulgated by FIDE: it was
decided to ignore the ever longer endgame
wins being discovered by computer analysis,
and to allow a player to claim a ‘fifty-movedraw’ in over-the-board play irrespective ofwhether an eventual win could be forced withthe remaining material if play was allowed tocontinue. Furthermore, it would appear from
Chess Life (December 2006, page 31) that theUnited States Chess Federation considers itself
entitled to deviate from the FIDE laws indomestic events, at least in matters ofprocedure, so the era of local variations is not
yet over and probably never will be; in thewords of the commentator, ‘If FIDE makes abad rule, must we copy them?’ Be it also
noted that the laws now include provisions forregulating certain forms of rapid-play chess,so that as far as the lawmakers are concerned
these have now become mainstream forms ofthe game.]

The Near East, Europe, Africa 243
26.2 Other games played in the Near East
Byzantine Chess, also known as Circular
Chess, Round Chess, and Zatrikion. The
seminal circular-board variant, with a history
going back at least to the 10th century. Said tohave been popular in Byzantium and to havebeen played at Timur’s court, it was revived in
the late 18th century.
Theboard,
probablyunchequered
originally, has 64 cells arranged in fourconcentric rings of 16. The medieval game
had two forms, one of which was shown inchapter 23. The pieces and pawns behaved asin shatranj, the ﬁrzans were on the same
circuit and were therefore able to capture eachother, and usual shatranj rules (bare king,stalemate) obtained. Pawns did not promote;two pawns of the same colour confronting
each other were removed by the opponent.

[Quadrant diagram based on the description
given by Murray. There may be more
information in the British Library manuscript‘Cotton Lib., MS. Cleopatra, B. ix’, wherea diagram (I think non-quadrant) is on page‘f. 9’. Murray describes the accompanying textas ‘completely erased’ (page 343), but when
I examined the manuscript a few years ago
I found that this was misleading (or perhaps
the meaning of the word has changed); it is noterased, merely obliterated, and a fair amountremains visible. Sadly, ‘visible’ did notmean ‘intelligible’, at least not to me, but if
the page were to be X-rayed to bring out
what lies below the obliterating lines, and theresult treated by modern image-enhancement
techniques, I think somebody familiar with the
handwriting and languages of the period might
be able to recover something. Van der Linde
claimed to have read five words in Latin, but
Murray could not see them and neither could I,
and the rest of the manuscript is in what I taketo be 13th-century Anglo-French. If somebody
with the necessary linguistic knowledge were
to take up the matter, I think he would find the
Library authorities sympathetic.]
Talkhand’s Chess (Muslim legend relating tothe origin of chess). Board 10x10; the pieces
included, apparently, rooks, knights, alﬁls andfers in addition to the king and pawns. Texts
differ as to the names and moves. (Murray)
Camel Chess (Muslim, 8th century). Board
10x10; extra pieces are camels, placed in thearray in the board corners. Moves notrecorded. (Murray) [Name editorial]

In the second form, shown above, the centre
was divided into four quadrants, known as
citadels, and the pieces were arranged inreverse order with the kings and firzans on theoutside. If the king was able to reach aquadrant he could not be captured and thegame was declared drawn. Berloquin allows aking to gain sanctuary only in the opponent’s
quadrant, which would seem a sensible rulesince a king has little difﬁculty in reaching thenear citadel. The same source allows a pieceother than a king to seek sanctuary in a citadel,which appears less plausible. (Murray, also
Berloquin, Livre des Jeux)

The Complete Chess, also known as The
Full Chess, also as Arabic Chess (Muslim,
9th century according to Forbes). Board
10x10; extra pieces are Dabbabas (move as K
but have no royal powers), placed on eitherside of K and firzan. 10xP in normal position(Forbes), on 3rd and 8th ranks (Murray). Van
der Linde attempted to popularize the game in
the 19th century with modern Q and B moves.
Acedrex de las Diez Casas (Alfonso MS,
1283, but probably of 8th century Muslim
origin). Board 10x10; the additional pieces are244 Regional and historical games
two Judges (and two pawns). The move of thejudge is not recorded and the only slight clueis that, in the dice version of the game (the dieused having seven faces), the judge comes
between the knight and the fil. (Murray)Grande Acedrex (Alfonso MS, 1283). Origin
attributed to India but Faidutti points out in En
Marge du Jeu d’Echecs that the gryphon (seebelow) belongs to Arab, not Indian
mythology. Board 12x12; pieces Lion (leaps
to third square orthogonally), Unicorn (moves
first as N but does not capture, then as modernB), Aanca (=gryphon, ‘a bird so big it can lift
elephants’, one step diagonally then any
number orthogonally), Giraffe (4-1 leaper),
Crocodile (modern B), K and R normal but K
may move (leap) two squares in any direction
on its first turn. Pawns one-step only,
promoted to file piece (to Gryphon on f-ﬁle).
Array (a1-l1/a12-l12) RLUGCKACGULR;
12xP 4th/9th ranks.
[The first edition included a second 12x12
game with unicorns attibuted to the AlfonsoMS, but I have not seen a reference to thisin any description of the manuscript, nor can
I find a source reference in David’s files.
I therefore suspect that its inclusion was anerror, but I record it in case information shouldcome to light elsewhere. Board 12x12; extra
pieces are 2 x Unicorn (B+N), 1 x Counsellor(K+N), 1 x Fool (K); baseline (a1-l1/a12-l12)
RNUBFQKCBUNR. It is not clear whether Q
and B have their old or their modern moves.]
Citadel Chess (14th Century?). Board 10x10
with four extra projecting squares, called
citadel squares, orthogonally or diagonallyadjacent to the four corner squares (the precise
siting of the extra squares differs withdifferent authorities). The citadels weresanctuaries for the kings. If a king reached an
opponent’s citadel, the game was drawn. Each
player had two dabbabas, moving like themodern bishop, placed on either side of K andfirzan, with corresponding pawns. Kings on
e1/e10 but Murray quotes alternative
arrangements for both kings and dabbabas.
Another version (van der Linde) has two
citadels on a 10x9 board, adjoining a8/j2. In
an article on the Seljuks in the Journal of theRoyal Asiatic Society (1902), the board is
12x12 with the citadels in the four corners andthe wing ﬁles vacant in the array. The extra
pieces are described as lions and are placedoutside the rooks. [Games of this kind werealso recorded elsewhere, and this entry mightalternatively have been put under ‘India’ or‘Central Asia’. I have placed it here because
van der Linde explicitly captions his board‘Persisches Citadellenschach’.]Persian Chess [Chatrang]. Chatrang as
described above, the game as played in Persia
for around a thousand years.
Oblong Chess, also known as Persian Chess[Oblong board]. Origins 9th century or
earlier. Played in Persia and a number ofMuslim countries; mentioned by al-Masudi. A‘perversion’ according to Forbes. Board 4x16,
pieces as in shatranj. The set-up appears tohave varied considerably: Murray lists sevenexamples from different sources. Pawns could
move two squares initially but only one inthose arrays in which they were placed wellforward. Promotion, if it existed, was probably
to firzan, but any such rule seems academic.
Persian Chess [Camels]. Described in the
Shahnamah (c. 1000 AD). Board 10x10; thetwo extra pieces are Camels which move tothe second square orthogonally, leaping theintervening square. In the array they standbetween the knights and elephants. (Murray)[In my opinion, this is the game referred toas ‘Attama’ in the first edition, David having
being misled by an incorrect statement of thecamel’s move in a secondary source. I havetherefore removed the separate reference tothat game. See Murray, page 341.]
Persian Chess [Vizier]. Described by L.
Tressau (1840). The Q is replaced by a Vizier.
The game must be opened by e3 with the V
moving to the same square (i.e., a knight’smove), after which the V moves as the fers,
one square diagonally. Bishops are also thoseof the old game, moving two squares
diagonally, leaping the intervening squareunless occupied by a K, when the move isillegal. Pawns one square only, promoting to
V provided the player has no other V on theboard. A curiosity is that the promoted P stays
on the board, sharing the V’s square. No
castling. (Verney)

The Near East, Europe, Africa 245
Persian Chess [K-leap]. A mid-19th century
game (Chess Player’s Chronicle 1846)
permits the king to leap once as a knight,
provided it has not been checked, and also tocastle (0-0 only), the rook moving directly to
d1/d8. No two-square pawn move; Queens
stand on right of Kings in the array; a player
may only have one Q at a time; bare kingloses.
Syrian Chess (c.1850). At the start of a game,each player makes a series of moves (butnever with the same man twice) independentof the other. Pawns move one square only,
promotion is to piece previously lost. Castling
was usually performed in two moves. In thearray, queens stood on left of kings. (Vincenz
Grimm, quoted by Murray)
Turkish Chess. In the last three-quartercentury of Ottoman rule, and possibly forcenturies before, orthochess was subject tolocal rules. Two rules seem to have been
general: K was placed on the right of the Q in

the array, and pawns moved one square at atime. Falkener (1845) contended that the K
could move once as a N (Murray quotes an
Egyptian source of 1892 confirming this) andthere was also some freedom in castling.
Grimm (1851) said that castling was
performed in two or three moves. Moreremarkably, at the start of the game the players
rapidly redeployed their forces without regard
to alternate turns, except that neither player
could move a man more than once. These lastmodifications were endorsed by a contributor
to the Chicago Times (1893), who added thata1 could be black or white (British Chess
Magazine, January 1894).
Turkish Great Chess (originator unknown,
1806). Board 13x13, corner squares white(Chess Eccentricities); extra pieces are a Great
Ferz (one step diagonally then threeorthogonally, cannot leap), 2 x Rhino (B+N),
2 x Gazelle (3-1 leaper). Array (a1-m1/
a13-m13) RNBRhGaGfKQGaRhBNR; 13xP
on 4th/10th ranks. (Murray) [Text revised]26.3 Other games played in Europe
Courier Chess. Origins unknown. Probably
12th century; no record outside Germany
although Selenus mentions it was played inneighbouring countries. The game survived
until the start of the 19th century in the chessplaying village of Ströbeck, near Halberstadt.
The first recorded great chess of European
origin; possibly the game depicted in van
Leyden’s painting The Chessplayers (c.1510).
Board 12x8; a1 white according to Selenus(Schach oder Königspiel 1616, the primarysource on the game) but it seems likely thatorientation was random. Extra pieces were two
Curriers (couriers), one Man (counsellor) and
one Schleich (spy, sneak, fool) plus fourpawns; hence 24 men a side. Array (a1-l1/
a8-l8) RNACMKFSCANR (A = fil or alfil).
The Courier (believed then to be the strongest
piece) moved as modern B, the Counsellor as
K but without royal powers, the Spy one
square orthogonally. No P-two or castling.
Promotion unresolved - possibly to firzan but
with move restrictions. There was acompulsory four-move start to the game:
White a4, g4, l4, Fg3 (all privilege moves, nototherwise allowed in play), Black a5, g5, l5,

Fg6. (Verney, quoting Tressau, does not allow
the central pawn advance, nor does he allow apawn to capture until it has moved.)
An attempt was made to popularize thegame in Germany by Albers (1821) who
proposed several changes: (1) F = modern Q;(2) P = modern P (pawn-2, e.p.); (3) A = 1 or
2 squares (can leap ﬁrst square); (4) Spymoves as K but without royal powers; (5)Counsellor moves as K or N; (6) P reaching
8th rank must stay there two turns before
moving as promoted piece; (7) Castling
permitted - K to square of A, R to square of C.
Castling forbidden if any square between R
and K attacked by enemy man. Courier-Spieland Modern Courier Chess (see chapter 15)
are further attempts to update the game.
Gala, also known as The Farmers’ Game,
Peasants’ Chess, The Peasants’ Game.
Origins unknown, possibly medieval. A
curious game, conﬁned until recently to thearea of Dithmarschen in Schleswig-Holstein,
but now extinct. According to Bell, a few sets
still exist in remote farmhouses. Board 10x10
with each 4x4 corner area surrounded by a line246 Regional and historical games
called a ‘deﬂection line’. Each player has 20
men: 2 Galas (kings), 5 Kornas (rooks), 5
Horsas (bishops), 8 Kampas (pawns). Array :k4b0wdp4bi
4b0wdwdp4bb0wdwdwdp4
0wdwdwdwdp
wdwdwdwdwd
dwdwdwdwdw
Pdwdwdwdw)$Pdwdwdw)B
B$Pdwdw)B$
IB$Pdw)B$K
Kings move normally except that occupationof any of the four central squares permits aking on a subsequent turn to move directly to avacant square, though not to one of those
occupied at the start of the game. Rooks andbishops move normally until they meet adeﬂection line, when they reverse roles. Theyrevert to normal when again crossing adeﬂection line. Capture is by displacement,
but a bishop cannot capture a man adjacent to
it if a deﬂection line divides them. Pawn
moves only diagonally forward until across adeﬂection line. If it returns to its starting line it
is obliged again to move diagonally forward.
The object is to capture both the opponent’s
kings. Check is announced by ‘Gala’. A matedking is removed from the board at the next
turn. (Bell, The Board Game Book andDiscovering Old Board Games, Faidutti,
Koch, Spiele für Zwei, Alfeld, Brettspiele)[Research continues and Peter Michaelsen
tells me that David’s sources have not had thelast word, but I have not updated the text.]
Korkser Chess. Derisory term for chessplayed to unorthodox rules, usually throughignorance. Specifically, a variety of Germanchess still practised in the 1870s: (1) pawntwo a matter for agreement, (2) promotion
only to piece already lost, (3) a king cannot
castle if it has been checked, (4) a player
giving stalemate loses, (5) an attack on thequeen is ineffective unless ‘Gardez la reine’has been said, (6) it is ‘almost a law’ that thegame must be begun with two simultaneous
moves. (Murray) [Text revised]

Icelandic Chess. Murray declares that ‘themost extraordinary alterations in rule were
those which were made by the Icelandic
players’. He gives a long list of these, most ofwhich appear to have been local. The win bybare king was widely accepted; also the king
was allowed to move once as a knight.
Promotion only to a lost piece or, in someparts, to the ﬁle piece. Remarkable were thedifferent categories of mate and the rule, now
long obsolete, that a player delivering mate
could give further mates on successive moves
provided the position changed each time.
A total of nine was claimed as the maximum
possible (E. Olafsson) but this would appear to
be a considerable under-estimate unless what
was meant was the legal limit. Fiske’s Chessin Iceland sheds little light on the play.
Russian Chess. Term sometimes used todescribe the old Russian game in which thequeen had the additional powers of the knight.
In the 19th century it was common practice inRussia to allow the players to make two(sometimes more) moves each at the start of agame provided no move crossed the centre
line. Some Russians were still playing the oldchess (queen moves one square diagonally) as
late as the end of the 19th century. (Murray)
Welschen-Schach (loosely, ‘Foreign Chess’).
The
reformed
medieval
gamewithpeculiarities similar to those found in the old
Indian, Malay and Soyot games (Murray).
Welschen-Schach was confined to Germany
and is associated with Ströbeck (see Courier
Chess above). Pieces move as in orthochessbut pawns one square only except in the initial‘privilege moves’ which are mandatory forboth sides: the a, d, and h-pawns are advanced
two squares and the Q is moved two squares
forward. Even stranger are the promotion
rules. A pawn on reaching the end rank mustthen move backwards, two squares at a time(called ‘joy-leaps’), to the second rank, where
it is promoted. Joy-leaps require theintervening squares to be unoccupied and forthis reason getting a pawn safely to the 8th by
no means guarantees promotion. No castling.
The English master Lewis, visiting Ströbeck
early in the 19th century, played WelschenSchach with the locals whom he found,
contrary to earlier reports, weak players.

The Near East, Europe, Africa 247
26.4 Africa
Ethiopian Chess, also known as Senterej.
About 500 years old. A game of the nobility,
still widely played at the time of the Italianinvasion (mid-1930’s) but now extinct
according to Richard Pankhurst. Ethiopian
chess is essentially the medieval game butwith the addition of a preliminary phaseknown as ‘marshalling’. Board unchequered;usual men as in the medieval game: Negus(king), Fers, Der (rooks), Saba (alfils),
Feresenya (knights), Medeq (pawns). Moves
as in the medieval game. King on right of fers.
Pawn promotes to fers but only on prior lossof that piece (Dictionnaire de la Langue
Amarinna, 1881) but Ras Imru (1950) states
no restriction on promotion to fers, and also
allows promotion to any piece previously
captured. No castling. A player should ideallyleave his opponent with two major pieces. If
reduced to one, the opponent has only to movethat piece 7 times (10 times according to Ras
Imru) to claim a draw. Scale of merit forcheckmate ranging from the least honourable(by rook or knight) to the most laudable(pawn). Henry Salt observed of the Tigrans(1809) ‘When they have the occasion to takeany one of their adversary’s pieces, they strike
it with great force and eagerness from its
place’, a practice not unknown elsewhere.
In the curious marshalling stage, players
may move as often as they like and out of turn,the game proper starting only when a piece iscaptured (Pankhurst), but according to
Plowden, a 19th century British consul quoted
by Murray, only when a pawn is captured.
Castling is permitted in this stage about which
Plowden says ‘... in this consists one of theexcellencies of a good player, as it frequently
decides the fate of the game’, adding that‘confusion appears great to a stranger’.
(Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 1971, andBritish Chess Magazine, July 1985)
Madagascan Chess, also known as
Samantsy. Known apparently only amongst
the Tanala of the Ikongo, a forest people.
Probably introduced by the Arabs with whomthe Ikongo had links. Ardant du Picq (Bulletinde l'Academie Malagache, 1912) gives thepiecesas
Hova(king),
Anankova(prince=firzan), 2 x Vorona (bird=R), 2 x
Basy (gun=alfil), 2 x Farasy (horse=N), 8 x
Zaza (child=P). The positions of the kings andfirzan are reversed in the array. The pieces
move as in the medieval game; pawns promote
to file piece. The article in the British Chess
Magazine (May 1915) is a translation of duPicq. James Tattersfield (Chess, February1938) has different piece names: Mpanjaka(chief=K)
Foza(crab=R),
Vahoaka(people=Ps) and, more importantly, different
moves. Thus the knight moves two squares inany direction and the ‘bishop’ moves as a rook
but leaps the first square of its move.
However, his observations are suspect since hesays that the powers of the king and queen are
reversed whilst quoting the normal array. R.
Decary (Mœurs et Coutumes des Malagaches,1951) gives du Picq’s description and adds
that the game ‘est exactement le jeu d‘échecs’
but he adds that the pieces are ‘à très peu dechoses près identiqués à celle des échecs’.
Algiers Chess. A leading article (La Stratégie,October 1902) reported that a small group,
including a sheik, met regularly in Algiers toplay a version of the old (medieval) game.
Members were said to be keen, with others
waiting to play. Unchequered board, pawns
move one square and promote to lost piece
only, king has right to knight’s move once in agame if not checked, no castling, stalemate
loss for player unable to move. Kings facequeens in starting position. No mention of
moves of Q or B.
Sudanese Chess. R. J. Darvall notes in Fairy
Chess Review (October 1945) that in the
Sudan two pawns may each be moved one
square on the opening turn only, and that the band g pawns are commonly so advanced byboth sides.
According to Murray, there is no evidence ofindigenous versions of chess in Western,
Equatorial, or Southern Africa.

Chapter 27
China, Korea, Vietnam[This chapter covers the second of the three major chess traditions, that of Xiangqi and its
relatives. The most important difference between these games and our own chess lies in thepresence of the cannon.]
27.1 Xiangqi
Xiangqi, also known as Chinese Chess andsometimes called the Elephant Game, hasbeen claimed as the world’s most popularboard game, with 200 million players
according to one estimate. Origins uncertain;
the first firm reference is in the 8th century,
the array and rules of the modern game having
evolved in the 12th century or shortly after.
That xiangqi and orthochess have a common
ancestor can hardly be doubted, similarities
between the two games being many andremarkable. Although only one piece, thechariot, moves exactly like an orthochesspiece, all men except the cannon have close
parallels in orthochess or its ancestors.
Xiangqi is played everywhere in China and in
Chinese communities around the world. Major
events in China attract thousands of spectatorsand get generous media coverage. Despite its
long history, it is only in the last few decadesthat the game has been organized nationallywithin China, and only in recent years on aninternational scale. There is now a World
Xiangqi Federation, which organizes a WorldChampionship, also an Asian Xiangqi
Federation as well as a number of nationalorganizations in the U.K., the U.S., andelsewhere. A European Championship has
been held for a number of years. Sets can beobtained at a range of prices from Chinese
emporiums: wood or plastic sets with paperboards are remarkably cheap. Xiangqi
computers and software are also available.
The game has a large literature. The firstrecords of play and the first books date from
the Ming dynasty, one of the best-known andearliest works being Secrets inside the Orange(1632). Modern introductory books in English
are freely available, and more advanced works
by leading Chinese writers are gradually beingtranslated. It is therefore open to Westernchess enthusiasts not just to try the game, but
to develop a reasonable level of proficiency.
Board 9x10 (play is on the intersection
points), divided by a river and with a 3x3‘palace’, marked by diagonal lines, at either
end. The reason for the river is not known, butrivers are China’s arteries and have commonly
divided warring factions. Each player has 16
pieces, arrayed as shown below, which havehistorically enjoyed a variety of names: 1 x
General or Governor (K), 2 x Chariot (R),
Horse (H), Elephant or Minister (E), Guard,Counsellor or Mandarin (G), Cannon, Catapult
or Ballista (C), 5 x Soldier (S).

Interpretation: RHEGKGEHR on ranks 1/10,
cannons on ranks 3/8, soldiers on ranks 4/7.
Xiangqi pieces are normally circular discs
with the ideogram for each piece embossed on
one side in the appropriate colour (usually red
or black, but other combinations of primarycolours, such as red and blue or red and green,
are by no means uncommon). The ideograms

China, Korea, Vietnam 249
for the chariots, cannons and horses are
identical, or nearly so, for both sides, theremaining pieces being distinguished byideogram as well as by colour.
The pieces move as follows.
General moves orthogonally, one point at atime, and is conﬁned to the nine stations of thepalace. Opposing generals cannot confront
each other: if the two occupy the same file,
there must be at least one man of either colour
between them. The rules governing check andcheckmate are the same as those oforthochess.
Guard moves one point diagonally in any
direction but may not leave the palace, so thetwo guards are confined to just ﬁve points.
They can defend each other.
Chariot moves exactly like a rook.
Horse moves as the orthochess knight
except that the move is conducted in two
steps, one step orthogonally and then one
diagonally, and the intermediate point must be
vacant.
Elephant moves two points diagonally inany direction but only if the intervening point
is vacant. Elephants may not cross the riverand so are conﬁned to a total of eight points.
Like guards, elephants can defend each other.
Cannon moves as a rook, but has a uniqueform of capture. Moving orthogonally overany number of vacant points, it must leap one
man of either colour (the ‘screen’) to capture
the first man on the same line anywhere
beyond it. The cannon checks in the samemanner as it captures.

Soldier moves or captures straight forward,
one point at a time. When across the river itstill moves one point at a time but may now
move horizontally in either direction as well as
forward. It does not promote, and on reaching
the last rank it can only move laterally.
Capture is by displacement, as inorthochess. Except for those men whose
movement is restricted, any man can cross theriver and enter either palace. Stalemate is a
win for the player giving it. Perpetual check is
not permitted: the first player must vary. Thereappears to be as yet no universal rule
governing repetition of moves.
Xiangqi has been sold in the West under anumber of proprietary names such asCommander, Elephant Chess, Neo-Panzer, etc.
A game marketed in 1982 as Chinese Chess(Peter Pan Playthings) had nothing to do withxiangqi.
[Text slightly revised. David believed that
xiangqi deserved more attention from Westernchess enthusiasts than it had received, and in
the first edition he devoted a further ten pages
to what amounted to a basic introductorytreatise on the game. However, the ground it
could cover was inevitably limited, and good
introductory material in English is now much
more readily available than it was even in
1994. I have therefore decided not to repeat
this, and instead to encourage readers to seekout full-length specialist books which can treat
the subject in a way that not even the mostgenerous encyclopedia can afford the space todo.]27.2 Indigenous and regional variants
Indigenous variants. The earliest known
version of xiangqi was on a board of 11x11
points, the array for which was reconstructedby Karl Himlay from archaeological ﬁndings.
The deployment is similar to the modern game
except that the cannons are on the ﬁrst rank
and there is only one guard (baseline RHECG-CEHR), the general is in the centre of thepalace (point f2 for Red), and the soldiers are
increased to six (a4/c4/.../k4 for Red). The
horse moved three squares diagonally, thechariots could only advance, and soldiers
could move sideways as well as straightforward. The game is believed to have been
played during the Tang and Sung dynasties.

Leventhal’s quotation from Confucius(c.550-478 B.C.) that ‘Chess playing is still
better than doing nothing’ (Chess of China),
intimating that xiangqi in some form existed
a millennium and a half earlier, strains
credibility: ‘Game playing’ is probably a moreaccurate translation.
Around the 11th century, reference is madeto a game on a 19x19 (weiqi?) board with 98
pieces (Dickins, A Short History of Fairy
Chess). Other versions of xiangqi on large
boards are known. One, played on a board of
11x10 points divided by a river, had thecannons between the chariots and horses andthe soldiers increased to six (baseline

250 Regional and historical games
RCHEG-GEHCR but otherwise as in the
11x11 version above), whilst another, played
unusually on the squares of an 11x11 board
and dating from the 18th century, had thecannons in the corners and apparently
without the customary palaces (baseline
CRHEGKGEHRC, soldiers on b4/d4/.../j4).
An advocate of the big-is-beautiful school
once recommended that ‘You may with little
labour greatly augment the Chinese Chess ...
By enlarging the board a little you make 18
houses more upon the banks of the river ...
there will be 108 houses. Nine men on yourfirst line, 6 on your second, 6 on your third
and 9 soldiers on the fourth ... it will be aneasy matter to invent peculiar names andmoves for the additional pieces’.
A modern variant, strictly for gambling, and‘perhaps almost as popular as the actual game’according to Sloan in Chinese Chess for
Beginners, is for the players to turn over theusual xiangqi pieces, shuffle them, and thenplace them at random on the array points. As
the game progresses the pieces are revealed
one by one. Predictably there is too a ‘footballchess’ (6-a-side) played on the xiangqi board.
Korean Chess, also known as Changgi.
Derived from xiangqi or sharing a common
source, Korean Chess has features which link
it to an early version of the Chinese game. It islittle known outside Korea and there is very
little literature, yet in 2005 it claimed 176
professional players. The first known changgi
association was formed in Korea in 1956,
since when players have been gradedaccording to the dan system of weiqi (go); 14
players listed in 2005 were graded 9-dan.
The board as for xiangqi, but there is noriver and it is wider in relation to its length sothat the intersections on which the game isplayed form rectangles rather than squares.
The pieces, usually green or blue and red, arethe same as those of xiangqi but are octagonalin shape and are in three sizes: (large) K;(medium) R, C, H, E; (small) G, S. There are
signiﬁcant differences in both the movementsof the pieces and the rules of play compared tothose of xiangqi, but the game can perfectly
well be played with a xiangqi board and men.
Array as for xiangqi except that the kings areon e2/e9 and that players are at liberty, before
moving, to interchange the positions of their H

and E on one or both sides of the board (someplayers only allow one interchange). However,a player may not have EE on one side and HH
on the other. In North Korea, the initial
positions of the R and E are sometimes
reversed. According to Culin, it is usuallyadvisable for the second player to copy thedisposition chosen by the first player.
The pieces move as follows.
General moves one point in any direction
along any marked line of the palace, to which
he is confined.
Guard moves like the general and is also
confined to the palace.
Chariot moves as in xiangqi, but withineither palace it may also move diagonally one
or two points along a marked line.
Horse as in xiangqi.
Elephant moves one point orthogonally thentwo points diagonally in the same general
direction, i.e., to the opposite corner of a 2x3
grid, but the intervening points must be
vacant.
Cannon generally like the xiangqi cannon,
but must leap another man (the screen) tomove as well as to capture. Within either
palace a cannon can leap diagonally from one
corner to the opposite corner provided thecentral point is occupied. However, a C cannever leap another C nor capture one so, forexample, it is possible to escape a cannon
check by capturing the opponent’s screen witha cannon.
Soldier moves and captures one point
straight ahead or sideways. If within theenemy palace, it can also move one point
diagonally (but forward only) along themarked lines. No promotion.
A player may pass his turn, hence nostalemate or zugzwang. The rule concerning
facing generals is ill-defined. In theory, theplayer who in piece terms is materially weaker
may face generals, directly or as the result of acapture, forcing the second player to avoid theconfrontation or accept a draw. Perpetual
check and repeated moves are permitted in
Korean Chess but many players prefer tofollow the xiangqi rules.
Because of the ease with which they cansimultaneously block a ﬁle and acquire mutual
protection, the soldiers have a bigger role thanin xiangqi. By contrast, the cannon is weaker.
Elephants can be easily blocked and are not as

China, Korea, Vietnam 251
formidable as they might appear. Since thecannons cannot move in the initial position,
the game is normally opened with a horse or
soldier move, one object being to get thecannons active quickly. Blue or Green starts.
(Culin, Korean Games) [Text slightly revised]
Vietnamese Chess, also known as Co-Tuong(literally ‘Game of the Generals’). A Chinese
import in most respects identical to xiangqi.
Indigenous literature apart, there is a detailed
discourse on the game and its background by
Léon Slobodchikoff in the Bulletin de laSociété des Etudes Indochinoises (Volume 28,
number 4, 1953). The game is very popularand living chess displays used to be common
during the seasonal festivals. One game,watched by ‘an immense crowd’, had a herald
trumpeting the moves with two other heralds
conducting the pieces to their positions. The
Royal Executioner of Cochin China, armed
with a sabre, expelled captured men(peacefully, one hopes) from the board(Illustrated London News, May 1865). At
another well-attended gathering (reported in
the National Geographic Magazine, October1935) the pieces are represented by girls

sitting on stools holding aloft plaques
indicating their rank, whilst the intersections
are created by bamboo poles laid on the
ground. The caption-writer regrettably
identiﬁed the game as checkers.
There appear to be at least three variants. In
one, the board is 10x10; 1 x General,
Councillor; 2 x Cannon, Chariot, Elephant,
Horse, 6 x Pawn; array (a1-j1/a10-j10)
ChHECaGCoCaEHCh, (c3-h3/c8-h8) 6xP.
The object is to mate the opponent’s Generalor to move a pawn to the 8th rank where it
cannot be taken at once. Cannon moves as
orthochess. Chariot moves as orthochess R but
leaps to vacant square immediately beyond to
capture. Horse moves as in xiangqi. Elephant
is a 3-1 leaper. Councillor moves and captures
3 squares orthogonally or 2 squares
diagonally, leaping intervening men if
necessary. P moves and captures one squarediagonally forward. An unmoved P can move
2 squares straight forward. General moves one
square diagonally followed by anotherorthogonally. A General can check his rival.
General and pawns must stay within files c-h.
No castling, e.p. or pawn promotion.
(Information from Lev Kisliuk)

27.3 Modern non-indigenous variants
Imperial Dragon Chess (Paul Fredrix, 1973).
An attempt to boost xiangqi for western
players. Rules are as for the classic game
except as modiﬁed below.
(1) The horse moves as a western knight.
(2) The elephant may take one or two steps
diagonally, to move or to capture. It still may
not cross the river.
(3) A soldier on reaching the last rank is
promoted to Dragon Elephant. The DE moves
one point in any direction or two points
diagonally, leaping an intervening man if
necessary. A DE may cross the river.
(4) A player without pawns may move one
or both elephants across the river, when they
promote to DEs.

Endorsed by John McCallion, Games editor ofGames magazine. (Nost-algia 349)
Minixiangqi (S. Kusumoto, 1974) Board 7x7;
moves as in xiangqi, but no guards orelephants; array (a1-g1 and forwards)
RCNKNCR, S-SSS-S. (Eteroscacco 86-88)
Eurasian Chess (Fergus Duniho, 2003).
Board 10x10 crossed by a river. Each player
has 1 x K, Q, 2 x R, B, N, 10 x P (all as inorthochess), 2 x Cannon (as in xiangqi), 2 x
Vao (as cannon but diagonally). Kings may
not cross river, nor face each other along an
empty vertical or diagonal line; promotion
only to captured pieces. (Chess Variant Pages)

Chapter 28
Japan[The third major chess tradition is that of the Japanese game Shogi, whose salient feature is that
captured men become the property of their captors.]
28.1 Shogi
Shogi, also known as Japanese Chess. The‘game of the generals’ probably arrived inJapan via Korea or Thailand sometime
between the 10th and 12th centuries or
possibly earlier. Although its early form is
obscure, one piece of the modern game (thelance) is identical to the primitive Chinese
piece (see the previous chapter), though shogi
is remarkable not for its similarities to otherchess games but for its differences. In
particular, it is the only game in which
captured pieces change sides, a 16th century
innovation inspired, it is suggested, by thepractice of captured mercenaries switching
loyalties (in preference to an unpleasantalternative) during the internecine wars thatbeset Japan during that period.
The game has been little played in the Westalthough a number of shogi clubs andassociations have been formed in U.K.,
Europe and America. A visit by Japanese
shogi players to the Philadelphia Chess Clubwas reported in 1860 (Illustrated London
News) and a few years later The Chess World,
reprinting an article from the Philadelphian
Daily Bulletin, recounted how, ‘on being
introduced to the (Japanese) Embassy, welearned that the game (shogi) was exclusively
confined to the middle and lower ranks, astriking illustration of the semi-barbarism ofthese islanders...’ (The arrogance is partly
explained, if not excused, by the fact that
Commodore Perry had sailed into Yedo Bay
only 13 years previously, opening Japan to theworld after 250 years of isolation.) The article
went on to observe that ‘...two Japanesesoldiers played the first game of Japanesechess ever played in a Christian land...’. In theopinion of Alekhine, who passed throughTokyo in 1933, ‘Japanese Chess cedes nothing
in depth or beauty to the European game ... itis at least as interesting’. Shogi flourishedduring the Tokugawa shogunate, lapsed brieﬂy
after the Meiji restoration (1868) but is now
Japan’s most popular game with estimates ofbetween 10 and 20 million who are familiar
with the rules, of whom perhaps a million are
players. The Nihon Shogi Renmei (Japan
Shogi Federation), formed in 1924, regulates
the game. A grading system, similar to that of
weiqi (go), groups amateurs and professionals
separately. Amateurs start at 15-kyu and work
up to 1-kyu then to 1-dan (shodan) andupwards to 7-dan, the top grade; professionals
start at about 6 kyu (roughly equivalent toamateur 3-dan) up to 9-dan. Major events, ofwhich the Meijin title is the most prestigious,
are lavishly funded and get wide press
coverage. There is an extensive literature. The
first international shogi tournament took placein June, 1999. It was won by Hayashi
Takahiro of Japan. Players from 27 countries
competed.
Shogi is a battle between two armies on an
uncoloured board of 9x9 ‘squares’ (actually
rectangular cells). Four of the gridintersections are emphasised to denote therespective camps and promotion zones. The
marks are so sited as to divide the board into
3x3 regions. The board is placed lengthwise
between the players. The pieces, of which
there are 20 a side, are wedge-shaped, thicker
at the base than at the head, and vary in size
according to their importance. On one face isprinted the black character representing thepiece, and on the reverse face, whereappropriate, the character (sometimes printed
in red) for the same piece when promoted. On
promotion a piece is turned over to show its
new rank. The men are uncoloured and are
identical for both sides, arbitrarily named

Japan 253
Black and White. The allegiance of a man isshown by the direction in which it is facing.
Each army is made up of 1 x King, Rook,
Bishop, 2 x Gold General (commonly
abbreviated to Gold), Silver General (Silver),
Knight, Lance, 9 x Pawn.

Interpretation: LNSGKGSNL on ranks 1/9,
BR on ranks 2/8 (each player’s bishop on hisleft), 9xS on ranks 3/7.
The pieces move as follows.
King as an orthochess K.
Rook as an orthochess R.
Bishop as an orthochess B.
Gold General one square at a time as a K
but not diagonally backwards, i.e. in any of six
directions.
Silver General one square at a time as a K
but not sideways or straight back, i.e. in any offive directions.
Knight as in orthochess but only forwards toan adjacent file, i.e. a choice of two moves at
most.
Lance straight ahead as a R, but not
sideways or backwards.
Pawn one square straight ahead only.
Capture is by displacement and all pieces,including the pawn, capture in the samemanner as they move.
All pieces except King and Gold canpromote. The promotion zone is made up of
the three ranks occupied by the opponent at
the start of the game as indicated by the board
markers. Promotion can take place on thecompletion of any move or capture in which
the piece crosses into, moves within, or leaves
the promotion zone. Promotion is only

compulsory in the case of an L or P reaching
the last rank, or of a N reaching either of thelast two ranks, since without promotion thepiece concerned would then be permanently
immobile (a N can reach the penultimate rank
as the result of an earlier drop, as described
below). Pieces promote as follows.
Rook to Dragon King, when it acquires the
additional power of moving one square as a B.
Bishop to Dragon Horse, when it acquires
the additional power of moving one square asa R.
Silver, Knight, Lance, and Pawn all to Gold
General.
A captured piece (described as a piece ‘inhand’) belongs to the player who captured it. It
assumes its unpromoted rank and is placed ina ‘reserve base’ beside the player who canthen enter it on the board as part of his army at
any time instead of making a move. A piececan be dropped in any vacant cell but withcertain restrictions.
(1) A piece dropped in the promotion zone
cannot immediately be promoted; it may
however be promoted on its next move.
(2) A pawn may not be dropped on a ﬁle onwhich the player already has an unpromoted
pawn.
(3) A pawn may not be dropped to give
checkmate, though it may be dropped to give
check.
(4) A knight, lance or pawn may not be
dropped on a square where it is rendered
permanently immobile (last rank for L or P,
last two ranks for N), though it may be
dropped on a square it could not otherwise
reach.
The object of the game is to capture theopponent’s king and the rules governing checkand checkmate parallel those of orthochesswith one small difference: moving the kinginto check is not illegal though its capture
ends the game. There is no castling as such.
Draws, although rare, can occur (about 1% of
all games). The rule governing repetition of
moves and position is still in dispute. At
present, a position which has been repeatedfour times, with the same pieces in hand andthe same player to move, is a draw. Perpetual
check is forbidden: the checking player must
alter. If both players move their kings into the
opposing camp, or can be assured of doing so,
and there is no prospect of a checkmate - a

254 Regional and historical games
most unlikely event - the game is adjudged an‘impasse’. The pieces of each side, both inplay and in hand, are counted: 5 points for amajor piece (R, B) and 1 point for all othermen, the K not counting. If both players have
24 points or more the game is a draw,
otherwise the player with less than 24 points
loses. An illegal move loses at once, even if
discovered after play has continued. ‘Touchand move’ is not enforced. Shogi, like weiqi,
has an attractive etiquette. Cho-Yo, in his
egregious but entertaining work Japanese

Chess, advises ‘Never violate etiquette eventhough while playing with an enemy’.
Shogi sets are readily available in the west.
Computers and software are also available.
[Text slightly revised. As with xiangqi,
David proceeded in the first edition to devote
several more pages to what was effectively abasic introductory treatise on the game, andagain I have decided to not to repeat this but
instead to encourage readers to seek out one of
the full-length introductory books which areavailable.]28.2 Historical shogi variants
It is only in recent years that serious researchhas been undertaken into the precursors ofmodern shogi. Fragmentary evidence hassuggested that the seminal game or games may
date back as far as the 8th century and that asmall and large (13x13) shogi, both without R
and B, existed at the same time. Several of thelarge variants (boards greater than 9x9) were
never widely played and some may not evenhave been played at all. One game which wasand still is played is Chu Shogi, whilst Tori
Shogi has a small but enthusiastic following in
the West. George Hodges of the Shogi
Association was instrumental in unearthing
and evaluating documents on these earlygames and making his and Japanese
researches available to western readers
through the Association magazine Shogi andin monographs. In all historical variants, theboards are uncoloured as are the pieces which
are wedge-shaped, as in shogi, with promoted
values, where applicable, on the reverse. The
two sides are notionally Black and White,
Black starting and playing down the board.
Many of the piece names are open toalternative transliterations. For example,
Ferocious Leopard is sometimes rendered as
Horrible Panther. Where names are given,
Shogi Association nomenclature is used. A
modern variant has one player with a loneking which has the power of the Lion in Chu
Shogi, whilst the opponent (who should win)
has a full complement of pieces plus an extra
R and B in hand. The Shogi Association has
marketed sets for several of these variants.
[Where no other provenance is given,
information in this section is based on Shogi
Association monographs.]

Heian Dai Shogi. An early form of large
shogi dating from about the 12th century. The
array, which is symmetrical about the centre
ﬁle, has been reconstructed with someconﬁdence, but the moves of the pieces are not
ﬁrmly established. Board 13x13; 34 men aside, 1 x King, Go-Between, Side-Mover; 2 x
Copper, Gold, Iron, Silver General, Lance,
Knight, Free Chariot, Flying Dragon, Fierce
Tiger; 13 x Pawn (Shogi, September 1980).
Chu Shogi, also known as Middle Shogi.
Origins unknown but popular in the 14th and15th centuries and the only large shogi to havesurvived to the present day; now with a small
but ardent following in the West as well as inJapan. Reckoned by many to be the best of alllarge chess games. Early sources on the gameare not conclusive; ideograms, nomenclatureand rules given here are those approved by the
Shogi Association. The game is decribed in amonograph, and is discussed in some depth by
R. Wayne Schmittberger in a series of articles
in Shogi. Board 12x12 uncoloured, 46 men aside: 1 x Drunk Elephant (DE), Free King(FK), King (K), Kylin (Ky), Lion (Ln),
Phoenix (Ph); 2 x Bishop (B), Blind Tiger(BT), Copper General (C), Dragon Horse(DH), Dragon King (DK), Ferocious Leopard(FL), Go-Between (GB), Gold General (G),
Lance (L), Reverse Chariot (RC), Rook (R),Side Mover (SM), Silver General (S), Vertical
Mover (VM); 12 x Pawn (P). The moves ofthese pieces are as follows.
Bishop moves and promotes as in shogi.
Blind Tiger moves as K but not straightahead. Promotes to Flying Stag (moves as K,
or as R on file only).

Japan 255
Copper General moves as Gold, but not
sideways. Promotes to SM.
Dragon Horse moves as B or one squareorthogonally. Promotes to Horned Falcon(moves as FK except straight ahead, when it
moves one or two squares as Ln).
Dragon King moves as R or one squarediagonally. Promotes to Soaring Eagle (moves
as FK except diagonally forward, when it
moves one or two squares as Ln).
Drunk Elephant moves as K but not straightback. Promotes to Crown Prince (moves as K).
Ferocious Leopard moves as K but not
sideways. Promotes to B.
Free King moves as orthochess Q. Does notpromote.
Go-Between moves one square straightforward or back. Promotes to DE.
Gold General moves as in shogi. Promotes
to R (unlike shogi Gold).
King moves as in shogi, does not promote.
Kylin moves one square diagonally or twosquares orthogonally, leaping intervening
square. Promotes to Ln.
Lance moves as in shogi. Promotes toWhite Horse (moves as FK in the threeforward directions and straight back only).
Lion moves one or two squares, changing
direction or leaping the intervening square if
desired. It may move one square and return toits start square. It captures as it moves, andmay therefore take two pieces in a single
move or capture on an adjacent square without
in effect moving. A lion may capture an
opposing lion that is two squares away but
only if it is unguarded. It may take an adjacentlion without restriction. It does not promote.
Pawn moves and promotes as in shogi.
Phoenix moves one square orthogonally or
two squares diagonally, leaping intervening
square. Promotes to FK.
Reverse Chariot moves as R but on ﬁleonly. Promotes to Whale (as FK but straightahead and in the three backward directions
only).
Rook moves and promotes as in shogi.
Side Mover moves one square straightforward or back, or as R along rank only.
Promotes to Free Boar (as FK but not on ﬁle).
Silver General moves as in shogi. Promotes
to VM.
Vertical Mover moves one square sideways,
or as R on ﬁle only. Promotes to Flying Ox (asFK but not sideways).
Array for White (Black men diametrically
opposite, king on g12):- - - GB - - - - GB - - P P P P P P P P P P P P
SMVM R DH DK Ln FK DK DH R VMSM
RC - B - BT Ky Ph BT - B - RC
L FL C S G K DE G S C FL L
The complexity presented by the array is tosome extent illusory. There are basically only
three types of piece: (1) Step-movers; (2)Line-movers; (3) Leapers. The step-movers, ofwhich there are nine, move one square as a Kor restricted K and are mostly on the ﬁrst rank;
the line-movers, also nine in number, movefreely down one or more unobstructed lines;
and there are three leapers: the lion, the kylin
and the phoenix, the last two complementing
each other. Curiously, there is no knight.
Promotion is on any square of the
opponent’s four ﬁrst ranks and is optional. No
piece may promote twice. For example, a B
promotes to DH and an unpromoted DH
promotes to HF but a B can never promote to
HF. There are no drops as in shogi; captured
pieces are removed from play. The object of
the game is to capture the opponent’s K or all
his pieces except the K. If the opponent haspromoted his DE to CP, however, the CP as
well as the K must be captured. Perpetual
check is illegal. There are one or two minor
rules in addition. Black starts and plays down
the board as in other shogi games. The averagegame runs to about 160 moves.
The lion is the strongest piece on the board
and is the standard-bearer of the attack against
the enemy king. As in shogi, it is normal tokeep two or three step-movers in proximity to
the K to protect it. Schmittberger submits,
perhaps surprisingly in view of the large
forces engaged, that the loss of a single tempo
can be serious. He also argues that sacrificing
material to achieve a breakthrough, a common
strategy in shogi itself, is rarely advisable.
Relative values are hard to determine sincemuch will depend on how near a piece stands
to promotion. Consider the SM and the VM
whose moves complement each other. A VM
can reach a promotion square in a single movefrom the array position but a SM needs at least
six moves to do so.

256 Regional and historical games
Dai Shogi (Great Shogi); about 15th century.
Board 15x15; 65 men a side. The pieces andtheir promotions are identical to those of Chu
Shogi but with eight additional pieces.
However, there may be no other connection
between the two games, and no early game
scores of Dai Shogi have survived. The
additional piecess are Angry Boar (moves one
square orthogonally), Cat-Sword (one squarediagonally), Evil Wolf (as Gold General but
not backwards), Flying Dragon (one or twosquares diagonally), Iron General (one squarestraight or diagonally ahead), Knight (as inshogi), Stone General (one square diagonallyahead), and Violent Ox (one or two squares
orthogonally). Cat-Sword promotes to Free
Demon (up to ﬁve squares vertically,otherwise as orthochess Q), Flying Dragon to
Square Mover (as R or one square diagonallyahead), Iron General to Free Iron (any distancestraight or diagonally ahead), Stone General toFree Stone (any distance diagonally ahead),others to Gold General. The array has many
similarities with that of Chu Shogi.
Dai-Dai Shogi (Great-Great Shogi); late 16th
century, perhaps earlier. Board 17x17; 96 mena side of which 64 different. These include theinteresting Hook Mover which moves as a R
but changes direction at right angles unless it
makes a capture on the first leg. The HM also
appears in Maka-Dai-Dai Shogi and Tai
Shogi. The Long-Nosed Goblin moves like the
HM but also as a B, and can also move one
square orthogonally. The LNG also appears in
Tai Shogi; and in Maka-Dai-Dai Shogi as a
Capricorn, a LNG without the one-steporthogonal option. As with other large shogis,
promotion is by capture and is thenmandatory. There are no drops, captured
pieces being removed from play. The Shogi
Association monograph on the game gives thescore of a 256-move encounter.
Maka-Dai-Dai Shogi (Super-Great-Great
Shogi). Late 16th century, perhaps earlier.
Board 19x19; 96 men a side, the same as in
Dai-Dai Shogi, but there are only 50 different
pieces. Hodges suspects that the game wasinvented by Buddhist monks in order to playshogi on a weiqi (go) board. Certainly one or
two pieces, like the Drunk Elephant, have
Buddhist links. All pieces promote except theFree King (moves like orthochess Q), Dragon
Horse, and Dragon King (which are promoted
pieces in shogi anyway). The King, whose
capture is the aim of the game, promotes toEmperor and can then move to any square on
the board. The promotion of a piece takes
place immediately it makes a capture. There
are no drops, captured pieces being removed
from play.
Ko Shogi (Wide Shogi), attributed to Ogi
Serai (1666-1728). A go board (19x19
intersections) is used with 90 pieces a side.
These are go stones, white pieces are depictedin black on white stones and vice versa. Most
pieces promote but there is no re-entering of
captured pieces. (Variant Chess 44/47, thelatter citing a book Sekai no Shogi)
Tai Shogi (Grand Shogi). About 16th century.
Claimed as the world’s largest chess game,‘invented by some recreational megalomaniac’in Trevor Leggett’s words. (Larger shogi
variants have been hinted at but only TaiKyoku Shogi below has been even partiallyconﬁrmed.) Board 25x25; 177 men a side.
There are over 100 different pieces if one
includes promoted pieces (93 in the array); a
mixture of humans, animals, birds andmythical creatures, mostly short-stepping. A
game can run to 1,000-2,000 moves, yetaccording to Wayne Schmittberger a single
pawn lost can prove fatal, a judgment that noone will be in a hurry to dispute. In common
with other big shogis, promotion is by capture
and not by movement within the opponent’s
base area, and there are no drops; captured
pieces are removed from play. Otherwise therules closely follow those of shogi. The aim is
to capture the Emperor (which can move
anywhere on the board) and the Crown Prince(which moves like a K).
Tai-Kyoku Shogi (Ultra Grand Shogi). A
game on a 36x36 board, with 402 men a side,
is mentioned in an old text, but only the arrayis known with any certainty. [Text editorial,from a monograph produced by the Shogi
Association]
Tenjiku Shogi (Exotic Shogi) dates backseveral centuries and is a development of Chu
Shogi. No scores have survived and it isJapan 257
possible that the game was never seriously
played. Board 16x16; 76 men a side of which
36 different (45 including promoted pieces).
The object, as with all shogis, is to capture theopponent’s K; but it is also necessary tocapture another piece, the Drunk Elephant, if it
has been promoted. Promotion is earned by amove partly or wholly within the ﬁve ranks
furthest from the player, and is optional unlessthe piece would otherwise be rendered
permanently immobile. In this respect thegame follows shogi but there are no drops,
captured pieces being removed from play.
Tenjiku is not related to the other large shogis
although the games have a number of pieces incommon. A complex piece, the Lion, forexample, is found in all the large shogis as
well as in Chu Shogi. Unique to Tenjiku
amongst the shogis is the Fire Demon that
destroys all hostile pieces adjacent to it. Eachside has a number of powerful pieces in
addition to the Fire Demons, and this ensures
lively opening play, a feature rarely found inlarge chess games.
Wa Shogi. Seventeenth century or earlier.
Board 11x11; 27 pieces a side, all named after
birds or animals. Normal shogi rules although
no good evidence whether or not drops
permitted. The Shogi Association recommends
no drops (captured piece removed from play),
Wayne Schmittberger favours drops. Object is
to mate the Crane-King (moves as K). There
are 11 Sparrow Pawns a side which exactly
parallel the shogi pawn, promoting to Golden
Bird (Gold General). Including promotions,
there are 25 different pieces, a few
corresponding to shogi pieces (Oxcart =Lance, Violent Stage = Silver General, Violent
Wolf = Gold General, Gliding Swallow =Rook).
Tori Shogi (Bird Shogi); inventor uncertain,
perhaps Ohashi Soei (1799) or Toyota Genryu(1828). The game has a small following to-day
in Japan and in the West. Board 7x7; thepieces are all birds of which there are 16 aside: 1 x Phoenix, Falcon, Left Quail, Right
Quail; 2 x Crane, Pheasant; 8 x Swallow.

Their moves are as follows.
Phoenix as shogi K.
Crane as K, but not sideways.
Falcon as K, but not straight back.
Pheasant one square diagonally backwards
or two squares straight ahead, leaping
intervening square.
Quail any number of squares straight aheador diagonally backwards to the left, or one
square diagonally backwards to the right (rightquail); backward movements reversed (leftquail).
Swallow one square straight ahead, as shogi
P.
Capture is by displacement. Falcon andswallow promote if they move wholly or
partly within the opponent’s ﬁrst two ranks.
Promotion is compulsory. A falcon promotes
to Eagle which can move (1) over any distancediagonally forward or straight back, or (2) one
square sideways or straight ahead, or (3) one
or two squares diagonally backwards (noleap). A swallow promotes to Goose: twosquares diagonally forward or two squares
straight back, leaping the intervening square.
Tori Shogi is played with drops according tonormal shogi rules. A swallow cannot be
dropped (1) to give checkmate, nor (2) on theend rank, nor (3) on a ﬁle on which a player
has two unpromoted swallows. Where thesame position is repeated three times (samepieces in hand, same turn to play) the player
starting the sequence must vary. The object of
the game is to capture the opponent’s phoenix.
White baseline LPsCPxCPsR with F on d2 and8xS on a3-g3 and e4, Black reflected in theboard centre (so each side has a swallow on
the fourth rank). The quails are distinguishedonly by characters ‘left’ and ‘right’ on theirundersides.
Cho-Sen Chess, also known as Choson
Chess. A game described in outline in a novel
The Jacket by Jack London (1915, reprinted in
1963 as Star Rover), presumed to have been
seen by the writer during his travels, andapparently either shogi or a variant thereof.
For a discussion of the issues, see Variant
Chess 40, page 126. [Text editorial]258 Regional and historical games
28.3 Modern variants using the normal board
An-nan Shogi, also known as Korean Shogi(origins unclear). A piece moves in themanner of the friendly piece immediately
behind it. If none, it moves normally. Can also
be played with a piece moving in themanner of any friendly piece guarding it.
The diversion is popular in Japan. (Shogi 68)
Kilyow (Japanese: The Dominion Game).
Origins unclear. Play and array as for shogi
with new piece names. Some additional rules:
Lance can move along the rank on the firstmove only, Silver can advance two squares,
Pawn is as in orthochess. Complex promotion
rules. [The only source material now inDavid’s Encyclopedia files is a photocopy of asingle page from an unidentified Japanesebook, but I imagine he must have had more.]
Small Shogi (John Gollon, 1960s). A
curiously named variant. Set-up as for shogi
with addition of Drunk Elephant in front of theK (e2/e8) and two Ferocious Leopards in frontof the Silvers (c2,g2/c8,g8). DE and FL moveas in Chu Shogi. (Nost-algia 369)
Quasi-Shogi (Nort Black, 1970). Usual shogi
set-up but rooks and bishops have powers of
their promoted equivalents (R+K and B+K
respectively) putting a premium on attack.
(Manuscript note presumably deriving frompersonal communication)
Unashogi (Edward Jackman, 1994). As shogi
except (1) Board starts empty; each player has
usual 20 men in reserve; (2) On his turn, theplayer can either drop a piece or move a piece.
No capture or promotion until a player’s K ison the board. (Inventor’s rule sheet)
Hand Shogi (John W. Brown, 1997). Usualboard but each side has 19 men: 1 x King,
Hasty, Onager, Pard, Shogun, Tycoon, 2 x
Gold General, Half Knight, Lance, Silver
General, 5 x Soldier. King, Lance andGenerals move as in shogi, Soldier as in
Korean Chess (not more than one soldier ofboth sides on same file). Other moves: Hasty
moves to second diagonal square; Onager

moves to second orthogonal square; Pard leaps
two squares in any direction; Shogun moves
up to three squares as orthochess R; Tycoon
moves up to three squares as orthochess B;
Half Knight moves as orthochess N but only
in a forward direction. White array Ke1, Pe2,
GGc1/g1, Sc2/g2/d3/e3/f3, Black similarly, allother pieces in hand at start of game. Hasty
and Onager are ‘assassins’ and may only be
dropped to give check. Half Knights may not
be dropped beyond the 6th rank, promote to
GG on end rank. On turn, move on board ordrop a piece in hand. Captured pieces added tohand as in shogi. A game is called a hand.
Players alternate colours. First player to win
two hands in a row is the victor. (Meta-Chess)
Cannon Shogi (Peter Michaelsen, 1998)
Usual board and men (five pawns only) plus
Gold, Silver, Copper, and Iron Cannons. GC
moves as R but can capture only if there is apiece between it and its target (so it moves andcaptures as the xiangqi cannon). SC the same
except that it needs a screening piece to moveas well as to capture (so it has the basic moveof the Korean cannon). CC and IC the samebut diagonally. Cannons promote to Flying
Cannons which can leap one piece whilemoving; additionally, FGC and FSC can move
one square diagonally and move or capture
two squares diagonally by leaping an adjacentpiece, and FCC and FIC can do the same
orthogonally. Normal shogi array except that
there are no pawns on the b/d/f/h files;
cannons on c2-g2/g8-c8, SG-IC. (Nost-algia
376, Eteroscacco 86-88) [Text editorial]
Miburishogi (origins not recorded). First
player to check three times wins. (Eteroscacco
86-88)
Kamikaze Mortal Shogi (Fergus Duniho andRoberto Lavieri, 2003). Normal setup. Pawns,
Lances, Knights and Silvers may promote toGold or any rank below; captured pieces aredemoted one rank. A captured P returns to theboard as a Kamikaze and is removed fromplay if captured or capturing. (Chess Variant
Pages)

Japan 259
28.4 Modern variants using smaller square or rectangular boards
Minishogi. Origins unknown; discovered by
Shigeo Kusumoto c.1970. Board 5x5; players
have one each of King, Rook, Bishop, Gold,
Silver, Pawn. Promotion is on end rank.
Baseline (a1-e1/e5-a5) KGSBR, pawns on
a2/e4. First player is decided by tossing apawn. (Schach Magazin, August 1990).
Kyoto Shogi (originator unknown, 1976).
Board 5x5, five pieces per side; each pieceapart from the king represents two different
men according to which side is face up:
Lance/Tokin (promoted P, moves as Gold),
Bishop/Silver, Gold/Knight, Rook/Pawn.
Array (a1-e1/e5-a5) PGKSR. Every time apiece is moved it is reversed. Rules are as inshogi except that there is no promotion, and apiece in hand can be dropped either way up.
Despite the deceptive simplicity of Kyoto
Shogi, games can develop into violent andunpredictable tussles. An hexagonal version
was published by Jochen Drechsler in 2000.
(Abstract Games 1, with additional material
deriving from sources not recorded)
Five-Minute Poppy Shogi, also known as
Microshogi (attributed to Oyama Yasuharu,
see below). Board 4x5; five pieces per side; aswith Kyoto Shogi, each piece apart from theking represents two different men according towhich side is face up, though the pairings aredifferent:
Bishop/Tokin,
Gold/Rook,
Silver/Lance, Pawn/Knight. Baseline (a1-d1/
d5-a5) SGBK, pawns on d2/a4. Play as inshogi except that when a piece other than a K
makes a capture it is reversed (this is adifference from Kyoto Shogi, where reversal
occurs after every move). A captured piece
may be re-entered either side up, and thenormal restrictions on pawn drops (not on afile with an unpromoted pawn, not to givemate) do not apply. (Document ‘Microshogi’
by Kerry Handscomb) [In Variant Chess 21,
David describes this as a ‘commercial’ variant,but I am not so sure. From the source
document: ‘During a meeting in Tokyo in
1989, my host [...] showed me a very small
shogi variant that his company had been using
in a sales promotion. We played a couple ofgames and he showed me an article about thisgame that was written by the great shogi

player Oyama Yasuharu, who, I assume, was
the inventor. After the meeting, my hostpresented me with the wooden set we had
been using.’ Perhaps the company was
exploiting an existing game, perhaps it had
invented the game or procured its invention,
but the fact that a leading player thought itworth an article speaks for itself. And far beit from me to discourage companies fromhanding out good games as sales promotions.]
Gorogoro Shogi (Shogi to idle the timeaway). Origins unclear, reported in 1994.
Board 5x6; each side has 1 x K, 2 x Gold,
Silver, 3 x P. Baseline SGKGS, 3xP on b3d3/4-d4. Promotion on last two ranks, otherrules as for shogi. (Personal communication,
also photocopy of page 5 of an unidentified
Japanese shogi magazine)
Whale Shogi (R. Wayne Schmittberger,
1981). Board 6x6; 13 men a side (12 in thearray) representing species of whale. Each
player has 1 x White whale (W, royal piece,moves as orthochess king), Blue (B, one
square forward straight or diagonally, or one
square straight back), Grey (G, forward like arook, backward like a bishop), Humpback (H,one square diagonally or one square straightback), Killer (K, as rook, or one squarediagonally), Narwhal (N, one square sideways,
or one straight back, or two squares straightahead leaping if necessary), Porpoise (P, one
square sideways), 6 x Dolphin (D, one squarestraight ahead, on reaching end rank it moves
once like a bishop then reverts to D); array(a1-f1/f6-a6 and inwards) HGWPNB (royal
pieces on c1/d6), 6xD (K not in the array).
Captured pieces other than P change sides andcan be dropped on any vacant square insteadof a normal move; A captured P is removed
permanently from play, and the capturing
player can drop a K in its place. A D may not
be dropped on the last rank, nor to checkmate,
nor on a ﬁle on which the player has two or
more Ds. Object of the game is to capture(checkmate) the white whale. (Nost-algia 355)
Yari Shogi (Christiaan Freeling, 1981). Board
7x9; 14 men a side, 1 x K, 2 x R, N, B, 7 x P.
K as in orthochess. R as shogi (or orthochess)260 Regional and historical games
R but not backwards; promotes to normal
shogi R. B as shogi lance, or one step
diagonally forwards; N as shogi N+L; bothpromote to Gold, which moves as shogi goldor as R backwards. Pawn as shogi, except thatit may be dropped to give mate; promotes to
Silver, which one step straight or diagonallyforwards or as R backwards. Baseline (a1g1/g9-a9) RBBKNNR, 7xP on ranks 3/7;
promotion zone covers last three ranks. Threefold repetition of position is illegal, stalemate
is a draw. (Inventor’s rules pamphlet)
Judkins’s Shogi (Paul Judkins, 1996). Board
6x6, 7 men per side; baseline (a1-f1/f6-a6)
KGSNBR, pawns on a2/f5. Promotion zone islast two ranks. (Eteroscacco 75)

Cubic Shogi (Vladimir Pribylinec, 2000 andlater). Board 7x8; each side has 14 cubicpieces with chess symbols on some or all of
their faces. KRBP move as in shogi, N as inorthochess, Q as in orthochess but one or twosquares only. NQKBN on b1-f1/f8-b8, B on
a2/g7, R on g2/a7, 7xP on ranks 3/6. A unitthat reaches the last two ranks promotes, P to
B/N to R. Captured pieces can be dropped
back in the game as in shogi but a pawn may
not be dropped on a file on which the player
already has a pawn (again as in shogi). Pieces
retain their rank on capture. An alternative
version has board 8x8 with NBQKBN on b1g1, RR on b2/g2, 8xP on rank 3, Black
mirroring on the file as in chess. (Inventor’srules pamphlets) [Text revised]28.5 Variants using non-rectangular boards
Trishogi (George Dekle Sr, 1987). Board
9x10 interlocked triangles (a1/c1/e1/g1/i1
apex towards player, b1/d1/f1/g1 base towards
player). Except for board conﬁguration, thegame is identical to shogi, including the array.
Rs and Bs have six directions of movement
whilst moves of Gold and Silver vary slightly
according to the orientation of the triangle
occupied (apex towards player, G has 10
possible moves; base towards player, 8 moves;
S moves also vary but both orientations give 8
possible moves). (Inventor’s rules pamphlet)
Hexshogi (George Dekle Sr, 1986). Shogi ona board consisting of 85 hexagonal cells (ninefiles, lengths 9 and 10 alternately). K, R, B as
in Glinski’s hexagonal chess (see chapter 22),
N as Glinski but only in the two directions
closest to straight forward, Gold one step as R
or one forward as B, Silver one step as B or
one directly forward as R, L and P as innormal shogi. Promotion on the last three cellsof each file. Array basically as shogi, a pieceon the bottom cell of each file and a pawn on
the third cell up, but the bishops and rooks arebrought in from the b/h files to the c/g files.
If an impasse is reached, the game is ended
and a piece count takes place. Kings countzero, rooks and bishops whether on board or in
hand, 5 points; all other men 1 point. If bothplayers have at least 24 points the game isdrawn; if one player has less than 24 points heloses. (Inventor’s rules pamphlet)

Masonic Shogi (George Dekle Sr, 1987). 9x9board staggered as for Masonic Chess (seechapter 23), usual shogi array. R, B, K as in
Masonic Chess. Knight as Masonic Chess N
but only forward to second rank (fouroptions). Lance straight forward on ‘file’ (inother words, wiggling parallel to the staggerededge of the board, so the L move and theforward R moves are different). Pawn one step
forward on file. Gold one step as R, or one
step forward as B (eight options). Silver one
step as B, or one step forward as R (sixoptions). Normal shogi promotions and drops(promoted R and B add K move). (Author’s
rules pamphlet) [Text revised. There seems to
be a discrepancy between the explanation of
the knight move and the accompanying
diagram, and we have followed the diagram.]Spherical Shogi (George Dekle Sr, 1988).
The board is imagined to be superimposed on
a sphere, the ﬁles being meridians and thepieces being able to cross the poles. Board
10x9; baseline (a1-j1/a9-j9, orthodox shogi
pieces) SLNSGKGSNL, bishops on c2/i8,
rooks i2/c8, 10 pawns on 3rd/6th ranks. Rooks
cross to opposite meridian; bishops emerge
one square removed from opposite meridian
but travelling in other direction; knights better
described with examples: Ne8 re-enters a9 or
i9 while Nc9 re-enters g8 or i8. Any move thatleaves the position unchanged is illegal. Allother rules as shogi. (World Game Review 10)

Japan 261
Space Shogi (George Dekle Sr, 1987). Board
9x9x9. In the array, one side occupies bottom
three boards, the other the top three. First-rankpieces on boards 1/9, ranks 1/9, usual layout

except silvers between knights and lances.
Rooks and bishops in usual positions onboards 2/8, ranks 2/8; pawns on boards 3/6,
ranks 3/6. (World Game Review 10)

28.6 Combination games
Blind Shogi (origins unclear). A potent blendof shogi and Kriegspiel. The position of theking is always known. The umpire announces
a check without further elaboration and also
any king move. When a man is taken it ispassed by the umpire to the player making thecapture who puts it in his reserve base.
Opponent’s pieces are not manipulated as they
are in Kriegspiel. [Source material apparently
missing from David’s Encyclopedia files]
Kohl’s Game (Herbert Kohl, 1974). A chessshogi hybrid. Board 5x7; three central squares(b4/c4/d4) marked. Each side has 1xK, 2xR,
B, 5xP; baseline (a1-e1/a7-e7) RBKBR. A

captured man belongs to the player making thecapture and may be entered at any time on an
empty squares instead of moving. Bishops
optionally promote to rooks when alighting ona marked square; revert to B when captured.
No pawn promotion. (Chess ’n Stuff, February
1983)
WWII Chess (Edward Jackman, 1995). Board
9x9; White has shogi men in usual array;
Black has orthochess men ditto (a8/a9 vacant).
Each side plays according to its usual rules.
Obviously biased, but in whose favour? ‘Areally silly game’ according to its inventor.
(Inventor’s rule sheet)Chapter 29
India and the rest of Asia
[This final chapter on regional and historical variants considers Asian games outside the xiangqi
and shogi traditions. Be it noted that while most of these four chapters merely summarize
material that is available elsewhere, with Burmese Chess and to some extent with Indian ChessDavid believed he was tapping sources which had not hitherto contributed to Western chess
literature.]
29.1 Indian chess on the 8x8 board
Indian Chess. ‘There is no Indian game ofchess. Rather there are three, and the two most
played have varying rules. Some play
European chess .... some the ancient fourhanded game and a few Great Chess.’ Thus
W. S. Branch (Chess Amateur, July 1917).
Murray, too, recognizes three main games
which he calls Hindustani, Parsi (S. India) andRumi (N.W. India). Modern historians are lessdogmatic. A. Goswami observes that ‘The
indigenous chess is played in this country in avariety of ways and styles...’ (Bulletin of theCorrespondence Chess Association of India,
December 1988), and V. D. Pandit says ‘The
rules (of the Indian game) were not uniform,
but varied from place to place and time totime’ (correspondence, 1989). The weak Q
and B, a hangover from the ancient game,survived in S. India into the 20th century(Rama Patler and G. H. B. Jackson, Chess
Amateur, May 1918), although Murray statedthat it had long died out. It is not surprising, inthis vast sub-continent of many races andlanguages and lacking any central authority
for indigenous games, that rules have not been
codified. Whilst the inﬂuence of orthochesshas long been apparent in Indian variants,
there has been little outside interest in thesegames. An English officer observed that there
were three kinds of chess in India ‘two ofthem more complex than the game played inEurope’, clearly a local observation embracing
versions of Great Chess (Memoirs of the War
in Asia from 1780 to 1784). That Indian chessreceived small notice from outsiders isevidenced by von der Lasa’s curiosity (Chess
Monthly, March 1883, referring to an incident
in Jaipur the year before): ‘I approached thegame as near as the surrounding circle ofnatives permitted, and I followed well the
moves with the help of a small opera-glass’.
Native writers have been the principal sourceof information. Often quoted are Lala Raja
Babu and Trevangadacharya Shastree, ‘theBrahmin’, who was said never to have lost agame at chess, except one, in which heallowed himself to be beaten by a lady. (The
Brahmin had not miscalculated - the lost gamesecured him a bullock contract.)
Summarized are the features in common of
the mainstream games. Board 8x8, usuallyuncoloured, sometimes with crossed lines ason the ashtapada board. (According to Iyer’s
Indian Chess, these should be on a4, a5, d4,
d5, e4, e5, h4, h5, known as ‘the feet of aswan’.) Usual men (various names), referred
to for convenience in orthochess terms.
(1) In the array, the king is placed on theright of the queen.
(2) The pawns move one square only,
except initially the a-d-e-h pawns can makethe double move but only if the respective filepiece is on its original square.
(3) The king can move once as a knight,
but not to capture nor if it has been checked.
(4) Promotion is to the ﬁle piece provided
one has been captured. However, promotion
on c- and f-ﬁles allowed only if bishop on
same colour has been taken. Promotion on
e1/e8 to Q. Promotion to knight allows
another move immediately with the promoted
piece although not if the promotion square is
attacked.
(5) No castling, e.p., stalemate or perpetual
check - the player must vary in the last twocases.

India and the rest of Asia 263(6) White starts by making an agreed
number of moves; Black does likewise. The
number is usually 4 or 8, occasionally 3. It is
not permitted to cross into the opponent’s halfof the board nor to move the same man twice.
(7) There are three grades of victory. In
ascending order of merit: loser has bare king(boorj); loser has at least one piece; mate witha pawn.
Variations are common on almost all theabove rules. Boorj is often considered a draw,
when the rule is that there must be ﬁve or
more men on the board at the end of the gameof which at least two (king and one other)must be the loser’s. The losing player will belooking for a sacriﬁce since if the men are
reduced to four (‘chamori bhaaji’) the game isdrawn. Because of this rule, the attacker will
not take the opponent’s last piece known,
reasonably, as ‘the immortal’. In somevariants only the d-pawn or the d and e pawns
have the initial two-square option, whilst Lala
Singha Hunday says that in Bengal the kingstands on the left of the queen (Chess
Amateur, July 1909). And so on. To list therecorded variations on all the rules given
would be both tedious and unhelpful.
Orthochess strategy can be inappropriate in
the Indian game. For example, where boorj isa draw a number of endings that are wins inorthochess can only be drawn, for example
R+B v N and R+N v B. R+R v B is only
drawn when the defending king can reachcorner square of the same colour as the bishop.
R+B v B is drawn if bishops are on the same
colour squares, won for the stronger side if
they are on opposite colour squares. The earlymove of the g-pawn in Indian chess is
primarily to make a haven for the king, not todevelop the bishop. Pawn play varies fromorthochess because of the promotion rules (forexample, a pawn capture fxg might bepreferred to hxg so as to preserve the h-pawn’s
potential of promotion to R.)
The arrival of Europeans brought European
chess to India, and some modern Indian
variants appear to owe more to the European
chess tradition than to the Indian. Two-player
variants which appear to be based on the
Indian tradition are listed below, those using anormal board in the present section and thoseusing larger boards in the next. Four-player
variants will be considered in a later chapter.

[Text slightly revised. In addition to someof the source material explicitly cited above,
David’s files contain correspondence from
A. Goswami, V. D. Pandit, and R. Ravi
Sekhar, and also copies of extracts from the
Chess Player’s Chronicle 1846, Geistreiche
Schachpartien alter und neuer Zeit
(Bachmann, 1894), the Chess Amateur, JulySeptember 1909 and June 1917, The Times, 17
December 1928, Chess, September 1952, andEurope Echecs, October 1988.]
Chaturanga. India, 7th century at latest;
precursor of orthochess. Claims for theinventor are almost certainly myth. The namerefers to the four arms of the Indian army, theinfantry, elephants, cavalry and chariots. The
name, as the board it was originally played on,
pre-dates the game which it would appear wasessentially the same as shatranj. The board,
known as the ashtapada (‘eight-square’) was
unchequered but with some squares regularlymarked. It was believed to have been adopted
from a race game related to parcheesi, theforerunner of Ludo. The markings are retained
to this day on some oriental boards. Each side
had a Rajah, a Counsellor, 2 x Chariot, 2 x
Horse, 2 x Elephant, and 8 x P. The counsellor
moved one square diagonally in any direction,
the elephant two squares diagonally, leaping
the intervening square. Pawns advanced one
square at a time; no castling. Stalemate was a
win for the player giving it.
[Murray (pages 57-60), citing Arabic
sources, gives two alternative moves for theelephant in early Indian chess: a jump of two
squares orthogonally rather than diagonally,
and the ‘trunk and four feet’ move (one squarestraight forward or in any diagonal direction)that we shall meet in Burmese and Thai chess.
The first is attributed to al-Adli, who was
active in the 9th century though the earliest
extant manuscript claiming to quote him dates
from the 12th, the second to al-Beruni, who
lived in the 11th century and travelled as far as
the Punjab. Murray also says, on authority
attributed to al-Adli, that stalemate was a win
for the player stalemated. These pages are notin Murray’s index entry for ‘Chaturanga’ andthey are not among the sources David lists forthe game, but I think I should record what they
contain. I am not competent to judge what
weight they should be given.]264 Regional and historical games
Desi Chess. The ancient Indian game. Ks faceQs (old moves), no pawn-two or castling.
King can move once as N provided it has notbeen checked. Promotion to file piece, but not
if this exceeds the array quota (one Q, two Rs,etc); last piece apart from K cannot be
captured. These rules have been known tovary over the sub-continent, and from time totime. (Bulletin of the All-India Correspondence Chess Federation, February 1998)
Gosai Chess. Origins unknown, Form ofIndian game widely played by wanderers ofthe Hindu Gosavee sect in Southern India,
believed now to be near extinction. During
their periodical halts, they would start a gamewith the equipment they always carried, andcontinue the game blindfold when they
resumed their journey using a notation
peculiar to the Gosai; thus ‘I removed yourhorse on the 30th square with my devaratha(‘the small horse on the left hand’)’. At theend of a game the players would stop andverify the ﬁnal position. (Pandit)
Parsi Chess. Term used, particularly by
Murray, to describe the game played insouthern India, at least until recent times,
probably a direct descendant of the original
Indian game. Each player has the K on theright hand. The a, d, e, h pawns can move one
or two squares initially; the other pawns haveno right to a two-step move. Both players
make four moves each before the start of thegame proper. The grades of win are as
described above.

Joara-Joari (also known as Zoraabhaji,
Madadmar and by other names). A gamegenerously distributed (Murray gives only W.
India) in which it is illegal to capture a
supported piece unless in so doing one gives a
discovered check. The king cannot be moved
unless checked. Opinions differ as to whether
the king retains its knight-move privilege;some say that it is forfeited altogether, others
that it can be exercised only before the kinghas received a check. (Pandit, Sekhar)
The Maharajah and the Sepoys, also known
as The Mad King’s Game (mid-19th
century). One player has a single piece, theMaharajah, which is a combination of allpieces (in effect, Q+N), the other a fullcomplement. The maharajah stands initially on
any unattacked square. The object of themaharajah player is to deliver checkmate, andof the other player to capture the maharajah.
Pawns don’t promote. A trivial game since thearray player should always win, but in practice
inexperienced players often come to grief.
Falkener gives a number of game scores.
William Rudge, quoted by Martin Gardner(New Mathematical Diversions), evolved awinning strategy irrespective of the moves ofthe M player: a4, a5, a6, a7, e3, Nh3, Nf4,
Bd3, 0-0, Qh5, Nc3, Ncd5, Ra6, b4 (M forced
to the 7th or 8th rank), h3 (only played if M ong7), Bb2, Rfa1, Re6, Rae6, Re7 (M forced tothe 8th rank), Rae6 and mate next move.
Rudge extends the solution unnecessarily.
Some moves may be transposed, and a shorter
solution probably exists. (Iyer, Indian Chess)29.2 Indian games on larger boards
Atranj. Corruption of Shatranj; N.W. India,
origins unknown but probably Muslim
according to Goswami. Board 10x10; baseline(a1-j1/j10-a10) RNBQKPrQBNR. The Prince
moves as Q+N. Second rank PPPPUUPPPP
where the central pawns are Urdabegs, a
corruption of udtabegums (ﬂying queens)which move like pawns but have the extra
power of moving and capturing backwards.
Pawns move one square at a time and promote
to ﬁle piece. (Goswami, Pandit) [The firstedition mentioned a second ‘Atranj’, but it is a
22-man game with alternative name ‘Qatranj’
and I have moved it to the following entry.]

Shataranja. Origins unknown, closely related
to atranj. The name appears to be a corruptionof shatranj/chaturanga. As described in Indian
Chess, the board is 10x10 and there are 22
men a side (orthochess equivalents inparentheses): 1 x King (K), Crown Prince(Q+N), Minister (Q), Kotwala (B+N), 2 xChariot (R), Elephant (B), Begum (moves as
K but not royal), 4 x Horse (N), 8 x Pawn,
array (a1-j1/j10-a10 and inwards, centred)
ChHEMCpKKoEHCh, PPPPBBPPPP, HH.
Murray quotes Lala Raja Babu (1901) who
gives a game called Atranj or Qatranj, whichappears identical except that the begums haveIndia and the rest of Asia 265
become ‘armed female attendants’ with move‘one square towards the opponent’s King’.
[Text revised.]
Hyder Ali’s Great Chess. A game with thirty
men on each side, demonstrated by Hyder Ali
to his prisoner Captain Lucas in 1780. [In thefirst edition, David said this had been
conjectured to be a piece and a pawn added to
Timur’s Great Chess, but this conjecture
seems to have been made only by Forbes and I
have to say that I find it hard to understand.
The games were separated by four hundredyears and a massive mountain range, and theexistence of other contemporary large-board
games in India removes any need to invoke
foreign influence. It may even have been aversion of one of the games in the next entry.
I have provisionally altered the statement‘60 men a side’ in the first edition to conformto Forbes (‘thirty on each side’) and Murray(‘60 men employed’), but I haven’t seen
Memoirs of the War in Asia from 1780 to 1784
which was their primary source.]
Indian Great Chess (reported in 1796-8).
Two composite-piece games are reported in amanuscript described by Murray. The first hasboard 10x10 with Giraffe (Q+N), Wazir(B+N), 2 x Dabbaba (R+N), array (a1-j1/j10a10 and inwards, centred) RNBWGKQBNR,
PPPPDDPPPP, PP. P promotes to Q. Gollon
describes this as the most entertaining of theGreat chesses. The second has a 12x12 board
with the same pieces and also two lions ‘andother pieces’ (32 a side).
Mysore Chess (Krishnaraja Wodiyar III,
Maharajah of Mysore, 19th century). Board
12x12; extra pieces are two Chariots and two
Flagcars which are in effect rooks and bishops
respectively, thus each side has four rooks andfour bishops, and the piece with the queen’s
move is called a Minister. The white baselineis (a1-a12) RNFCBMKBCFNR. The arrayshown for Black is quite different. In anotherversion, the board is 14x14, with the additionof Queen (moves like K) on right of K and
Prince (moves like M, orthochess Q) on left of
Minister. (Indian Chess, also Pandit) [Inrespect of the 12x12 board, I suspect that only
the white array is intended to show the
opening position, and that the black is

intended to illustrate a possible target position
after a number of moves have been played.
Murray, reporting what appears to be the same
game on the authority of Lala Raja Babu,
gives the king positions as ‘g1 (f12)’,
implying that Black mirrors the white array
diametrically.]
Baroda Chess (Madhavrao Datey, 1890s).
Developed on the order of Maharajah
Sayajirao Gaikwad of Baroda. Board 10x10;
pieces are King, Prince (Q+N), Chief Minister(Q), Chief of Army (as K or with 3-1 leap),
Governor (R+N), Commander (B+N),
Bandmaster (as N or can leap two squares
orthogonally), Elephant (R), Camel (B), Horse(N), Police (two squares straight or diagonallyforward, leaping intermediate square), Citizen(K+N) array (a1-j1/a10-j10 and inwards)
BaGCoMPrKACoGBa, RNBPoCiCiPoBNR,
10xP. The king could move like a knight oncein a game. Only the aefj pawns could move
two squares initially. Promotion on end rank
to either piece on same ﬁle provided that piecealready captured. Datey wrote a book about
the variant, Yuvarajacha Budhhibalacha Khel
(Chessgame for a Prince, 1897). (Pandit)
Maharaja [12x8 board] (inventor unknown,
reported c.1935). Board 12x8 (a1 black); extra
pieces are Maharani (Q+N) and Elf (leaps two
squares diagonally); baseline (a1-l1/a12-l12)
RNEBQMKQBENR. Captured pieces can beclaimed as deserters and are entered on anarray square of player’s corresponding piece.
Pawns move one square at a time and may, atthe option of the player, be promoted onreaching any rank from 3rd to 8th in order NE-B-R-Q-M; thus pawn reaching 6th rank can
promote to R. Players have the right, insteadof moving, to remove one of their men fromplay, called, inappropriately one might think, aForlorn Hope. There is also a double version
played with two sets of men (distinguishable
and each with a king) on a 24x8 board, amated king being out of the game unless anduntil the mate is released; his turn is lost, but
his men may still be captured and claimed as
deserters.
(Photocopy
ofanonymous
manuscript ‘Maharaja - Rules’ apparently
from the van der Linde - Niemeijer Collection)[The manuscript is in English in acharacteristic pre-war handwriting and David266 Regional and historical games
conjectured ‘probably British’, but both theterminology and the move of the elf (acorruption of ‘elephant’?) cause me to suspect
an Anglo-Indian description of an Indiangame.]‘Of the making of these games there need be
no end, and I have no doubt that many othervarieties have been proposed and perhaps
played, of which we have been spared theknowledge’ (Murray).

29.3 Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia
Burmese Chess, also known as Sittuyin.
Origins unknown, but probably of Indianancestry. In the opinion of Hiram Cox,
Burmese chess is ‘a very advanced
improvement on the Hindu game’, and thegame is ‘undeniably a good one’. Falkener on
the other hand describes it as ‘a heavy,
wearisome, uninteresting game’.
Burmese chess is a neglected variant which
has suffered through having no codiﬁed rules.
Early writers - Cox, Bastian, Shway Yoe (SirJ. G. Scott), Falkener - and later the Ferrars,
Murray and Branch, give contradictory
accounts of how the game should be played.
Modern writers have added nothing to ourknowledge, for the most part faithfully
echoing the pathﬁnders, particularly Murray.
A feature article on the game (1990) evengives Bastian’s opening position ‘mostfavoured by Burmese players’ (in 1863!).
With regard to the initial set-up, a distinctive
feature of Burmese chess, Murray remarks‘Previous observers have recorded thefavourite arrangements of their native
informers’. He might have added ‘and rules’
as well. The confusion has not been helped byreports of radical versions of the game.
Falkener records a variant in which pawns arepromoted to rooks (‘a game of his own
invention’ was the unkind and probably unjust
comment of Murray); a game using three dicein which the players made three moves at atime (Sunnucks, The Encyclopedia of Chess);
and a bastard version in which the pieces are
set up anywhere within the player’s half of theboard, the queen and bishop (elephant)
moving as in orthochess but captures by Q, R
and B are on adjacent squares only, no
stalemate, and pawns promote on reaching the
diagonal d5-a8 or e5-h8 (Chess Amateur,
April 1920, reprinted from The Times).
Previous accounts of the game relied on
informants whose status as players has neverbeen established. Fortunately, there exists a
book on Burmese chess whose authority, if notbeyond question, certainly carries a great deal
more weight than past European writings on
the game: Myan-ma sit bayin lan-nyunt sa-okgyi (Burmese Chess Guide) by Shwei-gyin U
Bha, a retired Education officer, in
consultation with chess masters Pantanaw U
Maung Galei, Nyaung-don U Hamet andBassein U Hmat (other Burmese masters arelisted). Date unknown but circa 1924. In it, theauthor states significantly ‘There may still bedifferent rules in Upper and Lower Burma,
especially with regard to creating sitke(promotion)’ echoing Sir William Jones who
wrote in 1883 that ‘...the Burmans admit ofgreat variations’. The first edition reported thatthe game had largely died out in Lower Burmaand in urban areas, having been replaced byorthochess, and that it was largely confined totea-houses in the north-west. Old men played
it with passion and arguments werecommonplace. ‘It is usually played formoney,’ according to one writer, ‘except at
funeral gatherings, where games are played topass the time’. Chessmen were invariably ofwood, poorly carved, and stained red and‘dark’ (black). It enjoyed a revival in the
1980s.
The rules which follow are taken from theabove work.
The board is 8x8, unchequered, with thetwo long diagonals often marked, andsometimes the 4x4 squares in each corner (a1,b1, a2, b2 etc). Each side has 16 men: 1 x K,
General, 2 x Carriage (moves as orthochessR), Elephant, Horse (moves as N), 8 x Soldier(P). The king moves as in orthochess. The
general moves one square diagonally in any
direction, the elephant similarly but in addition
it can move one square straight forward (theresulting five moves of the piece representing
the four feet and trunk of the pachyderm).
Capture is as in orthochess but there is nopawn-two. A pawn promotes when standingon any square of either diagonal line in the
opponent’s half of the board. A pawn can onlyIndia and the rest of Asia 267
promote to general, and then only if theplayer’s general has been captured. Promotion
does not take place immediately but on any
subsequent turn; it may be effected on the
promotion square (i.e., without moving) or by
moving away one square diagonally but not tocapture the opponent’s general nor to give
check (previously published interpretations of
this rule, which suggest that a pawn canpromote on any adjacent square, areincorrect). A pawn that passes its promotion
square cannot promote.

The pawns are placed first, Red on a3-d3/
e4-h4 and Black on h6-e6/d5-a5. Red thenputs his major pieces anywhere behind his
pawns, after which Black does likewise. (In all
previous accounts, the pieces are entered one
at a time by Red and Black alternately;probably an earlier form of the game.) It ispermissible to replace a pawn with a piece andto redeploy the pawn on a vacant square in
one’s territory. There are restrictions on Black
who would otherwise be at a considerable
advantage. For example, Black may not put arook on the ﬁle on which the red king stands,
nor may he enter both rooks on the same ﬁle if
Red objects.
Red starts. The object of the game is tocheckmate the opponent’s king. Check must
be announced. There is no stalemate (a player
must allow his opponent a move) but perpetual
check and draw by repetition of position are
possible. There are involved rules for theendgame, which parallel in several respects
those for Thai chess, that are designed to limit
random play. These include a requirement that
K and R must mate a bare king in 16 moves or
the game is drawn. However, if the lone kingis in any of the marked corners or on one of
the central squares (d4,d5,e4,e5; known as ‘thefour squares of the death of the king’) this iscalled ‘5 moves in 4 squares’ and the counting
does not start until the defender’s 5th move.
Murray illustrates a board in which thesesquares are marked, his Burmese informants
suggesting the markings were ‘ornaments’.
There are also detailed guidelines dealing withtransgressions (example: ‘a player who sweeps
away the pieces before a game is finishedmust be declared the loser’).
A total of 33 starting positions is recordedof which eight are given emphasis. It isnoteworthy that not one of the ‘favoured
positions’ given by European writers is
mentioned. A 1989 publication Myanmar
Traditional Chess adds eight new positions.
The king is usually placed at f2 or g2 (c7/b7)with an elephant on the square in front and aknight on an adjacent square. If the king isplaced on the first rank, it is always on the c or
f ﬁle. The general is almost invariably
stationed at e3/d6 looking straight through thegap between the pawn lines, and is always
adjacent to an elephant except when replacinga pawn. (There is a Burmese saying thatelephant and general should never be
separated.) Except when in the corners, therooks tend to be close to each other.
Of all the regional variants, Burmese chesscomes closest to a war game. Despite theshortage of long-range pieces, the proximity of
the hostile pawn lines ensures early battle
whilst the time-consuming fortress-building of
shogi is here achieved at a stroke. On theminus side, Sittuyin is a game of limited
strategy.
[Text slightly revised. David actually wrote‘Sittuyin enjoyed a brief revival in the 1980s’
and in a letter to a correspondent he reported
not having seen the game in play when he lastvisited the country in 1987, but it would
appear that there has since been a recovery.
His files contain photocopies of several pages
from an unidentified book in Japanese which
include two photographs of a well-attended
tournament apparently held in 1998, an
accompanying manuscript translation refers toan all-country tournament with 24 players ofsittuyin and 40 of European chess, and most of
the players in the photographs appear to bein the 18-30 age group. The book also includes
a copy of the frontispiece of the book by
Shwei-gyin U Bha, and the figures ‘1923’ aredistinguishable within the accompanying text.]

268 Regional and historical games
Makruk, also known as Thai Chess. Origins,
including origin of name, unknown.
According to Murray, pre-dates Burmese
Chess with which it has clear affinities. It isestimated that two million Thais know at least
the rules as against five thousand who arefamiliar with orthochess. Masters are known
as sian (god). Living chess displays are
popular: a move is executed to music in aseries of dancing movements and there is
traditional duelling when a capture is made.

Board 8x8 uncoloured; 16 men a sidecomprising 1 x Khun (lord, moves as
orthochess K), Met (fruit-stone, one squarediagonally); 2 x Rua (boat, as orthochesss R),
Thon (?nobleman, one square diagonally or
straight forward, in other words as Burmese
elephant), Ma (horse, as N); 8 x bia (cowrie,as orthochess P but promotes on rank 6 andonly to met. Falkener allows the K on its firstmove the privilege leap of a N and the met adouble step; Murray also gives this rule, butallows the met to move only e1-e3 (d8-d6) asin Medieval Chess. Subsequent writers like
Gollon repeat these rules, but privilege moves
are unknown in the modern game. Capture bydisplacement; no castling. Tedious endings are
avoided by a rule that when a player is withoutmajor pieces (R,B,N), the other player must
mate in a prescribed number of moves,according to the major pieces remaining tohim, or the game is a draw: 2 x R = 8 moves;
1 x R = 16 moves; 2 x T = 22 moves; 1 x T =44 moves; 2 x N = 33 moves; 1 x N = 66
moves. These stipulations take no account ofmets. Stalemate is a draw. The pawns are
sometimes cowrie shells and are commonly
shown as such in indigenous diagrams; they
are placed mouth-down in the array and areturned over (mouth-up) on promotion toindicate their new rank.

The opening is usually a sedate affair due tothe lack of any strong diagonal-moving pieceor open files on which to operate. Both sides
tend to avoid contact until development iscomplete. The KN usually moves in front of
the K whilst the other N moves alongside or at
f3 (c6). The met commonly goes to e3 (d6) via
f2 (c7), facing the enemy king whilst the thons
move up next to the knights. Both players thenadvance on their right against the opposing
king with the idea of forcing an open file.
Books are readily available. There is no
uniformity as regards notation: both thedescriptive and the algebraic are in use. In thealgebraic, it is usual to use arabic numerals forranks, Thai numerals for files.
[Because the thon has the move of the
Burmese elephant, I have used the elephantsymbol in the diagram, although the actual
meaning of the word ‘thon’ is apparently quite
different. David’s first edition included some
speculations that shogi might have borrowed
from makruk, specifically as regards theplacing of the pawns on the third rank and thereversal of the cowrie shell to show
promotion, but these are relatively superficial
points and the countries in between appear tohave played games of the xiangqi family.
After I had started work on the present edition,
I received a message from Peter Michaelsen
suggesting that the rules may have beenrevised in recent years to reduce the number ofdraws in master play, but I know no details. In
the absence of other pieces, three mets (not allon the same colour) are needed to mate a bareking; K+2M is only a draw, as is K+N+M;
K+T is an easy win if the defending king canbe kept away from the attacking side’s
corners, but only a draw if it can reach one ofthem. Against this, the nearness of thepromotion rank means that a passed pawn canpromote and add its weight to the attack much
more quickly than in orthochess, and once a
breach has been made, the defender’s pawns,
being already on the third rank at least, canmore easily be got at from behind.]According to information available on the website of the Khmer Institute in 2004,
Cambodian Chess, also known as Ok, isessentially makruk with two privilege moves:
an unmoved K can make a sideways N leap
(from d1 to b2/f2, e8 to c7/g7) though not toIndia and the rest of Asia 269
get out of check, and an unmoved met canadvance two spaces though not to capture.
There are also differences of detail in the rules
regarding the number of moves allowed tomate a bare king. In an alternative version
called Ka Ok, ‘popular in ancient times’, thefirst player to give check wins.
[Text revised. The first edition contained a
description, attributed to P. A. Hill, of adifferent game, but this has been challenged
and perhaps I should quote directly from thesource David used. This was a photocopy of a
typed letter from John Gollon to Philip Cohen,
25 February 1975, the relevant part of whichreads as follows (typography adjusted but text
verbatim):‘On the subject of Eastern chess variations,
I received in 1969, from a U.S. serviceman
serving as an interrogator in Saigon, avariation of chess which he obtained details
about from a Cambodian born guerrilla officer
he was questioning.
‘The transliteration and translation of thepiece names and their positions (for “white”)
are:‘Chhwiekinge1‘Ta Hien
official
d1, f1‘Tam Mai elephant c1, g1
‘Sheh
horse
b1, h1‘tuk [sic]boat
a1, i1‘Trei
fishfourth rank filled‘The game is played on the points of a [sic]eight by eight, uncheckered board. The horse
moves as the standard knight; the boat, as therook; the king, as the standard king; theofficial, one square at a time diagonally, but
captures only forward diagonally; theelephant, one square at a time in any direction(like king) but may not capture straightbackward nor diagonally backward; the fish
moves one square at a time forward until itcrosses the center line (on its second move), at
which point the piece is flipped over and canmove as a king anywhere on the board.
‘The pieces, my informant noted, are little
statues except for the fish, which are irregulardisks marked differently on either side so thatpieces which have crossed the center line andhave been flipped can be distinguished. He did
not know the bare king nor stalemate rules.
‘At the time, I boiled over with enthusiasm

about this ackward [sic - backward?
awkward?] little game, viewing it either as alink between the Chaturanga and Chinese
Chess forms, or as a blend resulting from themeeting of the two traditions (Thai and
Burmese Chess, say, still are more closely
linked to Chaturanga-like games, while
Chinese Chess is the chess of Vietnam).
‘In either event, I thought the gameextremely fascinating and valuable. I have notparticularly changed my mind.
‘The correspondent later expressed someconcern that he may have been mistaken insome details. I have never been able to checkwith an official Cambodian source. So there
could be some errors - then again, perhaps
there are none.’
The name ‘P. A. Hill’ has been added as amanuscript annotation to the words ‘U.S.
serviceman’.
I do not know whether Gollon was
eventually able to check with an official
source, but no other confirmation seems tohave come to light, and a recent paper
Kambodschach / Work in Progress zur
Geschichte des Schachspiels in Kambodscha
by Bernd Ellinghoven (Kambodschanische
Kultur 8, Berlin 2003, pages 90-122) mentions
the makruk game at some length, with
contemporary photographs, and the Hill gamenot at all. The nearest approach to the latter isa photograph captioned ‘Kampot 2003, Hotel
Phnom Kamchay’ which shows some makruk
men on an 8x8 board with palaces marked as
for xiangqi, but this has some curious features
and appears to record a display carelessly
assembled for tourists rather than a position
from a genuine game (there are no players
within shot, and some of the men are on theintersections, some in the squares, and some innondescript positions).
It would therefore appear that whatever else
was being played on the streets of Phnom
Penh in 2003, the Hill game was not, andthe authority for its existence appears to
reduce to a single informant whose statements
are at variance with all other known
testimony. I have therefore taken it on myself
to remove the reference to it from the main
entry, and to mention it only in the present
editorial note.]

270 Regional and historical games
29.4 Malaysia and Indonesia
Batak Chess. The game as played by the
Batak people of Sumatra. Board 8x8
unchequered; usual men with same names as
in Malay Chess. Kings stand on left of queens,
otherwise standard array. The KP, if it moves
one square initially, retains the two-square
option on its second move (e.p. possible). The
K may leap two squares in any direction(including N move) but only if unmoved;
thereafter normal. Castling allowed but in two
moves, not one. Promotion is complicated andcan differ from region to region. A pawn
makes a single backward diagonal move aspart of promotion, termed ‘gelong’. If White
has Pc7, he can play c8(Q) and then move tod7, capturing any Black man other than a K;
however, if opponent’s K is on d7, it is not incheck (play is now c8(Q)+). A pinned piecehas no powers. Discovered mate (‘ares’) is a
draw! A handicap, known as ‘tepong’,
requires a player to mate on one of the four
central squares. There is a small problem
literature, problems being composed (often in
twin form) as a challenge for stakes. (Arminvan Oefele, Das Schachspiel der Bataker,
1904, also Jaarboek 1931 van den
Nederlandschen Bond van Probleemvrienden)

Malay Chess, also known as Main Chator(‘Chaturanga game’). Established in the Malay
peninsula before the 15th century. Essentiallythe same game as Batak Chess, the Bataks
being of Malay origin. Board uncoloured; long
diagonals marked. Standard array except that
Q stands on right of K. Rules varied from state
to state but had a common feature in that apawn promoted to Q only on the a- and h-files.
On any other file it then had to make one ormore moves backwards before promoting, therules being both complex and varied. En
passant, too, suffered from a diversity of rules.
The king had the right to move two squares (asQ or N) initially if he had not been checked,
and castling took two moves, the R being
moved first, but here again rules differedthroughout the peninsula. Skeat, for example,
whose observations were largely in Selangor,
stated in Malay Magic (1900) that the K could
only castle if had not been checked, ‘but over
one square only’. According to H. O.
Robinson (1904) a bare king could move as
any piece. Malay Chess was a casualty of the20th century, but may still be played in remoteareas. [Robinson wrote an article Malay Chessin the Cheltenham Examiner, 27 July 1904.]

29.5 Central Asia and Tibet
Alisher Navoi’s Great Chess. According to
Gizycki, the 15th-century Uzbek poet Alisher
Navoi described a ‘Great Chess’, played inCentral Asia in the 13th and 14th centuries, inwhich each side had king, two viziers,
elephant, giraffe, bear, camel, ruhbird, horses,
and pawns, starting in three ranks on a 100square board.
Timur’s Great Chess. 14th century.
Sometimes referred to as the ‘perfect’ or‘complete’ chess. Said to have been thefavourite game of (and even invented by)
Timur the Lame (Tamerlane) who scorned the‘little chess’ (shatranj). Acclaimed by Gollon
as ‘the most playable and most entertaining of
the early forms of Great Chess’. Board 11x10
with an extruded square on the right of eachplayer’s second rank. These were citadels: if aking could attain the opponent’s citadel it was
immune from capture. Apart from the usual

shatranj pieces, each player had a Wazir(moved one square orthogonally), 2 x
Dabbaba (two squares orthogonally, leaping
first square), 2 x Camel (3-1 leaper), 2 x
Giraffe (one square diagonally then three ormore squares orthogonally, no leaping), 2 x
Talia (as B but not to first square), 11 x P(move one square only). K, once in a game,
could change places with any allied piece on
the board. Each pawn was related to one of the
10 pieces and could promote only to thatpiece. The KP promoted to Prince (K without
royal powers). In addition there was an
Original Pawn. The OP had a curious
promotion cycle. (1) On ﬁrst promotion, it
remained immobile and immune from capture.
Player could deploy (move) it as a pawn to
any square other than one occupied by a K.
Any man of either colour on the square wasremoved. Object was usually to achieve a fork
but the removal of a strong piece seems moreIndia and the rest of Asia 271
pertinent. (2) If again reaching the 10th rank,
it achieved a dubious promotion to king’s
pawn with the same powers as in (1).
(3) If once more reaching the end rank, it
became a Prince (‘Adventitious K’). A kingsheltering in a citadel could change places
with a prince (either promoted KP or OP).
Forbes gives the array (a1-k1/k10-a10 andinwards, empty citadel squares adjoining k2
and a9) A-C-D-D-C-A, RNTGFKWGTNR,
11xP (odcbfkwgtnr), each pawn being related
to the piece with the corresponding upper-caseletter (‘o’ being the Original Pawn). Others arerecorded including ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’arrangements, the latter omitting the alﬁls andwith the KP on the second rank (Bland). A
feature of the array is that both a player’s
camels are confined to the squares of one
colour, the opponent’s to the other colour.
Hyde (1694) gives a somewhat similararrangement on an 11x12 board. The copyistof Timur’s biographer, b. ‘Arabshah, inillustrating the array (India Office MS 7322),
filled the vacancies, for what reason is notknown, with new pieces: lions, bulls and asentinel with their respective pawns, andreplaced the wazir with a crocodile. The
moves of these additional pieces (if they had
moves) are not recorded.
Mongolian Chess, also known as Shatar. It
seems likely that the variants indigenous to
Mongolia and Central Asia described by
Murray and van der Linde have been replacedin many areas by orthochess as the result ofSoviet cultural penetration. However, recent
sources suggest that they have yet to beeradicated. Articles by S. Kondratev inShakmatny Listok (1931) describe theMongolian game as having an uncoloured
board with the pieces distinguished by red andgreen bases. The R is represented by a chariot
or wheel, the B by a camel and the P by achild. The Q moves as R+K; no castling.
Positions of K and Q may be reversed in thearray, but kings always on same file; in analternative arrangement, the Ks face the Qs in
the array. QP (d or e) alone can move twosquares initially, and this is always the firstmove of both sides. (In some parts it ispermitted to move the KP two squares
instead.) A knight cannot mate (ignored insome parts); stranger is the fact that a

succession of B (Tuk!) and P (Tsod!) checks
ending in mate is a draw, but if during thesequence another piece checks, it’s a win.
Bare king is a draw.
The game described by Assia Popova (Jeuxdes Calculs Mongols, 1974), whilst agreeingin the appearance of the chessmen (above),offers ‘supplementary rules’ in which the N isaffirmed as the most powerful piece since oncompletion of its first move it becomes an
Amazon (Q+N) whilst a R that penetrates to
the 8th rank assumes the additional power of aN. According to Giadda Ricci (Mongolie traditions de la steppe, Musée de l’Homme
1983) chessplayers occupy a place of honour
in the community and are not obliged to risewhen their betters enter the yurt.
Hiashatar, also known as Mongolian
Great Chess, is a larger version. Board 10x10(unchequered), 20 pieces a side. The extra
pieces (+ pawns) are Bodyguards, standing oneither side of the king and queen. Bodyguards
move two squares in any direction but do notgive check. They influence the squares
adjacent to them. Any piece on a squareadjacent to a bodyguard, whether hostile orfriendly, may only move one square on its
next turn. A hostile piece (Q, R, B) cannot
capture a bodyguard directly but must firstmove to a square adjacent to it. It is not known
if the game is still played. (Material takenfrom a web site maintained by Lev Kisliuk,also photocopies of pages 110-2 of anunidentified book in Japanese)
Tibetan Chess. Murray quotes a 200-year-old
source which describes the game then playedin Tibet. Some of its rules at least are identicalwith the description of the game apparently
still played in Mongolia in 1931 (see above).
First pawn (usually QP) alone can move twosquares; castling allowed; bare king draws.
Shatra. Origins unknown. A game of the Altai
region, blending chess and draughts. Velyenin
Taushkanov codified the contemporary rules
in 1979 and the Presidium of the Central
Shatra Section published ofﬁcial rules in 1985.
The playing area comprises 62 squares madeup of the field (7x6 central area divided in two
by a ditch), two fortresses (3x3 squares ateither end of board), and two gates (single
squares linking the two). The central ﬁle272 Regional and historical games
through the fortresses and gates is known as
the big road. Each side has a king (ring), a
queen (triangle), 2 rooks (squares), 2 bishops(bars), and 11 shatras. Additionally, each side
has a temdek (cross) which is initially placedin the gate and serves as a marker.

Shatras move as chess pawns up to theditch, thereafter like kings, but neverbackwards. A shatra promotes on the backrank (3 squares) to any piece previously
captured; if none, it can move horizontally
until one is available. Pieces in the fortresses
are reserves and are brought out one at a time
during play by placing in own half of ﬁeld on
any vacant square except on the big road. If a
reserve makes a capture within its own fortressit must move into the ﬁeld on the next turn.
Shatras cannot capture within their own
fortresses. When the fortress is vacated, thetemdek is removed, which allows capturesfrom the ﬁeld back into the fortress. The kingcan move independently of the temdek. Kings
and shatras capture by a short leap (over anadjacent piece to an empty square immediately
beyond) in any direction. The other pieces
capture by a long leap (move over any numberof vacant squares and leap over an opposing
man to any vacant square beyond). Capturing
is compulsory except for the king, but theplayer can choose between alternatives; hecannot elect for the king and then opt not tocapture. If a second capture is available, thismust be made also, and so on. The same piececannot be jumped more than once in a
multiple capture. A pawn which promotes on
capturing must continue to capture as apromoted piece if a capture is available. The
aim of the game is to capture or stalemate theopposing king. (Personal communication)

Part 5
Games using dice and cards[The use of dice to add a chance element to chess is ancient, that of cards very much
more recent. We shall take ‘dice’ to mean anything capable of delivering a random
choice from a small number of possibilities, and ‘cards’ any set of things whose
contents are unknown until they are turned over.]Chapter 30
Dice games[Dice have been used from very early days to add a chance element to chess. They can of course
merely be used to choose an initial array or an opening sequence of moves, but that is a very
peripheral use. In the present chapter, they will be called on much more often.]
30.1 Using dice to determine the man to be moved
Medieval Dice Chess. One of the earliest
forms of chess, in which dice were used todetermine the man to be moved. The Alfonso
MS (1283) gives 6=king, 5=firzan, 4=rook,
3=knight, 2=fil, 1=pawn, with the requirementthat if a piece cannot be legally moved or noneof that type is on the board, the die is thrown
again. The game is stated to have been as
popular in the 11th century as chess. Severalof the games described in section 26.2 could
also be played with dice: Acedrex de las Diez
Casas with a seven-sided die, Grande Acedrex
with an eight-sided, Oblong Chess with a
cubic. In the last case, the values were 6=king,
5=firzan, 4=fil, 3=knight, 2=rook, 1=pawn,
and a player unable to escape check with thenumber rolled apparently lost. [Text revised.
David’s files cite various sources in addition
to those listed in chapter 26 (Addison, 100
Other Games to Play on a Chessboard,
Gollon, Chess Variations, Brace, An
Illustrated Dictionary of Chess). Those who
can read medieval Spanish will find atranscription of the relevant part of the
Alfonso MS on pages 488-9 of Murray.]Modern Single-Die Chess. With modern
men, the usual relationships are 6=K, 5=Q,
4=R, 3=B, 2=N, 1=P, but many permutations
have been employed. AISE (1978) used 1=K,
2=Q, 3=B, 4=N, 5=R, 6=P (Eteroscacco 16
and later). The first correspondence
tournament was held in 1979. Also played inconjunction with Progressive Chess. In Team
Dice Chess an organiser throws dice for Whiteand Black alternately. Scale as above but 6 =any move; castling is R move. If legal move
not possible, move king; if king not possible,
move pawn; if still not possible, move a piece
speciﬁed by the opponent. (Chess, May 1952)

Gaudeamus (Manfred Mittelback, early 20th
century?). Board chequered 8x8 with arraysquares a1-h1/a8-h8 numbered 17-11-15-1318-14-12-16 and a2-h2/a7-h7 numbered 3-5-79-10-8-6-4. These numbers correspond to all
possible totals on the faces of three cubic dice.
The pieces are discs, each displaying a piecesymbol and a number corresponding to that ofits array square. Usual men and array. On eachturn, three dice are cast and the player isobliged to move the man indicated. Castling
permitted on a throw of 16 (short), 17 (long),
18 (either). If a throw cannot be utilized, thedice are rolled again. There is no check andthe game is won by capturing the king. The
game is ﬂawed by the laws of probability.
Whereas the e-pawn can expect one move ineight, swiftly exhausting its mobility, the apawn and king will rarely stir. [Author’s rules
pamphlet, set out in such a way as to suggestthat it may have been intended as a patentapplication]
La Régence Dice Chess (originator unknown,
1934). The game practised by adepts at the
Régence in Paris used two dice with the playerchoosing between them (if neither playable,
the move was lost). The game had a curious
feature: the die values for B and N werereversed (2=B, 3=N), whilst only double-6(a 1-in-36 chance) permitted castling.
Inexplicably, a K was mated if the only escapefor it was to capture a non-checking man.
(L’Action Française, 16 July 1934)
Las Vegas Chess (Art Gamlin, early 1960s).
A form of Dice Chess dignified by Kenneth
Harkness in the U.S. Official Chess
Handbook, the variant has reportedly provided
commercial sponsorship for a number of chess278 Games using dice and cards
events in Nevada. Two cubic dice are used,
the twelve faces showing 3 x P, 2 x R, 2 x B, 2
x N, 1 x Q, 1 x K, 1 x free choice. Both dice
are thrown and the player must move one of
the men indicated. When a check is given, it isparried by any legal move at the defender’schoice after which dice rolls are resumed. ‘Asilly game in which skill plays next to no partat all’ in the opinion of Bobby Fischer (Boys’
Life, August 1969). Vegas Fun Chess(George Koltanowski) differs only in minor
detail. (Chess, September 1964, also Chess
Variant Pages)
Buczko’s Dice Chess (Anthony Buczko,
1970s). Board 8x12; standard array with amarker placed at the side of the board between
6th and 7th ranks. Three cubic dice are used;
two are normal and the third has an extra 1
instead of a 5 (faces 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6). A player
on turn casts all three dice and may electwhich type of piece to move. Pawns can move
up to three squares initially. A double or triplet
requires that that man is moved two (three)times. Thus a roll of 1, 3, 3 permits the player
to move either a pawn or one bishop twice. If
a player rolls a double (triplet) but can only
move the designated piece once (twice) thewhole move is lost. If a player cannot move,the marker is shifted one rank towards him.
There is no check: a player wins if he captures
the king or if the marker crosses the
opponent’s base line. Another version permits
check (win by checkmate) and allows theplayer in check to make any single move or
capture to escape the check without throwing
the dice. The queen is relatively weak whereas
the pawns are active. It is often better todeprive the opponent of one type of piece (sothat the dice number cannot be used) rather
than to go for material advantage. Buczko alsosuggests a 10x10 game with two extra knights
and pawns on each side played to the same
rules. (Originator’s rules pamphlet)
Sui-Chess (J. R. Weddle, 1973). Chess by
yourself. At each turn, roll a die: 1 = ﬁles 1, 2
or 3 (from left of each player), 2 = files 2, 3 or
4, and so on to 6 = files 6, 7 or 8. You mustmove a man on one of the three ﬁles indicated.
If there are none, roll again; if in check, do notroll but get out of check in normal way.
Castling permitted if King’s ﬁle indicated.
(Letter in Chess, June 1973)
Novak’s Dice Chess (Paul Novak, 1977). Fivemoves are played by each side under normal
rules. From then on, a die roll determines thetype of man to be moved (castling is a Kmove). If the player has no man of that type,
he rolls again, but the game hinges on aunique rule: if he has one or more men of the
stipulated type and cannot make a legal movewith any of them, he loses. A fun game withquite a lot of skill apart from calculating theodds. Freedom for the pieces is everything.
[Index sheet for the game missing fromDavid’s files.]30.2 Other uses of thrown dice
Tibetan Dice Chess. An unsubstantiatedsource mentions an ancient 11x11 game with
14 men a side in which a die inﬂuences but
does not dominate play. The name, originating
it is said in Italy, is derived from the putative
fact that from about the 13th century sets werecarved by Indian and Nepalese ivory workers.
(Games and Puzzles 27)
Brunner’s Game, also known as ZeigerSchach and Turntable Chess (Erich Brunner,
1924). The Swiss problemist and games
inventor, in common with many of his
contemporaries, deplored the fact that
advances in chess theory had placed apremium on memory at the expense of original

thought. This variant, a creative leap from his
Free Chess, invalidates both opening andendgame knowledge. Brunner’s radical
solution requires that the powers of the pieces
change in every game, and can even change
after each move within a game. The pawns areunaffected however, and behave exactly as inorthochess.
Each player has eight small boxes, open at
the top, numbered 1-8. There are 16 cubes(dice), that ﬁt snugly in the boxes, of which 8
are white and 8 black, representing the pieces.
On one of the faces of each die the piece isshown with lines indicating its normal
movement; on the other ﬁve faces, eachdifferent, its movement is modiﬁed. The

Dice games 279
pawns are set up normally and the boxes arearranged in sequence 1-8 from left to right on
the rank nearest each player. Each player takes
all the dice of his own colour. One player casts
his dice which determines the power of thepieces for the game; the second player rotates
his set of dice to correspond with those cast.
White then places one of his dice (pieces) inany box on his ﬁrst rank (i.e., randomized
array), orientating it as he pleases to face
forwards, backwards, left or right in order tomake the best use of the piece’s directional
powers. Black must then take hiscorresponding piece and drop it in his box on
the same ﬁle, but again selecting theorientation. Next, Black places a piece in an
empty box and White copies, and so on until
the array is complete. Thus despite the chancefactor of the dice roll, both players have equal
forces in an identical array, orientation of thepieces apart. Play is as orthochess with two
important rule changes: pieces can only moveas indicated on their exposed faces; and after
moving a piece the player may turn it to facein any direction. Brunner did not mention
pawn promotion but a common-sense rulewould allow promotion to any piece in thearray (with appropriate movement factor). The
purpose of the boxes is so that players canrepeat a game with identical forces if they sowish. If this facility is not required, the boxes
can be dispensed with. Boyer pointed out(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)that if the players chose not to oblige one
player to copy the other then not only would
the number of possible opening arrays, alreadyastronomical, be multiplied, but an extra skill
would be introduced into the game. Brunnersuggested that instead of dice, tiles could be
used showing directions of movement, aconcept realised a half-century later in thecommercial game Ploy. (Hans Klüver, Das
Brunner-Buch)
Toss For Next To Play Chess (origins
unknown). A coin or die is used to determine
who moves next. This is essentially the sameas A.C.’s card game (see next chapter), exceptthat the odds do not change as the cards areused up. (Les Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Crazy Chess (said to be of Dutch origin, dateunknown). Three standard dice are used, andtheir spots totalled. The players then obey theappropriate one of a list of actions previously
drawn up. If no legal move is possible, theplayer has a free choice. (Notes apparently
deriving from personal communication) [Anote on David’s index sheet for the gamereads ‘per Steve Boniface’, and the list ofactions in his Encyclopedia files gives 3/18
change sides, 4 forward move, 5/9 pawn
move, 6/8 move to the right, 7 rook move, 10king move, 11 knight move, 12 bishop move,
13 move to the left, 14 queen move, 15
backwards move, 16/17 two moves. In an
accompanying note, he is critical of some ofthese and says that they could be varied withadvantage, but there is nothing to prevent
intending players from experimenting.]
Chuck-A-Chess (Proprietary game, Chexi
Games Ltd; Peter Costa, 1987). Each player
has four dice, each die depicting one of eachtype of chessman on its faces. In addition,
there is a doubling die for gambling. Fourdifferent games are given. In all games, two or
more dice are rolled, the player choosing
between them. Certain combinations earnbonuses such as an extra move. (Variant
Chess 12)
Chess=Izer(Proprietary
game,
Fred
Pennington Jr, 1989). Two identical
decahedral dice depicting chessmen (4xP, K,
Q, R, B, N, Free choice). Rules for eight chessgames variously modified by dice rolls.
(Carbon copy of article by L. U. Dikus
annotated ‘Pöppel-Revue next issue’, 1990)
Turncoat Chess (J. Leistiko and F. Truelove,1990). Usual array. After each move two
eight-sided dice are thrown, one giving a file,the other a rank. If the indicated square is
occupied, the man on it changes sides
provided there is a previously-captured man of
the right colour to replace it. If not, nothing
happens. (Variant Chess 24)
Dicey Dropsy (Ian Richardson, 1994). Normal
board and men, and in addition each player
has five ordinary dice and one special die (theoriginator uses a backgammon doubler). The
faces of the ordinary dice denote men, those of
the special die denote regions of the board(first two ranks, first four ranks, anywhere,280 Games using dice and cards
first two files on left, first four files on left,
anywhere).
The game has two phases. In the ‘drop’
phase, White throws one die plus the special
and places a man accordingly, Black does thesame, White throws two dice plus the special
and places two men, Black does the same,
White throws three dice plus the special, andso on. Bishops must not be placed on the same
colour, pawns not on the first or last rank.
Multiple checks are allowed, and the kingmust be placed at drop 4 if it has not alreadycome up. If a player has already placed allmen of the kind specified, that part of the drop
appears to be lost (this is not explicitly statedin the source but is implied by the sample
game given).
In the ‘move’ phase, White starts with one
move, and he must get out of check if he can.
If he cannot, and Black can, he loses; if neithercan, the game is drawn. Black plays one movesimilarly, then White plays two moves, Black
two, White three, Black three, and so on.
During this phase, giving check before the endof a player’s turn terminates the turn. Games
tend to be short, and the originator claims that
there is a good balance of luck and skill.
(Variant Chess 15) [Text editorial]
Skock (Swedish, inventor not known). Board
8x8 with two sets of chessmen. Players set up
their pieces (usual arrangement) on the firsttwo ranks and their pawns on the next two sothat the board starts full. Two cubic dice areused. On one die the spots 1-6 correspond to
P-N-B-R-Q-K respectively, on the other theyequate to the number of consecutive moves(player chooses which is which). Capture thefirst king normally, mate the second to win.
Kings may not pass over threatened squares.
(Variant Chess 21) [Text completed
editorially]
Conflict Chess (Derick Green, 1997). Usualarray. Four marked squares (c5, d5, e4, f4) aredesignated terrain squares. Pawns may move
one square diagonally forward in addition totheir notmal powers; K moves as Q and there
is no castling. K and Q are Leaders and both(plus any pawn promoted to Leader) must be
eliminated to win (so no checking). Other
pieces are Officers. A pawn promotes to
Officer on the end rank and an Officer to
Leader. Pieces may move onto but not overterrain squares. Each man has a combat
strength, used in attack or defence. Men may
combine strengths. Both players roll a cubic
die and add their respective combat strengths
to determine the victor. (Variant Chess 25)
Piece-Eater Chess (Peter Aronson, date notrecorded) Standard set-up with Piece-eater on
d4. Each player has 1xR, B, N and 3xP in
reserve. P-E moves like K after each move (aneight-sided die can be used to determinemove). P-E treats board as a torus but cannot
move next to a K. Piece in reserve can be
dropped on player’s first rank, pawn on
second, instead of moving. P can promote to
R, B or N on 7th, Q on 8th rank. (Manuscript
notes presumably deriving from personalcommunication)

30.3 Using dice other than by throwing
Anticipation Chess (Raymond Pink, 1981)
Each player has a chess die and cup. An
ordinary die can be used substituting P, N, B,
R, Q, K for the spots 1-6 respectively. Usualarray. Both players decide which man they
will move on their ﬁrst turn and set the die
appropriately (1 or 2, i.e. pawn or knight)
under the cup. Each player’s turn consists ofthree parts: (1) Reveal the die; (2) Move a manof the type shown; (3) Decide on the man it isplanned to move on the next turn and adjust
the die secretly under the cup. Castling is a K

move. If a player is unable legally to move thetype of man chosen, the move is forfeit andonly steps (1) and (3) are enacted. If a player
is unable to counter a check, the king is left incheck. He remains in check for as many turns
as are necessary to break the check or until heis checkmated. A player whose opponent is incheck may add an additional check or makeany other move that his die selection allows.
The skill of the game, chess apart, lies inknowing when to bluff and how often.
(Author’s explanatory document)Chapter 31
Card games[While the use of dice in conjunction with chess is ancient, the earliest use of cards appears todate back little more than a hundred years. However, many such games have appeared in recent
years, including a 25-game compendium ‘Karten Schach’ which is given a section to itself.]
31.1 Games using cards to represent chessmen
Card Chess [Ramsden] (Proprietary game,Sherratt and Hughes; Herbert Ramsden, 1899).
Board 6x3. Each player has 12 cards
representing the usual chess pieces plus fourpawns. Array side-to-side rather than top-tobottom: White Kb2, Na1/a3, Black Ke2,
Nf1/f3, rest of cards in hand. Kings do not
move, pawns move one square orthogonally inany direction and capture one squarediagonally in any direction, moves of otherpieces are orthodox. The aim is checkmate. A
move consists of playing a card from hand or
moving a man (card) on the board. A card may
be played or moved on top of an existing cardof either colour. If played from hand, the card
must be of at least equal value to the piececovered. The scale of values is Q, R, N, B, P.
A covered card has no powers. The kingcommands adjacent squares: if an undefended
hostile man is placed next to the king it can be
captured (king does not move). Fool’s mate isgiven as 1 Nb3 N(either)d2 2 Nc1. Any card
played to cover the attacking knight will be
automatically subject to capture by theattacker’s king. (Notes annotated ‘BL:
7915.aaa.67’, presumably a British Library
shelfmark)to capture (checkmate) the K. To start thegame, White plays his K card to any square in
the arena, Black likewise to any square in thedomain, and each player puts a card (not his
cardinal) in his safety box. Thereafter a moveconsists of one of three actions: playing a cardfrom hand into the safety box (if unoccupied),or moving from the box to the arena, or
moving a card already in play. The full rulesof this unusual game are fairly elaborate.
(Photocopy of manufacturer’s rule sheet)

Card Ches (Proprietary game, Card Ches Inc,
1974). Described as a game of planned
strategy. Each player has 11 cards, depicting
King, Queen, Cardinal (B), 2 x Fort (R), 2 x
Cavalier (N), 2 x Guard (moves one squareorthogonally, captures one square diagonally),
Scout (moves and captures one squarediagonally), Jester (moves and captures one
square orthogonally). The playing area is 5x4,
made up of a 4x4 Arena and a 1x4 Domain,each accessible to both players, plus a onesquare Safety Box for each side. The object is

Xiangqi Cards. In Korean Games, Stewart
Culin records a number of different packs of
xiangqi playing cards all from S. or S.E.
China. The cards were usually in four colours(allowing for up to four players), each
depicting a piece. The pieces were duplicatedand one or more jokers were sometimes
included. It is not evident what games wereplayed with these packs but it seems likelythat they were used at times to introduce achance element into xiangqi, probably for
gambling purposes.

Express Chess (Proprietary game, Black Box
Inc; William Jemas, 1996). Games using 50card packs for chessmen. Players draw hands,
deal out chess positions on a notional board,and play them out with modifications of thenormal chess rules. Cards carry pictures ofwildlife, presumably for visual appeal.
(Variant Chess 35) [Text editorial]
Cardmate (A. Derzhanski, 1999). Board
10x10; standard pack of 52 playing cards plus
four 1s, each rank representing a piece withdifferent powers of movement and capture(suits ignored); elaborate rules. (Chess Variant
Pages, also Variant Chess 36) [Text editorial]282 Games using dice and cards
31.2 Games using cards to influence play
Schachett (Proprietary game, Germany,
1890). Handsome playing cards of two suits,
black and white. Court cards are pieces, others
pawns. Rules blend cards and chess. (Gizycki)
Card Chess [A.C.] (‘A.C.’, 1902). The player
whose turn it is to move is dictated by the turnof a card. Shufﬂe standard pack of playing
cards and place face down. Cards are turned
over one by one. A red card requires a White
move, a black card a Black move. A player
giving check may continue to check. A
checked player unable to escape on his ﬁrst
available move is checkmated. When the packis exhausted it is reshufﬂed and used again.
Tom Braunlich and Rollie Tosh have proposed
two improvements: (1) A player whose king isin check may immediately move out of check(capture and interposing not allowed) before
the next card is turned; (2) A black and red
suit are removed from the pack. This
heightens the calculation of odds. (British
Chess Magazine, September 1903, also
Eteroscacco 53 and Nost-algia 322/348)
Chessmatch (Proprietary game, Wayne
Eberhart, 1965, marketed 1986). Pack of 65
cards depicting individual chessmen: 6 x K, Q,
R, B, N, 32 x P, 3 wild cards. Each player isdealt five cards initially and draws anotherbefore each move, choosing one of the six toplay and moving the corresponding man on
the board. There is no check or checkmate;capture the king to win. Castling with either K
or R card. The choice of cards to play and holdcalls for additional skill. (Notes apparently
derived from a set in David’s game collection)
Card Chess [Dunne] (Alex Dunne, 1974).
Standard pack of playing cards. Cards are
shufﬂed and each player draws one before
moving, the type of man to be moved being
determined by the card drawn: Ace = freechoice, 2-8 = P, 9 = B, 10 = R, J = N, Q = Q,
K = K. A player unable to move loses his turn.
A player in check still draws a card; if hecannot get out of check by moving the manindicated, he makes any legal move. K or R
permit castling. Stalemate only if player draws
K and is in stalemate. Card Chess[Nominated Pawns] (origins unknown) is

similar but the cards have different meanings:
A-8 = pawns a-h respectively, 9 = R, 10 = N, J
= B. A player unable to move forfeits his turn.
If in check, draw card normally; if unable tomove, proceed in following order: (1) movethe king; if not possible, (2) interpose; if notpossible, (3) capture checking piece. The
ending tends to be drawn out because of thenominated pawn moves. Scottish Card Chess(Peter Smith, 1970s) is the same except that acaptured piece must immediately be reenteredon any empty square chosen by the capturer.
This can give rise to some interesting tactics.
[Dunne’s game by personal communication;
information about the others two presumably
also derived from personal communication,
but no source material in David’s
Encyclopedia files]
Leveler Chess (Proprietary game, Christopher
Cagan and Mark Schynert, 1975). Eighteen
tiles (in effect, cards) marked 1-8 and N (twoof each), and nine new pieces which belong toneither side and are moved as dictated by thetiles: 6 x Duck, 2 x Matter Transfer Unit, 1 x
Leveler. Ducks are blocks which move information; they cannot be moved onto or
through and they block a check. Only theleveler can capture a duck. Transfer units,
which cannot be captured but can mutuallydestroy each other, can occupy a square withanother man. They transfer any man(including duck and leveler) from one unit tothe other. The leveler occupies four squares
and destroys anything except a transfer unit on
all squares it covers. The sequence of playwithin a turn is (1) make a normal move, (2)draw a tile for each extra piece in turn (one tile
for all the ducks), in order leveler, transfer
units, ducks, and move the piece one square in
the direction indicated (1 = S round to 8 = SE
as seen by White, N = no move). In the array,the leveller covers d4/d5/e4/e5, the transfer
units are on a5 and h4, and the ducks on
a4/b4/b5 and g4/g5/h5. There are a number ofdetailed rules to cover anomalous situations.
(Proprietor’s rules pamphlet)
Chance Chess (Proprietary game, Chance
Chess Co; Tino Giminez, 1983). A blend ofchance and chess. The game consists of a large

Card games 283
pack of cards (101) composed of 10 x K, Q, R,
B, N, 25 x P, Move any piece, 1 x Reshufﬂe.
The cards are shufﬂed and placed face down.
Before each move the player turns over the top
card. If he cannot move the man indicated, heloses his turn. If he can, he may either movethe man or elect not to move. The turn thenpasses to the opponent. If a king is checked,
the checked player ﬁrst plays a regular move(capture, interpose, move K) then draws a cardand moves again accordingly. Castling
permitted if a K card is drawn. Boldness pays,
and Lady Luck can be an indulgent partner.
Tournaments held include one in San Diego($2,000 prize money) won by a grandmaster.
(Nost-algia 292/3)
Tempête Sur L’Echiquier (Proprietary game,
Ludodelire; Pierre Clequin and Bruno Faidutti,1986). Chance-card chess. Handsome 72-card
pack, humorously illustrated, dictates events.
Five cards are dealt face down to each player
and the pack placed beside the board. Players
then examine their cards. During the game, acard may be played from hand at any time
subject to the instruction on it (e.g.
immediately after opponent’s move) and thecommand executed (e.g. move any of yourpieces like a knight). Once played, a card is
replaced from the pack so that each player
always retains ﬁve cards. There is no
obligation to play a card, and a normal chessmove may be made instead. One fundamental
rule: a card played that attacks the opponent’s
king (check, checkmate or capture) or hinders
its escape from check is annulled. The gamewas subsequently marketed in Germany as
Tshcach and in the U.S. as Knightmare
Chess. (Notes presumably deriving from a set
in David’s game collection)
Manchester (Proprietary game, Rostherne
Games; David Watts, 1991). Board 6x6; eachplayer has 10 cones (pieces) which are set upon the first two ranks, the end squares on thesecond rank being left empty. There are 36
cards, each depicting a chessman (six of each).
The pack is shuffled and placed face down,
and the top card is turned over. A cone not on
a card moves forward or back one square; itcannot capture. The player then takes the top
card, puts it in the square just vacated, andturns over the next card. A cone on a squarewith a card on it moves and captures as thechessman depicted (no pawn-two); it may
cross squares with cards on but not squares
with cones. A player moving a cone as achessman puts the next card on any vacantsquare. There is but one restriction: there may
not be more than three queens in either half ofthe board. Object is to capture all the enemy
cones, or to have the greater number of cones
left when all the cards have been placed.
(Proprietor’s rule sheet)
Chess Mess (Proprietary game, Chess Mess
Games, 1993). Novel board in form of eightspoke wheel, each spoke eight squares long;usual chessmen. Alternative arrays; gameplayed with or without spinner and cards.
(Manufacturer’s publicity material)
Chessmen-At-Arms(Proprietarygame,
MGM Information Services, 1996). Board 8x8
but the 81 intersections are used formovement. Usual chessmen but K, Q, Ns arecavalry, the rest (Rs, Bs, Ps) are infantry.
Initial array on the 16 intersections (3x3squares) in opposite corners of the board. Eachside has a castle (g2/b7). Elaborate rules using
playing cards, described as a simulation of
medieval warfare. Capture the K to win.
(Proprietor’s rules pamphlet)
Zany Chess (Joli Kansil, 1997). Required area chess set and a pack of playing cards (2jokers). The cards correspond to the chessmen
as follows: K=king; Q/J=queen; 10/9=rook;
8/7=bishop; 6/5=knight; 4/3/2=pawn. Acesand jokers have special meanings. Usual setup. On your turn you draw top two cards ofpack. If cards are of different suits andindicate different pieces, player chooses which
piece to move. If the cards are of the same
suit, player has option of moving both pieces
in either order or the same piece twice (if so
indicated). If cards of same rank, player may
choose a legal chess move or may move eachpiece once or one piece twice. An ace isjeopardy: move any threatened man (but you
cannot capture); If double jeopardy (pair ofaces), move two threatened men or make one
orthodox chess move. A joker is switch: you
can change positions of a pawn and any piece(including the king). Double switch allows
you to switch two pawns with two pieces or284 Games using dice and cards
play a single orthodox move. If nullo, (cannot
play either piece indicated) move a pawn; if
not possible, move the king. On a check,attacked player does not draw cards but makes
any legal move. Game named after inventor’sson, Zane. (Inventor’s rules pamphlet)

Chaos Chess (Proprietary game, Hammerdog;
Danny O’Neill, 2001). Pack of 80 chancecards for use with orthochess. Examples: (1)Remove two of your opponent’s and one ofyour own pawns; (2) Convert one of yourpawns to a knight. (Variant Chess 20)

31.3 Combination games
Pinochle Chess (David Moeser, 1970).
Unlikely wedlock of chess and pinochle. Dealas for two-handed game with cards
representing chessmen: Ace = R, 10 = N, King= K, Queen = Q, Jack = B, 9 = P. When a cardis played, player may move corresponding
chessman on board. First player to put down ajack or 9 has White. Both games must be
played to legal rules. Castling permitted onplay of either ace or king. Exchanging 9 fortrump indicator does not qualify for a pawn
move. Winner is ﬁrst to checkmate or score1000 points. (Nost-algia 282, Neue Chess 8)

Gambler Chess [Lawless] (Kevin Lawless,1994). Five-check chess (the first to give fivechecks wins), with the added twist that aplayer draws a card for each check and so
gradually builds up a poker hand. Games areplayed in pairs, each player having eachcolour once, and if each player wins one gamethe better poker hand wins; if the same player
wins both chess games, he may choose thebetter of his two poker hands. The holder ofthe winning hand is paid according to anagreed scale. (Variant Chess 16) [Texteditorial]

31.4 Karten Schach
Karten Schach (Proprietary games, Berliner
Spielkarten GmbH; Reiner Knizia, 2000). A
book of 25 original chess variants packaged
with a chess set, black and white counters, 28
cards and a 78-page rule book. Cards depict 4
x K, Q, R, B, N (two of each colour), 8 x P(four of each colour) plus four jokers (two ofeach colour). In all games you capture(not mate) opponent’s K to win. K may not
attack K. White starts. When cards are
exhausted they are reshuffled and a new stackformed.
Aristocratic Chess. Six cards, one of eachpiece type, are laid face up between theplayers. Six counters are placed nearby. On
turn, a player may move one or more (up tosix) pieces indicated by the cards. A counter isplaced on each man moved to avoid
duplication. At the end of a turn, the counters
are removed and are used again.
Feudal Chess [Karten Schach]. Each
player has a set of seven cards (one of eachpiece, two pawns) and seven counters. These
are laid openly. The player with the move has
two possibilities: (1) Play one of the men
indicated on a free card (no counter) and placea counter on it; or (2) Sacrifice a turn andremove all counters from his cards.

Proletarian Chess. Omit the pawns andjoker cards from the pack. Turn player takes
top card and places it face up on the discard
pile. Now the player must (1) Move a piececorresponding to the exposed card, or (2)Move a pawn, or (3) Pass.
Prophet Chess. White and Black each hold12 cards (two of each type) and in addition
White has a joker. White starts and places acard face up in front of him. Black does
likewise. This procedure continues until eachplayer has a line of seven cards. White’s lasttwo cards may not be of the same type. White
adds the joker as his eighth card. White now
makes the first move, the players always
moving a man corresponding to the next cardin their line. Finally, White plays the joker andmoves any man. The cards are now taken backin hand and a new line of seven is laid out, thistime Black having the joker as his eighth cardand starting. The process is repeated as manytimes as is necessary.
Psycho Chess. 24 cards (2 white, 2 black ofeach piece type) but colour irrelevant. Fivecards are dealt to each player, the remainder
forming a stockpile. At each turn, the players
simultaneously disclose a card. Highestranking card wins (normal order KQRNBP,

Card games 285
but P beats K). Winner either moves a piece ofthe rank he played, or a pawn, or he can pass.
If ranks are the same, neither player moves.
The cards used are discarded and the players
draw replacements to maintain a hand of fivecards.
In the next group of games all 28 cards areused (no jokers). Colours are irrelevant. Cards
are shuffled and placed in a stack face down.
Cassandra Chess [Karten Schach]. The
white and black cards are shuffled separately
and then laid out alternately round the board,
seven cards a side. A counter is placed outside
the board at the bottom right corner as amarker. White starts with any move and Black
likewise. White may now move the manindicated by the white card next to the marker
or pass. The marker is then moved onto thiscard when Black acts accordingly.
Cockayne Chess. Three cards are turned up
in front of each player. The player with themove has two choices. (1) Move a man
indicated by one of his cards. Then remove thecard and place it face up on a discard pile.
Finally, draw a replacement card from stock.
(2) Without moving, discard one or more
cards and replace them from stock. If bothplayers use up all their counters they are
replaced.
Ducat Chess. The players have eight
counters each exposed in front of them. Turnplayer exposes the top card. He has threechoices: (1) Play a man of the rank shown, (2)Pass, or (3) Surrender a counter and make any
legal move. Exposed cards are discarded
Eunuch Chess. Four cards are laid face up
in front of each player. Black starts byselecting one of his four cards placing it on aface-up pile in the middle and replacing itfrom stock. White now either moves or passes.
He may not play a piece of the type chosen byBlack. Then White selects a card and Blackmoves, and so on.
Gambler Chess [Knizia]. The player takes
the top card from the stack and moves theindicated piece. He can continue to draw cards
and move accordingly but can stop at any
time. If he draws a second card of the samerank he loses his turn. If he stops before that
he may use any or all of the reaveld cards tomove the corresponding pieces. Exposed cards
are removed from play.

Liar Chess [Knizia]. Turn player takes top
card of pack, looks at it, places it face downon the discard pile, and moves. Opponent may
challege or pass. In the event of a challenge,
the card is revealed. If the challenge is correct,
the move is retracted and the man moved isremoved from play. If the challenge fails, thechallenger loses his turn and the opponent
plays again.
Pea-Counting Chess. Each player has six
counters of own colour. Turn player draws acard, exposes it, and may play the appropriate
man.or pass. Alternatively, the player pays acounter to the opponent, draws another card,
plays the man indicated or passes. The player
may continue to buy cards until satisfied aslong as he has counters to pay for them.
Passing is always an option.
Pirate Chess. Turn player takes top card,
looks at it, places it face down on the discard
pile and either moves any man or passes. The
opponent now decides whether or not tochallenge the move. If he does the card is
exposed. If the challenge succeeds, the moveis retracted and the challenger has a free move(no card drawn), if it fails, the move stands,
the challenger loses his turn and the turnplayer has a free move.
Purist Chess. Draw a card and move theindicated piece (colour irrelevant) or opt to
pass. If you cannot move the piece indicated,
move any man or pass. Used cards form a
discard pile.
Skateboard Chess. The top card of thestack is exposed. The turn player now has two
options: (1) Move a man of the type indicatedor (2) Turn over a new card and either movethe piece indicated or pass. Players may use
the same card consecutively more than once.
Speculator Chess. The turn player draws acard and exposes it. He can elect to move a
piece of the type indicated or draw a second
card with the same option. This can be
repeated a third time but he must then move or
pass. Exposed cards form a discard pile.
In the following three games each player
begins with 12 counters. The winner of an
auction pays the amount of the bid to the
opponent.
Capitalist Chess. The turn player takes the
top card and exposes it. He now has two
options: he can pass, when the opponent

286 Games using dice and cards
receives the card gratis, or he can make a bid(zero bid permissible). If the opponent now
passes, the turn player takes the card. If the
opponent bids there is an auction. Bidding
continues until one player passes. The winner
now pays the loser the number of counterscorresponding to the final bid and moves therelevant piece or passes. The player who
passed in the auction exposes the next card.
Machiavelli Chess. Four cards are dealt
face up in front of each player. The player
with the move chooses one of his four cards
and places it near the stack, replacing it fromstock. There is an auction for the chosen card
(bids from nought upwards). The player withthe higher bid takes the card and pays theappropriate number of counters (if any) to the
opponent. The winner now plays a piece
appropriatre to the card or he can elect to pass.
The player who passed in the auction chooses
the next card.
Socialist Chess. The turn player tales the
top two cards and exposes them. The auction
is as in Capitalist Chess. Whoever wins theauction pays the opponent the number ofcounters bid and picks one of the two cards.
The player now moves the appropriate pieceor passes. The loser may use the remaining
card or pass. The loser turns up the next two
cards.
In the following games the players start with aset of six different cards (KQRBNP) of theappropriate colour face up in front of themunless stated otherwise. A card played isreversed. When all six cards have been
reversed by both players, they are again
exposed and available.
Clairvoyant Chess. Players take their cards
in hand. Both players select a card and place it

face down in front of them. White exposes his
card and either plays a man of corresponding
rank or he passes then retrieves his card andplaces any new cardfrom his handface down infront of him, for his next turn. Black then does
likewise.
Döppelgänger Chess. On turn, a player
may either make a normal move or select a
card and make an additional move with thepiece depicted. The card is then turned over.
Example: 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 when White threatens
to select his B card and play Bxf7,xe8
winning. However, Black can now choose his
P card and play d5,dxc4. Capture the K to win.
Generation Chess. Nine cards are dealt
face up between the players. The turn playerchooses any card (colour irrelevant), moves acorresponding man or passes, and turns thecard face down. When the nine cards are
exhausted, a further nine are dealt and playproceeds as before.
High-Flyer Chess. On turn, a player makes
a normal move or declares a card and moves
the piece indicated to any unoccupied square(no pawn to the end rank). The card is thenreversed. A card is also reversed if the player
has no men remaining of the rank indicated.
When the cards of both players are exhausted,
they are replaced.
Impostor Chess. On turn, a player makes anormal move or selects one of his cards andmoves any man in the manner of the piecechosen.
Proxy Chess. On turn, a player makes anormal move or exchanges the positions of
two of his own men. The card reversed is thehigher-ranking of the two men moved (order
KQRBNP). A pawn card allows the player toswap a pawn with any man other than the
king.

Part 6
Games with non-chess objectives[These final chapters on two-part games cover games where the win is achieved notthan by capturing the enemy king but by occupying his base, by reaching some othergoal before he does, by annihilating his force, by scoring more points according tosome scale, or whatever.]Chapter 32
Playing to reach a ﬁxed goal
[In this chapter, we look at games where the aim is to occupy a specific location rather than tocapture a particular man. There are two distinct classes: where each side is aiming for a separate
goal which is usually deep in enemy territory, and where both sides are aiming for the same
goal. A special case of the former is provided by football games, which are sufficiently
distinctive to have been given a section to themselves.]
32.1 Fixed goals in enemy territory
Helwig’s Military Chess, also known as
Estralography (J. C. L. Helwig, 1780). Oneof the ﬁrst war-games in which the board
displayed terrain features. Pieces represented
infantry, cavalry, artillery, transport, fortified
camps, stores; object was to storm enemy fort.
Later modiﬁed by M. C. F. Cranmer (1803).
Helwig was Master of Pages to the Duke ofBrunswick, who instructed him to evolve agame for the training of young men in the artof war. (Gizycki, also Le Palamède,
September 1846) [This is the game given in
the first edition as ‘Military Chess (I)’. That
edition also included a Helwig Chess on a1414-square board, which I am taking to havebeen the same.]
Jeu de la Guerre [Giacommeti] (François
Giacommeti, 1793). Described in 1801 as the
new game of chess. Giacometti expresses
surprise, not a little naively, that ‘Whatever
the origin of chess, it is astonishing that, eversince it has been played, nobody has thoughtof making any changes’. Dedicated to
Napoleon Bonaparte. Board 9x17, central rank
= river; 52 pieces a side (assorted military
personnel, artillery and defences), object is totake the enemy citadel. Interestingly there
were no fixed dispositions, the inventor
observing that it was natural that a General
should be free to deploy as he saw ﬁt - anearly if inﬂated example of randomized chess.
(Nouveau Jeu d’Echecs, ou Le Jeu de la
Guerre, 1801, also Le Palamède, 1837, pp
389-93)Jeu des Drapeaux (F. Darbo, 1823). The twosides represent regiments whose aim is tocapture the opponent’s ﬂag, which isimmobile, and return with it to base. Board
dimensions unknown. Each player has 11
pieces in addition to the ﬂag: 1 x Colonel,
Major; 2 x Officers, Grenadiers; 5 x soldiers.
Colonels and Majors move like a queen;ofﬁcers one square forward, straight ordiagonal, or one square straight back;grenadiers one square orthogonally andsoldiers forward only one square, straight ordiagonal. Capture by displacement. Array(centred): ﬁrst rank OMFCO, second rank
GSSSSSG. (Inventor’s book Jeu desDrapeaux)Croughton’s Hexagonal Chess (Thomas
Croughton, 1853). The first recorded variant
on an hexagonal board. 61-cell hexagonalboard; each player has 1 x General, 2 x
Colonel, Captain, 6 x Infantry. The Generalmoves as a Q, the Colonel likewise but up to
two squares only, the Captain (a junior officer
with enhanced powers!) like a rook along files
or like a knight. Pawns (Infantry) move
forward one cell in either direction with theoption of two cells initially. A pawn promotes
to ‘a more valuable piece’ which is placed on
its start cell. No capture can be madebackwards. Aim is to get the General to the
opposing General’s square. (Inventor’s book
Hexagonal Chess)
Jeu de la Guerre d’Orient (J. François Gilot,
1855). Based on the fall of Sebastopol(Crimean War) in which the allies (England,
France, Turkey, Sardinia), who had carried out
a ‘double check’ (double attack) on the town,
inspired the unique ‘double check’ stipulation

292 Games with non-chess objectives
for victory. Board 9x13 (a1 white); a total of
61 pieces plus two immovable ‘capitals’ Paris and St. Petersburg (each valued at 1143
points, half the value of the respective armies)- whose capture ‘with a double check’ is theobject of the game. The principal pieces are
Heads of State and the senior commanders; theallies include Napoleon III (who moves up to
four squares in any direction: value 72 points),
Queen Victoria (who moves appropriately as aqueen: 180 points), the Sultan of Turkey (up to
three squares in any direction: 54 points), theRussians include the Emperor Alexander II(72 points) and the Empress (180 points). The
points represent estimated strengths and haveno inﬂuence on the game; the award of 1143
points to each of the immovable capitals istherefore something of a curiosity. Each sidehas 9 knights, the allies 9 pawns and theRussians 18, an apparent injustice rectiﬁed by
the greater power of the allied knights (analternative game allows balanced forces).
Capture by displacement; pawn promotion toﬁle piece. Chess terms adopted; for example,‘j’adoube’, and an attack on the opponent’s
capital must be heralded by name (‘Paris’ =check). Frank Marshall was invited to takepart in an exhibition game at the Marshall
Chess Club, an event which may or may nothave taken place. (Author’s booklet Jeu de la
Guerre d’Orient, 1856)
Military Chess [Conder] (Proprietary game,
Mead and Co; Charles Conder, 1871). Inspiredby the Franco-German war of 1870. Board
12x12 of which two ranks formed a rivercrossed by a four-square bridge. Men 22 a side(various soldiers and artillery pieces). Captureof the enemy’s standard or planting one’s own
in the enemy stronghold won the game.
(Advertisement in the Westminster Papers,
1871)
Zodiac Chess (Proprietary game, Zodiac
Games; ‘Mercury in Virgo’, late 19th
Century). Round board 12x5 sectors; pieces
are named after heavenly bodies: K=Sun,
Q=Moon, Rs=Jupiter and Saturn; Ns and Bs
the other planets (omitting Mercury and
Neptune); Ps are satellites. The twelve sectors
are named after the signs of the Zodiac. White
wins if he gets a piece in Pisces, Black if inAries. [The source is a book or otherdocument with reference ‘(BL) CUP 700g.1’,
which I presume to be a British Library
shelfmark. The first edition included a second
game from the same stable, Copernican
Chess, which would appear to have used thesame or a similar board but to have beendifferent in detail: ‘Obscure winning
conditions’.]Land and Water (Proprietary game, c.1890).
8x8 board; 24 pieces a side representing
various land and sea forces which move andcapture as draughtsmen but can only take aweaker or equal adversary; object is to occupy
opponent’s back rank or to block him so that
he cannot move. (Manufacturer’s rule sheet
apparently found in the Bodleian Library)[Text revised]
The Jungle Game. Origins obscure; in theopinion of Bell, possibly a development of
xiangqi. Sometimes called Children’s Chessor Oriental Chess. Board 7x9 of whichb4-b6/c4-c6 and e4-e6/f4-f6 are ‘water’. Eightpieces a side, each a different animal.
Displacement
captureaccordingtoprecedence. Object is to enter opponent’s den(d1/d9). (Bell, Board and Table Games from
Many Civilizations) [I have also met the nameAnimal Chess. ‘Capture according toprecedence’ seems to be rarely employed inchess games, though Fourth Dimension(chapter 23) provides an exception. When
writing about the Jungle Game in Variant
Chess 40, I looked briefly at what might becalled Scissors, Paper, Stone Chess, inspiredby the childhood playground game (scissors
cut paper, paper wraps stone, stone blunts
scissors). A first essay (board 5x5, all men
move as kings, each player has a king andthree of each of the other pieces, a king cancapture and be captured by anything, othermen capture each other only in the cases
given) suggested that the game was playable,
and not without interest; a deeper investigation
might come to an exactly opposite
conclusion.]
Tugelia, also known as The Relief ofLadysmith (Proprietary game, T. and W.
White, 1900). Marketed six months after thelifting of the siege. The Tugela (sic) is a riverof Southern Africa on whose banks a number

Playing to reach a fixed goal 293
of major engagements of the Boer War werefought. Board 16x16; each player has 15 men:
5 cavalry (move as knights), 8 infantry (onesquare diagonally), 3 artillery (one squareorthogonally). Aim is to occupy opponent’s
citadel. ‘Prisoners’ taken by displacement.
[There is no source material in David’s
Encyclopedia files, merely the name of acorrespondent. The proprietors were notnecessarily being careless when naming thegame, since it is quite possible that thename under which the river appeared incontemporary news reports differed from thatby which it is known today.]Naval Chess (A. Teplov, 1908). Marine
kriegsspiel on a lattice board. Pieces
representing
naval
units
move
on
intersections.
Remotefromchess.
[Information presumably deriving frompersonal communication. There is no source
material in David’s ‘Encyclopedia’ files,
merely a manuscript note ‘Press-mark of theLeningrad library 38.45.5.985’. The placing of
the game in this section is merely an inference
from the word ‘kriegsspiel’.]The Game of War [Maxim] (Proprietarygame, Drueke; Hudson Maxim, 1910). Board
10x10 (a1 black) plus four aircraft bases
adjacent to and of the same colour as squares
d1/d10 and g1/g10. The squares f1/f10 are
Citadel squares and are appropriately marked.
Each side has 20 men. These are (chessequivalents) 1 x King (K), General (Q), 2 x
Mortar (R), Cannon (B), Cavalry (N), Aircraft(appropriately for the era, called ‘ﬂying
machines’) 10 x Trooper. Aircraft move only
once in a game to any vacant square where
they act as blocks to both sides (at that time,
strategists saw the aircraft’s primary role asthat of reconnaissance). Troopers move andcapture as pawns or draughtsmen. Captures
are compulsory for troopers who, if theycapture by leaping, must continue to capture in
the same turn if further captures are possible.
A trooper reaching the end rank becomes bothinert and immune from capture, acting as a
block precisely like an aircraft. Kings have noroyal powers and the object of the game is tooccupy the opponent’s citadel square for one
turn. The array parallels that of orthochess butwith d1/d10, g1/g10 empty and aircraft on

bases adjoining these squares. Note that the Ks
occupy the citadel squares. The game wassometimes played at the Marshall Chess Cluband is pictured in Marshall’s Best Games of
Chess. (Ye Faerie Chesseman)
Counter Chess (Karl O. Hill, 1960s). All men
move and capture like kings except that a man
may not capture a man taller than itself. Thus
kings, which have no royal powers, cancapture any man, but pawns can capture only
pawns; the powers of the other pieces dependon the set being used. Either the array is
randomized, the men being set up in opposite
corners of the board, or a starting position isagreed. The object is to get any piece to the
opposite corner square. (Originator’s rule
sheet)
Hexapawn was put forward by Martin
Gardner in The Unexpected Hanging (1969but largely repeating material which had
appeared earlier in Scientific American) as avehicle for the construction of an elementary
artificial-intelligence machine (the game itself
being described by Gardner as ‘trivial’). Board
3x3; three white pawns face three black
pawns, the object being (1) to advance a pawn
to the third rank, or (2) to capture all three
enemy pawns, or (3) to deliver stalemate.
Jacobs and Meirovitz (Brain Muscle Builders)extended the game to 4x4 and 5x5 boards withextra pawns. [Reference to Gardner material
added editorially]
Cu-Bono (A. E. Ball, 1969). Board 10x10.
Described as ‘a scientific mimicry of warfare’by its inventor. Each side has 20 pieces: 2
each of missiles, guns, tanks, airplanes andgenerals on the nearest rank, 10 ﬂags on the
next. Flags move like pawns with three-squareinitial option. Other pieces move either
orthogonally or diagonally over different
distances. Object is to occupy one of
opponent’s capital squares. Inventor’s
Diploma, Geneva 1971. Ex-President Nixon
and Prince Charles were lucky recipients ofsets. (Games and Puzzles 23)
Bombalot (Bruce Harper and Duncan Suttles,
1972). Board 8x8 with two additional squares
at either end of the board centrally sited (d0/d9
and e0/e9). The object is to get any two pieces

294 Games with non-chess objectives
into the opponent’s extra squares. A player
cannot occupy his own extra squares. The
usual men can be used (one rook must be
inverted) but they have new roles with odd
names and odder moves. Twekes (P) move as
K but may leap in any direction as
draughtsmen over own men and enemy Bomb,or over enemy men, which are captured. A
tweke cannot jump friendly and enemy men in
the same turn. Bishops (B) move exactly as
twekes but can combine jumps. The
Immobilizer (K) moves and leaps as bishop
but does not capture. Any enemy piece next to
it is immobilized. A tweke or bishop cancapture an immobilizer provided it starts its
move out of range. The Bomb (Q) moves likeK, cannot capture or be captured, and may bedetonated by the player at any time after
moving it or instead of a move. The detonation
destroys the piece and all men of either colour
within two squares of it (it thus covers 24
squares in the middle of the board). The
Detonator (N) moves as the immobilizer andhas two functions. If it lands on the enemy
bomb it immediately detonates it. Taking thedetonators as co-pairs (see Co-Chess inchapter 12), any men on co-squares aredestroyed and bombs detonated. The Tank (R)moves like a K, does not jump or capture, but
pushes adjacent men in direction of
movement. A piece pushed off the board is
lost; a bomb explodes before it is pushed off.
The Imitator (inverted R) copies the actions of
the last enemy piece moved. A man thatcannot move can commit suicide. Array (a1h1/a8-h8 and inwards, centred) ID-BoI-DTa,
BiTTTTBi, TTTT. The game has been played
from Vancouver to Nova Scotia and also in
Germany, but probably not often. (Chess
Federation of Canada Bulletin 19, November
1976)
Advice (Proprietary game, Inquot Ltd; Alick
Elithorn, 1976). Board 9x9; 13 men a sidemade up of 1 x Citizen, 4 x Lawyer,
Psychiatrist, Priest. Object is to occupy
opponent’s corner. Less like chess than it
seems. [Information presumably deriving froma set in David’s game collection]
Pharaoh’s Quest (Proprietary game, Protel
Games, 1985). Design award winner;
described as ‘Pharaoh and invading king battle

over Nile’s ancient riches’, but components(abstract pieces, chequered board) belie thebox-lid blurb. Board 44 squares in form of Z;
9 men a side. Pieces move as Q, R, N; object
is to capture opponent’s immovable towns.
(Die Pöppel-Revue, March 1989)
Alapo (Johannes Tranelis, 1982). Board 6x6;
men are squares, triangles, and circles, large
and small.

Small square pieces move one squareorthogonally in any direction, triangles one
square diagonally, circles one square either
orthogonally or diagonally (like a K). The
large pieces move in the same manner but
over any number of vacant squares (like R, B,
Q respectively). Capture by displacement. The
ﬁrst side to move any piece to a square on the
opponent’s baseline where it is not
immediately captured is the winner. (Koch,Spiele für Zwei)
Duell (Proprietary game, Parker Bros, 1984,
first published in U.K. in 1975 as Conquest).
Board 9x8; each side has eight dice arranged
on rear ranks in addition to a king. Dice arerotated from square to square (and may change
direction once during a move) according to
number displayed. Win by capturing
opponent’s K or occupying its array square.
(Spielbox, January 1985)
Artiﬁcial Intelligence (Proprietary game,
Richard Hazlewood, 1986). Board 8x8, 16
men a side: 1 x A.I., 2 x Executive, 3 x
Designer, 4 x Analyst, 6 x Programmer.
Object is to get A.I. to opponent’s A.I. cellwithout its being captured. Elementary andadvanced games have boards 7x7 (11 men aside) and 9x9 (18 men). (Proprietor’s rules
leaflet)Playing to reach a fixed goal 295
Chess 2000 (Proprietary game, Catalfa House;
T. Lezemore, 1986). Board 13x12, 26 men aside (1 x king, 2 x queen, rook, 4 x bishop,
knight, 13 x P). Chessmen are black and white
but have coloured bases. Board squares are insame pastel shades (six colours) arranged in asymmetrical pattern. A man of the same basecolour as the square it stands on can only be
captured by a piece of the same base colour.
Game is unique in that king can be captured
any number of times. Each time it is returned
to its base square, the occupation of which by
the opposing king wins the game. The kingmoves up to three squares in any direction andbecause it never leaves the board is a usefulattacking poiece. All other men move as inchess but no e.p. or castling. (Proprietor’spress release)
Rugby Chess [Sekatsky] (Igor Sekatsky,1986). The inventor, who is paralysed,
invented the game during a night of insomnia.
Board 10x10; 20 men a side, baseline (a1j1/a10-j10) NKQRBBRQKN. The object is topass (conduct) the pair of knights to adjacentsquares on the opponent’s first rank. Knights
cannot capture or be captured; kings move
only on squares of starting colour. Knights andbishops move only to adjacent diagonalsquares, the difference between them beingthat bishops can capture. The queen moves asa bishop and the rook as a rook but only on thesquares of the same colour. The pawns moveas chess pawns and so are the only men thatcan change the colour of their square.
Promotion is to bishop. Black draws if he canimmediately match White’s touch-down.
(Manuscript notes presumably deriving frompersonal communication)
Military Affairs Chess (Proprietary game,
David Games; Hoa Vinh Hua, 1987). The aim
is to capture the opponent’s castle, which,although concealed, cannot move. Little to dowith chess. [Information presumably derivingfrom a set in David’s game collection]
Admirals-Schach (Proprietary game, Reality
Games GmbH, 1988). Naval strategy gamewith little resemblance to chess. [David’s
Encyclopedia files contain only a proprietor’s
publicity sheet, and the verdict presumably
comes from a set he possessed or had seen.]

Ayanu (Proprietary game, Keller; Harald
Germer, 1988). Board 9x9 plus small space ateither end of e-file whose occupation is theaim of the game. Stronghold, akin to palace inxiangqi, covers six squares in either camp (d1f2/d8-f9). Tolkien-like theme. Each side has 9
men (equivalents in parentheses): 3 x Essa
(Q), 2 x Itta (B), 2 x Onnu (R), Ayanu (Q+N),
Urum (a sort of dummy). Each man is in
two parts, a base and a cap; the cap,
which indicates length of move permitted,changes during play. There is a formof displacement capture. [Information
presumably deriving from a set in David’s
game collection]
Galaxy Chess (Proprietary game, Reality
Games; Constantino Parselli, 1988). Space
board game with little relationship to chess.
(Proprietor’s publicity material)
Occupation (Julian Grafa, 1988). Board 8x8;
each player has 1 x General, Colonel, Major,
Captain, Lieutenant, 8 x Private; array(h1-e1/a8-d8 and inwards) GCPP, MC-P,--LP, PPPP. General as Q; Colonel as R+N;
Major as R or one square diagonally;
Captain as B or one square orthogonally;
Lieutenant as N; P moves one squarediagonally, captures one square orthogonally,both in any direction. On capturing an officer,a private is promoted to the rank of thepiece captured or any below. Captured
men may be exchanged; an exchanged
prisoner is restored to its original square
provided that this is vacant (a private is put
back on any of the eight P squares). Object is
to occupy, with any piece and for one move,
any square of the opponent’s Fortress(g2/h2/g1/h1, b7/a7/b8/a8). (Inventor’s rules
pamphlet)
Trinome (Proprietary game, Jocus S.A.; J. F.
Augey, 1988). Described as ‘between draughts
and chess’. Board 11x11; 15 men a side; 3Circles (move two squares in any direction, no
leaping), 6 Squares (one square orthogonally),
6 Triangles (one square diagonally). Capture
by displacement. Object is to get one ofeach type of piece in enemy’s camp
(efg1/efg11). The game has won three silver
medals at exhibitions. (Manufacturer’s rule
sheet)

296 Games with non-chess objectives
Chafts (Proprietary game, Rostherne Games;
David Watts, 1990). The most exotic of all thechess-draughts hybrids. Board 7x10, a1 black.
Each side has 7 draughtsmen, 6 cones, and aset of six chess cards representing the different
chessmen. White places his draughtsmen on
black squares of first two ranks with a cone oneach except the man d2. Black does likewise
but on the white squares (no cone e9). Each
player arrays his six cards in front of him.
Draughtsmen move diagonally forward only
and the object is to get one onto the
opponent’s back row and retain it there
unchallenged for one turn. Notice that since
the two sides start on opposite-coloured
squares, the draughtsmen can never threaten or
block one another. Cones move like chessmen
as described below. A turn consists of threeparts, taken in strict rotation: (1) Select a cardfrom those available (initially six); (2) Move acone like the chessman the card depicts;(3) Move a draughtsman (if possible). The
card is then put aside and when all six are
exhausted they are taken up and again arrayedin front of the player; thus every six turns aplayer has a choice of moving like any
chessman. Cones can move freely on and off
draughtsmen of either colour. A cone can‘capture’ another cone by changing places
with it but a cone not on a draughtsman cannot
capture one that is. Draughtsmen cannot be
captured. [Information presumably derivingfrom a set in David’s game collection]
Riga Chess (Eduard Riekstins, 1990).
Standard set-up but K is Gentleman, Q isLady. Neither can capture or be captured andthey have identical moves: like a king but not
to the square directly ahead. The object,inspired by Sekatsky’s Rugby Chess above, isto conduct the G and L to adjacent squares on
the end rank. Pieces of the same colour canunite and disperse at will. Combined pieces
have identities: R+N = Count; B+N =Horseman; Q+N = Amazon. White starts with
one move; thereafter players make two moves
a turn but the win must be achieved by asingle move. [Information presumably
deriving from personal communication; nosource material in David’s Encyclopedia files]
Chessence (Jim Winslow, 1990). Board 6x9;
immobile kings (in effect, citadels) at f1/a9,‘starting squares’ at d2 etc, blocks at a2 etc.
Each side has nine identical men. Six men oneach side are placed on the starting squares,
the remaining three being kept as reserves.

A turn consists of moving a man or
introducing a reserve on one of the player’s
unoccupied starting squares. The object is tomate the opposing king (in effect, to reach his
citadel). How a piece can move depends on its
relationship to another piece of the same
colour. If a piece is orthogonally adjacent toanother, either may move like a rook; if
diagonally adjacent, like a bishop; and if aknight’s move apart, like a knight. If it hasnone of these powers, it cannot be moved.
Kings are ignored for the purpose ofdetermining the powers of adjacent men.
Capture is by displacement. A player unable tomove loses the game. Blocked squares may
not be landed on, nor crossed except by aknight’s move. When moving, it is etiquette toannounce the role of the piece moved.
(Originator’s rules leaflet)
Isis (Proprietary game, Adam Godfroy, 1993).
Board 12x12; eight squares in each half aredesignated energy zones, two in each of fourcolours; each player has eight pieces, again
two in each of four colours; object is tooccupy opponent’s energy zones with piecesof the appropriate colour. (Variant Chess 22)[Text editorial]
Hexabeast, also known as Liu Chu (Ivan
Derzhanski, 2000). 70-cell hex board as in
Shafran’s game. Each side has 3 x Boar, Bull,
Cock, Dog, Horse, Ram. Complicated rules
governing movement; objective is to occupy
opponent’s home hex or to stalemate him.
(Chess Variant Pages) [Text editorial]

Playing to reach a fixed goal 297
Invasion (J.-L. Cazaux, 2001). Board 10x10
with centre 4x4 squares prohibited; play from
corner to corner; military pieces with slightchess connections. Object is to checkmate or
stalemate opposing HQ or occupy his homecorner. (Chess Variant Pages) [Text editorial]

32.2 Fixed goals in neutral territory
Jesön Mor. Mongol game (literally ‘Nine
Horses’). Board 9x9; each player has nineknights arranged on respective ﬁrst ranks.
Object is to be the ﬁrst to occupy the central
square (e5); usual displacement capture.
Presumably a player would have to occupy thesquare for one turn in order to win. (Assia
Popova, Jeux de Calculs Mongols, 1974)
Hexagonia (Proprietary game, John Jaquesand Son). Published in 1860 according to van
der Linde, and allegedly awarded two prize
medals in 1862, the game was in fact
published on 23 September 1864 andregistered at Stationers’ Hall the following
January. 127-cell hexagonal board, central celldistinguished. Each player has 1 x King, 2 x
Cannon (artillery), 4 x Knight (cavalry), 8 x
Pawn (infantry). The moves of the pieces are
not recorded. The object was to get one’s K
safely to the central cell. (Photocopy of what
appears to be a game box cover, alsomanuscript notes possibly from a library visit)
The Game of Coronation (George Mumby,1870). In an article (Westminster Papers,
1 December 1870), the unnamed writer(Mumby himself?) refers to earlier chessvariants noting that ‘as the only novelty
introduced was the additional intricacy, theysoon fell into merited oblivion’. The Game ofCoronation, he goes on, ‘although to someextent based upon Chess, is ... far superior to
the imitations referred to’. The board iscomposed of eight concentric circles, thecentre one containing the Crown. The circles
are divided by radial lines to form spaces
which are chequered. Each side has a 1 x
Prince, General, 2 x Colonel, Major, Captain,
8 x Soldier. The Prince (=king) must reach thecrown to win.
Kastellet (Proprietary game, Henry Smith,1892). 61-cell hexagonal board arranged sothat adjacent hexes abut left, right, and 30
degrees either side of forwards and backwards.
The central hex is known as the point andcannot be occupied. The aim of the game iscurious: to maintain a guard (‘cover’) of thepoint. A player, none of whose pieces could intheory occupy the point, and who cannot, on
his next turn, move a piece to cover it, loses
the game. Each side has 12 pieces which, with
their moves, are 5 x Flag (one hex diagonallyforward), 4 x Mace (to any adjacent hex), 3 x
Lance (to any of the six nearby hexes of thesame colour, assuming a normal three-colourchequering). In addition, when a flag reaches
the end rank it promotes to a Bar which theplayer puts on any vacant hex; thereafterneither player may cross or occupy that hex.
(U.S. Patent 521,737 of 1894) [Text revised.
The game had apparently been previously
patented in England, patent 13,662 of 1892.]
Krona (originator not noted, 1894). Board
9x9, each side having 8 Esquires, 8 Knights
and a Prince arranged in two ranks. Object is
to get the Prince (moves as king, immune from
capture) to the central square. Esquires moveand capture as pawns but with no two-square
jump or promotion, knights move and capture
one square diagonally. (U.K. patent 3,022 of1894)
Primrose Dames (Lewis Waterman, 1899).
Board 16x16, each side having 16 Dames(bishops), 6 Knights and 4 Members (kings).
The object is to get all of one’s members intothe ‘house’ (the eight central squares g-j/8-9).
Members do not capture, and if captured are
returned to their start squares. (U.K. patent
20,874 of 1899)
Chessword (Proprietary game, Waddingtons;
Walter Blady, 1960s, published 1972). Board
8x14; a letter of the alphabet is printed on 40of the squares. Each side has the usual chesspieces (no pawns) which move and capture as
in orthochess except that the king has no
special powers. Array (White): Ke2, Qc2,
Rb1/h1, Bd1/f1, Na2/g2. Black has the samearray (ranks 13/14) on the same-coloured
squares as White but with king on left of298 Games with non-chess objectives
queen. Players agree beforehand on a word
and the ﬁrst player to spell out the word bylanding on the appropriate squares in correct
order wins the game. A letter is only gained if
the player’s piece stays on the square for one
move - i.e., if it is not at once captured, when
the same one-move requirement applies to thecapturing piece. If the next letter required is
occupied by a friendly piece, the letter cannot
be claimed until the piece moves away and it
or another piece moves back on, or anothersquare with the same latter is occupied.
‘The most imaginative and refreshing - if no,
the only - new way to play chess since thegame’s invention’ claimed the publishers!
(Manufacturer’s rule sheet, photocopy ofboard)
Stakato (Proprietary game, Lukesch Spiele;
Robert Lukesch, 1987). Board 8x8 tiered witha1 lowest, rising a step at a time along ranks
and files to h8 highest (14 steps above a1).
Pieces are two kings and 8 cubic chess dice.
Object is to mount the throne (h8) with one’s
own king or trap the opponent’s king. Eachside has four dice depicting, initially andrespectively, Q, R, B, N uppermost, but they
can change (by rotating) during play. Each die
has two blank faces. There is no capturing, buta die can be temporarily deactivated in certain
circumstances by exposing one of these faces.
The pieces exert influence according to theirpowers of movement effectively erecting
barriers which the opposing king cannot
cross. There is some complex strategy.
(Manufacturer’s publicity leaflets)
Brinkmanship (Barry Foster, 1988). Board
chequered, base 11x11 (a1 black) forming a
regular pyramid; summit square (f6) has
distinctive markings. Military pieces 16 a side:
1 x General (with flag), 2 x Artillery,
Commando, Paratrooper, Tank, 7 x Infantry.
Object of game is to occupy f6 with thegeneral (flag) or to take hostile general (there
is no checking). Capture is by displacement;no piece may cross the summit square andonly a general may occupy it. Movement: G as
king; A as rook but on same level, can change
levels by moving up or down either
orthogonally or diagonally to an adjacentsquare; C four squares orthogonally changing
direction if desired, commando operates onwhite squares only; P as queen and may leap
other pieces of either colour (only piece able
to do so); T as bishopand hence changes levelwith every step, operates on black squares
only; I moves one or two squares at a timeeither straight or diagonally, but cannot move
down levels; moves only one square tocapture. Array (b1-j1/b11-j11) ATCPGPCTA,(c2-i2/c10-i10) 7 x infantry. Paratroopers
attack each other in initial position but ﬁrst
player cannot eliminate both as opponent canrecapture with second and take it out of range.
(Inventor’s rule sheets, also manuscript notes
presumably deriving from a set in David’s
game collection)
Logitac (Proprietary game, Indice S.A.;
Ghislaine and Daniel Siguier, 1988). Board 3D; four levels, 12x12, 8x8, 5x5, 1x1. A totalof nine black squares are replaced by oriﬁces:(level 1) d4, d9, i4, i9, (level 2) c3, c6, f3, f6,(level 3) c3. Players begin with one each of
Pyramid (K), Cube (R), Cylinder (B) (chessequivalents in parentheses) and 12 pawns. In
addition, each player holds in reserve 33
pawns and one double pawn (N). Object is toget one’s pyramid to the top. Pieces ascend to
next level after a certain number of captures,descend (via the chimneys) optionally. A
pawn’s power is increased as it ascends. The
double-pawn and extra pawns are brought intoplay one at a time on any vacant square on
back rank of ﬁrst level instead of a move.
Array (d1-h1/d12-h12) PCyPyCuP, (b2-k2/
b11-k11) 10xP. (Proprietor’s rules pamphlet)
Monarch [de Poël] (Proprietary game,
Historien Spieleverlag; Jean de Poël, 1990).
Hex board of 37 cells in regular array. Eachside has 12 men; 1 x Duke (moves like K), 2 x
Horseman (1 or 2 cells, captures on 2nd cellonly), 2 x Paladin (moves like K, captures likeN), 1 x Marshal (1, 2 or 3 cells, captures on
3rd cell only), 4 x Pawn (moves as K). Object
is to get duke (which has no royal powers) tocentral cell and to stay there for one move.
The starting position (a number are suggested)is agreed between the players. Win (2 points)
if duke attains centre or if opponent resigns;
win (1 point) if duke captured; draw 1 point
each. Points only applicable if a series ofgames is played. (Notes deriving from a set inDavid’s game collection)

Playing to reach a fixed goal 299
32.3 Football games
Chess and football (soccer) are familiar
bedfellows: ‘Football Chess is popularamongst Oxford University undergraduates’(Chess, June 1973). Because moves in a
football boardgame are likely to replicate
those of K, Q, R, and B at least, and suchgames are very common (Boyer, writing in the
1950s, refers to a dozen or so in France), it is
difﬁcult to rule on which are and which are notchess variants. Those mentioned here havebeen acclaimed by chess players and haveenjoyed a measure of support.
Football Chess [Boissier] (Henri Boissier,1940). Board 17x23; goals are five squares
wide (g1-k1/g23-k23). Apart from thegoalkeepers, who can move within their goals,
the play is conﬁned to a ﬁeld b2-b22-p22-p2b2. Each player has a team of 11, a
goalkeeper, 2 backs, 3 half-backs and 5
forwards (strikers and sweepers had not beenborn) and predictably there is a ball. The lineup (White) is i1; g4, k4; f7, i7, l7; b11, h11,ill, j11, p11. Black mirrors this and the ball is
on i12. The line-up is assumed at the start of agame, on resumption (second half), and whena goal is scored. The ball can move (subject toit being kicked) like a queen and play is quite
sophisticated. Full rules are given by Boyer(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes).
Described as ‘very popular in Switzerland
where the inventor supplies regular problems
to the papers’ (Chess, October 1950); thegame was also popular in Germany.
Football Chess [Tylor] (Chris Tylor, c.1950)
Board 8x8; standard set-up. For problem
composers or for a skittles game, the starting
position could consist of any required set ofpieces and pawns on their initial squares withthe ball on any convenient square. A man
plays the ball by moving to the squareoccupied by it and kicking it to an occupied orunoccupied square to which the kicking piece
could itself move. For pawns, a kick to an
occupied square is made as a pawn capture inorthochess, to an unoccupied square as a pawn
move. In the course of a single turn the ballcan be passed to any number of men of either
colour, the kick being at the choice of theplayer with whom the ball rests. A move ends

when the ball is kicked to an unoccupied
square. The two players move alternately
regardless of who last kicked the ball. There isno capturing, the king has no royal powers andthere is no castling; a pawn may promote to
king. The object is to kick the ball into the
opponent’s goal (goals are d1/e1 and d8/e8).
A piece occupying the goal does not save.
A goal may not be scored from kick-off. Tylor
suggests the game is best played with pieces
only and ball at d4. As with the ﬁeld game,possession is everything. (Inventor’s rule
sheet)
Football Chess [Boyer] (J. Boyer, 1951).
Board 9x9; the eight pieces in usual sequence
a1-d1, f1-i1 and a9-d9, f9-i9; no pawns.
Notice all bishops on black squares. Goals are
e1/e9; ball on e5. No captures, no checks;
king is ordinary piece. Pieces move as inorthochess but cannot occupy goals. A piece
can kick the ball if adjacent to it. The kick is
executed in the same manner as the piecemoves and must be directly away from the
kicking piece. In the case of a knight(a powerful piece in this game), the ball canbe kicked to any square a knight’s moveaway but not to a square next to it. If the ballis kicked to a square adjacent to anotherfriendly piece, this is a ‘pass’ and the ballcan be kicked again, and so on. The ball may
not be kicked into or across the goal from the
1st or 9th ranks. (Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes)
Chessball [Kamzalov] (U. N. Kamzolov,
1957). Board 5x8 (a1 black); each side has
three Attackers (bcd3/6), three Defenders(bcd2/7), one Goalkeeper (c1/8). The ballstarts on c4. White kicks off; a goal is scoredwhen a ball reaches an end rank (1/8). Only
goalkeepers allowed on end ranks. The ball iskicked when player in adjacent square:
attacker occupies square and moves ball any
number of vacant squares orthogonally;
defender likewise but only ahead (diagonallyor along ﬁle). Goalkeepers move any numberof squares along rank only; they block but
cannot kick. Other men move as queens when
not kicking. (Author’s certificate of invention
112730)300 Games with non-chess objectives
Football Chess [Stone] (Jed Stone, 1982).
Usual set-up, moves and captures but the kingis an ordinary piece. Ball starts on one of thefour central squares at White’s choice. Theball is kicked by a man landing on its square.
King kicks the ball one square in any
direction, pawn, which may move diagonallyto kick, one square likewise. Rook kicks alongranks or ﬁles or one square diagonally, bishop
along diagonals or one square orthogonally,queen in any direction, knight chips the ball aknight’s move away. The ball may be‘intercepted’ on any square it passes throughon its way to the goal. The ball travels until itreaches an unoccupied square or the board
edge except that a kick along a diagonal
rebounds off the board edge in the manner ofBilliards Chess. Pieces can move over the ball.
Each player is allowed up to three consecutive
moves. The ﬁrst may be an orthochess move,but the second and third must move the ball. If
the ball reaches the back rank (opponent’sﬁrst) on the ﬁrst or second move, the player’s
turn ends. A ball anywhere on the end ranks isa goal unless it is cleared by the defence
immediately. (Inventor’s rule sheet)
Waje’s Football Chess (Proprietary game,
Schwanenburg Verlag, date not known).
Board 17x24, 11 men a side. Player kicking
off puts man with ball on centre spot, players
then place men alternately. At each turn, eachplayer writes down three intended moves
which must be disclosed on demand. Men
move like queens, up to 3 squares with the balland up to 5 without it. (Proprietor’s rules
pamphlet) [Text revised]

Chess Football [Arbogast] (Porter Arbogast,1982). American football. Board 8x8 andusual men with addition of die, score pad andimaginary ball. The piece in contact with theimaginary football is the ball carrier. A seriesof moves constitutes a down. A capture
constitutes a block, the blocked piece isremoved from play but may be brought backlater onto an unoccupied square on theplayer’s baseline though not onto a squareoccupied by the imaginary football. Pawns
move only one square at a time. All pieces are
eligible ball carriers but pawns are not except
for fumbles, interceptions and at kick-offs.
Only a king may kick the ball. One pawn (thed-pawn unless the player speciﬁes otherwise)
is designated the center. The center puts theball in play via the hike to any square directly
behind it nominated by the offense. A tackle
takes place when an opposing man occupies
the ball carrier’s square; the square on which
this occurs determines the yardage which isrecorded in a table. The ball stays with the ballcarrier until the offense declares a pass, lateralor a kick. A pass is a forward movement inany direction (one pass a down is allowed), a
lateral is movement of the ball to the side or
rear. The ball carrier must pass or lateral in the
direction it moves. Play is complex withscrimmageline,
huddles,runback,interception, loose balls, punts, blocked kick,touchdown etc. A special game clock is
introduced to maintain the pace associatedwith the field game. Chess Football is arealistic simulation playable at four levels
from beginners to advance. (Inventor’s rules
booklet)Chapter 33
Other objectives of play
[This final chapter on two-player games considers objectives other than the capture of a king andthe reaching of a fixed goal. A section at the end lists games whose nature is unknown or
unclear.]33.1 Blocking and annihilation : games with jump captures
Jeu
Militaire(Proprietarygame,d’Hautancourt, 1818). Map board; armies
comprise 1 x General, 4 x Officer, Portablebridge, 12 x Soldier. General moves one or
two squares as queen, officers as king, soldiers
one square orthogonally, capture by draughtsleap. Aim is to render opponent immobile ordecimate his army (general + one soldier
loses). Bridges are used to cross indicatedwater channels. (Photocopy of booklet Jeu
Militaire Sur Un Plan Topographique)
QuatrArmes (Proprietary game, c.1910).
Claimed as ‘more amusing than draughts,
simpler than chess’. Board of 55 points
equivalent to the black squares of a 10x11chequered board (a1 black); each side has 2
aircraft, 3 cannons, 5 cavalry, 10 infantry; aim
is annihilation. Infantry are draughtsmen inmanner of move/capture, promote to aircraft;
cavalry as Turkish draughtsmen (move one
space straight ahead or sideways, capture byleaping), promote to cannon; cannon andaircraft akin to rook and bishop respectively.
Capturing is compulsory. Array (ranks 1-4):
CACAC, infantry (5), cavalry (5), infantry (5).
(Photocopy of proprietor’s rule sheet)
Chesica (Frederick Copley, pre-1930). Pieces
are placed on black squares of 8x8 board:
ranks 1/8 4xQ, ranks 2/7 4xR, ranks 3/6 4xB.
Pieces have normal chess move, but one
square only, in addition to that ofdraughtsmen. Capture as draughtsman orchess piece. Forward moves only. On reachingback rank piece assumes full chess powers but
also retains right of jump capture. (Chessmen)
Checkers Chess [Parton] (V. R. Parton,
1950s). Usual board and set-up, but the king is

a commoner and the object is to exterminate
the opponent’s men or otherwise leave him
without a move. Non-capturing moves as inorthochess. Q, R, B capture by leaping over a
single man (not necessarily on an adjacentsquare) and landing on any empty squarebeyond, K by leaping over an adjacent man
and landing on an empty square immediately
beyond. Pawns take as K but diagonallyforward only. The knight is considered tomove as R+B or B+R as preferred, so Ne4-f6
can involve a capture on e5 or f5 but not both.
A succession of captures by the same man ispermitted, but the men jumped over are notremoved until the end of the turn. Capturing iscompulsory, and the greatest possible numberof pieces must be taken on a turn. [David
gives a reference to ‘Dix-sept Jeux de Dames
Fantaisistes’, which I haven’t seen, and hegives two additional rules concerning
promotion: a sequence of captures by a pawn
ends on promotion, and promotion may be to
king. The same title is used for chapter 50 of
Les Jeux de Dames Non Orthodoxes by Boyerand Parton and this game appears as section
XVII of this chapter, but these particular rules
are not to be found there. They are of course
entirely reasonable, and even if they do notappear in print they may well have been
dictated by practical experience. Boyer andParton also mention Losing Checkers Chess,
which they describe as very attractive. The
game Chess-Checkers, referred to in Nostalgia 189, would appear to differ only inminor detail if at all.]
Damate (V. R. Parton, 1961). Board 10x10,
20 men a side (2 x K, Q, R, B, 12 x P, noknights), array (a1-j1/a10-j10 and inwards)
PBRQKKQRBP, 10xP. K, Q, R, B as in302 Games with non-chess objectives
Checkers Chess above. P as K but
orthogonally or diagonally forward only
(whether capturing or not), and a P moving
across the central line into the enemy side orhalf is promoted (no apparent specification as
33.2

to what). Capturing is compulsory, including
multiple captures if available, and the aim is totake all the opponent’s men; the K has no
special role. (Challenge and Delight ofChessical and Decimal)

Blocking and annihilation : other games

Le Jeu de Stratégie, also known as Military
Chess (Count A. C. de Firmas-Périés, 1808).
The inventor’s intention was to make chess, a
war game, more realistic. The board isassembled from cubes with faces of different
colours
representing
terrainfeatures;maximum 40x66 (2640 squares), minimum
33x49 (1617). Pieces consist of infantry,
cavalry and artillery. All pieces move as
queens but over different distances (dragoons
12 squares, infantry 8 squares, mortars 6
squares etc). Hussars have the additional moveof the knight. The game concludes either byannihilation of one side’s pieces or by a‘peace treaty’. (Author’s book Le Jeu deStratégie ou les Echecs Militaires, second
edition 1815, also Le Palamède, September
1846)
Atomic Chess [Taher] (Nassah Bey Taher,
1947). It was reported (Chess, December
1947) that King Abdullah of Transjordan had
an atomic set, and the bey, when in London
that year, conﬁded to the author that theinventor of the game was in fact the king.
(Taher may or may not have been following
the ancient tradition of crediting the masterwith all things sublime.) An attempt tomodernise chess. Board 12x12; each side has
additionally 2 x Tanks and Aeroplanes. Tanks
are knights which can take a second step in thesame straight line (so if c3 is empty, Tb1 canmove to c3 or carry on to d5); aeroplanes
move like queens and can pass over any
number of pieces but can only capture if there
is a vacant square beyond the target piece.
Pawns promote to atomic bombs which movelike aeroplanes and can be detonated at the
choice of the player when they destroy allmen, friendly as well as hostile, within aradius of six squares. If the king is destroyed,
the next highest value piece surviving replaceshim. Aim is destruction rather than mate. The
ﬁrst to promote a pawn is almost certain of
victory.

Dawson’s Chess (T. R. Dawson as amended
by C. A. B. Smith and R. K. Guy, c. 1949).
Board 3 x n. Rows of pawns face each otherwith empty rank between. Capturing iscompulsory so promotion is impossible. Last
player to move wins. [Date added editorially.
The game has acquired a major role in the
branchofmathematics
known
as‘combinational games theory’. As originallyconceived by Dawson, it was a problem in
Losing Chess (The Problemist Fairy Chess
Supplement, December 1934) with the usual
Losing Chess objective of leaving yourself
without a move. Dawson thought he had founda systematic solution specifying the winner for
all values of n and showing how to force thewin, but by the time he came to write Caissa’s
Wild Roses in 1935 he realised he had made anerror, and to the best of my knowledge nosuch solution has yet been discovered. Smithand Guy proposed a simpler version in which
the last player to move won, and solved it for
all n. The game therefore became, and may
still remain, the simplest example of a game
which has been completely solved under‘normal’ rules (last player to move wins) but
remains unsolved under ‘misère’ rules (lastplayer to move loses). For further discussion,see Winning Ways for your MathematicalPlays (Berlekamp, Conway, and Guy, second
edition 2001-4). Dawson’s game with n pawns
on each side can be shown to be equivalent toa simpler game in which the players start witha single row of (n+1) objects and the move isto remove two adjacent objects, and it isusually presented and discussed in this form.]
An-Qi (origins unclear). Xiangqi variant. The
pieces are reversed and mixed, then one eachis placed face down on the 32 squares of ahalf-board. A player on turn either exposes apiece or moves an exposed piece. All pieces
move one square orthogonally. Pieces only
capture men of the same rank or below, thesequence being king-chariot-horse-cannon-

Other objectives of play 303
elephant-guard-pawn-king (only a pawn cantake a king). Annihilate the opposition to win.
(Xiangqi Review, volume 2 number 5)
Explosion Chess (origins unclear). Usualarray and moves, but no displacement capture.
When a move is completed, all men thenunder attack from the man moved are
captured. If there is a simultaneous mutual
attack, the attacker is also removed. The kings
are without royal powers and the object is toannihilate the opposition. (Addison, 100 Other
Games to Play on a Chessboard)
Pentaplane Chess (Proprietary game, Geo
Games; George Marino, 1986). Five 5x5
boards arranged vertically. Two players, eachhaving 2 x R, 2 x B, 1 x N, 5 x P. No kings:
object is to annihilate opposition. Pawns
promote to Presidents (=Q). White men set up
on bottom board, Black on top; verticalmovement between boards. According to
Jochen Corts, plays well with interesting
strategy. (Die Pöppel-Revue, March 1989)
Latrel (Proprietary game, Millenium 2
Games; Richard Morgan, 1993). Board 8x8; 8attackers per side, 2 x Trident (move as B,
capture by occupying vacant square
immediately beyond victim), 2 x Warrior(ditto as Q), 4 x Sabre (ditto as R), and 8
defenders (move one square orthogonally,cannot capture, promote on back rank topreviously captured attackers). Array (a1h1/a8-h8 and inwards) SSTWWTSS, 8xD.
Multiple captures permitted as in draughts,
objective is to capture all the opponent’s
attackers. An advanced version replaces twoof the defenders by blockers with additional
powers. (Proprietor’s instruction booklet)[Text revised. The cover of the instruction
booklet announces the game as ‘The ultimate
lateral thinking board game’ and on the very
next line says ‘8 years - adult’!]
The Game of Nemoroth (Ralph Betza, 2002).
A complicated game in which the ordinary
men are replaced by Basilisks (petrify friend
and foe alike), Ghasts (cannot be approached,
and cause men within their ambit to flee), Leaf
Piles (engulf anything they land on, and leavemummies of hideous and terrifying aspect),
Go Aways (can make adjacent pieces moveaway), Wounded Fiends (move like rooks, butooze copious amounts of fetid ichor which
drench every square they land on or cross),and Humans (who seem to have a fairly
limited outlook on life but may eventuallypromote to Zombies, which feel no fear, candestroy all other men, but are dissolved byichor). The game is won by leaving the
opponent without a legal move. Published on
the Chess Variant Pages, and received withapparent enthusiasm. [Text editorial]

33.3 Point scoring
The Game of Ramparts (1893). Board
11x11; 11 squares on each side are marked
and represent ramparts. Both sides start with
11 men on their own baselines. All men
move and capture as pawns, including theinitial double-step. Pawns have increased
powers when on own ramparts, diminishedpowers on opponent’s ramparts. Pawns
reaching 11th rank do not move again. When
all moves are exhausted, the winner is decided
by a points system. There is said to be an
infallible draw for one player (presumably thesecond, by imitating White’s moves).
‘Players’, say the rules, ‘should have a mutual
understanding not to play like this.’ (Sheets orbooklets identified only as ‘Bodleian Library
38491 f.6(13)’ and ‘British Library CUP 900
g.1’)

Numericron (Bruce Trone, 1986). Aftermaking his move, a player totals the numberof his opponent’s men under attack. These are
his attack points for the turn. A check earns abonus of 5 points and checkmate (which does
not end the game, the king being simply
removed from play) a bonus of 10. Turn points
are accumulater and the winner is the player
who has maintained an agreed lead (say 20
points) for five consecutive turns or has thehighest total after 30 moves have been played.
(Inventor’s rule sheet)
Benighted (Maureen Hiron, 1987). Board
5x5. Each player has 11 markers of his own
colour and two knights which start initially on
a3/e3 (White) and c1/c5 (Black). The object of
the game is to capture more squares than your304 Games with non-chess objectives
opponent. A player moves one of his knights
either to a vacant square, in which case he puts
his marker on it, or to a square he alreadyowns, which includes his two start squares. A
player may never move to a square owned by
an opponent, nor to a square attacked by an
opponent’s knight whether owned or not. The
first player to control 13 squares is the winner.
(Information
deriving
frompersonal
correspondence)
A related game is sggested in Brain Muscle
Builders by Marco Meirovitz and Paul Jacobs.
A white and black knight are placed at
opposite corners of a 5x5 grid and markers areplaced on the remaining 23 squares. Aplayer
landing on a square with a marker on it takes
it. A knight may not move to a square attacked
by the opponent’s knight. First player tocollect 12 markers wins.

Monochrome Chess (Proprietary game,
Looney Industries; Andrew Looney, 1996).
Usual men and array but pieces are all of thesame colour. A man is controlled by the player
in whose half of the board it stands. Thus after
e4-e5, the pawn changes sides and reverses
direction. When you capture (by definition, in
the opponent’s half) there can be no recapture
as the piece has changed sides. You may not
immediately reverse an opponent’s move. The
king has no royal powers but can castle. The
men are allocated points and the object is tohave the most points (in pieces captured) when
the game ends, which is usually when theplayers agree or when one half of the board isempty. Values: King=10, Queen=8, Rook=5,
Bishop=4, Knight=3, Pawn=1. A related gameMartian Chess is described in chapter 38.
(Proprietor’s rule sheet, Variant Chess 39)

Re (Reiner Knizia, 1993). Board 5x5, empty
at start of play. The players have the usual
eight pieces plus two pawns. The K can be
captured like any other piece and pawns do
not promote (so P on 5th rank is immobile).
White starts and puts one of his men on any
empty square when Black does likewise. From
now on, a player on turn may either (1) enter aman on any empty square; or (2) make anorthochess capture on the board; or (3) pass
his turn, but only if he has entered all his men.
Bishops may be placed on the same colour.
Notice that no man may move except tocapture.
The game ends when one player loses hislast man or both players pass consecutively. In
the latter case, the winner is the player whose
remaining men have the higher point count(K=Q=3, R=B=N=2, P=1). A variant, Re-2,
requires all men to be entered before any
capture is made. Both games are fast anddramatic. Black appears to have a slightadvantage. (Inventor’s rules pamphlet, also
Spielbox, April 1994)

Proteus (Proprietary game, Steve JacksonGames; Francis K. Lumière, 2001). Board
8x8. Sixteen cubic dice, eight each of black
and white. Symbols are identical on all dice: 1x Q, R, B, N, P, triangle (notice there is noking). Pieces and their values are Q 6 points, R
5, N 4, B 3, P 2, triangle 0. To start, the diceplaced on the black squares of the first two
ranks, pawns uppermost. The turn player
moves a man and rotates a second man up or
down one step according to point value. The
triangle is a block; it cannot move or be
captured. Capture by displacement. Two
unique rules: pawn has two-move option on
any starting square even if it has previously
moved, and the queen can be captured(stabbed in the back) by any hostile piece
occupying the square immediately behind it.
Game ends when one player is reduced to asingle man. Player with the most points is thewinner. Amongst variants suggested is Tradeoff, in which a player can forgo move byrotating any die two steps up or down.
(Variant Chess 43)

33.4 Achieving a pattern or alignment
Bingo Chess [Connect-Four]. The game
Connect-Four, which has no connection withchess, has been marketed under this name.
Twixt (Proprietary game, Avalon Hill; Alex
Randolph, 1972). For 20 years one of theworld’s top-selling strategy games, Twixt has
but one link to chess: the aim is to deploy
pegs that will eventually be linked acrossthe board in a succession of knights’ moves.
[Information presumably deriving from a set
in David’s game collection]

Other objectives of play 305
Chessboard Morris (Peter Fayers, 1976). An
attempt to enliven alignment games by adding
a chess element. Board 8x8, N and 4xP a side :vacant squares or squares containing their own
markers. First player to get four markers in a
row wins. (Games and Puzzles 81)

pdwdwdw0
dPdwdw)w
wdwdwdwd
dwdwhwdw
wdwHwdwd
dwdwdwdw
w0wdwdpd)wdwdwdPBig Horse Chess (Veli Toukomies, 1986).
Board 8x8; each player has eight knights
which move and capture as in orthochess. The
object is to move one’s own knights so as toform squares of any size (e.g. a1/a8/h8/h1 or
d4/d5/e5/e4). A piece can be part of more than
one square. The game ends when one player
has no more moves or further play is
purposeless. The winner is the player withmore squares, and if squares are equal then theplayer with more pieces. If again equal, thegame is drawn. An earlier version also scoredthree points on a line. (Manuscript notes
presumably
deriving
frompersonal
communication)

Pawns move as kings; no capturing. Object is
to manoeuvre four of one’s own pieces
adjacent to one another in a straight line,
orthogonal or diagonal. A well-balanced
game. Can be played with other pieces insteadof knights. Bishops will draw easily unlesspermitted to leap; queens make for a very
complex game. (Games and Puzzles 51)
Knights And Crosses (Trevor Truran, 1981).
The players agree a board of any dimensions(an irregular board makes for more interestingplay). Each player has a knight and a pile ofmarkers of his own colour. First player puts
his knight on any square, second player does
likewise on any vacant square. Moves
alternate, players putting their markers onvacated squares. Knights may be moved to

Chess Addresses (Veli Toukomies, 1988).
Each player sets up his opponent’s men at
random (i.e. White sets up Black’s men on
ranks 7 and 8). Each payer in turn moves oneof his own men in a straight line without
touching any other man or the sides of theboard. Moves take no account of the powersof the various pieces. If a block (another man
or board edge) is reached, the piece being
moved stops on the nearest square. The object
is to be the first player to assemble his own
men in the orthochess array. (Author’s rule
sheets)33.5 Other objectives
Rhythmomachia or Rithmomachy, also
known as The Philosophers’ Game (12thcentury). The ‘battle of numbers’ is amedieval strategy game probably inspired bychess though not strictly a variant.
Rhythmomachia vied with chess as the pursuitof the wise and for several centuries appears tohave occupied the intellectual high ground in
the way weiqi was considered superior to
xiangqi in China. Played on a double (8x16)
chess board, White has 29 men, of which six
form a pyramid, and Black 28 men (pyramidof five). The men are numbered tiles in threeshapes which determine movement. The
pyramids are made up of men of all threeshapes. The W pyramid comprises 1, 4, 9, 16,
25, 36 (91) and the B 16, 25, 36, 49, 64 (190).

Capture is by equation (equality, adding,
subtracting etc.) and the object is to take thepyramid which can be captured as a unit orpiece by piece. When this is achieved, theplayer proceeds to the triumphs in which men
are required to be arranged in certain
numerical progressions. The pyramids move
up to three squares in any direction, theindividual pieces having more restrictedmoves. The link to chess is established byprivileges that permit movement as a 2-1
leaper (knight) or 3-1 leaper. There are twomain forms, an early version and a later one towhich Selenus devotes a whole chapter. Many
minor rule variations have been recorded.
The game died out in the 18th century.
Rhythmomachia has an extensive literature306 Games with non-chess objectives
and has been researched in recent years by
Boutin (Jeux et Stratégie 26), Lewin (Gamesand Puzzles 16) and others. It is outlined in amodern collaborative work, Rhythmomachia(Illmer, Gädeke, Henge, Pfeiffer, SpickerBeck, 1987), and in a recent research paper,
Rithmomachia (Stigter, 1990). There is a
proprietary version, Rhythmo (Quantum
Games), with simpliﬁed numbers, that isessentially the same game.
Bottle Chess. Name used by Thomas Hyde todescribe the Chinese game of backgammon.
Wuterich’s Game (Proprietary game, Emil
Wuterich, 1899). Board 9x9 with a further
rank of ﬁve positioned centrally at either end.
Each side has 26 pieces comprising the lettersof the alphabet. The vowels are arranged
IAEUO on the extra rank, respectively aknight, queen, bishop, king, and rook. The
consonants are arrayed in order B-L and M-Won the next two ranks, with XYZ spaced
evenly in front. Consonants move one square
forwards or sideways and can only capturestraight ahead. The game is won by checkmateor the king (U) gaining the back rank of theenemy’s camp and there, with pieces of either
colour, spelling out a pre-arranged ﬁve-letter
word which, of course, has to contain a U. A
player forming a word of four or more lettersorthogonally or diagonally, the men being ofeither colour, can claim back a captured man.
(U.K. patent 1239 of 1899)
Monopoly Chess (Michael Solomon, 1970).
Chess and Monopoly played simultaneously,
the turn player deciding which game he wishes

to move in. The aim is to be the first to win
either. There is some cross-fertilization but it
seems that few players have been tempted topass Go. (Neue Chess 12)
Pool Chess (James A. Gutzwiller, MichaelJuhasz, David Moeser, 1970). Coupling ofchess with 8-ball pool. The chessboard is set
up in the middle of a pocket billiards table.
Five chess moves each, then White breaks;
when White misses, Black plays; when he also
misses, five more chess moves. Various rules
control the interactions. First to win either
game wins. (Neue Chess 7)
Chessplexity(Dave
Thomas,1989).
Codebreaking game. One player places K, Q,
R, N, B on a 6x6 board; the other player
nominates squares and the first player thenprovides certain information. Object of second
player is to deduce placings in minimum time.
Roles are then reversed. Detective Chess(Gerry Quinn, reviewed on the Internet in1999) is a computer version using an 8x8
board. (Games Monthly, January/February
1989, also Nost-algia 347 and later)
Chebache (Proprietary game, Pardee Games;
Scott D. Pardee, 1997). Claimed to be amarriage of chess, backgammon and draughts(checkers), hence the name, but basically abackgammon variant. The main thrust of thegame is to bear off all pieces as in normal
backgammon, but one of the pieces is a king,and if the opponent manages an inverted Vformation facing it the king is checkmated andthe game is over. The chess element ishowever minimal. (Variant Chess 42)

33.6 Games with different objectives for each side
Siege Chess [von Pillsach] (Senfft vonPillsach, 1820). 160-square board (8x8 withfour 8x3 extensions) with citadel covering an
area of 6x6 squares. The game is a precursorof the Siege of Paris (board 16x12, also 6x6
citadel), with one side besieging, the otherdefending. (Faidutti, also Le Palamède,
September 1846)
War Chess [Richardson], also known asGame of Battle (Proprietary game, Col.
Charles Richardson, 1866). Played on a map

board with infantry, cavalry and artillery. One
side is defending a city and the other a supply
train, the capture of either ending the game.
(Chess Player’s Magazine).
Burglar and Policemen (T. Sturgeon, 1890).
Board 5x5; all pieces are knights. One side
has the Burglar (initially on c3) and the otherthe Policemen (on a1, c1, e1, a5, c5, e5). The
burglar moves first; no capturing; the burglar
loses if he cannot move (there appears to be norule saying how he wins). A forerunner ofOther objectives of play 307
several such games. (U.K. patent 514 of 1890)[The game is mentioned under ‘Patents’ in the
appendix. The reason for the absence of a rulesaying how the burglar wins appears to be that
he cannot; if the policemen play properly, they
can always trap him. They can do this even if
there are only five of them, whatever thestarting position and whoever has first move.]
Prairie (Proprietary game, Pelikan; Alex
Randolph, 1975). Board 7x11. Game in which
11 buffaloes (pawns) face four dogs (queens)and an Indian (king). The dogs can only block,not capture. The king captures by
displacement. The aim of the buffalo player isto get one piece to the end rank, that of the
Indian player to paralyse the buffaloes. Tworivers on the board may not be crossed by the
Indian player. Game slightly favours thebuffaloes. (Inventor’s rule sheet)
Rugby Chess [Beasley] (John Beasley, 1979).
Board 8x8; each side has one or more men,and there is a ball. White has the ball and his
object is to carry it to the 8th rank. Black wins
if he can capture the ball-carrier (he may not

capture another man), block White, or repeat aprevious position. There are no draws. Whiteon turn can move the man with the ball one
square diagonally in any direction, or pass theball backwards to the second man. The man
without the ball cannot move. The Black man
also moves one square diagonally and isimmune from capture. The natural game is
two-against-one, all on the back ranks.
Possibilities are limited and have been
analysed by the inventor. (Chessics 18)
Peasants’ Revolt [Koch] (Karl Koch, 1987).
Dice game. White has a single knight at g1;
black pawns on b7, c7, d7, e7, f7, g7, equating
to 1-6 on the dice. Black throws two dice andmoves
corresponding
pawns(pawn-2
permitted; if double thrown, pawn is moved
twice). Knight may not move to an attacked
square; pawn blocked by knight forfeits its
move. Aim for White is to crush the revolt bycapturing all the pawns, for Black to get apawn to end rank when, if it cannot be
captured on next move, the revolt succeeds.
Koch offers some alternative rules. (Spiele für
einem Allein)

33.7 Games of unclear or unknown nature
Limb Chess (10th Century). Board 7x8; 6
pieces a side named after the senses (‘limbs’)and the heart. Rules unknown. (Murray)
Celtic Chess, also known as Fidchell and
Gwyddbwyll. An ancient game, believed tohave died out about 1000 A.D. Wrongly
referred to by some writers as a form of chess.
Boards of many sizes are known: 7x8, 9x10,
10x13, with the 8x8 board being the mostcommon. Fidchell is also the name of a 1990
proprietary game played on a circular board,
imaginatively created from early Celtic
sources by Nigel Suckling. [In the first edition,David referred to ‘fragments of literature
quoted by Murray, Forbes and others’ fromwhich it appeared that the game was ‘either
the Roman latrunculi or a modiﬁcation of it’,but while Forbes does indeed conjecture sucha link Murray does not, and I have to say that

I find it implausible. However, all that mattershere is whether the game was a form ofchess, and everyone seems to be agreed that it
wasn’t.]Merlaro (16th century). Game on 8x6
chequered board (a1 white) mentioned,
without rules, in L’Institutioni Oratorie(Venice, 1558). [In forwarding a photocopy of
the relevant page, David’s correspondent
wondered whether the game might have beena chess variant, but there seems to be no
evidence of this.]
Chemical Chess (Toyohiko Kagawa, 1940).
Played with 92 men. The patent states that thegame is ‘Designed to inculcate anunderstanding of the order of the universe andhence the spiritual and systematic nature of thedivine order’. (Chess, December 1941)

Part 7
Partnership and team games[Multi-player chess games divide into two classes: games in which the players form
partnerships or teams, and those in which everybody plays for himself. Games in thefirst class are very much more satisfactory. Many of them can be played as two-player
games, one person playing all the men of his side, but usually it is intended that theyshould not be.]

Chapter 34
Games using a single square or rectangular board[Although what became the standard single-board four-handed game used a board withextensions, the earliest known four-handed game used a standard 8x8 board, and it is convenient
to consider this and other such games first.]
34.1 Classical Indian four-player games
Chaturaji, also known as The Game Of The
Four Kings. Four-handed Indian game, once
thought to be the germinal chess game andassociated with Chaturanga. The first firmreference to it is now believed to be about 11th
century. The game could be partnership or allagainst-all; it could be played with or without
dice, or with dice determining the opening
moves only. Turn of play was clockwise. Eachside has four pieces, Rajah (K), Elephant (R),
Horse (N) and Boat (B) and in addition four
Soldiers (P). As usually given, the pawns wereplaced on a2-d2, g1-g4, h7-e7, and b8-b5, withthe pieces in order BNRK behind them, but it
is very likely that the arrangement of thepieces and the rules of play were subject tochange from time to time and from place toplace.

The K, R and N move as in orthochess; the B
moves two squares diagonally, leaping theintervening square. The P moves one step at atime and promotes on reaching an end rank(six moves) but only on the start square of a N
or R, promoting to the appropriate piece, andthen only if the player has already lost at least
one P, otherwise the pawn waits until thecondition is fulﬁlled. A pawn reaching any
end square other than that of N or R does notpromote and is rendered immobile. However,
if a player is reduced to a P, or a P and a B,
then the P can promote to any piece (includinga K) on any end square. Kings are subject tocapture like other pieces. The object of thegame is to earn points by capturing opposing
kings and/or occupying the throne square of arival. A player occupying the throne of an allytakes over his partner’s forces. An exchangeof captured kings could be agreed between
opponents, the kings then being restored totheir original squares. A player with a bareking could then retire honourably (draw).
None of the four boats can ever attack anotherbut if a player moves his boat adjacent to theother three so that the four form a 2x2 square,
the two opponents’ boats are captured and theplayer takes over his ally’s boat. Since there
are only five positions where this get-together
could happen, the coup seems at best
improbable. A long (four-sided) or cubic die
was used in the dice game which was probably
associated with gambling. The die was cast at
the start of each turn to determine the type of
piece to be moved. A player unable to move aman of the type indicated lost his turn. The
game has been an inspiration to otherinventors.
[This topic has been hashed and rehashed innumerous books on chess and David’s index
sheet for the game gives over a dozen
references, but the primary sources on which
they explicitly or implicitly rely appear to
reduce to two: the 11th-century manuscript ofal-Beruni referred to under Chaturanga inchapter 29, and a Bengali account, now
regarded as dating from around 1500. The
15th-century Caturanga-Dipika on which thefollowing entry is based apparently came tolight only in 1924.]

312 Partnership and team games
Four-Handed Dice Chess according to the
Caturanga-Dipika. The origins and workingsof this ancient Indian game are obscure. The
following version, symbolising a war between
two kings and their respective allies, is as
good (or as bad) as any other and is perhaps
the most authoritative as it is the most recent
and exhaustive.

Array as shown, two cubic dice. The foursides are Red (East), Green (S), Yellow (W)and Black (N). The moves of the pieces do notcorrespond with those of earlier writers. The
elephant moves one square orthogonally, theboat one square diagonally, the king, knight
and pawn as in orthochess (no pawn-two). The
dice are both numbered 1-6. Nos. 1 and 6
carry no value (zero). King or pawn move on athrow of 5, elephant on 4, horse on 3, boat on
2. The players throw in turn. The two dice arecast on each turn. If the numbers are different,
both men move (if a 5 is thrown, either the Kor a P is moved). If either but not both can
move, the higher number moves. When adouble is thrown, the piece moves twice. A
number that can’t be utilized is forfeited. A
pawn is promoted on the end rank to the ﬁlepiece, but not to king or boat. Kings are taken
like other men (i.e., no checking) and allies
can be back-stabbed. A stake was paid foreach man captured. There were sevenclassiﬁed levels of victory and defeat, which
affected the stake. (Caturanga-Dipika, edited
and translated by Manomohan Ghosh,Calcutta Sanskrit Series 21, Calcutta 1936)

34.2 Modern games using a single 8x8 board
Alternation Chess, also known as
Partnership Chess [Alternation] andTandem Chess [Alternation] (origins
unknown). Partnership game in which partners
move alternately without consultation.
(Illustrated London News, 7 August 1875, also
British Chess Magazine, September 1903)
Diamond Chess-Whist (A. K. Porterfield
Rynd, 1887). Partnership game, each partner
having half a set. A normal set can be used,
queens serving as kings with one army of eachpartnership capped or otherwise distinguished.

CB

kgwdwdbi
hr0wdp4n
p0pdw0p0
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd)P)wdP)P
N$Pdw)RH
IBdwdwGKD

APartners sit side by side, A and B against C
and D. Order of play ACBD. Pawns ‘move as

in Diamond Chess, that is diagonally, one
square at a time’, and capture vertically or
horizontally, but never move or takebackwards; nothing said about promotion, but
the statement that pawns ‘move as in Diamond
Chess’ perhaps implies that they promote in
the same way. Mate both enemy kings to win.
Pieces of a mated player are frozen. Partners
cannot consult. Some ‘exceedingly pretty
finishes’ achieved. (Irish Chess Chronicle,
August 1887) [Text revised]Slater’s Game (E. T. O. Slater, 1954).
Designed as a fast four-player partnershipgame, which Slater attempted to keep as close
as possible to orthochess. The rooks weredispensed with on the grounds that they taketime to develop and slow down the game, anecessary sacrifice to accommodate the extra
K and Q. Partners sit side-by-side, baseline
KQBN/NBQK fronted by 8xP as usual.
Ideally, two different sets of men are used sothat the forces of each player are distinctive.
Players move in sequence, colours alternating.
The aim is to mate both the opponents’ kings.
When a king is mated, it is removed from theboard, its owner ceases to play and his

Games using a single square or rectangular board 313
remaining men are inert though subject tocapture. A faster game calls for only one kingto be mated. (Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes)
Double Skak (Soren and Christian Kirk,
1970s). Four-player partnership game using
standard set, but equally playable by two.

K$Pdw0b1
HB)wdp4nP)wdwdp0
dwdwdwdw
wdwdwdwd
0pdwdw)P
ngpdw)RH
ir0wdPGQ
Partners occupy opposite corners, one having
the K and the other the Q. No pawn-2 orcastling, promotion only to captured piece.
White (bottom right) has first move, play inrotation anti-clockwise. The eight insidepawns have noses to indicate their direction of
movement; their first move can be in either
direction, but they are then rotated and are
restricted to the same direction subsequently.
Aim is checkmate. (Variant Chess 21/22)
Gemini [Fisher] (P. Fisher, 1981). Fourhanded partnership game in which players
occupy adjacent sides:

wdkgn4wd
dw0p0pdw
k0wdwdP$
gpdwdw)N
n0wdwdPG
4pdwdw)K
wdP)P)wd
dw$NGKdw
Pawns move towards end rank opposite them,promotion to Q possible; no castling. The
object is to mate either of the opponents’kings. The allied forces can unite for thispurpose. If a player is obliged to move intocheck this is a loss. A player in check moves
in turn. (Personal communication)

Chatty Chess (Ian Richardson, 1989)
Partnership game using the standard set.
In each partnership there is an Attacker who
has the Q and a Defender who has the K.
Partners occupy opposite corners, attackers on
Q side, defenders on K side.

qb w0wdwdwd RK
rn dpdw)P)P NB
w0wdwdwd
dpdwdwdw
wdwdwdpd
dwdwdw0w
BN P)P)wdpd nr
QR dwdwdw0w bk
The pawns are set up as for chaturaji. The
pieces may be arranged in any order on thesquares behind them. WA (a1-d1) sets his
pieces ﬁrst, then the other players in clockwiseorder. Pieces behave as in orthochess but
pawns are conﬁned within their initial four
ﬁles or ranks, no pawn-two or castling. WA
begins, then BA, WD, BD. For the ﬁrst fourmoves of each side a player may only movehis own men except to escape check.
Thereafter, play stays in rotation but a player
may move any man of his own colour.
Communication between partners is allowed
but should be formalized to avoid anarchy.
(Variant Chess 1/52)
Chitty-Chatty Chess (Richardson, 1989) is a
simplified version intended to introduce chessto beginners. Two pawns per player only
(a2/b2 etc) and three pieces typified by QBN
on a1-c1 and KNB on h8-f8 (no rooks, and noflexibility as in Chatty Chess). Players canonly move their own men except if a king is incheck, when the next player can move one ofhis partner’s men to escape. Partners may
communicate, either informally or formally onsome pre-arranged system which would allow
a player to retract a move on his partner’s
advice. The game develops quickly but islikelytobestereotyped.
(Personal
communication)
Crompton’s Chess (George Crompton,1960). Four-player partnership game, partners
sitting opposite. Each player has KQBB, 5xP.

314 Partnership and team games
White A sets BQKB on c1-f1 with 4xP infront and the extra pawn, known as the corner
pawn, on b2. The other players do the same inrotation round the board (all queens on own
colour). Move in rotation clockwise. Initialpawn capture prohibited and unmoved bishops
may not be captured by corner pawns. No
pawn-two. Promotion on 8th rank to R or N
only. Object is to mate both opponents’ kings.
A mated player’s men are removed from play.
(Photocopy of inventor’s rules brochure)[David added ‘Curious and suspect’ in the firstedition, but I cannot wholly agree. Curious,
certainly, but suspect? The source is neatly
printed and claims the authority of theinventor himself, and the shadows of staple
marks in the centre of what is only a four-page
document can be explained by assuming thatit originally had a cover which has not been
copied. I tend to use ‘suspect’ only when
I believe that a game has been incorrectly
reported somewhere along the line and did not
really exist, and in no sense can this be said toapply here. Nor is there any reason to suspectplagiarism, which would be another reason forusing the word. This leaves the possibility that
it was merely a joke, but in that case its author
went to uncommon trouble and expense.]
Forchess (Proprietary game, Smalbook
Associates; T. K. Rogers, 1992). Partners sit
opposite each other, and each has an (almost)full set of men. Array for White 1 (h1-e1 andupwards) KRNP, RQBP, BN-P, PPPP, otherplayers by rotation (so knights on c2/a3, b6/c8
etc, and only four empty squares). Pieces
behave as in orthochess. Pawns move
diagonally towards opposite corner andcapture straight ahead, promoting on reachingboard edge (four moves). Object is to capture
both enemy kings. A player whose king is
captured quits the game but his remaining men
stay on the board. A mated player whose kingawaits capture is allowed a ‘token move’ withany other piece, the object being to inflict the
maximum
damagebeforeextinction.
Described as ‘the ultimate social game’,
Forchess is mayhem from move one. Aninternational tournament was planned for1994. (Proprietor’s rules booklet)

34.3 Two or more 8x8 boards joined as one
Mecklenburg
Chess[Four-Handed](inventor unknown, 1824 or earlier). Two 8x8
boards side by side, forming a single board
16x8; partners sit alongside each other, moves
alternate crosswise over the table. Usual
partnership rules. The game was seen at the
Café de la Régence in Paris in 1824 andanalysed by Bilguer in 1836, and was playedin Mecklenburg for at least 20 years. (Letter in
Schachzeitung, September 1848)
Alliance [Liptak and Babcock] (Mark Liptak
and Rick Babcock, 1990). Two 8x8 boards
one beyond the other, forming a single board
8x16; each team has a primary player and asecondary player. White (primary) and Yellow
play Black (primary) and Gold, the sequenceof play being WBYG. The object of the gameis to mate the primary opponent’s king.
Normal arrays on ranks 1/2 (White, playingup), 7/8 (Gold, playing down), 9/10 (Yellow,up), 15/16 (Black, down). The secondary
forces are conﬁned to their respective halvesof the board; the primary forces can moveover both halves. Only W and G move on thebottom half, B and Y on the top; thus if W
plays a rook to the top half it is controlled by
Y unless and until moved back again. All
pawns promote only on ranks 1 and 16 andalways to W and B. Mate of a secondary kingresults in its forces (including any primary
pieces in that half of the board) being frozen.
Thereafter the primary player moves on his
own turn and on partner’s turn. Partner’s
forces can be unfrozen only by the primary
player moving his king to that side of theboard. Each team takes an equal number (up tofour, as agreed) of caucus chips at the start ofa game. If a team wants to converse at any
stage it surrenders a chip, but there is no
penalty on consultation if one member of ateam is mated. (Authors’ rules booklet)
Six-Handed Chess [Lange] (Max Lange,1881). Three 8x8 boards side by side, treatedas a single board 24x8. Whites face Blacks.
Usual
array oneach
board,
sets
distinguishable. Rules of Four-Handed Chess
apply. Assuming that the boards are numbered
1-3 from the left, the order of play is W1, B2,

Games using a single square or rectangular board 315
W3, B1, W2, B3. As Boyer pointed out in Les
Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes, the boards canbe extended indefinitely to accommodate any
number of players, though he conceded thatsuch a game would be ‘too long andcomplicated to be agreeable’. (Verney)
Six-Handed Chess [Godneff] (M. Godneff,
1940s?). As Lange but the boards are placed

end-to-end and so are treated as a single board
8 x 24. White 1 on ranks 1/2 playing up, Black
1 on ranks 7/8 playing down, Black 2 on 9/10
playing up, W2 on 15/16 playing down, W3
17/18, B3 23/24. Pawns promote in the usual
way on their respective boards. The sequenceof play is W1, B2, W3, B3, W2, B1. Awkward
seating if nothing else. (Les Jeux d’Echecs
Non-orthodoxes)

34.4 Other square or rectangular boards
Social Chess [Head] (W. Head, 1834). Board
12x12; 2-4 players; 4 sets of men arrayed
centrally on each side, thus corners (2x2)vacant at start. Kings of allies may occupy
adjacent squares. Partners (White and Blackagainst Yellow and Red) sit opposite eachother, light-coloured queens on light-coloured
squares (so light and dark queens face eachother). ‘If,’ declared the inventor, ‘a game
could be formed in which two, three or four
persons could join, so that where two had met
to play, a casual third or fourth need neither
prevent the intended game, nor stand out this, I say, may appear an advantageous
improvement’, adding. ‘...all who have as yethonoured it with their attention are unanimousin their opinion of its superiority in interest
over the common game, in the same ratio as
four minds may be expected to be morecomprehensive than two’. (The New Game ofSocial Chess)
Neo Chess [Nayler and Ower] (J. L. Nayler
and E. Ower, c.1925). Board 10x8, partners
side by side. Each player has one of each pieceand ﬁve pawns, baseline RNBKQ/QKBNR oneach side. Usual four-handed rules: object is tomate both opponents, pieces of a mated player
are frozen. Castling only with own rook, notpartner’s; allied kings can occupy adjacentsquares; e.p. by either opponent. White player
with Kg1 starts, then Black player opposite
him, and so on. (British Chess Magazine,
October 1928)
Decimal Four-Handed Chess (V. R. Parton,
1950s). Board 10x10. Parton experimented
with four arrays, all with partners diagonally
opposite and the turn proceeding clockwise.
(1) White array (j1-f1 and up) KQRBN,
5xP, other players similarly by rotation (thusBlack pieces on a1-a5, Red on a10-e10, Greenon j10-j6). Pawns move and promotenormally; thus the pawns of each player movein a different direction from those of the otherthree. Players agree whether victory isachieved by mating one king or two. In thelatter case, a mated king is removed but themated player continues to move(2) White array KRB, RQN, NR (nopawns), other players similarly by rotation.
Conditions of play as in (1).
(3) White array KBRP, QBN, RN, P, otherplayers by rotation. Pawns are Guards whichmove as a K but without royal powers.
Otherwise play as in (1).
(4) White array KBP, RQP, PPN, otherplayers by rotation. In this game, a pawn may
move parallel to either of the sides forming theplayer’s corner. There is no check, and the aimof each side is to capture the opponents’ kings.
Both cannot be captured by the same player.
(Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes,
Enduring Spirit of Dasapada)
Quatre Quest-Chess (Proprietary game,
Conquest Games; Donald Benge, 1977). The
four-handed version of Quest-Chess. Board
11x11, squares f1, a6, f6, k6, f11 blocked out
of use; array for player A (k1-h1 and inwards)
KQRP, BBNP, RNPP, PPPP, other players byrotation. Player A starts with 2 moves, B
makes 4 moves, C 6 moves and D 8 moves;
thereafter each player makes up to 10 moves
per turn. Pawns move laterally forward, either
right or left, and capture diagonally right, leftor straight forward (i.e. on opposite-coloured
squares). No pawn-two or en passant capture.
A pawn promotes to any piece on reaching the
far side of the board (nine squares). All QuestChess rules apply. If a player checks two or
more kings with a single move, or captures316 Partnership and team games
one player’s man and checks another player’s
king at the same time, the players concerned
respond in clockwise rotation.
The game can be played as all-against-all(ﬁrst player to mate a king wins) or, better, asa partnership game. A seven-pawn version,
omitting the apex pawns h4 etc, is considered
superior. (Proprietor’s article in Conquest
Review, also personal communication)
Morton’s Game (Proprietary game, P. R.
Morton, 1983). Partnership game in which
White and Green play Black and Red. Board
12x12 (corner squares can be occupied);
White array on ranks 1/2, Green on files a/b,
Black on ranks 11/12, Red on files k/l (kings
on g1, a6, g12, l6, so WQ/GQ to left of K,
BQ/RQ to right). Pawns can advance directly
to the 5th rank (1, 2 or 3 squares, or 2 squares
from 3rd rank; no e.p.) but thereafter move
one square at a time promoting normally on
the 10th rank (sic). White and Black can only
take each other’s men and check each other’skings, the pieces of the other two players
serving as blocks; similarly Green and Red,
hence a RK can stand next to a WK etc. The
object is to mate one of the opponents’ kings.
The sequence of play is WBRG. (Manuscript
note citing patent applications)

Quatrochess (George Dekle Sr, 1986). Four
players (partnership or all-play-all); board
14x14 with centre squares (g/h 7/8)
impassable blocks; 25 men a side. Additional
pieces, all drawn from earlier games, areChancellor (R+N), Archbishop (B+N), Mann
(as K but without royal powers), Wazir (onesquare orthogonally), Fers (one squarediagonally), Camel (3-1 leaper), Giraffe (4-1
leaper). A mated king is removed from theboard and the partner, or mating player in an
all-play-all, takes over the mated player’s
forces. The aim is to be the last surviving
player or partnership. Stalemate is a loss forthe player unable to move. Men are set up
initially in the four corners; thus White (a-e/15) KWQRP, FCaGNP, ChGCaBP, RNABP,
PPPPM and similarly for other players. (World
Game Review 10)
Quadruple(Proprietary
game,
Bork
Brettspiele; Heinz Weisfeld, 1988). Board
14x14; White and Black (queens on own
colour) play ‘Small’ White and Black(contrasting set, kings on own colour). Usual
men set up on perimeter ranks/ﬁles so as toleave 3x3 unoccupied squares in each corner.
Object is to mate one of the opponents’ kings.
(Proprietor’s rules booklet)

Chapter 35
Games using non-rectangular boards[Although partnership and team games can be played on square or rectangular boards, the board
corners tend to be under-used, and many such games use boards specially designed toaccommodate more than two players.]
35.1 Games using a normal 8x8 board with extensions
Four-Handed Chess is loosely any variant for
four players. More specifically, it is generally
understood to be a partnership game playedwith two sets on a standard board with four
extensions, one on each side, usually of 8x3
squares (arguably the best arrangement) but
sometimes 8x2 or 8x4, on which the pieces are
set up in the normal array positions.
The four-handed game dates from the 18th
century and enjoyed considerable popularity,
particularly in Germany but also in England The Philidorian reported (1838) ‘The game ofchess for four is advancing daily in fashionand favour with the British Public’. The year
before it had been described as coming from
Germany, ‘the only country where it ispractised’. During the half-century 1825-1875,
numerous booklets appeared, mostly in the
U.K. but also in Europe and America, giving
basic rules for four-player chess. Almost all ofthese, some little more than pamphlets, carried
only the name of the publisher. The game wasdismissed as ‘a kind of whist’ (Le Palamède).
Another theory has the game originating in
Russia. Later (1881) Verney declaredecstatically: ‘The electric light and Fourhanded chess now throw their luminous rays
on a hitherto dark and dreary world’. Not
everyone waxed lyrical however. In an article
in Chess Player’s Magazine (1847) the author
remarked that ‘Irascible or ill-tempered people
are advised to let this game alone’ (adding thatthose who could control their tempers wouldfind it extremely interesting) to which theeditor added ‘We heartily concur in the advice
thus offered by our contributor; and although
the class of person legitimately included in his
recommendation ... is without doubt
exceedingly large, yet we could still wish that
he had extended it so far as to include all

those, who have either taste or discernment,
enabling them to appreciate the beauties of theancient and patriarchal game, and to detect theabsurdities of this modern innovation andperversion’. A poetaster (Chess Monthly,1891) drew attention to a congenial aspect of
the game:
The boards, too, lend their aid
In forging friendship’s links
By having corners blank
On which to place the drinks.
The game enjoyed a considerable following
until the end of the 19th century (the White
collection has a score of books on it) after
which support slowly declined. The Ulyanov
family, including Vladimir Ilyich (Lenin) is
alleged to have played it ‘passionately into thenight’ (Machatscheck, Zug um Zug). There
was a four-handed club in London until WorldWar II and tournaments in America up until atleast 1961, the year B. H. Wood reported
enthusiasm for the game in the Faroes, buttoday it is very little played except incommercial versions.
The present section describes a processionof games that have been promoted, often withextravagant claims, at frequent intervals overthe past 200 years. Partners sit opposite one
another and play alternates between thepartnerships, passing either clockwise orcounter-clockwise round the board. The objectof the game is to mate both of the opponents’kings; if one is mated and the other stalematedthe game is drawn. If a player is mated, his
pieces are immobile and he passes his turn. He
resumes play if he is released from the mate.
The pieces move as in orthochess. No move
may be made that puts the partner’s king in318 Partnership and team games
check and a player must respond to a check,he cannot leave it for his ally to counter.
Almost all the games can also be played by
two or three players (‘a marvellous doubledummy game’ according to C. H. O’D.
Alexander). Differences between games occur
principally in extension size, placement of thekings and queens, and behaviour of the pawns.
Four-handed Chess is not chess played byfour people, but a very different game. Allstages of the game are quite unlike theirequivalents in orthochess and the values of thepieces differ considerably; the queens
dominate the board, bishops are about equal torooks, while the usefulness of the knights, andparticularly the pawns, is diminished. The
pawns pose a special problem. It was earlyappreciated that blocks would occur whenallied pawns met. Most games of German
origin overcame this situation by allowing
either pawn to move diagonally forward one
square, then back to its original ﬁle when it
moved again. The English games, from
Sherwin onwards, permitted this in a single
movement - in effect, a vertical leap to thevacant square immediately beyond. Most
games only allow pawn promotion on the rearrank of an opponent. Since this involves
between three and six captures on the ordinary
board, it may be considered academic. In all
games, allied kings can stand adjacent to one
another and usually also to an opponent’s
mated king. Kings normally face queens in theinitial array, giving two fundamentallydifferent arrangements. For play, two contradistinguished sets (usually by colour) arenecessary. The rules of the Verney andHughes versions, the most widely played, aregiven in full, the rest by reference to them.
Verney’s Four-Handed Chess (George Hope
Verney, 1881). Probably the best-known
exponent of the four-handed game, Capt. (later
Major/Lt.Col.) Verney published his Fourhanded Chess following the response he had
to a letter in The Times (22 September 1881).
It was followed in 1885 by his Chess
Eccentricities which included many of thegames given here. The rules of the Verneygame are:(1) 160-square board (8x8 plus four 8x3
extensions), normal array in each extension(so all queens on white squares).

(2) Opposite
playersarepartners(typically, White and Yellow against Blackand Red).
(3) Object is to checkmate both opponents.
Unless both of a partnership’s kings are
mated, the game is drawn.
(4) Pawns move one square at a time andpromote (to Q only) on opponents’ back ranks.
(Falkener and Gollon both favour the pawntwo move for all but the rooks’ pawns; theyalso favour promotion on partner’s as well as
opponents’ back rank.)(5) When a pawn is blocked by a friendly
pawn it can leap over it to a vacant square
immediately beyond even if both pawns are
moving in the same direction.
(6) A pawn reaching the rear rank ofpartner reverses direction (and is marked toindicate this), and again if reaching the ﬁrst
rank of the player, and so on, a situation thatappears highly unlikely.
(7) The men of a player whose king ismated are inert. They do not exercise any
power and are immune from capture.
(8) A player may release an opponent
from mate but in doing so may not capture oneof the mated player’s men.
(9) No castling.
(10) The partnership that does not have themove may change seats before or afterWhite’s first move.
(11) The turn of play rotates clockwise.
The ﬁrst move confers a large advantage(hence rule 10). Games quickly assume aunique character - Verney claims he never saw
two games alike after four moves by eachplayer. Double threats are the danger: if
partners advance knights so that one attacks anadversary’s K, the other the Q, the Q is won.
As a general guide, attack the last player orcheck the following player. Combined attack
on one of the opponents is the most effective
strategy.
In the ending, as in orthochess, a single
rook is sufficient to ensure the win. The
method is (1) force a king onto a back rank,(2) post a king to keep it there, (3) mate thesecond king, (4) mate the ﬁrst king while
retaining the mate on the second king. The
same system is used to force the win with two
bishops. Pawns are of small value in theendings since promotion is practically
impossible. Bizarre end-games can occur

Games using non-rectangular boards 319
when a king is hunted among his partner’s
inert men.
According to J. A. Fuller-Maitland (letter to
The Times, 17 August 1933) Verney got his
knowledge of Four-handed Chess from
Horatia Nelson, a niece of the admiral. By theend of 1881 the Verney game was alreadyestablished in America; The Cincinnati
Commercial (31 December), quoting The
Philadelphia Sunday Times, noted that ‘thegame ... is rapidly growing into favour andbecoming a marked feature of club play’. In
1883/4 Verney founded the Four-handed
Chess Club of London; it was inaugurated on
13 October 1885 with 80 members andsurvived until World War II. In his opening
address Verney remarked that the Czar of
Russia was a devotee of the game and hehoped the masters of the ‘diminutive game’
present (they included Blackburne, Gunsberg,
Hoffer and the Rev. MacDonnell) would beinitiated into the mysteries of Four-handed
Chess and that ‘they might eventually aspire to
the dignity of mastering the more extended
game’. Verney carried his enthusiasm into hishome where his ﬂoor was inlaid with 28
different chess boards in parquet work whilst
his dinner table was graced with a miniaturefour-handed board, complete with chessmen.

in the Verney game. Within a short while oftheir introduction, the Hughes rules prevailed.

Hughes-Hughes’s Four-Handed Chess (M.
E. Hughes-Hughes, 1888). An attempt to makethe four-handed game as close to orthochess as
possible and thereby attract wider support. The
rules are as Verney with three maindifferences: (1) Qs are on left of Ks (and so on
squares of own colour); (2) Pawns canadvance two squares initially (e.p. possible);(3) Castling is allowed (if rarely practised).
One other minor difference is that a pawn
cannot vault a pawn of the same colour, onlythat of partner (it is possible this was also
enforced in the Verney game: the rule isambiguous). It is odd that Verney, arguing infavour of having all queens on white squares,
stated a few years previously (in Chess
Eccentricities) that ‘it is very important thatthe queen of one party should not be in aposition to at once give check to his adversary
on the advance of the king’s pawn’; adding‘(this is) the position adopted almost
universally by players in recent times’. The
advantage of the first move is much less thanThe games that follow will be described interms of those above.
Dessau Four-Handed Chess (K.E.G.,
Dessau, 1784). Extensions 8x3; Qs on whitesquares; pawns move one square only, no
castling; movement anti-clockwise. Alliedpawns pass each other by diagonal movement
and promote on back rank of opponents orpartner. If a player is released from mate, noneof his men can be taken until he has moved.
(Méthode de Jeu d’Echecs à Quatre)
Altenburg Four-Handed Chess (1792). As
played in the town. Variant attributed by van
der Linde to Duke Ernest II of GothaAltenburg. An anonymous pamphlet Gesetze
des Schachs zu Vieren (Gotha, 1779), the firstreference to the game, is similarly credited.
Extensions 8x2; Qs on white squares; pawn-2
and castling allowed; rooks’ pawns cannot
capture one another in the starting position;
movement anti-clockwise.
Koch’s Four-Handed Chess (J. F. W.
Koch, 1801). Extensions 8x3; Qs on white

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The game featured in a match between
London and Cambridge University at
Cambridge on 18 March 1892. A century to
the day later a ‘return’ match was played with
Insurance C.C. representing London, theuniversity winning again. Games were played
to Insurance C.C. rules, a cross between thoseof Hughes and Verney.

320 Partnership and team games
squares; pawns one square with diagonalpassing; promotion on back rank of opponents
or partner; no castling. (Die Schachspielkunst)
Wilkinson’s Four-Handed Chess (C. H.
Wilkinson, 1804). Extensions 8x2; partners
side-by-side. ‘The interest it (the game)
excites is beyond description’ according to theinventor, who professed no knowledge of any
earlier game. (An Easy Introduction to theGame of Chess, 1813 edition)
Braunschweig
Four-Handed
Chess(1814). As played in Brunswick for many
decades. Extensions 8x2; Qs on white squares;
pawn-2 (unmoved wing pawns cannot capture
one another); e.p. allowed; short castling only;
play clockwise. ‘We prefer this to the English
four-handed’ (Schachzeitung, 1848).
Martensen’s
Four-Handed
Chess(Theodorich Martensen, 1814/15). Played in
Lüneburg until at least 1848. Extensions 8x2;
partners side-by-side; Qs on black squares;
wing pawns cannot be taken until they have
moved; pawn-2 and castling allowed.
Promotion is on rear ranks of either opponent.
(Schachzeitung, 1848) [‘May have been takenfrom Wilkinson’, wrote David in the firstedition presumably on account of the side-byside partners, but I suspect that chancecoincidence is more likely. The arrangement isin many respects a more natural one than thatwith partners opposite, since pawns advanceinto enemy rather than allied territory.]
Enderlein’s Four-Handed Chess (K.
Enderlein, 1815). Extensions 8x3; Qs on leftof Ks, i.e. on own colour; no piece can betaken until all players have moved twice;pawn-2 with promotion on any end-rank,
opponents’ or partner’s (the pawn is
exchanged for any piece that has been taken,
but a player cannot have two bishops on thesame colour on the board, a curious
restriction). Castling allowed. Enderleinfounded a four-handed chess club in Berlin,and his Anweisung zum Vierschachspiel waslater acknowledged in Germany as thedeﬁnitive work on the game. His intention was
to keep the four-handed game as close as
possible to orthochess.
Alberti’s Four-Handed Chess (J. J.
Alberti, 1821). Extensions 8x3; Qs on left ofKs; pawn-one with promotion on partner’sback rank. Castling allowed. (Verney)
Albers’s Four-Handed Chess (H. G.

Albers, 1821) Extensions 8x3; Qs on blacksquares; pawn-2 (probable); castling allowed.
Promotion on opponents’ back ranks, but if nopiece of the same colour has been taken, thepawn must wait. Albers, who came from
Lüneburg, called this the English board as
distinct from the 8x2 which he called the
Lüneburg board. (Verney)
Rust’s Four-Handed Chess (L. F. Rust,
1834). Extensions 8x3; Qs on own colour;
play clockwise. (Verney; van der Linde gives
the first initial as ‘J’.)
Waidder’s Four-Handed Chess (S.
Waidder, 1837). Extensions 8x3; Qs on same
colour; pawn-one with diagonal move to pass
ally; promotion on any of the three end ranks;
play anti-clockwise. Waidder proposed thatpawns be allowed to move one steporthogonally and take one step diagonally. The
usual ‘no conferring’ rule was in force but
players were permitted to make any of thefollowing statements: ‘Partner, you are indanger’, ‘Partner, come and help me’, ‘Comeand release me from mate’ and (it must havebeen a common one), ‘You do not see myplan’. (Verney) [Verney apparently gives thename as ‘Waider’, but van der Linde gives‘Waidder’, as does Wellisch (see Waidder’s
three-handed game in chapter 37), and I havefollowed them.]
Sherwin’s Four-Handed Chess (T.
Sherwin, 1837). Extensions 8x3; Qs on whitesquares; pawn-one; promotion on opponents’back ranks, pawn reaching partner’s back rank
reverses direction, pawn meeting allied pawn
may leap it; castling by agreement; clockwise
play. This game, published in London, wasapparently appropriated by Verney. The
inventor gave stern warning on what musthave been a common practice: ‘The partners
are rigorously interdicted from intimating
aught to each other by word, look or gesture’.
(Complete Rules for Playing the New Game of
Chess for Four Persons)
Tressau’s Four-Handed Chess (L.
Tressau, 1840). Extensions 8x3; partners(adjacent) can play one after the other oralternately with opponents. All-play-alloffered as alternative. (Verney)
Sause’s Four-Handed Chess (W. Sause,
1841). Extensions 8x3; Qs on squares of own
colour. Ps on reaching the fourth rank orthereafter could move at right angles towards

Games using non-rectangular boards 321
an opponent but could not change direction
thereafter. Play anti-clockwise, orthodox
except no e.p. (Verney)
Fraustadt Four-Handed Chess (1846).
Rules published in this Prussian town.
Extensions 8x3; Qs on left of Ks. Pawn-one,passes allied pawns on same ﬁle by diagonal
movement; promotion on opponents’ or
partner’s back rank. (Verney)
The Double Game of Chess [H.H.] (H.H.,
1847). The four-handed game ‘lately
introduced into America’ according to theauthor of an article in the Chess Player’s
Magazine (1847). Extensions 8x2; the men ofa checkmated player may be captured byeither of the opponents, a rule which does notmatch that of any European game.
Trabue’s Four-Handed Chess (I. H.
Trabue, 1855). Extensions 8x3; Qs on left ofKs; e.p. and castling. Characterized by the rulethat when a pawn first reaches one of the two
major diagonals of the main board (a1-h8/a8h1), it changes direction (‘wheels’) towards
the nearer opponent. (Personal communication
apparently citing a work entitled ‘Rules andDirections to Play / Four-Handed Trabue,
American Chess / Isaac H. Trabue / Apr 16 /1904’)
Neumann’s Four-Handed Chess (G. R.
Neumann, 1867). Extensions 8x3; Qs on leftof Ks; pawn-2, e.p. and castling permitted.
Play is clockwise. (Das Schachspiel und seine
Abarten)
Gaebeler’s Four-Handed Chess (A.
Gaebeler, 1873). Extensions 8x3; Qs on left ofKs; pawn-2; promotion on any back rank; e.p.
and castling. No piece can be taken before all
players have moved twice. Play clockwise.
Essentially Enderlein’s game. (Verney)
Lange’s Four-Handed Chess (Max Lange,1881). Extensions 8x3; Qs on left of Ks;
clockwise play. (Verney)
Double Chess [Crawley and Mooney](Capt. Crawley and H. Mooney, 1882).
Extensions 8x3. Expounded in a series ofarticles in the Boy’s Own Paper (‘Exception
must be taken to the name Four-handed Chess... why not Four-brained Chess?’). The authors
predictably needled Verney who was quick topoint out the ﬂaws in the rules: ‘In giving aplan of the board, they place two of theirqueens on black squares and the other twoqueens on white squares, and then in theirrules state that all the queens are to be on thesame colour’. Two innovations to which
Verney objected allowed a player to callattention to a partner’s queen under attack and,more obscurely, ‘a pawn-piece (sic) can only
be taken by a piece of its own rank or by aking or a queen’.
Partnership Chess [Chauvenet] (Russell
Chauvenet, 1943). Extensions 8x2; positionsof Qs not specified. Pawns move 1, 2 or 3
squares initially; wing pawns can capture in
the initial array. (Letter to Chess, January
1944)
Fouray (Proprietary game, Gallant Knight
Inc; Don and Paul Quinn, 1962). Extensions
8x4; Qs on left of Ks. A later version (JackQuinn, marketed in 1988 by Fouray Plus) has
8x3 extensions. (Nost-algia 309, World Game
Review 10, advertisement in Chess Life,
January 1988)
Multi-Chess (Gerald Sorek, 1960s).
Extensions 8x4; Qs on own colour. Several
variations
suggested.
(Author’s
rules
pamphlet)
Duplicate Chess (Proprietary game, Crea
Tek Inc; Gerry Sorek, 1967). Extensions 8x3;
Qs on left of Ks. Each team, according to the
publishers, ‘attempts to checkmate both
opponents simultaneously’, something of afeat. (Proprietor’s publicity material)
Quadrachess (Proprietary game, California
Games Co; Honey Sauberman, 1977).
Extensions 8x4; Qs on white squares. Pawns
promote on 16th rank; if deﬂected into an
extension they can move sideways (nocaptures) until back on own rook’s file. Player
who delivers checkmate takes over the matedplayer’s army but does not get an extra turn.
(Proprietor’s publicity material)
Quart’Echecs (Proprietary game, Detente,
1980s). Extensions 8x3; White and Black play
Red and Green. (Proprietor’s publicity
material) [In the array pictured, three of thequeens appear to be on black squares and one
on white.]Four-Way Chess (Proprietary game,
Taurus Games; Stephen Stockman, 1987).
Extensions 8x3; Qs on white squares. Pawns
promote on either partner’s or opponents’back ranks, also on opponents’ edge extension
squares, a total of 24 promotion squares(maximum of 19 attainable by any one pawn).
(Proprietor’s rules booklet, also advertisement322 Partnership and team games
in Chess Life, August 1988)
Ajedrez-4 (Proprietary game, Anro, 1980s).
Extensions 8x3; Qs on left of Ks.
(Advertisement in Revista Internationale deAjedrez, November 1989)
Carre-Schaak (H. P. Kluitmans, 1988).
Extensions 8x2; one player in each partnershiphas an extra Q instead of a K. (Schakend
Nederland, February 1988)
Maxichec (Proprietary game, Edimax;
Jacques Venturini, 1988). Extensions 8x2; twoplayers in each partnership control the
Principal armies, their partners the Allied
armies; two fortresses, each of four whitesquares, in the right corner of the principal
players, and two neutral zones, also of foursquares, in the left corner, thus effectively a12x12 board. In a principal army, the king andqueen are replaced by a General andLieutenant respectively. Their powers areunchanged except that the General is not
subject to check and, if captured, is placed in
the fortress of the opposing principal player
together with the Lieutenant, from which they
can be liberated. Pawns can also movesideways. A pawn on promotion is exchanged
for a piece already lost which is at once placedin the appropriate neutral zone. Various
restrictions on movement and capture in
fortresses and neutral zones, otherwise
orthochess with the aim of mating the (allied)
king. Also playable by 2 or 3. Diplomas at theSalons de l’Invention, Paris and Le Havre.
(Proprietor’s rules pamphlet)
Intense Chess (Proprietary game, IntenseGames; Robert King, 1991). Extensions 8x3;
Ks on left of Qs. Yellow and Brown play Red
and Blue. Object is to checkmate both
opponents (also all-play-all, two- and threeplayer games). The men of a mated player are
removed from play. Pawns may move up to
three squares initially, promote on 11th rank.
Analyzed and endorsed by Judit Polgar andreseachedbyseveralgrandmasters.
(Proprietor’s rules pamphlets and publicity
material) [For Basic Intense Chess and Super
Intense Chess, see the next section.]
Board of the Tao King (Proprietary game,
Ty Scian, 1992). Extensions 8x2. The gamehas a mantle of eastern philosophy with thefour sets of men coloured green (earth), blue
(water), red (ﬁre) and yellow (air).
Chessapeak Challenge (Proprietary game,J. Bruce Jones, 1994). Extensions 8x3; Qs on
white squares. Pawns promote on the backrank of the nearest opponent. They change
direction on the square, known as the pivotal
square, of the first corresponding piece file ofthe nearest opponent; for example, the c-pawnchanges direction on c6, the e-pawn on e7.
Pawns may move directly to the square
immediately behind the pivotal square, thus
the a and h pawns move only one square, thed-pawn five squares. The pivotal squares aremarked. One Canadian school structured its
whole mathematical curriculum round thegame! (Proprietor’s publicity material) [Thechange-of-direction idea would seem to havebeen anticipated by Trabue, see above, but
I haven’t checked out the details.]

35.2 Games using other square boards with extensions
Four-Handed Xiangqi. Chinese Chess for
four; rules similar to those of four-handedorthochess. Board has 9x4 extensions toaccommodate the usual pieces for each player.
There is no river, hence elephants havefreedom of movement. The board may or may
not have the Palaces marked. [David’s index
sheet for the game refers to two Chinese
paperback games books, but there arepresumably in Chinese and there is nothingfrom them in his Encyclopedia files. It istherefore impossible to say whether the gameis partnership or all-play-all, but I haveprovisionally assumed the former.]

Basic Intense Chess (see above) has a 6x6
central area and four 6x3 extensions, theknights being omitted from the array, andSuper Intense Chess has a 10x10 central areaand four 10x3 extensions. In addition to theusual men, each player has two Unicorns (3-1
leapers) and two extra pawns. In the array, theunicorns are in the extension corners with therooks next to them. (Proprietor’s rules
pamphlets and publicity material)
The four-handed version of Victrix (board
10x10 with extensions 10x3) is described withVictrix in chapter 15.

Games using non-rectangular boards 323
Partnership Four-Hand Chess (Michael
Stricker, first version 1949). Board 10x10 with
10x3 extensions; two Lancers and two extra
pawns a side. Lancer moves as a queen but up
to three squares only; may leap one man ofeither colour but not to capture. Pawns canmove up to three squares initially, one or twosquares on their next three moves (pads allow
a tally to be kept). King can move up to threesquares on its ﬁrst move only, but not if
checked. No e.p., castling. Object ischeckmate of both opposing kings. If a player
is checkmated, his king is removed from theboard and his partner takes over his pieces.
Baseline RLNBQKBNLR but K and Q can beinterchanged if desired. No discussion ispermitted during play but an odd feature of thegame is that a player may, in moving a man,point it towards a square or area as anindication to partner. It is up to the partner todeduce the signiﬁcance of this. (Inventor’srules pamphlet dated 1988)
Alliance Chess [Bathgate] (Harold Bathgate,
1970s). Four-player game (partnerships or allplay-all). Board 12x12 with four 12x3
extensions (two are ignored if two play). Extra
pieces are 2 x Financier (as Q but up to 3
squares) and 2 x Saboteur (3-1 leaper). Pawns
can move up to three squares initially. (Chess
Spectrum Newsletter)
Schwentzer’s Four-Handed Chess (Manfred
Schwentzer, 1982). Four players; board 15x15
with a 15x2 extension on each side occupied
initially by the players’ forces. Thus 120 men
on 345 squares; a game for those who believe
big is beautiful. (Komsomol Pravda, 15 April
1983)
Cincinnati 4-Way Chess (David Moeser,1991). Four-handed partnership game inwhich the men-to-squares ratio is high. Board
5x5 with four 5x3 extensions, a further 3x1
extension centred on the last row of each 5x3,
and a triangular area abutting on all threesquares of the 3x1; array K, RQR, NNBBN,

5xP in each extension, but the inventor
suggests that one of the knights might bereplaced by a squirrel (leaps as N or twosquares orthogonally or diagonally). Play isclockwise; object to mate kings of both
opponents. If a player is mated, his men are
frozen and he does not move unless released
from mate; if stalemated, his men may be
captured. No pawn-two; if two friendly pawns
meet on a file with a vacant square beyond oneof them, the other can leapfrog. Promotion in
partner’s territory (extension) to Superpawn(moves backwards and forwards, captures
diagonally in any direction). If a pawn entersan opponent’s territory it changes direction atright-angles and promotes to any piece onreaching the triangle. This can be entered fromany of the three squares in front of it. Only one
piece can occupy it. This piece blocks an
incoming pawn on the central square, but canbe captured by a pawn on either adjacentsquare. A rook in the triangle can exit only
down the central file. The name derives from
Cincinnati’s chili parlours where a ‘4-way’consists of chili, spaghetti, cheese, and onions.
Played in Mt Carmel. (Inventor’s rules
pamphlet)Eight-Handed Chess (G. H. Verney, 1884).
Teams-of-four game. Board 16x16 with 16x3
extensions on each of the four sides (448squares); four complete sets of men. On thefirst two ranks of each extension two fullarrays of the same partnership side by side, allqueens on white squares, partners facing
across the board. Pawns move one square at atime, no castling. The aim is to mate all four
opponents. Rules as for Four-Handed Chess;order of play clockwise. This is Verney’s fourhanded game extended to accommodate eightplayers, an unlikely assembly. (Chess
Eccentricities) [An unlikely assembly indeed,
but Multiple Bughouse (see next chapter) has
been played with eight players per team andwhat is perhaps truly unlikely is to find eightplayers each willing to wait for all the others
to move before his turn comes round again.]35.3 Games using a round board
Four-Handed Round Chess (George Verney,1884). 128-cell circular board consisting of 4
rings (files) and 32 sectors (ranks); four arrays

PPPP, QBNR, KBNR, PPPP at regularintervals round the board (kings and queens on
the inside ring, all queens on white squares).

324 Partnership and team games
Partners sit opposite. General rules as forVerney’s Four-Handed Chess. Half the pawns
move clockwise, half anticlockwise; they have
only a one-square move and do not promote.
(Chess Eccentricities, also Les Jeux d’Echecs
Non-orthodoxes)
Orbital Chess [Schmidt and Dyson](Proprietary game, SDM Inc; B. W. Schmidt
and E. P. Dyson, 1969). Circular board, 32
sectors x 6 cells (4 players in partnership, also
for 2), modiﬁed board of 180 cells (3 players).
Pieces are placed in usual arrangement roundthe perimeter with pawns in front, partners
opposite each other. Barriers between thearrays prevent movement to the left or right on
the first two ranks so that rooks are not en
prise to one another. Pawns must cross thecentre space and continue to opponent’s backrank to promote. Checkmate both kings to
win. The men of a checkmated player are
frozen but come to life if the king is later
released. (Information presumably derivingfrom a set in David’s game collection)
Quad Chess (Steve Preston, 1981). Fourhanded (partnership?) game on 224-cell

circular board consisting of 8 rings (files) and28 sectors (ranks). Each player has the usual
eight pieces arranged RNBKQBNR from thecentre (so alternate queens are on white andblack squares), flanked by two rows each ofeight pawns which move clockwise or
anticlockwise as appropriate. Pawns have six
steps to promotion. Partners may combine
forces to checkmate. The pieces of acheckmated player are frozen. Variations havebeen suggested. (Inventor’s rules pamphlet)
Escher (Proprietary game, Oreste Gallino,1986). Round chess for four. Each quadrant iscomposed of 8x4 chequered squares (cells)
distorted symmetrically to form a 128-cell
circular board. White and Green play Red andBlack. (Eteroscacco 38)
Duchess (Proprietary game, Alain Blair,
1984). Two-six player partnership game.
Modified circular board of 157 cells. Each
player has 1 x K, Q, N, Duchess (B+N),
Fortress (R+N), Wizard (as K), 2 x R, B, 5 x
P. A piece adjacent to a W may be teleported
next to any other W. Mate all opposing Ks towin. (Proprietor’s rules pamphlet)

35.4 Games using other boards
Fortress Chess, also known as Russian FourHanded Chess. Origins unknown, but Murray
believed it was the game referred to by Coxeon his Russian tour in 1772. There was a
London club devoted to the game in 1855, andboth Tchigorin and Capablanca are recorded
as players. The playing area is 192 squares,
the normal board with four 8x2 extensions andfour fortresses, each of 4x4 squares, in thecorners. There are 24 small holes outside theplaying area, six in front of each player. These
are for pegs to keep tally of games won. A
partition, raised on some boards, is set
between the two left-hand squares of eachplayer’s array and the adjacent fortress.
Normal array (Qs on left of Ks), and in
addition each player has an extra R, B and N
which are placed initially in the fortress to hisright on squares of his choice. Partners faceeach other, the turn of play is clockwise, andthe object of the game is to mate both
opponents. When a player is mated his forces
are removed from play, after which thepartner, faced by the combined forces of the
opponents who move twice to his once, rarely
survives long. The fortress minimises the riskof early loss as it offers a comparatively safe
sanctuary. Players normally castle short earlyin the game to hurry the king into the fortress.
Access to the fortresses is not restricted but
the barriers cannot be crossed by any piece.
The knight is assumed to move firstorthogonally and then diagonally, so even if
placed at the entrance to a fortress it willcommand just two squares in the main playing
area. It is usual to place the rook in the fortresson the same rank as the array rooks, the bishop
poised to operate on the diagonal opened when
the RP is moved, and the knight close to theentrance to defend the king in its ﬂight tosafety. Wing pawns cannot capture each otherin the initial position and there is noaccommodation, as is found in Four-Handed
Chess, to relieve a block caused by two alliedpawns meeting on the same ﬁle. Sometimes
Fortress Chess was played with the Ks on theGames using non-rectangular boards 325
left of the Qs, a harder game since it increased
the difﬁculty of removing the king fromdanger.
(Schachzeitung,
May
1850,
Shakhmatny Listok, August 1862, Verney,
Faidutti, Machatschek, Zug um Zug)
Baltic Four-Handed Chess (L. Kieseritzky,
1835?). Partnership game played on a board in
the form of an eight-pointed star. Eightdiamonds with alternate angles of 45 and 135
degrees meet at a point, and each is divided
4x4 into 16 diamond-shaped cells to give a
128-cell board. Each side has the fullcomplement of chessmen in normal array.
Pawn-two, castling permitted; object to mateboth opponents.
The game was described in the ﬁrst chessbook to be published in Lett (1855) and laterin German, Das Baltische Vierschach, by
Leonard Stunde under the pen-name of Leo
Livonus. The author declared, withconsiderable optimism in view of the visual
discomfort players must have experienced
with the distorted squares, that the game rang
the death-knell for the English four-handed
game. The game was little played outside
North Germany and the Baltic States.
(Schachzeitung 1865, Rochade, 1978.)
Tetra-Schach (Victor Manakin, 1948). Fourhanded partnership game played on a 204square board. Usual forces in four colours but
pieces are renamed (e.g., bishops are
Officers). The main difference is that thepawns standing in front of the rooks in thearray are known as Tetra-pawns and have theirown behaviour pattern. A TP moves 1, 2 or 3
squares straight ahead, and can capture 1 or 2
squares diagonally (but cannot leap) regardlessof whether or not it has previously moved. A
TP promotes to a Tetra Queen (Q+N). If apartnership has lost all its major pieces, theopponents must mate within 10 moves, or if
only one king is free in ﬁve moves, otherwise
the game is drawn. (Photocopy of inventor’srules booklet) [Unfortunately the rule booklet
as held by David appears to have been
produced for use with a set, because it justmentions a 204-square Tetra-Schach board

without giving an illustration. A possibility
giving the normal four-fold symmetry would
be an 8x8 board with four 8x4 extensions plus
a three-square L at each inside corner, but thishas to be a guess and it is a guess which Davidwas unwilling to make.]
Chess-O-Rama (Proprietary game, Lawrence
H. Nolte, 1972). Eight players on four boards
which interlock to represent four oceans andﬁve continents. Two teams, but in the earlystages the four games are played in relative
isolation. Awarded gold medal at International
Licensing Exhibition of 1973. (Brace,
Illustrated Dictionary of Chess)
Doubles Chess (Proprietary game, Doubles
Chess; Rick Gillipsie, 1983). Four-handed
partnership game marketed 1994. 128-cellboard obtained by surrounding a central pointwith 8 quadrilateral kites having successive
angles of 45, 90, 135, and 90 degrees, and thendividing each kite 4x4 into 16 quadrilaterals.
This gives an octagonal board with eight
quadrilateral cells along each side, and every
point apart from the centre is the meeting
point of four cells. Usual arrays on pairs of
opposite sides, partners White/Red having Ks
on dark squares, Black/Gray on light. Moves
as in orthochess allowing for board distortion.
Checkmate or capture both opponents’ Ks towin. A checkmated K is removed from play
but the player continues to move on turn.
Described by Larry Evans as ‘The best fourhanded version I ever saw - a kissing cousin tochess’, Doubles Chess received wide media
coverage in the U.S. (Proprietor’s rules
pamphlet and publicity material)
Octopus Chess (Henk Breugem, 1989). Eightplayer game (teams of four, teams of two, or
all-play-all) around a 257-cell octagonalboard. Central circular cell; surrounding it, aring of eight kite-shaped pentagons together
forming an octagon; from each side, rows of
two, four, six rectangles with kite-shaped
quadrilaterals joining them; 8x2 extensions on
the outside. (Schakend Nederland, June 1989)[Text revised.]Chapter 36
Games using more than one board[In the games so far, all the play has taken place on a single board. In the present chapter, eachpair of players plays what is superficially an ordinary game of chess on its own board, but thesegames interact in various ways.]36.1 Four players, two boards
Bughouse, also known as New England
Double Bughouse, Pass-On Chess, andTandem Put-Back. Origins unknown(probably early 1960s). Teams of two.
Partners sit adjacent to each other on two
boards, one player White, the other Black.
When a capture is made, the captured man ispassed to the player’s partner, who may enter

AB

rhb1kgw4
0p0wdN0p
wdwdwdwd
dwdpdwdP
wdwdndwd
dwdwdwdw
P)P)P)Pd$NGQIBDRThe reason for a fast time limit is shown by asituation that occurs quite often (the present
example is due to Chris Ferrante). Supposethat the upper team A is to play on bothboards, and that Black A sees that his partnerWhite A has more time in hand than his
opponent White B (clocks must be visible toall players, and the game features muchsquinting to see who is ahead). He therefore
plays ...Qf6 threatening mate, yells ‘Sit!’ andsets his opponent’s clock going. White A now
sits without playing (his side cannot lose ontime because White B’s flag will fall first),
and sooner or later White B must play hispawn to f3 or f4 to stop the mate. White A
now comes to life and plays Bxh6, passing thecaptured pawn for his partner to drop on f2 (hecouldn’t do this earlier because Black B would
have recaptured on h6 and passed the bishop
for his partner to drop on f3, removing theit on his board on any vacant square at any
subsequent turn of play. A drop counts as amove. A dropped man may give check or
mate. Pawns may not be dropped on 1st or 8th
ranks, and a promoted piece, if captured,
reverts to a P. The game is played with clocks,
always to a fast time limit, and first mate or
flag-fall decides.

RDBIQDN$)P)WDP)P
Ndwdwdwddwdw)wdw
wGw)pdwd
0wdpdndw
p w0phw0p0
p 4wgqibdr

AB

need for the weakening pawn move). White A
will sit and wait whether White B has two
minutes left on his clock or two hours, so
nothing is gained by playing at slow time
limits and in practice five minutes iscustomary.
Bughouse is a popular diversion at U.S.
chess events, where it has been played bymany masters including Joel Benjamin, Yasser
Seirawan and Andy Soltis. Tournaments are
spreading: one U.S. club claimed to have held
75(!). There are sites on the web, and in recent
years an annual weekend in Geneva has
attracted the best European players. There is a
Bughouse Newsletter (founded 1992) in the
U.S. published by Jeremy Graham, who has
proposed standardized rules. In these, players
may discuss the game and advise each other.
The rules in force in Geneva state that all
forms of communication between partners areGames using more than one board 327
permitted, the noisier the better. (Nost-algia
174, Variant Chess 32/33/36/39)[Text revised. Had David been to any of the
Geneva weekends himself, he would certainly
have included Outdoor Bughouse, which isplayed with the giant men in the park andinvolves much dashing to and fro to hit theclock (the normal five-minute time allowanceis usually extended to seven). As originallypractised, captured men were thrown across tothe other board, juggling ability being thus
added to the skills required, but this was
discontinued after a thunderstorm filled someof the men with water and one of the pawns
was seen to be coming apart under the strain.
The game is indeed thriving, and a book
Bughouse Chess, edited by Georg vonZimmermann, appeared late in 2006. This
covers all aspects of the game, with particularreference to play on the Internet. Bughouse iswell suited to control by computer, since there
is no longer any argument about whose flag

fell first, and with such control a three-minutetime limit now appears to be the norm.]
Minichess[Bughouse](Hamburger
Schachjugendbund, date not recorded).
Bughouse using a 3x7 board. Each player has
1 x K, R, B, and 3 x P. Ps move one square; nopromotion. (Manuscript notes presumably
deriving from personal communication)
Stupid House (1999). Bughouse variant inwhich partners have the same colours. On a
capture, the captured man is passed to thepartner who must place it on a vacant squareof his board on his next turn instead ofmoving. (Variant Chess 33)
Kriegspiel Bughouse (1976) combines
Bughouse with Kriegspiel. Players sit as for
Bughouse but moves are in sequence board A
W/B, board B W/B. An umpire is needed toapprove moves. (Neue Chess 10)36.2 Four players, four boards
Phase Chess (John McCallion, 1995).
Experimental four-player partnership gameusing four boards. Each player plays two
opponents, having the same colour in both,and must make the same move in each game;if a move would be illegal in one game, itcannot be played in the other. The weakness ofthe pawns is a drawback (a pawn cannot attack
on one board unless it can attack on both,which is easily avoided). (Inventor’s
document ‘Phase Chess, an experimental

game’) [Text editorial. Given the experimental
nature of the game, it is by no means certainthat David would have retained it in his final
selection, but the idea seems worth recording
even though it would be better suited to games
where every man captures with its ordinary
move.]
Enochian Chess [Barr and Eschner] is
described with other Enochian Chess games inchapter 38.

36.3 More than four players
Multiple Bughouse can be played between
teams of any even number (at least eight a sidehas been tried and found practicable). Half theplayers in a team take White, half take Black;captured men are made available to any player
within the team. Victory goes to the first team
to win half the games. Even more frenetic thanordinary bughouse. (Variant Chess 36) [Texteditorial. For some real-life communicationdifficulties, see the book Bughouse Chessmentioned above.]
Sociable Chess, also known as Social Chess[Cambridge] (‘A Cambridge man’, 1865).

Team game involving any even number ofplayers. The inventor expressed his convictionthat ‘chess would be a more popular gamethan it is if ... a large number of persons might
engage in one contest’, adding ‘a sufficientnumber (of sets and boards) might be collected
for a large party, by friends lending to eachother for the occasion’. Team leaders areappointed. When a game is finished, the leaderof the winner is entitled to distribute thewinner’s remaining men amongst his team as
he thinks fit. Men are placed on starting
squares provided these are vacant. The only
limitation is that no board may have its force

328 Partnership and team games
increased beyond its original strength. The
team winning most games is the victor. (Chess
Player’s Magazine, January 1866, also Chess
World, October 1866)
Multiple Chess (J. W. Jeffery, 1943). Teamsof any size; one player on each side appointed
C-in-C. Sets arranged in a row, one sidehaving Black, the other White. Players movein rotation. The C-in-C may offer advice to aplayer, having announced his intention one
move before. The C-in-C may direct transfer
of material from one board to another; theplayer thus forced to surrender material
forfeits the move on his own board, and thepiece is placed on the nearest file (a or h) of
the new board. When a game ends, thewinner’s men, K excepted, may be transferred
one at a time to the next board, but only after
three moves have elapsed. The C-in-C may
take over the last board. (Chess, September
1943)
Caterpillar Chess (E. H. Ratcliffe, 1952).
Team game requiring two sides of any evennumber, a timekeeper, an umpire, and as many

sets and boards as there are players. The
boards are set up in a circle, alternating black
and white. Every player starts with the white
pieces so there is only one player at eachboard. The timekeeper calls ‘White’, whenevenyone plays and then moves clockwise to
the next board when, after an agreed lapse(say, 15 seconds) the timekeeper calls ‘Black’and everyone moves with the black pieces.
There are no resignations. A player who
delivers mate or stalemate calls ‘Stop’, when
the umpire checks and records the result andresets the men, and the game is restarted. The
team which registers most mates in a given
time is the winner. As a variation, one teammoves clockwise and the other anti-clockwise.
(Chess, May 1952)
Chain-Letter
Chess(NOST,
1974).
Correspondence chess with two teams ofindeterminate size. No player moves morethan once in a game. (Nost-algia 173)
[I haven’t seen the source, but I take this tomean ‘players move in rotation, nobody
moving twice until everyone has moved once,
and no consultation’.]Part 8Every man for himself[These last two chapters cover multi-player games in which everyone plays
for himself. Of all chess games, these are the least likely to be satisfactory.
The possibility of secret alliances is always present, and even when everyone isplaying honestly the best strategy is often to do nothing and to wait for someone else
to make the first move (see David’s remarks under ‘Designing a Variant’ in the
Appendix).
Many of the games in these two chapters are proprietary, and it will be seen that insome cases we know as little about them as about the long-dead games now glimpsed
through fragmentary references in ancient manuscripts. Typically, David saw or wassent an advertisement or newspaper cutting containing a small amount of information,
he wrote for more to the address given, and the lack of response suggested that the
proprietors had already ceased operations. It has been a story too often repeated:inventors think they have spotted a gap in the market, only to discover that there is nomarket in the gap.]

Chapter 37
Games for three[Three-player chess has a long history. Marinelli’s game of 1722 was seminal, and other earlyexamples cited in the first edition were a triangular game (Regensburg 1765), Lallemont’s gameof 1802, and Wildt’s Burgspiel of 1803. Thereafter three-player games appear fairly frequently,
those below being amongst the best known or having enjoyed some favour. Nevertheless, they
are arguably the most unsatisfactory of all multi-player chess games, because the disparity when
two gang up against one is greatest. If three would-be players are present and it is not practicablefor each in turn to look after the refreshments or to act as an umpire for Kriegspiel, the best fun
may be had by trying one of the variants in this chapter and the next where the players havedifferent roles.]37.1 Rotationally symmetric boards based on triangles
Noris Schach (Proprietary game, Treugut Bottcher; H. Koller and D. Stegmann, 1974).
Three-player chess on a 106-triangle board
formed by taking a hexagon with alternate
sides of lengths 5 and 4, drawing a triangularmesh on it, and removing the middle five
triangles (three up meshed with two down)from each of the long sides. The sides oflength 4 now act as bases for the players, eachplayer having 18 triangles for his array (fourup meshed with five down forming the first
rank, five up meshed with four down forming
the second). Each player has 18 men; 9 pawns,
the usual 8 pieces and a Cardinal. The cardinal(between KB and N in the array) moves as aqueen but cannot capture. It can only be
captured if attacked by pieces of both
opponents simultaneously when the capturing
piece (not a king) is also removed from theboard. The rook and bishop each have six linesof travel, the queen 12. The king moves to any
adjacent triangle which, away from the boardedge, number 12. Castling, pawn promotion as
orthochess. First checkmate wins game. If a
player is stalemated, the game is drawn;
similarly by agreement of all three players.
Noris Schach was widely played, particularly
in Germany, for several years. (Proprietor’srules booklet and publicity material)
Tri-Chess [Dekle, three-player game](George Dekle Sr, 1986). 150-triangle board,

as for Noris Schach but formed from ahexagon with alternate sides of lengths 7 and 4
by removing the middle nine triangles fromeach long side. The sides of length 4 again act
as bases. Each side has 18 men (no queen but
Chancellor (R+N) and Cardinal (B+N)
respectively on left and right of king, 9pawns). If a pawn reaches the edge before
attaining a back rank, it may move diagonally.
A king in checkmate or stalemate is removed
from the board and the remaining pieces areadded to the army of the player delivering thecoup-de-grâce (pawns do not change direction
in consequence). (Inventor’s rules sheets)
Triangular Chess [Seaby and Lee]
(Proprietary game, D. A. Seaby and J. P. Lee,1993). Three-player game on triangularchequerboard divided into 64 regular triangles
plus three abutting ‘home’ areas of 8x2
triangles, one on each side of the main board.
Usual chessmen in contrasting colours set up
in home areas in orthochess array. Movement
regular when moving into, out of or withinhome areas but some differences whenmoving wholly within the main board. A
captured K can be ransomed and there is a ruleintended to discourage two players combining
against the third. Surviving player wins, or atime limit can be set when a scoring system
based on men captured is used to determine
the winner. (Proprietor’s rule sheet)334 Every man for himself
37.2 Rotationally symmetric boards based on hexagons
Three-Handed Hexagonal Chess [Wellisch](Sigmund Wellisch, 1912). Wellisch believed,with reason, that his three-handed game
offered a considerable improvement overthose of his predecessors, in particular in thatthe board and array ensure that no side isdisadvantaged. Apart however from theweaknesses inherent in all three-player games,
Wellisch dodges the problem of the extra
bishop, necessary for complete coverage of theboard, by doing without bishops altogether on
the grounds that there are no diagonals. Pieces
and board cells are coloured yellow, red andblack. Each player has an extra knight. 91-cell
hexagonal board as for Glinski’s game, but themen are placed along the sides instead ofbeing grouped around opposite corners; array(centred on three ranks) NRQKRN, PPPNPPP,
PP (Qs always to left of Ks). R moves as in
Glinski’s game. K moves to any adjacent hex,changes place with R when castling. N moves
in any direction to nearest cell of the same
colour. Q = R+N; P moves one cell forward(two directions), captures in same manner (nopawn-two or e.p.), and promotes on end row topiece previously lost. A checkmated player
may be released from checkmate or his kingcaptured. The player capturing the king, who
may or may not be the player who delivered
checkmate, takes over the remaining pieces ofthe mated player. Pawns taken over keep theirdirection of movement. The object of thegame is to defeat both opponents. (Wiener
Schachzeitung 1912)
Modern Chess [Perry] (Proprietary game,Elizabeth Perry, 1918). Board of 64 hexagons
in three colours arranged in a triangle. Set-up
not known. (Collection of game rules under‘CUP 700.g.1’, presumed to be a British
Library shelfmark)Kokusai Sannin Shogi (Tanigasaki Jisuke, c.
1930, revived by Maruo Manabu). Threehanded shogi. The board is hexagonal in shapeand is made up of 127 cells (seven a side). The
central hexagon, marked, is the Pleasure
Garden. Each player has 18 pieces
symbolizing political elements. Two players
may form an alliance, for which there are
elaborate rules, or the game may be all-against-all. The pieces physically resemble
those of shogi and many move in ways similar
to those of the parent game. Promotion anddrops also closely parallel those of shogi. A
solo player able to move his king safely into
the pleasure garden wins. (Shogi 35)
Three-Handed Hexagonal Chess [Baxter](Joe H. Baxter, 1964). Hexagonal board of
217 regular hexagons (nine along each side) inthree colours. Each player has a total of 19
men, the usual 16 plus an extra B and two
extra Ps. The three sides are regularly spaced
round the board, the array being identical ineach case: 1st rank RNBKBQBNR, 2nd rank
10xP. When one player is mated hewithdraws, his pieces remaining unmoved forthe rest of the game but subject to capture byeither of the remaining players. The K moves
to any adjacent hex (maximum 6) but captures
as in Glinski; castling possible. The P moves
one cell at a time, with option of two on first
move, in either of the two forward directions.
The P captures forward one cell as a B (three
options, with exception of perimeter pawns).
Other pieces move as Glinski. (Photocopy ofinventor’s rules pamphlet, possibly produced
as a patent application)
Hyperchess [Groman] (William Groman,early 1970s), three-player version. 97-cellboard, obtained by taking a hexagonal board
with alternate sides 8 and 5 and removing the
middle two hexes from each of the long sides
and the middle hex from the next row in. The
5-cell sides now form the bases for theplayers, with array BQBKB, R-NN-R, 7xP. In
this game, the men of a mated or stalematedplayer are frozen but can be captured. Uniqueto a multi-player game (at least at the time) isthe ‘recovery move’: the player delivering thecoup-de-grace has the privilege of making
another move immediately, effectively having
two successive moves.
Hexachess [Moeser] (David Moeser, 1971),
three-player version. 153-cell board obtainedby taking a triangle of side 18 and removing a
6-cell triangle from each vertex, giving a fourcell baseline; each player’s initial position as
for the two-player game. The forces of a

Games for three 335
player who is mated or stalemated are frozen,
but can be captured by the other players. [Textrevised. The array for the two-player has K
facing K; I presume that the positions for thethree-player game repeat by rotation, but therules do not explicitly say so.]Hexchess [Hexchess Inc] (Proprietary game,
Hexchess Inc, 1975). Two or three players.
127-cell hexagonal board, normal men,corner-based array K, NQB, RBPNR,
PPPPPPP rotating round. Moves as in Glinski
except that the K’s move is confined toadjacent hexes. Pawns promote on reaching an
end hex; no e.p. or castling. In the three-player
version, three objectives are offered: (1)winner is player who ﬁrst checkmates anopponent, third player earns draw; (2) piecesof ﬁrst player to be mated are frozen but canbe captured by other players; (3) pieces of ﬁrst
player to be mated are frozen and cannot be
captured. The absence of a third bishop andthe pawn’s long march to queen detract fromthe game. (Proprietor’s rules booklet)
Tri-Chess [Patton] (Proprietary game,
Anthony Patton, 1975). A survivor amongst
three-player variants, where life is usuallyshort and sour. Hexagonal board made up of
217 hexes in three colours. Each side has anadditional bishop and two extra pawns,
baseline RNBKBQBNR. K moves to any
adjacent hex; other pieces as Glinski but a Q
or B cannot pass between two occupied hexes;
P moves one step as B (opening two-steppermitted) and captures with a two-step R
move. When a player is checkmated his forces
are immobilized; the first player to capture theking then takes over the immobilized forces.
The capture can be made by either of theremaining players. (Proprietor’s rule sheet andpublicity material) [Text revised]
Szenario(Proprietary game,
Edelbert
Wiedmann, 1977). Three players; hexagonalboard (81 cells). Described, unoriginally, as
the greatest game since chess, Szenario
embraces the social spectrum. Each side hasnine pieces (chess equivalent powers inparentheses): Capital (dollar sign, K), Military(R), Church (B), Intelligence (N), Politics(B+K), 2 x Worker (male and female) (P),
Employee (P). The military can capture twopieces in the same line in the one move. The
winner is the State (player) whose capital (K)remains uncaptured. Promotion for a worker,
employee or intelligence is on any one of thethree central hexes when he or she becomes
Culture (K). Disarmament and revolution canboth occur during play but without doing
much for the game. (Manuscript notes
presumably deriving from a set in David’s
game collection)
En Garde (Proprietary game, Mynd Games;
Herb Maretz, 1988). 165-cell tricorn board in
three colours; each player has an extra bishop.
Array RNBKBQBNR with 8 pawns in front.
(Proprietor’s publicity material)
Astral Battle (Proprietary game, Michel
Boutin, 1989). Two or three players. Regular61-cell board, 11 men a side if two players,nine men if three. One piece, known as ‘theVulnerable’, moves one space at a time. It canneither attack nor defend and its capture is theobject of the game. All other pieces, which
can be rotated, carry directional markings
determining both movement and vulnerability.
Capture by displacement. (Vers L’Education
Nouvelle, January 1990)
Chesser (Proprietary game, Per Halmo, 1989).
78-cell triangular board; usual pieces but only
five pawns. Array from corner (centred) K,
RR, BQB, PNNP, PPP. [David’s Encyclopedia
files contain only a photocopy of a board set
up for play; the information regarding
ownership presumably derives from a set heowned or had seen.]
Triscia (Proprietary game, Coruna; Edgardo
Saronne, 1992). 111-cell hexagonal board;usual chessmen apart from knights. (Advancenotice in unidentified Italian magazine)
Hexanova (George Jelliss, 1995), three-player
version. Arrays as in two-player version, but
Qs always to the left of Ks. The men of amated side become neutrals (see chapter 21)
but pawns thus neutralized continue to movein the direction appropriate to their original
colour. The mated king is also retained; it may
not be left in check, and the mating move must
be retracted before play continues. An optional
rule prohibits the immediate reversal of a

336 Every man for himself
move just made by a neutral. (Variant Chess18) [Text editorial]
The Jester’s Game (Brain Sports Industries,
2000). 100-cell hex board; each side has 1 x
K, Q, Jester, 2 x R, B, N, 9 x P. J moves as
Q+N but does not capture; is captured only if
attacked by both opponents, capturing piecealso removed. First player to checkmate wins,
both opponents lose. (Variant Chess 49)
Diplomat (Valery Trubitsyn, 2004). The
three-player version of Hexofen (see chapter

22). 91-cell hexagonal board as before, but
only 20 men a side: White Kf1, Qg2,
Rd3/h3/h5/i4, Be2/f3/g4, Ne4/f5/g6, 9xP on
c4-g8-j5. (Author’s rules pamphlet)
Chesh (D. R. Hofstadter, 2005). 169-cell
hexagonal board; baselines RBNQKNBR with
PPPPBPPPP in front. [This was a very lateaddition to David’s text, and I can find neither
an index sheet for the game nor any source
material. I will take responsibility for having
altered an apparent typo in the inventor’sname.]

37.3 Rotationally symmetric boards based on quadrilaterals
Coqueret’s Three-Handed Chess (1837). 91cell board obtained by taking three 7x6 boards
and cutting upwards at 30 degrees from
halfway along each side, discarding the top
pieces, putting the rest together, and adjusting
the cell boundaries where the cut hasn’t quitegone through the corner. So, from each side,rows 1-3 are normal, b4-f4 and d5 aredistorted squares, a4/c5/e5/g4 combine withthe corresponding cells on neighbouringboards to form kite-shaped quadrilaterals, andd6 becomes part of a central triangle, This
gives a board with 88 cells, and the number ismade up to 91 by adding another kite-shaped
quadrilateral at each inside corner. Usual men(White, Black, Red); players sit at the inside
corners. K starts on the added quadrilateral, Q
on the kite-shaped quadrilateral immediately
in front of it, BNR to each side, 8xP in front.
Bishops start on same-coloured squares but
the nature of the board allows them to changecolour in certain circumstances. Play as
orthochess, including castling, e.p. etc. Rules
adopted by l’Echiquier de Paris. (Règle desEchecs à Trois Joueurs, Paris, 1837)
Waidder’s Three-Handed Chess (S.
Waidder, 1837). 126-cell board obtained byapplying the same treatment to three 8x8
boards (there is now no central triangle but apoint where 6 irregular quadrilaterals meet).
Board chequered in the usual way; the six
kite-shaped quadrilaterals may be consideredas either white or black or ignored. Players sit
along the sides, usual array. Pieces on crossing
a boundary line may change direction. The
forces of a mated player are frozen until

released. A player wins by mating the othertwo. (Verney, also Wiener Schachzeitung,1912) [In using the spelling ‘Waidder’, I am
following Wellisch in WSz. He cites a work
Das Schachspiel in seinem ganzen Umfange,
Wien, 1837, and adds ‘pseud. für Vincenz
Lunzer’.]
Demonchy’s Three-Handed Chess (Antoine
Demonchy, 1882). Three 8x8 boards arranged
in a triangle, corners touching. Arguably notthree-handed chess but an arrangement forthree players to play orthochess against two
opponents. (Verney)
Self’s Three-Handed Chess (Henry J. Self,
1895). 144-cell board obtained by taking three
8x4 half-boards and joining their sides bycorridors of 4x4 quadrilaterals, the central
triangular area not being used. In his New and
Improved Game of Chess for Three Players,
Self claims that ‘In my game the pieces of any
one of the players have not the slightest
advantage so far as position goes over eitherof the remaining players’. To encourage
aggressive play and ‘to compensate the player
delivering mate who may have had to sacrificematerial to achieve this end would then findhimself at a disadvantage with the remaining
player’ Self allows the player delivering theﬁrst mate to claim back any piece lost, whichis replaced on its original square, or if
occupied, on the nearest square, one on theboard edge taking preference. Rules otherwise
as in other three-handed games. Queens androoks have enhanced power, knights best used
for defence.

Games for three 337
Three-Player Chess (Proprietary game,
Carter Hall; Robert Zubrin, 1971). Board andplacements identical to that of, and apparently
pre-dating, Dreier-Schach below. (Copy of
U.S. patent 3,652,091, also proprietor’s
publicity material)that a triangular island in the middle splits thecentral ﬁles. A rook on a player’s a3 can goright across to h3, but a rook on a4 can go nofurther than d4; a rook on d1 can go up to d4
and then carry on into the next player’s part ofthe board. (Schaakbulletin, June 1979)

Dreier-Schach (Proprietary game, Schmidt
Spiele, 1970s). 96-cell board obtained bysurrounding a central point with 6
quadrilateral kites having successive angles of60, 90, 120, and 90 degrees, and then dividing
each kite 4x4 into 16 quadrilaterals. The
resulting board is hexagonal in shape witheight quadrilateral cells along each side, andevery point apart from the centre is themeeting point of four cells. Normal arrays
along three of the sides (Qs on left of Ks).
Play as orthochess with promotion on backrank of either of adversaries. (Manuscript
notes presumably deriving from a set inDavid’s game collection)

Third-World Chess (Proprietary game, D. F.
Thompson and Co, 1981). Three-handedorthochess using three 8x4 boards. (World
Game Review 10)

Interface (Proprietary game, Ken Mobert,1972). Board as for Waider’s game above. The
six kite-shaped cells are coloured red and arecalled ‘transit points’. A player who delivers
mate takes over his victim’s forces. What
gives the game its spice is forming shifting
alliances and ‘a taste for treachery’ (Time, 8January 1973)
Yalta [Spindler] (Pierre-Eric Spindler, 1975).
Board design logically identical to that ofThree-Player Chess and Dreier-Schach, butlines not passing through the centre are
replaced by graceful arcs. A line piececrossing the centre point may change
direction; thus a B moving from a cornersquare has a choice of three directions whenreaching the centre. Pawns promote on
baseline of either adversary. Player deliveringmate assumes control of the mated player’s
pieces after removing king from the game. If a
player is stalemated, his forces are withdrawn
from the game. Last player wins. (Author’sbooklet Prototype : Dossier, Impensé Radical,
Paris)
Trio-Chess (Proprietary game, Van derLaken; G. J. Buijtendorp, 1979). Gracefully
curved board logically identical to that ofThree-Player Chess and Dreier-Schach except

Three-Man Chess (George Dekle Sr, 1984).
Board and set-up identical to Three-Player
Chess and Dreier-Schach. On reaching the 5th
rank, a pawn becomes an Arrow pawn andmay move one square orthogonally andcapture one square diagonally, both in any
direction, but may not re-enter its hometerritory (one-third of board). Queens andbishops change square colours when crossing
the centre. First to checkmate wins. If one
player stalemated, forces may not move (butcan be captured) until and if released fromstalemate. (Author’s rules sheets)
Allegiance Chess (Proprietary game, Metaco
Inc; John Doering and Ralph Placencia III,
1984). Triangular board, 43 rectangles a side
(three ranks of 9, then one each successivelyof 7, 5 ,3, 1 centred), 12 kite-shaped cells
linking the boards, and a central triangularcell. Regular array for each side, the i-filebeing left vacant. Orthochess, but castling notmentioned. Pieces change direction whentraversing linking cells (bishops do not changecolour). A mated player’s men are removed
from the board. (Publisher’s rules booklet)
Neutral Zone Chess (Proprietary game, G &M Mind Games, 1985). Board is three 8x5
areas touching at corners with a triangularcentral area known as the neutral zone which
it is necessary to transit to enter an opponent’s
field. Movement is regular except in theneutral zone where it is modified. Pieces movefreely in and out of the zone (two moves);
those of a mated or stalemated player are
removed from play. (Proprietor’s rules
pamphlet)
Trischa (Proprietary game, Dieter Kopp,
1988). Three-handed chess. The board design338 Every man for himself
is essentially the same as that for Three-Player
Chess and Dreier-Schach except that in
Trischa the hexagonal shape has been changed
to that of a star. White and Black haveorthodox set-ups; the third side, Piebald, canplace the K on either side of the Q. Pawns
promote on the first rank of either adversary
but only to a piece already lost. The firstplayer to mate one of his opponents wins thegame. A French game that appears to have an
identical board and set-up was illustrated in
the Dutch magazine Elsevier in 1976. Euwe
was one of the players. (Author’s rules
pamphlet)Ches3 (Proprietary game, Connection The
Problem Solvers; Khia Rasmussin, 1990s).
Board and set-up identical to Three-Player
Chess and Dreier-Schach. First player tocheckmate wins. The game attracted a lot ofinterest from the media, but little from players.
(Proprietor’s publicity material)

III-Color (Peter-René Töttger, 1992). Layout
as for Demonchy’s game above, but a player
moving a man into his opponent’s territory
may choose on which of his opponent’s halfboards to put it. The game ends when one K is
mated: the mating player scores 2 points, themated player 0 and the third player 1.
(Inventor’s rules booklet)
Three-Handed Xiangqi, also known as The
Game of the Three Kingdoms and San-GuoQi. Xiangqi for three players; the gamerepresents the War of the Three Kingdoms(AD 221-264). A number of board designs
have been reported; all feature three normal
half-boards set up in triangular formation, but
the paths between them differ. Each side may
have two extra pieces known as Banners orbannermen,
which move
two
steps
orthogonally then one diagonally. When one
player is mated his general is removed and themating player takes over his forces.

37.4 Circular boards
Three-Handed Round Chess (George
Verney, 1884). 96-cell circular board
consisting of 4 rings (files) and 24 sectors(ranks); three arrays PPPP, QBNR, KBNR,
PPPP at regular intervals round the board(kings and queens on the inside ring, allqueens on white squares). Pawns move only
one square; no promotion; castling permitted(0-0 only). Two players cannot combine tomate the third. The pieces of a mated player
are frozen; they are released into play if themate is lifted. A player must mate both
opponents to win. (Chess Eccentricities, also
Les Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes)
Tri-Chez (Proprietary game, Donald Gebhart,1970) is the three-player version of Chez (seechapter 38), played on a 96-cell circular board(24 sectors).
Tri-Chess [Preston] (Steve Preston, 1981).
Three-handed game on circular board divided
into eight concentric ranks and 24 files
radiating from the centre. Each player has theusual eight pieces arranged RNBKQBNR
from the centre, flanked by two rows each ofeight pawns which move clockwise or
anticlockwise as appropriate. A pawn

promotes on entering any square occupied in
the initial position by an opponent’s man. Twoplayers cannot combine to checkmate thethird. The pieces of a mated player are frozen
or alternatively may be removed at once fromthe board. Another version has each player
with two full complements of pieces facing in
two directions and playing two games
simultaneously, one against each of the otherplayers. This is Demonchy’s game abovetransferred to a round board. (Inventor’s rules
pamphlet)Geo Chess (Proprietary game, Lordin Games;
Rick French, 1992). Circular board of 30
sectors (files) and 8 concentric rings (ranks),
giving basically 240 cells, but three pairs ofadjacent cells in the inner ring are combined
as double ‘power cells’ and so are the pairs in
the outer ring that are midway between them.
Additionally, there is a double-size ‘king’s
square’ adjacent to each inner-ring power cell.
Each player has two sets of chessmen less one
king; one set is set up on the inner ring, queen
on the power cell, king on the king’s square,
the other (less king) is set up around the far
outer-ring power cell. Rules as for orthochess;object is to eliminate other two players.

Games for three 339
37.5 Boards in three dimensions
Strix (Proprietary game, David Priestleyassisted by Jonathan Moody, 1986). The
inventor’s intention was to develop a true
three-dimensional chess game (not a 3-Dversion of a 2-D game) that was original andalso aesthetically pleasing. Three 7x7chequered boards are joined at right angles to
one another and mounted on an inverted
tripod. The centre of each square is drilled toaccommodate rods which are in three colours
representing owls (hence the name), kites andravens. The three black squares that form thejunction of the boards are known collectively
as the nest and the object of the game is to get
one’s owl into the nest. Strix is a three-player
game (there are two-player versions), eachplayer having three pieces (rods), one of eachbird. The pieces are colour-tipped to denoteownership. The owl moves like a king with analternative, long-range move known as‘wheeling’, while the kites and ravens movelike queens over one or more board faces.
Owls and kites capture by displacement,ravens by ‘mobbing’ (sandwiching) a victim; araven plays either an active or passive role inmobbing. The main restriction on movement isthat a piece cannot move to a square where its
shaft is touching that of another piece.
Strategy and tactics are difficult to visualize
without a set. (Information from proprietor’srules booklet)
Triplex (Proprietary game, Peter-René
Töttger, 1996). Three-player game on threetransparent 8x4 half-boards set up on edge
with little shelves for the men, files horizontal,
ranks vertical. They are joined along the 4th
rank, each board separated by 120 degrees(thus a Y shape seen from above). Usual arrayon each half-board; a player moving beyond
his own half-board may choose which enemy
half-board he moves to, but he may not movedirectly from the half-board of one opponent
to that of the other. First player to deliver amate wins. (Inventor’s rule sheets) [Textrevised]37.6 Boards without rotational symmetry
Triple Chess [Marinelli] (Filippo Marinelli,1722). Standard 8x8 board with three 8x3
extensions; usual array in each extension (Qsto left of Ks). Pawns promote on back ranks,
hence black pawns have a shorter distance totravel but are penalized by having to march
between two armies. White and red pawns do
not promote in black territory, where they may
be immobilized. Checkmate and stalemate canonly be given by pieces of one colour. The
forces of an eliminated player are static but
may be captured, though not the king. A
player must neutralise both opponents to win.
The game is unbalanced but it was
enthusiastically endorsed by Prince Eugen of
Savoy. (Triple Chess, 1826) [I presume thisto have been a translation of Marinelli’s
Il Giuoco degli Scacchi fra tre of 1722).]
Alberti’s Chess for Three (J. J. Alberti,1829). Essentially as Marinelli. Castling notforbidden but ‘not in use’. Beaten player canadvise either of remaining combatants (advice
which, under the circumstances, might gounheeded). (Alberti, Leichtfasslicher, 1829)

Tressau’s Three-Handed Chess (L. Tressau,
1840). Board and set-up identical to Marinelli.
The game is similar with only minor rulechanges. (Verney)
Tesche’s Three-Handed Chess (Walter
Tesche, 1843). Curious board and array,designed to give the players equal chances:from the top, 8x2, 10x4, 12x2, 8x2, ranks
centred, c1 black. Normal Black array at thebottom (c-j files), Kf1, Qg1 (Q on own
colour). White and Red arrays at the sides, Qs
on rank 7, Ks on rank 6; pieces at the extreme
ends of the ranks, pawns next to them except
on rank 4 (KN) where the pawn is set forward
one square. The board is described by theinventor, with no great geometrical accuracy,
as an equilateral triangle with the apex
removed. The vacant squares in the White andRed arrays arise from the need to avoid
Black’s exposure to immediate attack from his
opponents’ KBs. Pawns promote only to apiece already lost. If there is none when apawn reaches the end rank, it remains
immobile and immune from capture until a

340 Every man for himself
piece becomes available when it is promoted.
The pieces of a player whose king is mated orstalemated are frozen and cannot be captured,
nor can a king stand next to a frozen king. A
player released from mate/stalemate resumes
play. Survival determines the winner.
(Neumann, Das Schachspiel und seine
Abarten, 1867)
Kager’s Three-Handed Chess (Hermann
Kager, 1846). Same board as Marinelli’s
game; the array differs only in that thepositions of the kings and queens are reversed.
Pawns move one square at a time and promoteeither on row farthest from them or on backrow of either adversary. A player who matesboth opponents wins, but curiously if he mates
one opponent and is mated by the other, thenthe latter and the ﬁrst-mated player (!) win thegame, an invitation, when faced by a strong
player, to be mated by the weaker one.
(Verney)International (V. Z. Kesselman, 1925).
Socio-political game based on chess. Board
8x8; 32 men of which 16 large, 16 small.
Three players: one plays the large black
pieces, another the small, and the third the redpieces (large and small). The black forces(pieces) are imperialist powers, represented bylethal weapons, who pursue a war for booty(capture); the red forces (pawns) are theenslaved classes, casting off their chains. The
eight types of men are: (Black): Chemical
weapons (C), Small arms (S), Mechanicalweapons (M). (Red): The People (P), First
Proletarian Leader (F), Leader of Proletariat(L), Political Activist (A), Kulaks (K - not atthat time a class enemy). Some pieces havefamiliar moves: Proletarian leader = K;
Mechanical weapons = Q; Small Arms = 3-2
leaper; etc. Initial array: large pieces/black(a1-h1) MMSCCSMM; large pieces/red (a2h2) FAAPKAAL; small pieces similar a8-h8
and a7-h7. At the start of the game the people
are enslaved under their ruling classes. As
soon as activists and leaders come into contact
with peoples, the revolution is begun. At theend of the game the International is declared,
and auxiliary pieces (red and black) arecounted to determine the winner(s).
(Kesselman, Igra ‘Internatsional’, Leningrad
1925)

Mad Threeparty Chess (V. R. Parton, 1971).
Three-player game on a 10x10 board. Each
player has a standard set of pieces and an extra
king but no pawns. The sets are distinctly
coloured and one king of each set is marked,
for example by a star. The board starts empty.
Players take it in turns to place a man on any
vacant square. Kings are placed last and mustnot be placed in check. Play in rotation witheach player attacking the star king of theplayer on the right and the unmarked king of
the player on the left. A player is forbidden to
check a king that he is not attacking, First
player to mate a king wins. (Chesshyre Cat
Playeth Looking Glass Chessys)
Triscacia (V. R. Parton, 1974). Three-handed
chess on 8x8 board. Each player has threepawns plus usual pieces. Blue Kd1, rest ofblue pieces at player’s discretion in area a1a3-h3-h1 (24 squares); Green Kb7 and pieces
within area a4-a8-d8-d4 (20 squares); Red
Kg7 and pieces within e4-e8-h8-h4 (20squares). Each player places a man in turn.
Pawns do not move but can be captured; if
queen is lost, a pawn is simultaneously
crowned Q. Rotation of play is B, G, R. The
first player to administer checkmate is thewinner. An interesting feature of the game isthat only Blue may attack the Green king, only
Green the Red king and only Red the Blue
king. The game is also recommended for the
10x10 board. (Chessery for Duffer andMaster)Chess For Three (Burt Hochberg, 1975). 8x8
board, normal array. Player A moves White’s
first, player B Black’s first, C White’s second,
A Black’s second, and so on. ‘Useful if one
player is weaker than the other two.’ (Chess
Life, December 1975)
Megachess [McWilliams] (Proprietary game,
Mega Games Inc; Danny McWilliams, 1986).
Three-player game with curious board andunbalanced array. Board 6x2, 8x2, 10x2, 12x2,
14x2, 10x3 (ranks centred), c1 white; White
array on files d-k at the bottom, Qg1 (owncolour), Kh1, other players at the sides ofranks 5-12, kings on rank 9 (no pawn
advanced as in Tesche’s game). Pieces moveas in orthochess; pawns move orthogonally
one square at a time in any direction andGames for three 341
capture diagonally, again in any direction.
Pawns have initial two-square option, castlingnormal but no e.p. Promotion is on any squareoccupied by a piece of either opponent in thearray. When two players have been mated, thesurvivor is the winner. Three options, one ofwhich must be agreed beforehand, determine
the fate of the remaining men of the ﬁrst
player to be eliminated. Any stalemate draws
the game for all three players. Endorsed byYasser Seirawan, Walter Browne and othermasters.

37.7 Games in which the players have different roles
Umpire Chess (origins unknown). Twoplayers and an umpire. The umpire composesa variant and secretly writes down the rules. If
a player makes an illegal move he loses histurn. (British Chess Magazine, February 1990)[The games in the corresponding section of thenext chapter are also playable by three. Gamesof the ‘Kriegspiel’ family, where the umpire
has a purely administrative role, areconsidered as two-player games.]

Chapter 38
Games for four or more
[This final chapter covers all-play-all games for four or more. Many of the four-player games
could also be played as partnership games, and their appearance here rather than in chapter 36 islikely to reflect the slant of their publicity material rather than their intrinsic nature. Please notethat a game described as for (say) ‘2-4 players’ does not normally have a separate mention in theappropriate two-player chapter.]
38.1 Games based on capturing the king, square or rectangular board
Game Of The Four Seasons. Attributed to‘wise men of the past’, the game is describedin the Alfonso manuscript of 1283. Each
player represents a season, an element, ahumour and a colour: Spring, Air, Blood,
Green; Summer, Fire, Choler, Red; Autumn,
Earth, Melancholy, Black; Winter, Water,
Phlegm, White.

Board 8x8 with an X across the central groupof 16 squares (does not affect play), a1 reddish
brown, h1 yellow; each player has K, R, Alfil(leaps two squares diagonally), N, 4 x P;
Green Kh1, Rg1, Nh2, Ag2, Pf1/f2/g3/h3,
others similarly by reflection (White Ka1/Rb1,
Black Ka8/Rb8, Red Kh8/Rg8). Play isclockwise, starting with Green. Pawns moveparallel to nearest side, and promote to fers
(moves one square diagonally). Each player
attacks succeeding player and defends against
preceding player. Murray states that a player
delivering mate appropriates the forces of themated player and Faidutti that the king of amated player is also annexed as a non-royal
piece, whereas Verney says that a matedplayer’s forces are frozen. Faidutti further
states that whereas a player can capture any

man, he can only be checked (and mated) by
the preceding player, checks by other players
having no effect. The survivor wins. The gamecan also be played with a die to determine theman to be moved. [Text revised. I have taken
the colours from the illustration in thedelightful book Libro de Ajedrez, Dados y
Tables de Alfonso X El Sabio (Madrid, 1977),
where it is Plate 17. The plate actually has
Black and White at the bottom of the page, but
it appears from a comparison with other plates
in the book that we are looking at the board asfrom the side. It is curious that the four arrays
do not follow each other by rotation, but theillustration is quite clear. David wrote in thefirst edition that van der Linde gave the earlier
date of 1031, but I have not seen thisanywhere else and find it difficult to credit.
The Madrid book (page 8) refers to ‘la era de1321 (año 1283)’, which I take to reflect a
reckoning according to a different calendar,
but whether ‘1031’ started as 1321 and got
garbled somewhere along the line, or whether
there was some other explanation, I do not
know.]
Seven-Handed Xiangqi (13th century). An
old form of xiangqi based on the Warring
States period (403-221 BC). Each of the seven
kingdoms has an army of 17 men, arrayed 7-53-1-1 from the edge of a 19x19 board, and in
addition there is a single central piecesymbolizing the powerless king (chou) of theperiod, who is immobile and immune from
capture. Each side includes a General thatmoves like an orthochess Q, a Diplomat or
Liaison Officer which has similar movement
but cannot capture or be captured, and an

Games for four or more 343
Adjutant-General (moves as B). A state(player) is eliminated when its general iscaptured or it loses more than half its
complement. When less than seven play,alliances are made. Before the game starts theleader of an alliance must take an oath: ‘Ifeither of the states under my command is lost,
it will be through my own carelessness’. The
imbalance in the array must reflect on the play(assuming that the game was ever played), andcan perhaps be attributed to the fact that a
weiqi board rather than a bespoke board wasused. The existence of pieces moving as Q and
B at least two centuries before theirintroduction into orthochess is a phenomenon
few will credit. (Leventhal, Chess of China)
Diplomatic Chess (Mark Larzelere, 1974). An
attempt to marry Diplomacy and orthochess.
Four players, board 8x8, orthodox K-sidearray rotated round the board (KBNR on e1h1, a4-a1, etc, with 4xP in front). Each side’s
pawns move ahead, one square at a time, andpromote on the 8th rank. Play follows
Diplomacy procedure. For each move ‘season’
there is a negotiation period whensimultaneous orders are written, and these arethen resolved according to a predetermined
procedure (for example, all P moves are
adjudicated ﬁrst). Object is to capture
opponents’ Ks. The units of a player whose K
is captured are removed from play. When thegame is reduced to two players orthochessrules apply and the aim is checkmate.
(Inventor’s rule sheet)
Galactic Chess (Matthew Duggan, 1982).
Four players, board 12x12 arranged
cornerwise. Each player has 16 men: 1 x King,
Queen, 2 x Rook, Archbishop (B+N), Knight(which may also by agreement move one
square orthogonally), 8 x Pawn. Pawn moves
one square orthogonally, captures one squarediagonally, but may not move behind its startsquare nor reenter the array quadrant; twosquare ﬁrst-move option, no e.p. A pawn
reaching a square behind an opponent’s pawn
chevron promotes to any piece. Array: K, NN,
RQR, PAAP, PPP, PP, P. A reusable missile(disc) is placed under each piece (not K) andthe centre pawn of the fifth row. A missile isﬁred in the manner of the host piece, which
does not move. An abandoned missile cannot

move, be taken or be crossed. Kings must be
captured to win. (Inventor’s rules pamphlet)
Sceptre 1027 A.D. (Proprietary game,
Horizon Games Inc; Sam Soranno & Dave
Cross, 1987). Chess in the Dark Ages. Players
2-4; chequered board 24x24 built up from nine
8x8 boards overlaid with terrain features.
Usual chessmen which move normally overopen ground except that knight’s move is
extended to three squares in any direction.
Restrictions
andprohibitions
when
encountering other features (e.g., kingprohibited from crossing river or entering
castle ruin; bishop moves one square at a timethrough forest). (Proprietor’s publicity
material, also reviews in Games, World Game
Review, and Die Pöppel-Revue)
IQ96 (Proprietary game, Lyckplay AB, 1990).
Players 2-6; teams if desired. Board 24x18;
each player picks a base (4x4 squares coloured
overlay) and set of pieces (16) of same colour.
A base may be placed anywhere on the board,
coincident with the board chequering,
provided it is at least ﬁve squares from any
base already laid. A player’s pieces aredisposed freely on the 16 base squares. The
pieces are Soldiers, Lieutenants, Captains, aGeneral and a President. The first three move
as B, R and Q respectively but to a maximumof ﬁve squares; the General moves as a queen
and the president up to three squares in any
direction but must stay in the base. Capture bydisplacement. If a player’s president is
captured it is removed from play and thecapturing player takes over the player’s turnbut must move a captured piece on that turn,not one of his own. Object is to eliminate
everyone else. If six play, there are 96 men on
the board initially, hence the name (alsobecause game is advertised as suitable for ages
6–96 perhaps?) A well-known games player
pointed out that it is ‘an IQ less than average’.
(Proprietor’s rules brochure)Superchess [Bajon] (Michael Bajon, 1991). A
four-player version of Bajon’s New Chess (seechapter 15). Board 11x11; same men x 4; nocastling; pawn-two allowed at any time.
Feudal Chess [Calkovits and Knight](Proprietary game, Scorpion Games; Mike344 Every man for himself
Calkovits and Jeff Knight, 1993). Four
players, all-play-all. Board 9x9 (a1 black);
each player has usual 16 men arranged in 4x4
corner Ka1; Qb2; Ra2,b1; Bb3,c1; Na3,c2;
Pa4,b4,c3,c4,d1,d2,d3,d4. Arrays of otherplayers similar. Pawns move ahead one
square, capture on diagonal (Pd4 moves to d5
or e4, captures on c5, e3 or e5); promote on
baseline of opponent diagonally opposite.
Object is to capture opponents’ Ks and to besole survivor. The men of a player whose K is
captured are removed from the board. Pawns
worth twice orthochess value according toinventors. [Information presumably derivingfrom a set in David’s game collection]
Bastardo (R. Finelli and others, 1996). Four
players; board 8x8; each player has 1 x K, R,
B, N, 4 x P arranged in a corner: Ka1, Rb1,
Na2, Ba3, Ps d1, c2, b3, a4; others similar. A
number of variants are offered. (Eteroscacco
78)
Diplomacy Chess (João Neto, 1996). Fourplayer game on 8x8 board, standard array.
Simultaneous movement: if two pieces areordered to the same square, the stronger
captures the weaker; if of equal strength,
neither moves. The inventor suggests playing
it as a progressive game. (Eteroscacco 75)
Yonin Shogi, also known as Four-Handed
Shogi (Proprietary game, Kitami Hovendo;
Ota Mitsuyasu, 1993). Standard 9x9 shogi
board; each side has nine men, 1 x K, R, 2 x
G, S, 3 x P; SGKGS centred on back line, PRP
centred in front of them, P in front of R. All-

play-all or partnership. Players move in turnclockwise. Moves and play, including
capturing, re-entering, promotion etc., as inshogi. A check must be answered
immediately, any intervening players thereby
losing their turn. A mated king is turned overand henceforth acts as a block. The
checkmating player takes over the defeatedplayer’s pieces, including any in hand. In allplay-all, the game continues until two players
remain when the game is decided on point
count. In a partnership game, the first matedecides. (Rules leaflet ‘Four-Handed Shogi’by George Hodges)
Card Chess [10x10] (Proprietary game,
Cardchess International, 2002). Board 10x10;
each player has 16 cards representing usual 16
pieces. Players (2, 3 or 4) shuffle their cards
and place them unseen and face-down on theeight central squares of the two ranks in frontof them. A move consists of turning over an
own card and then moving a face-up pieceaccording to usual chess rules. Face-downcards play no part and can be landed on or
crossed. A face-down card that is coveredcannot be exposed. A version called thememory game has all cards shuffled initiallyand then laid out in a predetermined pattern. A
turn is as in the above game except that if thecard turned over belongs to an opponent it isput back face-down. An interesting feature isthat you can turn over a card that might favour
you (e.g., one that is a knight’s move awayfrom the opponent’s queen). The player whoseking is turned over first is usually at a
disadvantage. (Variant Chess 44)

38.2 Games based on capturing the king, hexagonal board
Hex
Chess
[Kirkpatrick](Ronald
Kirkpatrick, 1970). Players 2-6. Hexagonalboard composed of 150 equilateral triangles
alternately coloured light and dark. Each
player has 16 men: 1 x K, 2 x Q, R, B, N, 7 x
P. Orthogonal movement (called basal) is
parallel to the bases of triangles (sixdirections); diagonal movement (called pexal)is through apexes of triangles (also six
directions). In both cases, the colours of thetriangles alternate, so a bishop, for example,
changes its cell colour when moving an odd
number of triangles. A knight always moves toa triangle of the opposite colour. In the board
centre the piece has a total of 15 possible
moves, omitting the three opposite-coloured
triangles with which it shares a side. Pawns
move one pexal at a time (or two initially) andcapture diagonally (i.e., one basal then one
pexal) or immediately ahead (a further pexal).
Promotion is at any board boundary to thehighest-ranking piece previously lost. Castlingunder orthochess conditions involves K and R
changing places. The last player who canlegally move his king wins. The array utilises
the two rows of triangles nearest each player,

Games for four or more 345
omitting the corners; baseline NRBQKQBRN,
with the pawns in front. A feature of the gameis that a checkmated player may continue toparticipate but cannot threaten the pieces ofthe player who checkmated him, overcoming
the objection of elimination of players in
multi-player variants. [Text revised.]
Cross Chess [Dekle] (George Dekle Sr,1982). Untested multi-player game. Six hexes
a side of quasi-hexagonal board. (World Game
Review 10)
Chexx (Proprietary game, Gene-Sys Co;
William S. Glazier and Talbot Uehlinger,1983). Regular 169-cell hexagonal board,central cell coloured. Players 2-6 withorthochess sets. Regular moves adapted to hex
board. Pawns have toothpicks stuck throughthem to indicate direction of movement andpromote in centre cell. ‘People are going tothink chess mundane after this,’ comments oneof the inventors, ‘it’s going to open up chessto everyone’. (Cutting from the Hartford
Courant or an associated paper, 24 July 1983)

Shaolin Sovereign Chess (R. Planesi, 1996).
2, 3, or 6 players, normal men, hex-based
board with lateral rook move. For two players,
69-cell laterally symmetric board of 11 ranks
with lengths 8, 7, 6, 5, 6, 5, 6, 5, 6, 7, 8;
RNBQKNBR on rank 1, wing pawns only on
rank 2, 6xP on rank 3 (two bishops only atoutset). Pieces as Glinski; pawn moves one
step as R (two-step initial option, e.p.
permitted), captures one step as B.
Additionally, a pawn within a defined central
31-cell area (not more than an N-move fromthe centre) can move and capture one single
space in any direction (though not to leave thearea backwards), and if it can occupy thecentral hex the player can enter a third bishop
on the cell which his K occupied at the start (itmust be empty). The three-player version uses
a 94-cell board with rotational symmetry (takea 127-cell hexagon and remove 4 cells fromone end of each of three diameters, theadjoining 3 cells from the two adjacent rows,
and the three remaining outside corners), thesix-player version a 271-cell hexagon.
(Originator’s rules brochure) [Text editorial]38.3 Games based on capturing the king, circular board
Chez (Proprietary game, Donald Gebhart,1970). 128-cell circular board consisting of 4
rings (files) and 32 sectors (ranks); four arrays
PPPP, QBNR, KBNR, PPPP at regularintervals round the board (kings on the insidering) but men are renamed Bank (K),Commander (Q), Air Force (Rs), Navy (Bs),
Marines (Ns), Army (Ps). Object: to capture
opposing players’ banks. Capture bydisplacement, including banks; no check,checkmate, double pawn move, e.p. or
castling. Pawns promote on either left-hand or
right-hand opponent’s baseline. Play isclockwise. A player whose bank is captured
retires from the game and his forces are
removed from the board. The last surviving
player is the winner. Imperial Chess[Gebhart] (Gebhart, 1970) is the same but theaim is checkmate. A player whose king is incheck must respond at once, but cannot
capture other than with his king if he isplaying out of turn. Normal turn sequence isthen resumed, continuing with player on leftof checking player. Castling permitted underusual rules. (Proprietor’s rules leaflet)
Astro Chess (Proprietary game, SeiraEnterprises; Joe L. Wilkins, 1974). A fusion ofchess and astrology. Players 2-4; multicoloured circular board (6 concentric ranks =orbits; 216 spaces); each player has 18 pieces(equivalent chess piece in parentheses): Moon
(K), Sun (Q), 2 x Venus (R), 2 x Mercury (B).
Six planets are in pairs: Mars & Pluto, Jupiter& Neptune, Saturn & Uranus. All move like a
K but only capture diagonally; the last twopairs have limited jump moves in addition.
There are six nodes (P). A node moves 1, 2 or
3 spaces initially in the same orbit but in either
direction, thereafter one space; captures one
space diagonally. Object of the game is toeclipse opponents’ moons (a moon underattack is ‘in aspect’, when checkmated it is ‘ineclipse’). (Proprietor’s rules booklet)

346 Every man for himself
38.4 Games based on capturing the king, board with extensions
Grosses
Konigs-Spiel(Christoph
Weickhmann, 1664). The ﬁrst modern multiplayer chess game. In his Neu-erfundenes
Grosses Konigs-Spiel, Weickhmann illustrated
boards for two, four, six and eight players,respectively of 195, 217, 415 and 697 spaces(small circles linked by orthogonal anddiagonal lines). The two-player board is a
simple 13x15 rectangle; the four-player a 7x7
square with 7x6 extensions; the six-player ahexagon of complicated internal structure with
7x7 extensions; the eight-player a 19x19
square with two 7x6 extensions at each corner.
The 14 different playing pieces represented
various civil and military ranks. In the fourplayer and eight-player games, each player
had 30 pieces composed of 1 x King, Marshal,
Colonel, Major, 2 x Adjutant, Chancellor,
Chaplain, Counsellor, Courier, Herald, Knight,
3 x Pikeman, Light Infantry, 6 x Soldier; in the
two-player game, a full double set less only
the second king and one pikeman (58 men aside). A respected book with ﬁne engravings
but forgettable games. [Text revised]
Demonchy’s Four-Handed Chess (A.
Demonchy, 1856). Extensions 8x2; Qs on leftof Ks; all-play-all. King of mated player isremoved from board. Alternatively, all themated player’s men are removed. Surviving
player wins (partnerships also suggested).
(Verney)
Tri-King Chess (Yun Gee, 1946). Fourhanded game on 8x8 board with 8x4
extensions; each player occupying an
extension with usual array. The central (8x8)board, called a ‘diamond bridge’, is crossed in
one move to enter any of the three other fields.
(Personal communication citing a patent D173-066-152)
Panzyk’s Four-Handed Chess (L. Panzyk,
1984). All-play-all game sponsored by Chessin Friendship, Lübbenau. Extensions 8x3; Qs
on left of Ks; no check or checkmate: piecesof player whose king is captured are inert but
can be taken. Another off-beat German game,credited to ‘a Berlin doctor’ (G. Lutze?), has
8x3 with royalty facing like-royalty in theinitial position and mated kings removed fromthe board. (Nost-algia 282/3)
Chessnuts (Proprietary game, Halcyon; James
McCord, 1986). A collection of seven fourhanded variants played on a 128-square board(central 8x8, four 8x2 extensions); pieces as
orthochess. All the games are named after
various kinds of nut. Five games are forindividual play, two for partnerships.
Objectives vary but are mostly royal survival.
In two games the aim is to score the mostpoints by capturing enemy pieces (K=12, Q=9,etc). A novel feature of some games is thatloss of the king does not eliminate the player.
(World Game Review 7)
Plex (Proprietary game, Wickett Works; John
Wickett, 1987). Multi-player (2-6) chess on a
229-cell hex board in the shape of a sixpointed star (169-cell regular hexagon withtwo extra 5-cell chevrons at each vertex). Cutthroat possible, but two-player or two-team
recommended. (Games, June/July 1989)
Vendetta Chess (Proprietary game, Deak,1987). Four-player chess on 8x8 board with
8x4 extensions. Usual array but with kings
facing queens. In partnership play, aim is tocapture both opponents’ kings; in all-play-all,last surviving player wins. (Proprietor’s
publicity material)
Dikel Checkmates (Proprietary game, Arthur
Rogers, early 1990s). Four-player game (usualmen) on 10x10 board with four 8x2
extensions. A checkmated player’s men are
removed from play. Survivor wins. (Variant
Chess 24)
Bishops (EJW Consulting, 1991). Four-player
game. Board 8x8 with four 8x2 extensions;
usual set-up. Players must mate player on theirleft (can be supported by the other players).
Off-beat rules. (Nost-algia 373)
Chessy-Quattro (Proprietary game, Design
Studio M. Hofer; Martin Hofer, 1991). A
compendium of games for 2-4 players:
Chessy-Classico (four versions), Centro,
Castello, Vario. Four boards all 8x8 with 8x2
extensions on each side (128 squares) but with

Games for four or more 347
different markings and coloured squares.
Chessmen are standard (four sets) and there
are four dice with piece symbols (two types).
Men move as in orthochess; games fromstandard four-handed to strategy/chancevariants. (Manuscript notes presumably
deriving from a set in David’s gamecollection)
Imperial Chess [Scorpion] (Proprietarygame, Scorpion Games; Mike Calkovits andJeff Knight, 1993). Four-handed all-play-all.
Board 8x8 with four 8x4 extensions. Usualarray in each extension, kings facing kings.
Pawn behaviour normal except that a P which
captures into an extension then moves towards
the back rank of that extension. Promotion on
any back rank; castling, e.p. normal. No
checking; a player whose K is captured is outof the game, and his men are removed. Last
survivor wins. Players can make pacts during
play but are not bound by them. (Manuscript
notes presumably deriving from a set inDavid’s game collection)
Bosworth (Proprietary game, Out-of-the-Box
Games, Mark Osterhaus, 1998). Board 6x6
with corner squares removed. Each player (2or 4) has a set of 16 cards distinctively
coloured representing the usual chessmen. The
four squares facing each player are his fieldcamp (thus a 4x4 central area). To start, eachplayer puts four pawns face up in his camp,

shuffles the remaining 12 cards and takes the
top four into hand. When a square is vacatedin the camp, a card from hand must
immediately be played, face up, onto it and areplacement card drawn from those remaining.
Usual chess moves except that there is nopawn promotion and the king can be captured
like any other piece. The men of a player
whose king is captured are removed from play
and the victor takes his queen as a reward.
Aim is to be the last king left on Bosworth
Field. The game is accelerated mayhem,entertaining rather than demanding. (Variant
Chess 30)
Chess Empire (Proprietary game, Empire
Chess LLC, 2003). Board 14x14 plus four
14x3 extensions. Four players (two or threepossible) each having 28 men: 1 x K, Q, 4 x R,
N, 2 x B, Spy (leaps two squares orthogonallyor diagonally), 14 x P. Play is orthodox but Ps
can always move 2 squares. Arrays inextensions, baseline SRRNNBQKBNNRRS.
(Proprietor’s publicity leaflet)
Schach4,
originallyknown
asSchachRevolution(Proprietarygame,
Michael Stetter, 2005). Board 8x8 with 8x3
extensions; 2-4 players sitting in the corners;
array (a4-d4-d1 and so on round) BRQNKBR
fronted by PPPPNPPPP. All-play-all or teamplay in various combinations. (Proprietor’s
publicity leaflet)

38.5 Games based on capturing the king, planar board of other or unknown shape
Doppel-Schach (Proprietary game, Leonore
Sienkiewicz, 1938). For ‘3, 4 to 8 or stillmore’ players. The army of a mated king iseither removed from the board or added topartner’s forces. Play without a partner is also
possible. (Proprietor’s publicity leaflet) [Itseems odd to start by talking about 3 players
and then to give precedence to playing with apartner, but this is what the leaflet says.]
Multiplayer Chess (Ralph Betza, dateunknown). Any number can play. Each player
has a half-board and the usual array (men must
be distinctive). Orthochess but kings arecaptured, not mated. The turn player sets his
half-board against any other, and makes alegal orthochess move. Subsequently, a player

on turn may move on any half-board where hehas a man. A player capturing a K takes overthe loser’s army and also his turn. Last
survivor wins. Described by the inventor as‘working very well’. (Inventor’s rule sheet)
Four-Zone Chess (Proprietary game, Four
Zone Games; M. P. Elliott, 1981). Four-player
game. Board is made up of four zones each of
29 chequered squares plus 12 yellow squaresthat separate the zones. Each player has 1 x K,
2 x R, B, N, 6 x P, also a Q which cannot be
brought into play until a pawn is advanced tothe centre square, which also serves as abarrier. Men behave as in chess, but pawns
outside their zones move and take in any
direction. Object is to checkmate all348 Every man for himself
opponents. The forces of a mated player are
removed from the game. In a partnershipgame, the ﬁrst mate decides. Where three ormore are engaged, a player unable to move onturn loses. When reduced to two the normal
rules relating to stalemate, perpetual checketc., apply. (Proprietor’s publicity material)
Shahmot(Proprietary
game,
BrittonEnterprises; Tony Britton, 1982). Two- or
four-player game on tesselated board of 116
squares. The game for two has an extra queen
and two extra pawns a side; the game for four
has six pawns and two queens but no rooks.
(Manuscript notes presumably deriving from a
set in David’s game collection)
Superchess [Jacobson] (Proprietary game,Green Island Games Inc; Rolf W. Jacobson,1989). Four-handed game (also for 2 or 3
players). Novel board of 148 squares: 14x14,
less eight squares (typically a1-a3, b1-b3, c1c2) at each corner, less the central 4x4. Usualchessmen (four sets distinguished by colour)
but the players sit cornerwise and there is an
extra pawn a side. A number of alternativearrays are offered, one of which has (c3) K,(a4-d4-d1) RBNQNBR, (a5-e5-e1) 9xP, othersides by reflection. An unusual and attractive
feature for a four-player game is that rival
pawns meet head-on as in orthochess. A
number of scenarios are given; for example,
first checkmate decides game, a matedplayer’s men are frozen, the men change sides,
etc. An enlarged game, Superchess II, uses a
modified board of 176 squares with an extra
knight and three extra pawns a side.
(Proprietor’s publicity material)
Königsritter (Proprietary game, Albert
Buttner 1993). Four-player game with curious
features. Unorthodox board and array. Red,White, and Yellow are attackers, Black, whose
prospects appear dim, is a defender. Black has
a normal half-board with his normal array.
There is then a four-square waist, followed by
a 6x10 area with two 6x2 extensions at thenear end, and each extension, and the far endof the board, has an extra square abutting thetwo middle squares. These areas are occupied
in order by Red (to Black’s left), White (at the
far end), and Yellow. The extra square hosts a

Königsritter, which moves and captures as a Q
but as a K when in check (and can becheckmated); the rest of the array is RNBBNR
with 6xP in front. Pawns move initially one or
two squares forward, thereafter one square
forwards or sideways. Attackers’ Ps promote
on Black’s back rank, Defender’s Ps on any
attacker’s back rank. Promotion is to a piecealready captured. The object of an attacker is
to mate the black king. Black’s lame aim is torepulse the attackers. In the a three-player
version, the Black and White men are playedby the same player; in a two-player version, so
are Red and Yellow. (Proprietor’s rules sheets)[Text revised. The game seems to make little
sense, since the attackers acting in concert canquickly overwhelm the defence, but I suspectthat it is really an all-play-all among theattackers with a victory for the defender ifthey fight themselves to a standstill.]
Multischach (Udo Sprute, 1997). A series ofchess games for any number of players fromtwo (orthochess) upwards, based on boards
which are generalizations of those used forThree-Player Chess and Dreier-Schach(chapter 37) and Doubles Chess (chapter 35).
Suppose n players; then the board is a polygon
with 2n sides made up from 2n kite-shaped
quadrilaterals each divided 4x4 into 16
quadrilaterals. Boards are illustrated up to
Siebenerschach (14 sides, 224 cells).
(Inventor’s definition booklet) [Text editorial]
Tile Chess (Proprietary game, Steve JacksonGames; Jason Wittman and Hilary Moon
Murphy, 1999). Up to six players. Each player
has a set of chess men in the form of 16
cardboard tiles. Players take it in turns to place
a tile on the table, in any order except that thekings must be placed last. Each tile after the
first must be placed orthogonally or diagonallyadjacent to an existing tile. When all tiles areplaced, players move as usual. A turn may
consist of the repositioning of a tile or acapture, but at all times the tiles must remain
connected. Pawns move one step at a time but
may capture either forwards or backwards.
Pieces move normally and can also jump overfriendly pieces. Object is to capture theopponent’s king or to be the last survivor.
(Variant Chess 36) [Text editorial]Games for four or more 349
38.6 Games based on capturing the king, three-dimensional board
Chess3(Proprietary game, Innovative
Dimensions Corp; Robert Baldwin, 1975). 2-6
players; three normal boards joined threedimensionally along the edges leading fromone of their white corners (playing area on theoutside), bent back along their long black
diagonals, and rejoined at the far white
corners; 3 x normal array arranged cyclicallyaround each cluster of white corners.
(Manufacturer’s publicity material) [Textrevised]
Taliesin, also known as The Wizard’s Game
(Proprietary game, Wildone Ltd/Taliesin PLC;
Ron Astle, 1982). Described as the world’s
most expensive game (about $800,000 a set ingold and platinum but somewhat less for
popular versions). Design Centre (London)
award. Game for 2-8 players. Board is circularand on three levels with a ‘black hole’ in the
middle to allow passage between the boards.
Rules vary slightly according to numbers
playing: Aesir rules (2 players), Traveller’srules (3-4 players) and Wizard’s Circle rules(5-8 players). There is also a single board
version, played to Druid’s rules. There is an
odd mix of pieces: a Life Force (which moves
like a king and whose loss decides the game),
Taliesin (moves like a queen), King Arthur,
Centurion, Henge (all move like a rook butwith differing limitations on verticalmovement); White Goddess, Shogun, Warlord(moves like a bishop, with similar verticalmovement restrictions) and the Fighting Piece(moves like a king). The game wasenergetically marketed with the help of somedoubtful mythology: ‘Played according toancient Druidic rules, Taliesin introduces theplayer to a fast-moving attacking game which
influenced the martial arts centuries ago’. The
claim that ‘Taliesin is unlike anything else in
the world or any other’ is probably true.
(Proprietor’s publicity material)
Es (Proprietary game, Hartmut Hoppe, 1986).
A complicated game for 2 to 20 players
featuring six chessboards formed together as acube with magnetic men. Play proper is on the
top board; the other boards are deployment
areas where there is movement but nocapturing. Each player has 3 x king, queen, 6 xrook, bishop, 15 x pawn, the bulk of which are
initially accommodated on the deploymentboards. Pawns move and capture as kings but
not backwards. A player loses when his last
king is mated or when he has lost all his
pawns and queens. (Proprietor’s rules
pamphlet) [The participation of 20 players
scarcely seems practicable, but the words ‘für
2 bis 2o Spieler’ (sic) are in the source.]

38.7 Annihilation games
Jeu du Tournoi (Edward Loysel, 1855).
Presented at the Universal Exhibition, Paris
1855. Two or four players; board 6x6 for two,
9x9 for four. Pieces have romantic names but
mundane moves. The weakest, Page (one steporthogonally) and Dwarf (ditto diagonally)
promote, the latter to Chief Constable (kingmove or two steps orthogonally). All men
have numerical values and capture bydisplacement. Object is to annihilate theopposition when the margin of victory is
calculated by totalling the point value of thewinner’s remaining men. A spinner
determined the piece moved, so skill was at a
discount. (Loysel, Nouveau Jeu du Tournoi)
Chameleon (Proprietary game,
VSK;
Wolfgang Grosskopf, date unclear). Players

2-4; 8x8 board with squares in four colours
and with moveable borders. Pieces are cubesin four different woods; each player has fourpieces of the same wood. Each piece depicts
four symbols, each symbol in a different
colour corresponding to the four board
colours. A set of four pieces therefore hasevery combination of symbol and colour. The
symbols are Beetle, Butterﬂy, Caterpillar andChameleon which correspond to B, N, R, Q
respectively. Array (4 players) is a1/b1/c1/d1,
h1/h2/h3/h4, h8/g8/f8/e8, a8/a7/a6/a5. All
pieces start as butterﬂies (knights). On
completion of a move, the piece is rotated toshow the square colour uppermost. The piecethen equates to the symbol on that colour.
Players are eliminated on losing all theirpieces; last player left wins. When an edge ﬁle350 Every man for himself
or rank becomes vacant the border is moved
in, thus as play proceeds the board contracts.
[Information presumably deriving from a set
in David’s game collection]
Cirondo (Proprietary game, Cirondo Games
Co; Angus Wright, 2002). Two or four
players; circular board of 8 concentric rings(ranks) divided into 32 sectors (files), central
area also used. In the two-player game, eachplayer has 16 moons, 16 planets and four solar
systems (moons and planets are halved in
number for the four-player game). Moons arepawns but without the two-step move, theplanets are bishops, whilst the solar systems,
which are placed intitially in the central area
known as the Void, are queens which only
come into play when pawns are promoted. The
aim is to reduce the opposition to a single
piece. (Variant Chess 44)

38.8 Games to reach a goal in the opponent’s territory
Remy (Proprietary game, Butehorn Spiele,
1979). Players 2-4; board 4x4; men in fourcolours. All men are identical in appearance.
They move as P, N, B or R according to thesquares on which they stand which are
inﬂuenced by dice rolls. Object is to get own
men across board to Remy square. Capture isby displacement and compulsory but men on
start or Remy squares are safe from capture.
Captured men are returned to start squares.
(Photocopy of manufacturer’s rules pamphlet)
Escort (Proprietary game, Stephen Agassiz,
1994). Board 18x18 (four-player game) withcentral area 12x12 (two-player game); eachplayer has 1x K, 2 x Q, R, B, 8 x P based on
one of the corners, array K, QQ, RPR, BPPB,
PPPPP. K can move up to three squares in any

direction; Q, R, B orthodox but not more thanfour squares. Pawns move sideways or
forward, including diagonally forward, up to
three squares on their first move, thereafter up
to two squares. Capture by leaping as indraughts (checkers) with further captures if
available. The king is non-royal; aim is to be
the first to get it into the diametrically
opposite corner. Pawn promotion notmentioned. (Variant Chess 20)
Mutabor (Proprietary game, Dr. F. Hein
Spiele, F. Hein, 1995). Game for 2-4 players;
52 individual tiles assembled at random giving
millions of possible boards. Each player has
four tokens which move as Q/R/B/N/K
according to the square they stand on. Win by
occupying opponent’s base. (Fairplay 32)

38.9 Games to reach a goal in neutral territory
Moncrieff’s Game (J. A. Moncrieff, 1899). A
four-player extravaganza requiring fourchessboards representing Europe, Asia, Africa
and America, with positions for artillery
between the boards and four central squares
representing a city, the purpose of the game
being to capture or ‘checkmate’ the city. Each
player had 26 men in a wood (walnut,
mahogany, ebony and boxwood) representing
each of the four continents. The forces weremade up of a king (which moved like aqueen), 12 infantry pieces composed of 2
generals (rooks), 2 colonels (bishops), 2
captains (knights) and 6 men (pawns), together
with 8 cavalrymen and 5 artillerymen. ‘It will
be seen,’ declares the applicant, ‘that thisgame, while resembling chess, possesses anadvantage over chess, seeing that it embraces
all the moves in chess and a considerable

number additional’. (U.K. patent 10,857 of1899)
Mock Chess [Hudd-Smith] (A. E. HuddSmith, 1947). Curious board of 129 linked
cells (squares and circles). Each side has one
K, Q, B, Lord Mayor (moves one cellorthogonally), Judge (as B) and 5 x policeman(as N: some spaces barred to policemen).
Object is to occupy centre cell for one turnwith principal piece. Order of seniority:
K-Q-LM-B-J; thus if K and Q lost,
LM is principal piece etc. (Hudd-Smith,Transportation Games, British Library
shelfmark 7919 b.18)
Yalta [Hegedus] (Alexandra Hegedus, early
1950s). Four players (no partnerships); board
16x16 with an 8x2 entension in the middle ofGames for four or more 351
each side, but the middle 8x8 is absent apartfrom the central 2x2. Normal array in eachextension (K/Q placings at the option of theplayer), and each player also disposes of 15
loose squares (8 white, 7 black or vice versa).
Pieces move normally but there is no castling.
Pawns move one square orthogonally(forwards, sideways, backwards) and capture
diagonally forward. Promotion rules are
unrecorded but probably superﬂuous. The
object is to advance the king to one of the four
central squares. To do this it is necessary to
lay a path of squares from the existing board
across the void to the centre. Every time hechecks a king a player lays ﬁve squares in thevoid area, always respecting the alternate
colour sequence linking the board to thecentre. After three checks his tiles are
exhausted. On every subsequent check heeither takes a square from any of the otherplayers or plays a square so taken into thevoid.
The ﬁrst player is determined by lot after
which the turn passes anti-clockwise. On aturn, a player makes eight moves, one witheach of eight men (or all men if he has eight orless remaining). If he checks an opposing kingand in consequence lays one or ﬁve squares ortakes a square from an opponent, he forfeits
one move. A player may also, at the cost of amove, slide the two ranks on which his men
were arrayed at the start of the game foursquares to the left or right (i.e., to the boardend). A check must be answered immediately
but does not count against the eight-moveentitlement when the checked player’s proper
turn comes round. A mated king is simply
returned to its start square whilst the player
delivering mate is awarded two ‘checks’. A
piece moving from the main board to thecentral area must ﬁrst move to a perimetersquare within it. Subsequently it can movefreely within the area though only oversquares that have already been placed.
Movement to or over an unﬁlled square isnever allowed. An elaborate game of
unplumbed merit. (Les Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes)
Crown Chess [Adams] (Proprietary game,John Adams Toys, 1974). 2-4 players; circularboard of 32 cells (8 radiating sectors of 4);
each side has 1 x Prince, 2 x Baron, 2 x

Viscount. There is a crown which a prince
seizes to become king; reach a perimeter cellto win. All pieces move as a K in chess but in
addition a prince moves any distance on arank, likewise a baron (but clockwise only),
and a viscount (counter-clockwise only). The
king alone can capture (though not a prince,
which cannot be forced to move) and as aresult the game can get blocked. (Bell,
Discovering Chess, also Games and Puzzles
30)
SteepleChess(Proprietarygame,
Ravensburger; Alex Randolph, 1976). A race
game for 2-4 players. Each player has threetokens which circuit the four-track board bymeans of chess moves, the roll of a die
determining which chessman dictates themanner of movement. A choice of moves isavailable to a player rolling the king. There are
two permanent obstacles and one movable
which a knight alone can jump, thereby
justifying the punning title. The ﬁrst player to
get all three of his tokens across the line is thewinner. Little skill but a lot of fun. (Copy ofproprietor’s rules leaflet)
Nimmar (Proprietary game, Nimmar; Eldon
MacCuspic, 1984). Game for 2-4 players;
11x11 board on six levels arranged like aregular low-elevation step-pyramid (apex atf6). Each side has 16 men; 1 President (moves
like K); 2 Senators (Q); 2 Temples (move likeB, or like R on same level only); 2 Dukes (2squares in any direction, including knight’smove); 9 Admirals (1 or 2 squares on rank orfile, 1 vertically or 1 diagonally; captures only
1 square diagonally onto next higher plane; nobackward movement). The pieces represent
the different divisions of power within society
as deﬁned by Bertrand Russell, respectively
corporate,
governmental,
religious,
monarchical and military. Win either by
getting President to f6 or eliminating
Presidents of other players. In the multi-player
game, the pieces of an eliminated player stayon the board. They serve as blocks but may be
captured by any player. Array: a5-a1-e1
ADTSPrSTDA, b5-b2-e2 7xA, other corners
similarly. (Proprietor’s publicity material)
Centrepoint (Proprietary game, Checkray
Ltd, 1987). Circular playing area of 229 cells,

352 Every man for himself
handsome playing pieces. Each player (2-4)
has 19 men: 1 x Standard, General, 4 xArcher, Lance, Runners, 5 x Scout. The object
is to get the standard, which moves like a king,from the perimeter to the centre point.
Runners (pawns) promote to any captured
piece, including a standard. Loss of thestandard and all runners loses the game.
(Proprietor’s publicity material)with red squares (about 10% of the total)
acting as barriers. A player on turn may
decline to move, or elect to move his two
tokens once each, or one token once, or one
token twice. A chess die is rolled, the pieceshown determining the manner of movement.
If an opponent’s token is captured, it isreturned to the start. (Proprietor’s rules
pamphlet)Centrum (David Douglas, 1987). Four
players (all-play-all); board 16x16 with asmall red circle (Centrum) in the middle of theboard divided into quadrants by the central
squares. Each player has a fleet of 15 pieces(chess equivalents in parentheses): 1 x
Commandship (K), 1 x Starship (Q), 2 x
Battlecruiser (R), 2 x Fighter (B), 2 x Death
Star, 7 x Scout. Death Stars make two moves
like a king (may reoccupy start square); scouts
move as king but may only take diagonally.
Object is to be ﬁrst to occupy centrum withcommandship (K). If checkmated, player’s
ﬂeet is removed from game. A Scout canoccupy Centrum but for one move only.
Pieces set up diagonally in the corners of theboard (left to right): C, BF, FStB, SDDS,SSSSS. (Notes presumably deriving from a set
in David’s game collection)

Cosmic Chess (Proprietary game, MMH
Imports, 1990). Players 2-4; board 17x17 with
Earth as central square and 44 regularlydisposed squares designated ‘astroids’ which
act as barriers to movement. Six pieces a side(chess equivalents in brackets): 1 x Command
Ship (K), Juggernaut (Q), 2 x Megatank (R),Starﬁghter (B). Object is to ‘neutralise’ (mate)opponent’s command ship(s) or occupy earth
with own CS. Pieces start at board edges. A
handicap system (Warp) allows a weakerplayer to move his CS two or three spaces
once in a game, though not if in Red Alert(check). (Proprietor’s rules leaflet)

Battleﬁeld (Proprietary game, Stracheck;
Serge Brochet, 1989). Four players (alliances
allowed). Board 16x16; array squares arerespectively
e1/e2-l1/l2,
o5/p5-o12/p12,
e15/16-l15/16, a5/b5-a12/b12. The dark arraysquares of each side are colour-distinguishedand the four central squares bear the same fourcolours. The object is to get the king to thecentral square of the player’s start colour.
Usual men but in addition there are 24 neutral
pawns which start life in the board corners,
can only be repositioned when a queen lands
on a central square, and can never be captured,
hence serve as blocks even to knights. If aking is mated it is removed from the board andthe remaining men of the player immobilized.
(Proprietor’s rules booklet, jointly with
Cavalcade below)
Cavalcade (Proprietary game, Stracheck;
Serge Brochet, 1989). Race game, 2-4 players.
Each player has two tokens. The four-trackboard circuit is chequered black and white,

Winchester (Proprietary game, Rostherne
Games; David Watts, 1990). A race game for
2-5 players. Each player has up to ﬁve tokens
which are raced round a four-track circuit bychess moves. There are 24 obstacles whose
positions on the circuit are predetermined bydice rolls, and hence change for each game.
Only knights can jump obstacles. A chess die
is rolled on each round, all players moving one
token in turn in the manner of the piece rolled.
If a ‘capture’ is made, the tokens concernedchange places - a novel touch. There is ascoring system based on the order in which
tokens cross the ﬁnishing line. The player withthe most points is the winner. Chessington
was a related race game from the same stable.
[Information presumably taken from sets inDavid’s games collection]
Chummy(Proprietary
game,
DLJ
Manufacturing, 1991). Players 2 or 4; board
circular, centre cell highlighted; usual 16 men
per player. Win is by taking opponent’sking(s) or using own king to capture andcontrol central cell. The game name is an
awesome acronym: Challenging Highly
Unusual Minds Mainly Yours. (Advertisementin Chess Life, November 1991)

Games for four or more 353
Quattro-Schach (Proprietary game, Meteor,
date of origin unknown). Four players. Playing
area 8x8 with four 8x3 extensions, set-up as
for Verney’s Four-Handed Chess. In a cornerby each player is a further 3x3 square, threesquares in each of the opponents’ colours.
Also, the central four squares of the board
are in the players’ colours. The winner isthe sole survivor or the player who gets his
K to the centre square of his own colour.
A captured man is placed on the square of

appropriate colour on the capturer’s 3x3
board. If all nine squares are occupied, they
are removed and the player receives a card
marked 2. This allows the king to move twosquares at a time, passing through check if
desired. If the same player now captures twoeach of his opponents’ men he gets a card witha 3 which entitles the king to move threesquares at a time. (Information presumably
deriving from a set in David’s gamecollection)

38.10 Point-scoring games
Astro(Proprietarygame,
Weltraum
Brettspiele; Rudolf Lauterbach, 1976). Four
players. Board 76 squares, each illustrated
with a constellation. Pieces (7 a side) aremeteors, planets and stars (14 different);
unique moves and captures. (Proprietor’s rules
booklet)Quadular(Proprietary
game,
HPH
Development; Nelson Hart, 1985). Players
2-4; board 7x7 with a 13-square extension oneach side (rows of 5, 5, 3 squares) and a large
triangular ‘throne’ giving access to eachsquare in the last row. The three rows
constitute a player’s Domain. Each side has
the usual eight pieces plus a Prince and ﬁve
pawns: king on the throne, then QBPr,
RNBNR, 5xP. The arrays rotate round theboard.
The prince moves like a queen but only 1 or
2 squares. On entering an opponent’s domain,a prince is crowned (plastic top-knot) and is
promoted to queen; however, if her consort ischeckmated, the queen at once undergoes asecond sex-change, this time to king. Pawns
normal but promote in an opponent’s domain
only to R, B, N. A scoring system designed toeliminate draws gives K=15, CPr=13, Q=7,
Pr=5, R=5, B=3, N=3, P=1. (Proprietor’s
publicity leaflet, also Die Pöppel-Revue 1989).
Four-Man Chess (Proprietary game, Quest
Board Games, 1987). Four players; board
16x16; each side has 1 x K, Q, 2 x R, 4 x B, N,
9 x P (21) assembled initially in the board
corners. Each piece is given a points value andthe object is to be the player with the mostpoints at the end. A player giving checkmate
takes the remaining men of that side. The
knight can make multiple captures, like adraughtsman. (Proprietor’s rules leaflet)
Quatréchec (Proprietary game, Action
Sociale Missionnaire, 1993). Board 14x14. An
orthochess array in the middle of each side(kings opposite kings) belies an unusual
objective: to get as many men as possible tothe end rank opposite. A man reaching the end
rank is at once removed from play andretained by the player, scoring points
appropriately: K=30, P=6, N=5, B=4, R=3,
Q=2. The normal rules concerning check
apply but kings can be captured. A player
whose K is checkmated or captured continues
to play but a player unable to move iseliminated together with any men remaining tohim. The game ends when there is but one
player left, when his remaining men are
assumed to have attained the end rank. The
player with the most points wins. (Proprietor’srules pamphlet)
Martian Chess (Proprietary game, LooneyIndustries; Andrew Looney, 1999). Players 2
or 4, partnerships possible. Board 8x8; eachplayer has 9 men in the form of cones, threeeach representing queens, drones and pawns;
queens on a1/a2/b1, drones a3/b2/c1, pawns
b3/c3/c2, and similarly in the other corners.
As in Monochrome Chess (chapter 33), all
men are the same colour; you only control
pieces in your quadrant. Play and objectives as
in Monochrome Chess, with point values Q=3,
D=2, P=1. (Variant Chess 39)

354 Every man for himself
38.11 Games in which the players have different roles
Eureka, also known as Induction Chess[Richardson] (Ian Richardson, 1989). Threeor more players. One player (the Ruler) writes
down a not-too-difficult secret rule (e.g., playa pawn every third move). He then plays out agame as both White and Black. When anotherplayer believes he has discovered the rule,he calls out ‘Eureka!’ and takes over one side.
After five more moves, another player isentitled to cry ‘Eureka!’ and so on. A player
who takes over and subsequently plays anillegal move drops out and scores 0;
otherwise, there are points for guessing therule correctly and for winning the game, anda separate schedule by which points areawarded to the Ruler. Inspired by Robert
Abbott’s induction card game Eleusis.
(Variant Chess 3)
Penultima (M. Greene and A. Chalcraft,1994). Game for up to 8; 2 players, the rest

‘spectators’. The spectators allocate rules tothe pieces which they keep secret. When amove is made, the appropriate spectator allows
the move, modifies it or disallows it. The aim
remains checkmate. (Variant Chess 28)
According to Pritchard (Jaime Poniachik,1998). A game for a convivial evening. Any
number can play. One player selects the nameof a variant from the Encyclopedia, and theothers, if none of them recognises it, have tothink up rules to fit the name. They thencompare the result with the rules as given, andperhaps they find that they have invented
something new. (Letter to David from theinventor: ‘Last night we played with a groupof friends a cheerful new Chess Variant...’)[Text editorial. David seemed uncertain
whether this should go in, but it was shaped as
a compliment and I am happy to take theresponsibility.]

38.12 Divinatory games
Enochian Chess. Name derived from the Old
Testament prophet Enoch ‘who walked with
God and was not’ . The system from which thegame emerged dates back to the Angelic
language formulated by Dr John Dee in the
16th century (Dee, who at one time wasengaged in espionage, was allegedly theoriginal ‘007’, being so referred to by Queen
Elizabeth on account of the shape of his
spectacles). Enochian Chess, primarily adivinatory game, was practised by initiates of
the Golden Dawn, including W. B. Yeats (whowas a keen player) and Aleister Crowley (whowas not: he preferred chess) (Games Monthly,
November 1988). The instructions for
Enochian Chess, outlined in volume 4 ofRegardie’s definitive work on the Order, were
never codified, hence subsequent attempts to
evolve a game system.
Enochian Chess [Nichols] (Proprietarygame, Aztral Games; Steve Nichols, 1982).
The divinatory game, played with a die, uses
four 8x8 boards, every square divided into
four regular triangles, coloured red (fire), blue
(water), yellow (air), black (earth), each colour
dominating one of the boards (112 triangles
out of 264). The basic game, known as Astral

Chess, is for 2-4 players and uses a single 8x8
board with 36 men, nine on each side (K, Q,
R, B, N, 4xP). The pieces, which represent theoperation of the spirit, are Egyptian gods andare linked to the elements: K = Osiris, Q = Isis
(Water), R = Nephthys (Earth), B = Aroueris(Air), N = Horus (Fire). The pawns are thefour sons of Horus which assume the elementsof the pieces they stand in front of and havetheir base coloured accordingly (e.g. NP = fire
= red). The Q leaps two squares in any
direction. Pawns move straight ahead, one
square at a time and capture normally.
(Strictly, men are not moved but ‘rayed’.) The
four sides (players) correspond to the four
elements. In the array, the K (Osiris) sharesthe corner square with the piece whose
element is that of the player. The game has asmall cult following in Europe and America.
The publisher cautions that ‘the fullunderstanding of Enochian Chess requires aworking knowledge of Hermetic Magic to thelevel of Adeptus Minor’, regrettably beyond
the scope of this book. The retail price of £50(1988) was ‘...designed to discourage under16s from buying the game’. (Proprietor’s
publicity material)Games for four or more 355
Enochian Chess [Barr and Eschner](Anreas Barr and M. D. Eschner, 1983).
Another interpretation of the game, describedin considerable detail in the book Das
Henochische Schachspiel. In its basic form,
this is a four-handed partnership game similar
to the game above. However, the array isregular: K and B share the corner square,followed by Q, N and R in that order, with thepawns in front. A die can be used to determine
the man moved, the actual move being ‘thepersonal choice of the player and his spirit’:
1 = K or P 2 = N 3 = B 4 = Q 5 = R 6 = P.
Moves of Q and P as above; pawns promote to‘pieces they serve’ (i.e., file they stand on).
Play follows general rules of Four-handed
Chess: the army of a mated player is frozen,
and both partners’ kings must be mated to win.
I-Ching Chess (Mario Sanchez, 1978). In his
book I-Ching Xadrez (1983), the author links
the ancient Chinese divination system basedon the concept of yin and yang with chess.
Brieﬂy, the I-Ching identifies eight trigrams,
which are all possible combinations of three

unbroken (Yang) or broken (Yin) lines set one
above the other. (Trigrams can be determinedby tossing a coin three times, substituting
heads for Yang and tails for Yin.) The
trigrams, which are associated with elements
expressed in pairs, are equated to the player’s
eight pieces: K heaven, Q earth, KR mountain,
QR lake, KB fire, QB water, KN thunder, QN
wind. The 64 hexagrams of the I-Ching(corresponding in number to the squares of thechessboard)
representallpossiblecombinations of two trigrams. Eighthexagrams are composed of two identical
trigrams and therefore only represent one
piece, but the remaining 48 hexagrams
combine two pieces; thus No. 56, known as Lu(the Wanderer) is composed of Mountain andFire and hence relates to both KR and KB.
Each hexagram of the I-Ching carries aphilosophical dissertation which the enquirer
must interpret. The system enables a game ofchess to be used for divination purposes or the
I-Ching can be interrogated, normally bydrawing three cards (hexagrams) andinterpreting each in turn, to determine play.

38.13 Games of unclear nature
Astronomical Chess. A game mentioned in
two Arabic manuscripts, and thought by
Murray to be possibly identical with the gameLos Escaques mentioned in the Alfonsomanuscript (seven men move at different

speeds around a circular board, and points arewon from another player by landing at certain
positions relative to him). It would appear tohave nothing to do with what we now
understand as chess. [Text revised]Appendix
Notes on principal sources
Index

Appendix[There were several entries in of the first edition which contained general information rather
than of descriptions of particular games. There has been no place for these in the main body ofthe book, and so they are grouped here. I have divided them into Practicalities, People,
Organizations, Publications, and Miscellanea.]
Practicalities
Designing a variant. In the geometricuniverse that chess inhabits, there are manyfascinating possibilities for new pieces andinnovative board designs that go beyond thebasics of the royal game to create a new‘ﬂavour’ for the play. However, most designs
are not marketable because designers tend tounderestimate the subtlety of what makes agood chess variant
Two of the secrets of variant design are
elegance and balance. An elegant gamecombines a minimum of rules with amaximum of strategy. Chess itself is a simple
game to learn, but its resulting strategy is
profound. Any good chess variant should have
similar elegance. Many inventors assume thatmaking a game more complicated will make itbetter, but usually the opposite is true. The
eternal challenges of regular chess do not arise
from its complexity but from the subtle
balances of different elements in the game. A
good player has to do more than calculate
variations; he must know how to judge therelative value of many competing strategic
factors - for master players, the decision isoften based on intuition. But in a variant withmany extra pieces subtle distinctions ofbalance tend to become much less important what does it matter if one gambits a pawn
when each player has three queens? The
endgame in which the pawn advantage
becomes important will rarely be reached.
Another form of balance in chess worth
analyzing is the battle between knights andbishops. Which is the better? The answer
depends totally on the position. When adesigner changes the parameters of board size,
piece powers etc., the relative balance between

the pieces quickly changes, and must bereconstituted in some way to prevent the gamefrom being too straightforward. So any good
variant should have a similar myriad ofstrategical balances of this kind to keep thegame intriguing.
Obviously, the design must have notechnical ﬂaws such as forced wins or draws.
Many designs submitted to manufacturers
permit a player to set up an impenetrable
defence after which he cannot lose - thesegames are ‘busted’. A similar problem is theunwinnable endgame. A personal favourite is
the proprietary game Choiss which plays well
except that all endgames tend to be draws dueto the ‘holes’ in the board. In fact, in quite a
lot of situations it isn’t possible to win evenwith K+Q v K.
For three-player and four-player variants
there is an additional design consideration.
Because each player has more than one
opponent, there is a strong tendency toward
slow, defensive play that the designer must
counter. Consider a standard three-player
game. Player A attacks Player B and wins a Q
for a R - but against player C, player A is arook down. Attacks tend to beneﬁt theuninvolved player. Within the games industry,
this problem is considered to be a main reason
why multi-player chess games have neverbeen commercially successful despite dozens
of clever attempts. In fact, due to theirreputation as poor sellers, retailers will often
decline to stock a multi-player game however
good it may be. The ﬁrst inventor to solve thisproblem in an elegant way, and without anexcess of new rules, will be the ﬁrst to succeed
with this natural idea (Tom Braunlich).

360 Appendix
Taxonomy. A number of attempts going backto at least 1908 (Maack), none wholly successful, have been made to classify chess variants.
George Dekle distinguishes ten generalgroupings: Ancestral Chess (chaturanga,
shatranj, medieval), Oriental Chess (Xiangqi,
Sittuyin etc), Shogi and variants, Decimal
Chess (10x10, 10x8 etc) with added pieces,
Enlarged Chess (boards larger than 8x8 but ofdimensions other than decimal), Micro Chess(boards smaller than 8x8), Group Chess(multi-player games), Fairy Chess (orthochess‘with a twist’), Not-Quite Chess (borderline
games like Cheskers, Racing Kings, Ultima).
Marco Fabbri lists seven main categories,
each broken down into sub-categories: Board,
Initial position, Basic Movement rules, New
Pieces, Capture rules, Check and checkmate,
Number of players.
The most ambitious attempt at a taxonomy
is that of Michael Keller (World Game Review10) in which categories and sub-categories are
examined, with examples, in considerable
detail:(1) Fixed initial position: (a) Equal armies;(b) Unequal armies.
(2) Variable initial position: (a) Free/random
selection; (b) Delayed deployment;(c) Secret deployment; (d) Creation andremoval of units during play; (e) Variable
units; (f) Choice of forces.
(3) Historical and regional games:(a) Shatranj family; (b) Regional great
chesses; (c) Shogi family; (d) Other Asianchesses; (e) Literary chesses.
(4) Modified pawns and promotion:(a) Modified pawns; (b) Modified
promotion.
(5) Modified kings.
(6) Combined pieces: (a) Pieces with added
knight power; (b) Pieces with differing
capturing moves.
(7) Other new pieces: (a) Leapers;(b) Riders; (c) Hoppers;(d) Chess/draughts combinations;(e) Miscellaneous pieces.
(8) Plane boards: (a) Great Chess;(b) Minichess; (c) Irregular boards;(d) Infinite boards.
(9) Multi-dimensional boards: (a) Threedimensional; (b) Multiple boards; (c) Fouror more dimensions.
(10) Non-planar boards: (a) Cylindrical;(b) Round; (c) Rebound.
(11) Mosaic: (a) Hexagonal; (b) Triangular;(c) Other tilings.
(12) Boards modifying movement:(a) Restricted movement;(b) Increased/altered movement.
(13) Miscellaneous board modifications:(a) Boards with moving parts; (b) Boards
altered during play; (c) Special effects on
selected squares.

(14) More than one move per turn:(a) Fixed-length series; (b) Variablelength series; (c) Progressive.
(15) Movement limitations: (a) Limited
choice of moves; (b) Other movement
restrictions; (c) Dice chess.
(16) Multiple units per square: (a) Units
functioning independently; (b) Combining
units.
(17) New types of movement: (a) Relay;(b) Teleportation; (c) Crossings;(d) Castling; (e) Miscellaneous.
(18) Movement of enemy and neutral units:(a) Enemy units; (b) Neutral units.
(19) Miscellaneous movement
modifications: (a) Modifications of earlier
moves; (b) Hidden movement;(c) Simultaneous movement;(d) Periodical rule changes.
(20) Right to capture: (a) Limitations ofright; (b) Extensions of right.
(21) New methods of capture:(a) Coordination; (b) Rifle; (c) Custodian;(d) Capricorn; (e) Dynamo;(f) Miscellaneous; (g) Mixed.
(22) Disposition of captives: (a) Conversion;(b) Repositioning; (c) Immobilization;(d) Demotion.
(23) Side effects of capture: (a) Effects on
capturing unit; (b) Other side effects.
(24) Modifications of objective: (a) Captureof all opposing units; (b) Loss of all own
units; (c) Multiple targets; (d) Multirex;(e) Modified check; (f) Other objectives.
(25) Modification of number of players:(a) Three-handed; (b) Four-handed;(c) More than four; (d) Team.

Appendix 361[Readers will please not put forward theclassification adopted in this book as analternative taxonomy, whether with approvalor otherwise. The aim was not to attempt anacademic classification of games, but merely
to divide a given set of material into
reasonably homogeneous and digestible
chunks. The requirement is very different.]

PeopleBoyer, Joseph (1895-1961). Describing
himself as a chess militant and a Marxist,
Boyer was a ceaseless campaigner for variant
chess. He was the author of two minor
classics, Les Jeux d’Echecs Non Orthodoxes(1951) and Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Non
Orthodoxes (1954). His other works included
Les Jeux de Dames Non Orthodoxes (jointlywith V. R. Parton). He also wrote verse. Boyerorganized over a score of internationalcorrespondence tournaments of variant chessand was the prime mover in the Centred’Etude des Jeux de Combinaison in Paris.
Parton, Vernon Rylands (1897-1974). An
active campaigner for variant chess, Parton
published nine monographs on his ideas, thecontents of which however tended to overlap.
Parton followed his father’s footsteps into ateaching career which ill-health soon forced
him to leave. His interests were wide and he
was a great believer in Esperanto. He will be
remembered in particular for Alice Chess,unquestionably his most imaginative game.
[In the first edition, David also mentioned thefollowing:

Betza, Ralph. Inventor and researcher ofchess variants.
Castelli, Alessandro. President of AISE andeditor of Eteroscacco.
Cohen, Philip M. Contributor to Nost-algia
whose column Olla Podrida was for long timea source of chess variants.
Dawson,ThomasR.
Problemist;
acknowledged as the father of Fairy Chess.
Jelliss, George. Problemist and founder of
Variant Chess.
Keller, Michael. Founder, editor andpublisher of World Game Review.
Klüver, Hans. Problemist and variant
enthusiast.
Murray, H. J. R. Chess historian and author.
Schmittberger,
R.
Wayne.
Variant
enthusiast and inventor; formerly editor ofGames magazine.
Wood, Baruch H. Journalist; founder,
editor, and publisher of Chess.
The singling out of Parton for a detailed entry
was curious - he now seems merely a prolificand largely indisciplined inventor no more
worthy of note than a dozen others - but thiswas the text as I received it.]

Organizations
NOST (Knights of the Square Table). U.S.
social postal chess organization formed in1960 by Bob Lauzon and Jim France. Chessvariants formed a prominent part of its
activities. NOST held an annual convention
and at its peak enjoyed an active membershipof several hundred. The club succumbed toInternet competition.
AISE. The Associazione Italiana Scacchi
Eterodossi (AISE) had its roots in theburgeoning interest shown in variant chess by
the Florence Chess Circle, with the active
participation of orthochess masters Castaldi,
Porreca and Scafarelli, in the years following
World War II. In 1971, the Associazione

Scacchistica
Italiana
Giacotori
per
Corrispondenza (ASIGC) was founded,
Armando Silli taking a leading role, and thisactively involved itself with the variant ideasof Roberto Salvadori and Roberto Magari. In
1975 AISE was formed as an afﬁliatedorganization of ASIGC. The following year
the first national tournament of Progressive
Chess took place at La Spezia. The ofﬁcial
organ of AISE, Eteroscacco, ﬁrst appearedin the Spring of 1978, and the next year
AISE seceded from ASIGC to become an
independent body. The lead taken by AISE
in organizing national and international
events and in encouraging research into
popular variants ﬁrmly established Italy as362 Appendix
a leading nation in the ﬁeld of variant chess.
AISE, like NOST, was a casualty of theInternet.

British Chess Variants Society. Founded in
1996. The society publishes the magazine
Variant Chess, and maintains a web site.

Publications
Nost-algia. The magazine of NOST. Chessvariants featured prominently, notably in
Philip Cohen’s Olla Podrida pages.
Eteroscacco. The official organ of AISE. It
began life in October 1976 as E.Sc.I(Eterodossia Scacchistica Italiana), a fanzineedited by Armando Silli, which ceased
publication in December 1977. Eteroscacco
itself appeared regularly from 1978 until it
closed with the December 1999 issue, shortly
before the effective demise of AISE in 2000. It
was a prestigious journal devoted to chessvariants. [It was resurrected in 2006 as an
Internet publication.]
Yoga-Schach. Publication launched by Klaus
Burchkhardt in 1982 linking yoga and chess.
Variant Chess. U.K. magazine founded by
George Jelliss in 1990, and subsequently
edited by Peter Wood. Since 1996 it has been
published by the British Chess VariantsSociety. The current editor (2007) is John
Beasley.
[Variant Chess, unlike Eteroscacco andNost-algia, is still going strong, thoughwhether it will outlive the present production
team remains to be seen. Increasingly,
magazine editors are coming to prefer thesimpler and less expensive procedure of
publishing on the Internet. But there is adownside: Internet material is basicallytransitory, and there are no libraries of legal
deposit such as there are for conventional
material. To cite just one example among
many, the web site maintained by the late Stan
Goldovski vanished without notice after his
untimely death and took all his Losing Chessmaterial with it, though his friends were able
to reinstate most of it using copies they had
downloaded. Nor do computer-readablearchives have more than a temporary life, andeven if they are kept they have to betransferred to new media at regular intervals.
The backup discs I made when writing a bookin 1989 could not be read on any computercommercially available today, because theformat in which they were written is long outof date and drives capable of reading them are
no longer manufactured. Yet I have been to
the British Library and studied a book printed
more than five hundred years ago, and amanuscript written more than seven hundred.]Miscellanea
Chess Variant Pages. Internet site devoted tochess variants. Begun as a website created byHans Bodlaender in January, 1995. Initiallyconsisted largely of selected variants including
several historic chess games. Interest in thesite increased and viewers contributed newvariants; these prompted Bodlaender tointroduce graphics. In the following years thewebsite grew rapidly in popularity and in the
Spring of 1997 David Howe joined as joint
editor. Subsequently, four additional editors
were established to meet the increased
demand: John William Brown, Tom Cook,
Pavel Tikhomirov and Vu Vo. The siteremained at Hans Bodlaender’s personal
webspace at Utrecht University but it was
clear that the interest would soon outgrow its

current home. In consequence, a new location
was found and a domain name for the site
obtained. Later, some editors left and four new
editors joined the team: Fergus Duniho, JeanLouis Cazaux, Ben Good and Peter Aronson.
Rules for variants were developed andpublished and competitions introduced, thefirst two for Progressive Fischerandom Chess.
Competitions to design variants followed,
many stipulating the number of board squares.
Besides these, the site gained an encyclopediaof pieces (the Piececlopedia), sample games,
several Java applets, numerous files forplaying variants with the proprietary Zillionsof Games program, and a versatile gameplaying system known as Game Courier.
Created by Fergus Duniho, the system can beAppendix 363
used to play almost any variant.
New editors with specific responsibilities
joined the team: Tony Quintanilla (new web
page publishing), Ed Friedlander (Java appletsfor playing on a web browser) and Antoine
Fourrière (new games for the Game Courier).
The Chess Variant Pages remains a noncommercial website run by hobbyists forhobbyists. Its editorial staff of volunteers
implement the aims of the site which are toeducate people about chess variants,
encourage game play, and to provide a place
for free discussion. Facilities for publishingdocuments are also provided with a wide
selection of fonts and layouts. The popularityof Chess Variant Pages is evident, with almost
a quarter of a million page views and nearly
100,000 visitors a month. At the time ofwriting, the number of web pages has grown
to well over 4,000 with an active discussion
board and gaming system.
[Some of this will be out of date even
before it appears in print, but I have retained it
because users of the pages may like to read thestory of its creation and early development.]
Fairy Chess. Term sometimes given to variant
games but more usually to problems and tasks
in which the board, men or rules are changed
in order to express an idea or theme
impossible in orthochess. The name, which
has resisted attempts to change it, was coined
by Henry Tate of Melbourne in 1914.
Heterochess
Olympiads.
The
first
Heterochess Olympiad by correspondence wasorganized by AISE in 1988. Variants played,
nominated by the participating teams, were
Chessgi, Circe Progressive, Marseillais,
Mutation, Italian Progressive, Progressive
Take-all, Avalanche, and Losing Chess. Eightteams from six countries took part, the ﬁrst
three places being occupied, as expected, by
Italy. Results (game points in brackets): Italy(I) 7 (78), Italy (III) 6 (72.5), Italy (II) 5 (80),England 4 (49.5), Canada 3 (59.5), U.S.A. 2(47), Czechoslovakia 1 (34.5), New Zealand 0(18). An album containing all the games of theevent was published by AISE in 1992. The
second Olympiad was started in 1993. Eightteams took part: Bohemia-Moravia-Slovakia(combined team equivalent to the former
Czechoslavakia), England, Esperanto(!), Italy(two teams), North America, Poland, andUkraine. Italy (I) were the winners, withEngland second and Ukraine third. A third
Olympiad was completed in October 2000.
Kriegsspiel, Kriegspiel. Literally ‘war game’;generic term given to table-top games,
originally of Prussian origin, played on a map
or other representation of terrain. Drawing,
consciously or unconsciously, on the chessmodel, these games had as their aim thetraining of ofﬁcers in military strategy, and in
this respect differed from those variants which
adopted military names for the pieces but
whose object was to ‘improve’, or at least
rationalise, the game of chess. Kriegsspielsrequired large playing areas and a profusion ofpieces, whereas military chess games did not
differ significantly from orthochess in board
size or the number of pieces employed.
Some consider Weickhmann’s Grosses
Königs-Spiel (1664) to be the forerunner ofkriegsspiels. Certainly the inventors of theearly kriegsspiels
acknowledged
theirindebtedness to chess. Thus Helwig, Master ofPages to the Duke of Brunswick who
instructed him to evolve a game for the
training of young men in the art of war,
described how, in developing his Military
Chess (1780), the first game to introduce
terrain features on a board, ‘I should achieve
my objective in the quickest way if I took forits basis the game of chess ... my idea was toadopt the game to my own game’, adding that‘chess players were the first to welcome myinvention’ (Brace). Giacometti, whose
enlarged board included a river, described his
Jeu de la Guerre as a new game of chess,whilst Firmas-Périés, closely following theideas of Helwig, declared his Jeu de Stratégie
an attempt to make chess, in its context as awargame, more realistic (and bigger: by some
2,500-odd squares). Von Pillsach kept the link
alive with Siege Chess (1820) which, whilst
using terrain features, retained the distinctive
four-handed board (8x8 with four 8x3
extensions) introduced by K.E.G. in Dessau in
1784. Interestingly, an early ‘blind’ kriegsspiel
had the two players deploying their forces onmaps, an umpire keeping them informed about
the proximity of enemy forces; a procedure
introduced as a chess novelty a half-century
later (Faidutti). As time passed, these war

364 Appendix
games became more and more sophisticatedand were officially incorporated into militarytraining in several countries. In the latter halfof the 19th century simplified kriegsspiels,
restored to their role as games, began toappear on the market. A present-day survivor,
Stratego (formerly L’Attaque), has a history
approaching 100 years.
Following World War II the adult wargame,
which may take account of a host of peripheral
factors such as leadership, morale andweather, began to make its appearance throughspecialist games companies like Avalon Hilland S.P.I. It can safely be said that there is nolink between chess and modern wargames.
Patents. Patent applications, whether or not
approved, are a rich source of variants which
may or may not have been subsequently
marketed. The surge of chess-type games
began over a century ago and continues
unabated.
Primrose Dames (U.K. patent 20,874 of
1899) was the creation of Lewis Waterman, anoted games’ inventor. Board 16x16, eachside having 16 dames (bishops), 6 knights and4 members (kings). The object was to get allof one’s members into the ‘house’ (eight
central squares, g-j/8-9). Members did not
capture, and if captured were returned to theirstart squares. The same year saw Moncrieff’s
Game (U.K. patent 10,857) a four-player
extravaganza requiring four chessboards
representing Europe, Asia, Africa andAmerica) with positions for artillery between
the boards and four central squares
representing a city, the purpose of the game
being to capture or ‘checkmate’ the city. Each
player had 26 men in a wood (walnut,
mahogany, ebony and boxwood) representing
each of the four continents The forces weremade up of a king (which moved like aqueen), 12 infantry pieces composed of 2
generals (rooks), 2 colonels (bishops), 2
captains (knights) and 6 men (pawns), together
with 8 cavalrymen and 5 artillerymen. ‘It will
be seen,’ declares the applicant, ‘that thisgame, while resembling chess, possesses anadvantage over chess, seeing that it embraces
all the moves in chess and a considerable
number additional’. In sharp contrast was U.K.
patent 514 of 1890, Burglar and Policemen, asimple game played on a 5x5 board. All thepieces were knights. One side was the Burglar(initially on c3) and the other the Policemen(on a1,c1,e1,a5,c5,e5). The burglar moved
first; no capturing; the burglar lost if he could
not move. (How did he win?) A forerunner ofseveral such games.
Wuterich’s Game (Emil Wuterich, patent
1239 of 1899), if marketed, is unlikely to havefound much favour. Board 9x9 with a further
rank of ﬁve squares positioned centrally ateither end. Each side had 26 pieces
corresponding to the letters of the alphabet.
The vowels were arranged on the extra rank (l.
to r.) IAEUO, respectively a N, Q, B, K and R.
The consonants were arrayed in the order B-L
and M-W (l. to r.) on the next two ranks, with
XYZ spaced evenly in front. Consonants
moved one square forwards or sideways andcould only capture straight ahead. The gamewas won by checkmate or the king (U) gaining
the back rank of the enemy’s camp and there,with pieces of either colour, spelling out a prearranged ﬁve-letter word which, of course, had
to contain a U, an improbable achievement
against modest opposition. A player forming aword of four or more letters orthogonally or
diagonally, the men being of either colour,
could claim back a captured man.
H. Stranders’s patent 7840 of 1891 hadplayers starting with squares as well as pieces,the board being formed as play proceeded, aplayer having the option of placing a squarenext to a square already played together with aman, or putting a man on a square alreadyplayed. The idea anticipated several
proprietary games of recent vintage. Krona(U.K. patent 3022/1894) had a 9x9 board with
8 Esquires, 8 Knights and a Prince a sidearranged in two ranks. Object was to get the
Prince (who was immune from capture) to thecentral square. Esquires moved and captured
as pawns but no two-square jump or
promotion, knights as fers (one squarediagonally) and prince as king. Just after theturn of the century Adolph Muller’s hexagonalboard appeared (patent 3214 of 1902). It was
intended for general games use without chessbeing speciﬁcally mentioned. Chess games
making use of playing cards or the alphabet
were not uncommon whilst variants using
military and naval nomenclature proliferated.
Thus T. F. Gaynor (patent 20002 of 1914) has
units of the Services moving as chessmen on

Appendix 365
the 8x8 board which is divided into the sea(files a-d) and land (files e-h). (Lasker had
patented a wargame on an 11x11 board in1901.) Airships and captive balloons madetheir appearance in U.K. patent 9366 of 1913
(G. Paulus).
It is impossible to cover, even in outline, allchess variants that have been patented, but asummary of those ﬁled in a few countries in a
recent decade (the 1970s) will give some feelfor the sort of ideas inventors consider worthyof the considerable expense involved. David
Akers (U.S. patent 3909000 of 1974) came up
with a game played on a vertical cylinder ofunspeciﬁed dimensions with the usual pieces
in normal array sandwiched between two linesof pawns.
Casimir Strozewski (U.S. 4045030 of 1976)
entered a three-coloured hexagonal 9x9 board
with the hexes along axes of 90 degrees or 45
degrees to each other and an extra bishop andpawn a side.
New set designs (cubic, stacking, royaltyetc) are in evidence and one sees football (forexample, French patent 2443854 of 1978),dice and other familiar deviations. Useful (ifavailable, which is unlikely) for variant
enthusiasts are the pieces described in French
patent 2435269 of 1979 (W. O. Schoendorf)
which covers a 10x8 board game andillustrates a knight with a mitre on its head. A
West German application for the same gameshows a bishop with a knight’s head. The useof dual pieces in variants has since become
quite common. Board designs are anotherpopular ﬁeld of endeavour. One such (U.S.
patent 3761093 of 1971 ﬁled by Fred
Migliore) has indicia on the squares, eachindicium
representingaconventional
chessman. All pieces are of the same design,
their moves governed by the squares theystand on. A round board of 64 spaces,
unusually arranged to have eight concentric
circles of cells, was filed (U.S. patent 3775554
of 1971) by someone called Capablanca.
Another board, in the shape of a nautilus, has
no less than 192 spaces (David Hitchcock,
U.S. patent 3851883 of 1973).
Variants for three and four players are muchin evidence, particularly the former. Threeplayer games tend to be played either on
tricorn boards having 96 spaces (Netherlands
patent 2401677, G. van der Laken, is one ofseveral examples), or on hexagonal boards,
these latter in a number of different designs ofwhich a West German patent of 1974 (withsubsequent applications in France and theU.S.), in the names of A. Treugut and J.
Bottcher, is but one example. The inventors
introduced an extra piece, the Cardinal,
moving like a queen. The cardinal represented
the ‘social-political’ element; it could neither
take nor be taken, serving merely as a block. A
mated player, whose pieces were otherwise
immobilized, could continue to move his
cardinal with the advantage that no player was
obliged to drop out. Alternative hexagonalshaped boards were put forward for this game:the cells were either triangles (106), distorted
squares (121) or hexes (151). Interestingly, theﬁrst chess variant ﬁled in Germany (1881) was
for a three-player game. Chiu-Hua Chang of
Taiwan has a four-player game (U.S. patent
4067578 of 1976) on a 192-square board
divided into areas representing countries, adiminution of Moncrieff’s game. By contrast,
Karl Whitney Jr. (U.S. 3843130 of 1973)
crowds four sets of chessmen plus eight
additional pieces onto a board of 136 squares.
Space games have perennial fascination for
inventors. Two such (both U.S.) are 3937471
of 1974 (Gerald Brenman) which has two 8x8
boards one above the other, the lower board
with the standard array whilst the upper board
has ‘at least one additional piece and pawn’;and 3767201 of 1971 (James Harper),basically a vertical arrangement of sevenboards successively of 4, 16, 36, 64, 36, 16, 4
squares.
[Several of these seemed worthy of entries
in the body of the book and I have put them
there, but to have removed them from thepresent text would have spoilt its structure andI have let them remain here as well.]
Variants In Fiction. Writers, and particularly
writers of fantasy and science ﬁction, aregiven to inventing strategy games, manyarguably chess variants. The seminal game issurely Jetan, described at length by Edgar Rice
Burroughs in his novel The Chessmen of Mars
(1922) and perfectly playable. Most of thebest-known SF writers have indulged at one
time or another - Alan Burt Akers, Isaac
Asimov, Lord Dunsany (Green Idol Chess),
Gerard Klein, John Norman, Lewis Padgett

366 Appendix(The Fairy Chessmen), A. E. Van Vogt. H. G.
Wells sets about describing a game between
God and Satan in The Undying Fire: ‘But thechess they play is not the ingenious little gameinvented in India; it is on an altogether
different scale ...’ An account of a game, Pole
Chess, in which board and pieces are made ofice, is given by Piers Anthony in his Robot
Adept. The usual pieces are transformed into
Goblins (Ps), Dragons (Rs), Trolls (Bs),
Griffins (Ns), Ogress (Q), and Demon (K)‘But this was Pole Chess, so there was one
additional set of pieces: the poles. When all
the other pieces were set up, the white andblack poles stood to either side, just off theboard, centred’. A pole could move directly to
any empty square; it could not be captured andserved only as a block. ‘Some players swore
that Pole Chess was the best variant ever;others condemned it as a decadent offshoot’.
Further on, Anthony describes ‘Huffdraw’, ‘A
device that had come into play in the last few
centuries because too many tournaments werebeing stymied by frequent draws. There wereseveral applications, depending on the type ofdraw that was threatened. But the basic

element was the removal of “dead” pieces;those that hadn’t moved in some time’.
Another candidate is Klin Zha from the seriesStar Trek, a strategy game of multi-movement
though without any obvious chess link
(Leonard Loyd, 1989). A variant only in thesense of time control is described by Thomas
Harris in his modern classic, The Silence of theLambs : ‘Two men sat at a laboratory tableplaying chess. If they noticed the enormous
rhinoceros beetle slowly making its way
across the board,weaving among thechessmen, they gave no sign ...Then the beetle
crossed the edge of the board. “Time, Roden,”
the lean one said instantly. The pudgy one
moved his bishop and immediately turned thebeetle around and started it trudging back theother way. “If the beetle juts cuts across thecorner, is time up then?” Starling asked. “Ofcourse time’s up then,” the pudgy one said
loudly without looking up.” Of course it’s up
then. How do you play? Do you make him
cross the whole board? Who do you playagainst, a sloth?”’[Again, several of these appear in the bodyof the book, but I have left them here as well.]Notes on principal sources[The first edition included a bibliography listing every book or other source of which David had
made significant use, but in these days of on-line library catalogues and Internet search engines
I see little point in repeating this; many a source contributed only to one or two items, and thetitle given in the text should allow a future researcher to locate it in the catalogue of any librarywhich holds it. I have therefore restricted myself to brief notes on the most important sources.
The text that follows is my own.]
Books and pamphlets
Books which are largely or wholly restricted to their authors’ own inventions are notincluded.
Boyer, Les Jeux d’Echecs Non-orthodoxes(Paris, 1951), Nouveaux Jeux d’Echecs Nonorthodoxes (Paris, 1954), and Nouveaux Jeuxd’Echecs Interessants (1957). The first two
were 100-page books, formally published; thelast was a typewritten pamphlet of probably
limited circulation and there may or may nothave been legal deposit copies, but there arecopies in the libraries of the British Chess
Variants Society and the British Chess
Problem Society. The BCPS copy is annotated‘recd Feb 15 '57’ in the handwriting of C. E.
Kemp (a problemist and friend of T. R.
Dawson).
Cazaux, Guide des Echecs Exotiques etInsolites (Chiron, Paris, 2000).
Faidutti, En Marge du Jeu d’Echecs (Lille,
1990). Published by Lille University. A‘histoire de l’histoire du jeu d’échecs en
Europe’ according to David in Variant Chess
50. ‘The text, which is illustrated, covers theperiod from the Alfonso ms to about 1900,
although Capablanca chess earns a diagram. A
few non-chess games get a mention, likehnefatafl, tablut and rythmomachia. The text is
supported by an impressive 17-pagebibliography.’
Falkener, Games Ancient and Oriental andhow to play them (Longmans, London, 1892)
Forbes, A History of Chess (Allen, London,
1860). Forbes’s work was to be attacked byvan der Linde and his theories carry little

credibility today, but on at least one occasion
it appears to have been van der Linde who waswrong (see Murray, footnote to page 242).
This said, some of the dating on which herelied was later discredited, and some of his
conjectures now seem far-fetched. There was areprint by Moravian Chess (Olomouc, Czech
Republic) in 2005.
Gizykci, A History of Chess (Abbey, London,1972). An English edition of Z szachami przes
wieki i kraje (Sport i turystyka, Warszawa,1960), misleadingly titled; the original Polishtitle translates more naturally as ‘With chessthrough the ages and around the world’, andthis gives a much clearer picture of the book’s
contents. It does contain a historical chapter,largely derivative but containing one or two
items not conveniently available elsewhere,
but its main concern is with appearances ofchess in art, literature, theatre, and film.
Gollon, Chess Variations, Ancient, Regional,
and Modern (Charles E. Tuttle, Rutland,
Vermont, 1968).
Hooper and Whyld, The Oxford Companion to
Chess (Oxford University Press, 1984, second
edition 1992).
Murray, A History of Chess (Clarendon Press,
Oxford, 1913). There have been several
reprints. Still the standard reference, at least
for games in the Indian-Persian-Arabic
tradition, though a massive international effort
to update it is reported to be in progress.

368 Notes on principal sources
Books and pamphlets (continued)
Stone, Chess Variants (1982 with a later
edition). A typewritten pamphlet apparently
produced for a postal chess club.
van der Linde, Geschichte und Literatur desSchachspiels (Berlin, 1874). There was areprint by Olms, Zürich, in 1981.
Verney, Chess Eccentricities (Longmans,
London, 1885).

Periodicals devoted to or specializing in chess variants
There has been intermittent variant material in mainstream chess magazines such as The British
Chess Magazine and Chess, but I presume these to be sufficiently well known not to needcomment. The following periodicals have been more specialized.
Chessics. A problem magazine published by
George Jelliss from 1976 to 1989, and thepredecessor of Variant Chess.
Chess Spectrum Newsletter. An apparently
short-lived publication of which David held
the first two issues (16 pages). It appears that
there were no more.

Games and Puzzles. A magazine edited byDavid himself, which ran from 1972 to 1981.
Neue Chess. A series of articles produced inassociation with J’Adoube (the bulletin of theCincinnatti Chess Federation).
Nost-algia. See Appendix.

Eteroscacco. See Appendix.

Variant Chess. See Appendix.

The Fairy Chess Review. A problem magazine
which was edited by T. R. Dawson from 1930
until his death in 1952 (for the first six years
as The Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement)
and then continued until 1958 in otherhands.

World Game Review. A general games
magazine edited by Michael Keller.
Ye Faerie Chesseman. Two pamphlets editedby Don Miller and issued with issues 8 and 9of The Gamesman.

Other sources
Chess Variants Pages. See Appendix.
Personal communication. Many entries in thisbook are based on letters from correspondents,
and it is my intention, before returning
David’s Encyclopedia files to his family, tomake copies of these and to deposit them with
the Musée Suisse du Jeu, rue du Chateau, La
Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland (between Vevey
and Montreux) so that they can be held in the
Ken Whyld Library and made available tofuture researchers. This is of course a breachof copyright, and if any copyright holder or hisor her representative objects I will refrain fromcopying the relevant item (or, if the copy has
already been made and despatched, I will ask
the Director to withhold it from use until the
copyright has elapsed). However, I don’t thinkthese letters contain anything sensitive (I have
only the letters and extracts that David put into
his Encyclopedia files, I don’t have his private
correspondence files), and I assume that inmaking the information available to David for
the Encyclopedia his correspondents will havewished it also to be made available to future
writers on the subject.

Index007 Chess 7.3
10x10 Chess(Sosnovsky) 15.2
2000 A.D. 17.9
3 Dimensional Chess(Carney) 25.2,(Mind Games) 25.2
3-D Chess(Enjoyable Hour) 25.3
3-D Space Chess(Dimensional Enterprises)
25.6
4-6-10 Chess 24.3
4D 23.5
Abdication 19.6
Abolition of castling 8.6
Absolute Checkless Chess 4.1
Absolute Rettah Chess 19.1
Absorption Chess 18.1
Abstract Chess 18.2
According to Pritchard 38.11
Acedrex de las Diez Casas
26.2
Active Chess 13.3
Actuated Revolving Centre
8.4
Actuated Revolving
Quarterboard 8.4
Admirals-Schach 32.1
Advance Chess 9.1
Advice 32.1
Airplane Chess 17.1
Ajedrez-4 35.1
Akenhead’s Chess 16.7
Akers’s Game see Appendix(Patents)
Alapo 32.1
Albers’s Four-Handed Chess
35.1
Alberti’s Chess for Three
37.6
Alberti’s Four-Handed Chess
35.1
Alcoholic Chess 12.9
Algiers Chess 26.4
Alisher Navoi’s Great Chess
29.5

Alice (Alician) Chess 11.1
All The King’s Men 18.4
All-Angle Chess 16.4
All-In Castling 8.6
All-In Chess 7.1
All-In En Passant 3.5
All-Mate Chess 3.1
Allegiance Chess 37.3
Allergy Chess 4.2
Alliance(Liptak and Babcock) 34.3
Alliance Chess(Bathgate) 35.2,(Paletta) 19.6
Allthought Chess 14.4
Almost Chess 14.1
Altenburg Four-Handed
Chess 35.1
Alternating Chess(Marseillais) 1.1,
(Poniachik) 4.3,
(rotation) 12.3
Alternation Chess 34.2
Amazon Chess 14.1
Amazon Queen 14.1
Ambassador Chess 18.2
Amber, The Royal Game of
12.5
Ambi-Chess 19.6
Ambiguous Chess 7.2
Ambition Chess 18.2
Amoeba 13.6
An-nan Chess 18.5
An-nan Shogi 28.3
An-Qi 33.2
Anchor-Ring Chess 24.2
Angel Chess 14.1
Animal Chess 32.1
Anti-King Chess 19.7
Anticipation Chess 30.3
Apocalypse 19.6
Applied Chess 18.2
Arabic Chess 26.2
ARC 8.4
Arch Chess (Moody) 15.3,(Piacenza) 15.2
Archer Chess 16.1
Archimedes Chess 3.1

Aristocratic Chess 31.4
Arithmetical Chess 3.5
Arlequin 18.4
Armageddon Chess 5.2
Arrow Pawn Chess 15.2
Arthur Bliss’s Chess 13.5
Artificial Intelligence 32.1
Asha, The Game of 12.11
Assassin Chess 17.2
Assassin Kriegsspiel 2.1
Assizes 26.1
Asteryx Chess 22.1
Astral Battle 37.2
Astral Chess 38.12
Astro (Lauterbach) 38.10
Astro Chess (Wilkins) 38.3
Astronomical Chess 38.13
Asymmetric Chess 14.4
Athletic Chess 12.9
Atkinson’s Threedimensional Chess 25.6
Atomic Chess(Benjamin) 17.4,(originator unknown) 3.3,
(Taher) 33.2
Atranj 29.2
Attama, The Game of see
Persian Chess
Auction TC 9.3
Augmented Knights 20.1
Augsburg Chess 18.3
Automatic Chess 10.11
Autorifle Chess 3.1
Autosuction Chess 12.7
Avalanche Chess 7.3
Aviation 16.5
Ayanu 32.1
Aztec Chess 25.3
Baby Chess 13.2
Babylon 20.1
Balaklava Chess 15.2
Balanced 007 7.3
Balanced Avalanche Chess
7.3
Balanced Doppelzug-Dynamo
Chess 8.2....

370 Index
Balanced EquidistantMarseillais Chess 1.1
Balanced Marseillais Chess
1.1
Balbo’s Game 13.4
Ballot Chess 9.3
Baltic Four-Handed Chess
35.4
Banana-Skin Chess 4.6
Bank of Scotland 1.5
Bankhouse Chess 5.3
Barasi Chess 6.5
Baring the King 10.1
Baroda Chess 29.2
Baroque 17.9
Baroque Chess 18.4
Baroque Renaissance Chess
17.9
Barrier Chess(generic term) 9.4,
(Stone) 4.2
Bartasso, Le 19.6
Basic Intense Chess 35.2
Baskerville’s Hexagonal
Chess 22.3
Bastardo 38.1
Batailles, Jeu de 21.12
Batak Chess 29.4
Bates’s Game 16.3
Battle Chess (Ratushny) 1.6
Battle, Game of 33.6
Battlefield 38.9
Battu-Battant, Les Echecs
10.9
Bauern-Schach 18.4
Beach Chess 12.11
Bear Chess 15.2
Beirut Chess 17.4
Belt Chess 8.4
Benighted 33.3
Bennie Chess 5.1
Berlin Chess 6.3
Berolina Chess 6.3
Berolina Grid Chess 4.5
Best Decimal Butter 17.6
Betza’s Chess see Equal
ArmiesBhagavathi Chess 5.4
Bi-Place Chess 12.1
Bicapture Chess 3.8
Bicolour Chess 3.8
Biflux Chess 12.7
Big Battle 15.4

Big Horse Chess 33.4
Bilateral Marseillais Chess
1.1
Billiards Chess 16.3
Bingo Chess(Connect-Four) 33.4,(Gutzwiller) 3.5
Biological Warfare Chess 3.3
Bird Chess(Freeling) 13.2, 22.1
Bird’s Chess 14.1
Bishop Chess 10.7
Bishop Relay Chess 18.5
Bishops 38.4
Black and White Marseillais
Chess 1.1
Black Hole Chess 4.4
Blackout Chess 9.4
Blind Shogi 28.6
Blitz Chess(Progressive Chess) 1.5
Blitz-Chess (Snider) 9.4
Blizzard Chess 12.4
Blockade Chess 4.2
Blood-Brother Chess 3.5
Blot-Straight Chess 10.4
Boar Chess 22.2
Bogart’s Chess 17.9
Bolshevistic Chess 9.1
Bomb Chess 17.4
Bombalot 32.1
Bosley Chess 9.4
Bosworth 38.4
Bottle Chess 33.5
Bouncy Chess 16.3
Bowling Chess 12.9
Braithwaite’s Game 15.3
Braunschweig Four-Handed
Chess 35.1
Brecht Schach 19.5
Brenman’s Game see
Appendix (Patents)
Brick Chess 1.2
Brickchucking 4.6
Brinkmanship 32.2
British Chess 19.1
Brownian Motion Chess 8.7
Brunner’s Game 30.2
Brusky’s Hexagonal Chess
22.4
Buczko’s Dice Chess 30.1
Buckzo’s Game 13.1
Bughouse (partnership) 36.1

Bughouse Chess (Hulf) 12.11,(replacement) 5.4
Burglar and Policemen 33.6
Burmese Chess 29.3
Burtsev’s Game 14.3
Butters 3.3
Buzzard Chess 12.4
Byelorussian Cheskers 17.1
Bystander Chess 12.11
Byzantine Chess 26.2
Caissa 21.9, 22.1
Calculation, The Game of 9.4
Cambodian Chess 29.3
Camel Chess 26.2; see also
Persian Chess
Camelot Chess 16.3
Camps, Le Jeu des 12.11
Canadian Chess 5.4
Cannibal Chess 18.1
Cannon Chess 18.2
Cannon Shogi 28.3
Cannons and Crabs 15.2
Capablanca Concentric Chess
23.5
Capablanca’s Chess 14.1
Capapranka 4.4
Capitalist Chess 31.4
Capricorn Chess 3.3
Capturing Progressive Chess
1.5
Capturing the king 10.1
Card Ches 31.1
Card Chess (10x10) 38.1,(A.C.) 31.2, (Dunne) 31.2,(Nominated Pawns) 31.2,(Ramsden) 31.1
Cardinal Super Chess 15.3
Cardmate 31.1
Carelman’s Spherical Chess
24.3
Carnivore Chess 21.7
Carre-Schaak 35.1
Carrera’s Chess 14.1
Carrier Chess 8.1
Casino Chess 12.11
Cassandra Chess (Betza) 3.5,
(Karten Schach) 31.4
Cataclysmo 18.4
Caterpillar Chess 36.3
Caturanga-Dipika 34.1
Cavalcade 38.9
Cavalier Chess 16.2

Index 371
Cavalry Chess 15.3
CCC 16.6
Celtic Chess 33.7
Centaur Royal 19.1
Centenniel Chess 21.3
Centigrade Chess 21.8
Central Marseillais Chess 1.1
Centre Chess 23.5
Centreless Chess 4.4
Centrepoint 38.9
Centrum 38.9
Century Chess 13.1
Chad 21.8
Chafts 32.1
Chain-Letter Chess 36.3
Chakra 18.6
Chameleon 38.7
Chameleon Chess 18.1
Chance Chess 31.2
Chancellor Chess(Foster) 14.1, (Horne) 14.1
Change-Over Chess 18.2
Changgi 27.2
Chaos (Kensek) 21.12,(Koch) 9.4
Chaos Chess 31.2
Charters’s Game 13.1
Chass 23.1
Chatrang 26.1
Chatty Chess 34.2
Chaturaji 34.1
Chaturanga 26.1, 29.1
Chazz 6.5
Chebache 33.5
Check 18.3
Check Chess 10.3
Check Force 4.1
Checkchess RoundBoard 23.5
Checkers Chess(Multhopp) 4.6,
(Parton) 33.1
Checkless Chess 4.1
Chego 10.12
Chemical Chess 33.7
Ches3 37.3
Chesh 37.2
Cheshire Cat Chess 4.4
Chesica 33.1
Cheskers 19.5
Chesquerque 21.10
Chess 2000 32.1
Chess 960 9.1
Chess Addresses 33.4

Chess Cards 13.6
Chess Empire 38.4
Chess Football(Arbogast) 32.3
Chess For Three(Hochberg) 37.6
Chess II (Trone) 15.3,(Ungame) 12.11
Chess in Disguise 21.2
Chess in the Round 23.5
Chess in the Third Dimension
25.2
Chess Mess 31.2
Chess Mutation 18.4
Chess on Four Boards 16.4
Chess Patience 10.11
Chess Too 13.4
Chess With Reserves 9.4
Chess-112 21.11
Chess-Battle 17.2
Chess-Checkers 33.1
Chess-Draughts(Charosh) 10.4,(Richter) 15.1
Chess-M-48 21.11
Chess-O-Rama 35.4
Chess=Izer 30.2
Chess3 38.6
Chessapeak Challenge 35.1
Chessball (Gramolt) 24.3,(Kamzalov) 32.3
Chessboard Morris 33.4
Chessenat 17.6
Chessence 32.1
Chesser 37.2
Chessers (Maus) 18.3,(Phillips) 15.4
Chessgi 5.2
Chessington 38.9
Chessmatch 31.2
Chessmen-At-Arms 31.2
Chessnik 22.4
Chessnuts 38.4
Chessplexity 33.5
Chessquito 20.1
Chessword 32.2
Chessy-Quattro 38.4
Chex (Knizia) 22.2,(Smith) 13.6
Chexx 38.2
Chez 38.3
Chezz 20.1
Chi Chi’s Chess 13.3

Chicken Chess 10.3
Children’s Chess 32.1
Chimaera Chess 17.8
Chimaerine Chess 17.8
Chinese Chess 27.1
Chitty-Chatty Chess 34.2
Chiu-Hua Chang’s FourPlayer Game see Appendix(Patents)
Chivalry Chess 17.1
Cho-Sen Chess 28.2
Choice Chess 7.2
Choiss 13.6
Choson Chess 28.2
Chromopolis 24.1
Chromopolis Simplified
17.12
Chu Shogi 28.2
Chuck-A-Chess 30.2
Chummy 38.9
Ciccolini’s Game 16.1
Cincinnati 4-Way Chess 35.2
Circe Chess (Monréal) 5.4
Circe Progressive Chess 5.4
Circe Vulcanici 5.4
Circean Chess (Parton) 19.5
Circle Chess 23.4
Circuit Chess 16.4
Circuits, The Game of 10.8
Circular Chess(Byzantine) 26.2,(Lincoln) 23.5
Cirondo 38.7
Citadel Chess 26.2
Citizen Chess 1.1
Clairvoyant Chess 31.4
Clockwork Orange Chess 5.6
Co-Capture Chess 12.7
Co-Chess 12.7
Co-Regal Chess 10.2
Co-Relay Chess 12.7
Co-Tuong 27.2
Cockayne Chess 31.4
Codrus, Game of 10.9
Cohen’s Error Chess 16.7
Coin Chess 4.6
Columbia Cannon Chess(CCC) 16.6
Combination Chess 18.3
Commando Chess 2.1
Compact Chess 17.8
Complete Chess, The 26.2....

372 Index
Complete Contramatic Chess
19.7
Complicacious Chess(single king) 18.2,(multiple kings) 19.5
Compromise Chess 7.2
Compulsion Chess 4.2
Compulsion Cubic Chess
25.5
Compulsion Sphinx Chess
25.10
Concentric Chess 23.5
Confederate Chess 18.3
Conflict Chess 30.2
Congo 17.1
Conquest(Benge) see Quest-Chess,(Berard) 23.4,(Parker Brothers) 32.1
Contact 10.8
Continuum Chess 25.10
Contramatic Chess 19.7
Conversion (Mazas) 21.12,(Mironov) 17.4
Conversion Chess 12.7
Coordinate Chess (Co-Chess)
12.7
Coordinator Chess 17.6
Copernican Chess 32.1
Coqueret’s Three-Handed
Chess 37.3
Corner Chess (Burdin) see
note at end of 6.3,
(Paletta) 6.3
Coronation Chess 18.3
Coronation, The Game of
32.2
Corridor Chess 9.1
Cosmic Chess 38.9
Counter Chess 32.1
Courier Chess 26.3
Courier-Spiel 15.2
Courtyard 13.3
Cr-Isis 22.4
Crazy 38’s 23.6
Crazy Chess 30.2
Crazy House 5.2
Crazy Lightning Chess 12.8
Crazy Screen Chess 9.4
Creation Chess 21.6
Creative Chess 9.4
Credo Chess 22.4
Crescendo Chess 18.3

Cripple Chess 4.2
Crompton’s Chess 34.2
Cross Chess (Miller) 13.4,(Dekle) 38.2
Crossings Chess 8.2
Crossword Chess(Lepper) 12.10,(Papp) 12.10
Croughton’s Hexagonal
Chess 32.1
Crowded Chess 9.1
Crown (Kisliuk) 19.3
Crown Chess (Adams) 38.9,(Ritzen) 9.4
Crushed Chess 3.5
Cu-Bono 32.1
Cuban Chaturang 15.3
Cubic Chess(Kieseritzky) 25.6,(Parton) 25.5,(Pribylinec) 18.2
Cubic Shogi 28.4
Cubical Chess (Berry) 25.6
Custodian Chess 17.6
Cylinder Chess 24.1
Dabbabante Chess 16.5
Dai Shogi 28.2
Dai-Dai Shogi 28.2
Dakini Chakra 18.6
Damate 33.1
Dark Chess 2.1
Darkness Chess 2.1
Dartboard Chess 12.9
Dawson’s Chess 33.2
De Saagh’s Games 20.1
De Vasa’s Hexagonal Chess
22.4
Deca Chess 14.1
Decimal Champion Chess
17.8
Decimal Chess (generic) 13.1,(Obers) 15.2
Decimal Falcon-Hunter Chess
14.2
Decimal Four-Handed Chess
34.4
Decimal Oriental Chess 16.7
Decimal Rettah Chess 19.6
Declaration Chess 2.3
Defensive Chess 10.10
Degraded Chess 18.2....

Demi-Chess(Groeneman) 13.3,(Krystufek) 13.3
Demigorgon Chess 17.7
Demonchy’s Four-Handed
Chess 38.4
Demonchy’s Three-Handed
Chess 37.3
Dense Chess 23.7
Deployment Chess 9.4
Desi Chess 29.1
Dessau Four-Handed Chess
35.1
Detective Chess 33.5
Detente 7.3
DG Chess 4.5
Diagonal Chess 6.3
Diamond Chess (Rynd) 6.3,
(Sirius) 23.1
Diamond Chess-Whist 34.2
Diana 13.2
Dicey Dropsy 30.2
Different Men Marseillais
Chess 1.1
Dikel Checkmates 38.4
Dilemma Chess 10.3
Diplochess 12.6
Diplomacy Chess 38.1
Diplomat 37.2
Diplomatic Chess 38.1
Displaced Grid Chess 4.5
Divide and Conquer 3.5
Divis 13.6
Dodeca Chess 15.4
Dodo Chess 10.7
Dominance 18.6
Dominator 18.3
Doppel-Schach 38.5
Döppelgänger Chess 31.4
Double Bughouse Chess see
Bughouse (partnership)
Double Chess (Crawley andMooney) 35.1,(Hayward) 19.6,(Hill) 12.1, (Howard) 19.6,(Short) 13.3
Double Chess Game, The(Archiv der Spiele,
formerly Tressau) 5.2
Double Conversion Chess
12.7
Double Game of Chess, The(H.H.) 35.1

Index 373
Double Knight Chess(Paletta) 9.1, (Sobey) 15.4
Double Lazy Susan Chess 8.4
Double Outpost Chess 10.7
Double Rettah Chess 19.6
Double Skak 34.2
Double Trouble Chess 1.3
Double-King Chess(Moeser) 19.6,(Parton) 19.6
Double-Move Chess(Black then White) 7.3,
(Galvin) 1.2,
(King and Pawns) 1.3
Doubles Chess 35.4
Doublet Chess 1.1
Dragon Chess (Freeling) 14.4,
22.1
Dragonchess (Gygax) 25.8
Dragonfly 17.11, 22.1
Drapeaux, Jeu des 32.1
Dreadnought Chess 15.3
Dreier-Schach 37.3
Drive Chess 10.12
Drop Chess 5.2
Ducat Chess 31.4
Duchess 35.3
Duel Chess 21.11
Duell 32.1
Duke of Rutland’s Chess 14.3
Dukes Chess 15.3
Dummy Pawn 6.1
Dunce’s Chess 10.3
Dunsany’s Game 10.10
Duo Chess 11.1
Duperchess 12.1
Duplicate Chess 35.1
Dutch Billiards 16.3
Dutchess 9.3
Dying Zombie Chess 5.5
Dynamic Chess 18.5
Dynamo Chess 8.2
DZD 8.2
Earthquake Chess (Betza) 8.5,
(Gutzwiller) 12.9
Echecs + 21.10
Echos 18.2
Ecila 25.10
Edgehog Chess (Driver) 16.1,(Stone) 17.1
Eight-Handed Chess 35.2
Einstein Chess 18.2

Elbow Chess 16.4
Elena 13.3
Elephant Game 27.1
Emperor’s Game, The 14.1
Emperor Chess(Lambert) 16.1,(Schmittberger) 19.1
Emperor King Chess 19.1
Empire Chess 18.3
Empire, The Game of 20.1
Empress Chess(Long) see Amazon Chess,(Maus) 18.3
En Garde 37.2
En Passant Chess 3.5
Enchantment 23.1
Enderlein’s Four-Handed
Chess 35.1
Endgame Chess 9.1
English Progressive Chess 1.5
Enlarged and Improved Chess
14.4
Enochian Chess 38.12
Equal Armies 20.2
Equidistant Marseillais Chess
1.1
Equivalent Marseillais Chess
1.1
Eradication Chess 12.7
Eric 13.3
Es 38.6
Escalation 18.1
Escher 35.3
Escort 38.8
Estralography 32.1
Eternity’s Children 11.3
Ethiopian Chess 26.4
Eunuch Chess 31.4
Eurasian Chess 27.3
Eureka 38.11
Excalibor 21.12
Exchanger Chess 17.8
Exotic Chess 21.4
Explosion Chess 33.2
Express Chess 31.1
Extinction Chess 10.5
Falcon-Hunter Chess 14.2
Falconry 15.3
Fantasy Chess 21.12
Farmers’ Game, The 26.3
Fast Philidor 10.7
Fast-Track Chess 6.2

Feldschach 4.6
Feminist Chess 19.1
Ferry Chess 18.3
Feudal Chess(Karten Schach) 31.4,(Kalkovits and Knight)
38.1
Fibonacci Chess 1.5
Fidchell 33.7
Fill-Up Chess 10.8
Fischerandom Chess 9.1
Fish Chess 6.5
Fish’s Delight 12.6
Fishaway Chess 18.4
Five-Minute Poppy Shogi
28.4
Five-Rider Promotion 16.2
Flammhorst’s Game 21.12
Flexichess 20.1
Flick Chess 10.4
Flip Chess 18.2
Flip Shogi 18.2
Flying Chess 25.1
Follow-The-Mover Chess 8.1
Follower Chess 8.1
Fools’ Chess 17.5
Football Chess(Boissier) 32.3,(Boyer) 32.3, (Stone) 32.3,(Tylor) 32.3
Forced Game, The 4.2
Forchess 34.2
Forest Chess 21.5
Fortress Chess 35.4
Fortresses, The Game of 13.4
Fossil Chess 3.6
Four Kings, Game of the 34.1
Four Seasons, Game of the
38.1
Four-Handed Chess 35.1
Four-Handed Dice Chess(Caturanga-Dipika) 34.1
Four-Handed Round Chess
35.3
Four-Handed Shogi 38.1
Four-Handed Xiangqi 35.2
Four-Knights Chess 9.1
Four-Man Chess 38.10
Four-Way Chess 35.1
Four-Zone Chess 38.5
Fouray 35.1
Fourth Dimension 23.5
Français, Le Jeu 19.1

374 Index
Frankfurt Chess 18.1
Fraustadt Four-Handed Chess
35.1
Freak Chess 9.4
Free Chess (Brunner) 9.4,
(Capellen) 18.4,(Felisch) 9.4, (Slater) 9.4
Free Choice Chess 20.2
Free Megarotation Chess 8.4
Free Programme Chess 9.4
Free Realm Chess 1.7
Free Rotation Chess 8.4
Free-Capture Chess 3.7
Free-For-All Chess 7.1
Fress-Schach see Losing
Chess
Frontier Chess 18.4
Fruit Bowl Chess 8.3
FTM Chess 8.1
Fugue 17.9
Full Belt Chess 8.4
Full Chess, The 26.2
Fully Randomized Chess 9.3
Fuss-Schach 12.11
Future Chess 25.8
Gaebeler’s Four-Handed
Chess 35.1
Gala 26.3
Galachess 22.3
Galactic Chess 38.1
Galaxy Chess 32.1
Gambler Chess (Knizia) 31.4,(Lawless) 31.3
Gardez 19.1
Gaudeamus 30.1
Gay Chess 10.12
Gaynor’s Game see Appendix(Patents)
Gemini (Fisher) 34.2,(Groman) 21.5
Generalised Chess(Schmittberger) 20.2
Generalized Chess (Tylor) 3.1
Generation Chess 31.4
Genius Chess 18.6
Geo Chess 37.4
Gérams World Chess 15.2
Gérard Chess 21.12
German Chess Kriegspiel 9.4
Gess 19.5
....
....

Ghost Chess (Dawson) 5.5,
(Montreal, also Norfolk andNorwich) 12.11
Ghostrider Chess 2.3
Giveaway Chess 10.9
Giveaway Rettah 19.1
Glasgow Chess 6.2
Glinski’s Hexagonal Chess
22.1
Global Chess (Original Toy
Corporation) 23.5,(Yaspan) 24.3
Global Thinker 24.3
Globe Chess (Boholy) 24.3
Godson’s Three-dimensional
Chess 25.6
Goliath Chess 3.5
Gollon’s Three-dimensional
Chess 25.6
Gorgon Chess 17.7
Gorgona Chess 17.7
Gorogoro Shogi 28.4
Gosai Chess 29.1
Gothic Chess 14.1
Grand Chess (Freeling) 14.1
Grandchess (Corinthios) 13.1
Grande Acedrex 26.2
Grasshopper Chess 16.6
Gravitational Chess 8.3
Grayber’s Spherical Chess
24.3
Great One-Way Chess 14.2
Greater Chess 15.2
Green Idol Chess 14.1
Gregarious Chess 12.1
Gregory’s Three-dimensional
Chess 25.6
Grid Chess 4.5
Gridolina 4.5
Grosses Konigs-Spiel 38.4
Gryphon Chess 19.5
Guard Chess 4.2
Guardian Chess 9.1
Guerre d’Orient, Jeu de la
32.1
Guerre, Jeu de la(Giacommeti) 32.1
Guerre, La Petite 12.11
Guerre, Le Jeu de la (M.M.)
15.1
Guess Chess 12.10
Gumption Chess 8.4
Gustav III Chess 14.1

Gutzwiller’s Chess 16.1
Gwyddbwyll 33.7
Haffner’s Chess 16.4
Hagemann’s ThreeDimensional Chess 25.2
Haigh’s Game 13.3
Half-Queen’s Chess 14.4
Hand Shogi 28.3
Handicap Chess 12.11
Hara-Kiri Chess 3.5
Harper’s Game see Appendix(Patents)
Harper and Dietrich’s Game
Board 25.6
Hecatomb 9.1
Heian Dai Shogi 28.2
Heir Apparent Chess 19.2
Helios 15.4
Helwig’s Military Chess 32.1
Heraldic Chess Games 20.1
Hero Chess 19.6
Heterocoalescence Chess 12.7
Hex Chess (Kirkpatrick) 38.2
Hexabeast 32.1
Hexabrain 22.1
Hexachess (Moeser) 22.4,
37.2
Hexagonia 32.2
Hexagram Chess 23.2
Hexanova 22.4, 37.2
Hexapawn 32.1
Hexchad 22.1
Hexchess(Hexchess Inc) 37.2,(Paletta) 22.4
Hexes 22.2
Hexofen 22.1; see also
DiplomatHexshogi 28.5
Hexstar Chess 23.2
Hiashatar 29.5
Hibernation 13.1
Hierarchical Chess 4.3
High-Flyer Chess 31.4
High-Low Chess 10.10
Highcastle Chess 8.1
Hobbler Chess 16.1
Honeycomb Chess 22.1
Hopscotch Chess 9.1
Horatio Chess 4.4
Horde Chess 10.10....

Index 375
Hornyak’s Hexagonal Chess
22.3
Horsey Camelot Chess 16.3
Hostage Chess 5.3
Hourglass Chess 13.4
Howell’s Chess 13.1
Huffdraw 21.12
Hughes-Hughes’s FourHanded Chess 35.1
Hunter Chess 14.2
Hurricane Chess 1.6
Hyder Ali’s Great Chess 29.2
Hyperchess (CRH) 13.4,(Groman) 22.4, 37.2
Hyperchess ‘A’ 22.4
I-Ching Chess 38.12
Iceberg Chess 8.7
Icelandic Chess 26.3
Identific 9.4
Idle Kings Chess 4.1
III-Color 37.3
Illegal Chess 12.12
Imitante Queen Chess 17.3
Imitator Chess 4.6
Immobilizer Chess 17.7
Immunity (Betza) 3.3
Immunity Chess (like pieces)
4.2
Impact 22.3
Imperatore 1.3
Imperial Chess(Fanning) 23.5,(Gebhart) 38.3,(Scorpion) 38.4
Imperial Dragon Chess 27.3
Imperial Fiddlesticks 10.2
Impostor Chess 31.4
Incognito Chess 19.3
Incredulon 24.1
Indian Chess 29.1
Indian Great Chess 29.2
Induction Chess(Kommerell) 18.5,(Richardson) 38.11
Infinite Chess 23.6
Infinite Plane Chess 23.7
Instant Chess 9.4
Intense Chess 35.1
Interdependent Chess 18.5
Interface 37.3
International 37.6
Invasion 32.1

Inverter Chess 12.7
Invisible Chess 21.5
IQ96 38.1
Isardam 3.6
Isis 32.1
Isometric Chess 25.3
Italian Progressive Chess 1.5
Jabberwocky Chess 23.5
Jagged Chess 8.5
Janus Chess 14.1
Japanese Chess 28.1
Jelliss’s Game see TwentyFirst Century Chess
Jesön Mor 32.2
Jesskers 17.1
Jester’s Game, The 37.2
Jet Chess 20.1
Jetan 15.3
Joara-Joari 29.1
Johnson’s Three-dimensional
Chess 25.2
Joyful Chess 18.2
Jubilee Chess 9.4
Judkins’s Shogi 28.4
Jumping Chess 17.1
Jungle Game, The 32.1
Ka Ok 29.3
Kager’s Three-Handed Chess
37.6
Kaiserspiel, Das 14.1
Kaissa 15.3
Kamikaze Chess (Laws) 3.5,
(Tapson) 10.10
Kamikaze Mortal Shogi 28.3
Karten Schach 31.4
Kastellet 32.2
Kazan Chess 1.7
Kidnapping Chess 3.5
Kieseritsky’s Cubic Chess
25.6
Killer Chess 10.9
Kilyow 28.3
King’s Colour 22.1
King’s Men, Queen’s Men
Marseillais Chess 1.1
King and Pawns Game, The
1.3
King Chess (Letzen) 19.1,(Miller) 5.4
Kinglet Chess 10.2
Kings Court 15.2

Kleptomaniac Chess 5.1
Klin Zha 23.1
Knight Chase 10.12
Knight Court Chess 13.2
Knight Factor Chase 10.12
Knight Relay Chess 18.5
Knight Supreme 9.1
Knighted Chess 21.2
Knightmare Chess(Parton) 21.7,(Tempête sur l’Echiquier)
31.2
Knightmate 10.2
Knightrider Bouncy 16.3
Knights and Bishops 9.1
Knights And Crosses 33.4
Knights Chess 14.1
Ko Shogi 28.2
Koch’s Four-Handed Chess
35.1
Kogbetliantz’s ThreeDimensional Chess 25.6
Kohl’s Game 28.6
Kokusai Sannin Shogi 37.2
Kombischach 18.3
Königsritter 38.5
Koopa Chess 3.6
Korean Chess 27.2
Korean Shogi 28.3
Korkser Chess 26.3
Kriegsfeld Chess see Guerre,
Le Jeu de la (M.M.), also
note at end of 16.7
Kriegsfield Chess see note atend of 16.7
Kriegspiel 2.1; see also
Appendix
Kriegspiel Bughouse 36.1
Kriegspiel Madrasi 3.6
Kriegsspiel see Appendix
Kristensen’s Game 17.10
Krona 32.2
Kubikschack 25.6
Kyoto Shogi 28.4
L and R Chess 19.6
L’Hermitte’s Game 13.2
La Régence Dice Chess 30.1
Ladder Chess 13.4
Ladies’ Chess 13.2
Ladies’ Game, The 4.2
Lambeth Conference 16.3
Land and Water 32.1

376 Index
Lange’s Four-Handed Chess
35.1
Las Vegas Chess 30.1
Laser Chess (Duppong ) 17.2
Lasker’s Wargame see
Appendix (Patents)
Lateral Chess 14.2
Latrel 33.2
Lazer Chess(DeFluiter and Ryan) 17.2
Lazy Susan Chess 8.4
Leapfrog Chess 17.1
Legal’s Game 9.3
Legan’s Game 6.3
Legler’s Chess see Neo-Chess(Legler)
Letzen Chess 19.1
Levantine Chess 4.2
Leveler Chess 31.2
Lewin’s Six-dimensional
Chess 25.10
Lewin’s Three-dimensional
Chess 25.8
Liar Chess(Cleaton-Solomon) 2.3,
(Knizia) 31.4
Liars’ Chess (Betza) 12.5
Liberation Chess 19.1
Life, the Universe andEverything 18.5
Lighthouse Chess 16.5
Lilliputian Chess 14.1
Limb Chess 33.7
Lincolnshire Pawn Chess
10.7
Linear Chess 21.1
Lion Chess 16.7
List Chess 12.8
Little Chess 9.2
Liu Chu 32.1
Logical Progressive Chess 1.5
Logitac 32.2
Looking-Glass Chess 11.1
Loonybird Chess 14.4, 22.1
Loose-Headed Knight Chess
12.11
Los Alamos Chess 13.2
Losing Checkers Chess 33.1
Losing Chess 10.9
Losing Game 10.9
Losing Sphinx Chess 25.10
Lotus Chess 23.4
Ludus Chessunculus 22.4

Lumberjack Chess 18.4
Maack’s Four-dimensional
Chess 25.10
Maack’s Space Chess 25.4,
25.6
Maad Camelot Chess 16.3
Machiavelli Chess 31.4
Machine-Gun Chess 3.1
MAD’s Modern Chess 21.12
Mad 20.1
Mad King’s Game, The 29.1
Mad Mate 5.2
Mad Threeparty Chess 37.6
Madadmar 29.1
Madagascan Chess 26.4
Madcap Chess 4.2
Madchess 8.6
Madhouse Chess 5.4
Madrasi Chess 3.6
Mafeking Kriegsspiel 2.1
Magic Chess 15.3
Magician Chess 21.9
Magnetic Chess 8.3
Maharaja (12x8 board) 29.2
Maharajah and the Sepoys,
The 29.1
Maharishi 10.10
Maiden’s Game, The 4.2
Main Chator 29.4
Mainframe 12.11
Maka-Dai-Dai Shogi 28.2
Makruk 29.3
Malay Chess 29.4
Manchester 31.2
Manolo Chess 23.5
March Hare Chess 7.3
Marinelli’s Triple Chess 37.6
Marks’s Three-dimensional
Chess 25.6
Mars 22.3
Marseillais Chess 1.1
Martensen’s Four-Handed
Chess 35.1
Martian Chess 38.10
Masonic Chess 23.3
Masonic Shogi 28.5
Mate The Knight 10.2
Maxichec 35.1
Maxima 17.9
Maximummer Chess 4.3
Maximummer Marseillais
Chess 1.1

Maya Chess 18.5
Maze Chess 4.4
McCooey and Honeycutt’s
Hexagonal Chess 22.1
Mecklenbeck Chess(Eickenscheidt and
Schwarzkopf) 6.2,
(four-handed) 34.3
Meddlers’ Chess 7.3
Medieval Chess 26.1
Medieval Dice Chess 30.1
Mefisto 15.3
Megachess (Lange) 11.3,(McWilliams) 37.6,(Trone) 24.2
Megasaur Chess 21.4
Melf’s Game 9.1
Mephisto 15.3
Merger Chess 12.2
Merlaro 33.7
Merlin et Mat 21.8
Meso Chess 14.2
Meta-Chess (Brown) 20.1,(Schema) 9.4
Metamorphosis 12.8
Mexican Chess 15.3
Miburishogi 28.3
Michelson’s Game 7.3
Microchess (Dekle) 14.3,(Glimne) 13.3
Microchess-48 13.3
Microchess-49 13.2
Microshogi 28.4
Middle Shogi 28.2
Mideast Chess 16.1
Mighty Men, The Game of
15.4
Migliore’s Game 18.4
Militaire, Jeu 33.1
Military Affairs Chess 32.1
Military Chess (Conder) 32.1,(de Firmas-Périés) 33.2,(Grachev) 17.4,(Mironov) 17.4
Military Game (Weaver) 25.1
Millenium 3D Chess 25.2
Miller’s Spherical Chess 24.3
Mimic Chess 4.6
Mimikri 21.2
Mimotaur Chess 17.3
Minefield Chess 3.2
....
....

Index 377
Minichess (Bughouse) 36.1,(Gardner) 13.2,(Silverman) 13.2,(Sirotkin) 13.3
Minishogi 28.4
Ministers 13.1
Minixiangqi 27.3
Mirror Chess (Howe) 8.4
Mirrors (Nielsen) 21.4
Missile Chess 3.1
Mixture Chess 14.1
Mock Chess(Hudd-Smith) 38.9,(Parton) 10.4
Modern American Chess 16.1
Modern Chess (Maura) 14.1,(Perry) 37.2
Modern Courier Chess 15.2
Modern Kriegspiel 2.1
Modern Single-Die Chess
30.1
Moebius Chess 24.1
Monarch (de Poël) 32.2,(van Haeringen) 20.1
Moncrieff’s Game 38.9
Mongolian Chess 29.5
Mongolian Great Chess 29.5
Mongredien’s Game 9.1
Monkey Chess 4.3
Mono-Chess 4.6
Monochromatic Chess 4.6
Monochrome Chess 33.3
Monopoly Chess 33.5
Monster Chess 1.3
Moody’s Game 15.2
Morley’s Chess 13.4
Morton’s Game 34.4
Moscovitchs’ Game 17.1
Moslon 20.1
Moss Chess 3.4
Mouterde’s Games 13.4
Ms Alice Chess 11.1
Muller’s hexagonal board see
Appendix (Patents)
Multi-Capture Chess 17.9
Multi-Chess 35.1
Multi-Mate Chess 10.3
Multiplayer Chess 38.5
Multiple Bughouse 36.3
Multiple Chess 36.3
Multischach 38.5
Mummy Chess 4.1
Musical Chess 4.3

Must-Capture Chess 4.2
Mutabor 38.8
Mutant Pawns Chess 6.5
Mutation Chess 18.1
Mysore Chess 29.2
Nadvorney’s Spherical Chess
24.3
Narrow Chess 13.3
Naval Chess 32.1
Nearest-Man Mover 4.3
Necromancer 18.5
Nelson’s Spherical Chess
24.3
Nemesis Chess 15.1
Nemoroth, The Game of 33.2
Neo Chess (Nayler and Ower)
34.4
Neo-Chess (Legler) 14.1,(Randolph) 5.2
Neo-Schaak 9.4
Neumann’s Four-Handed
Chess 35.1
Neunerschach 15.2
Neuschach (Ernst) 21.12,(Lengfellner) 9.1
Neuter Queen Chess 21.7
Neutral King Chess(Parton) 21.7
Neutral Men 21.7
Neutral Zone Chess 37.3
New Chess (Bajon) 15.1,(modern chess) 26.1,(Radovic) 22.1
New England Double
Bughouse 36.1
New Zealand Chess 14.4
Nightrider Chess 16.2
Nimmar 38.9
Ninerider Chess 16.2
Ninny’s Game, The 18.4
No-Capture Chess 10.12
No-Castling Chess 8.6
No-Entry Chess 4.4
No-Retreat Chess 4.6
No-Threats Chess 10.8
Nommenspiel 2.1
Noris Schach 37.1
Novak’s Dice Chess 30.1
Novo-Schaakspel 17.2
Nuclear Chess 18.3
Nuisance Chess 12.7
Null Chess 4.4

Numericron 33.3
O’Donohue Chess 11.1
O.K. Chess 6.4
Oblong Chess 26.2
Obstacle Chess 4.4
Occupation 32.1
Octopus Chess 35.4
Octostar Chess 23.2
Odds, Games at 9.3
Odious Chess 3.4
Ok 29.3
Old Man’s Chess 12.11
Omega Chess 15.3
Omni-Chess(Fireman and Gorga) 1.6,
(Holmes) 23.2
One-Dimensional Chess(Gardner) 21.1,(Glimne) 21.1,(Sackson) 21.1
One-Eye 2.2
One-Shot Chess 4.3
One-Two 1.3
One-Way Chess (Jensch) 4.6,
(Schutz) 14.2
Open Plane Chess 13.5
Orbichess 21.11
Orbital Chess (Betza) 8.4,
(Schmidt and Dyson) 35.3
Oriental Chess 32.1
Orion Chess 23.8
Orthochess 26.1
Outback Chess 17.2
Outdoor Bughouse 36.1
Outlaw Chess 7.2
Outpost Chess 10.7
Overloader/Restorer (O/R)
Chess 12.7
Pacific Chess 15.2
Pacifist Chess 10.12
Panzyk’s Four-Handed Chess
38.4
Parachute Chess 9.4
Parallel Timestream Chess
12.5
Parallel Worlds Chess 25.2
Paratroop Chess 9.4
Parsi Chess 29.1
Partnership Chess(alternation) 34.2,(Chauvenet) 35.1

378 Index
Partnership Four-Hand Chess
35.2
Partnership Kriegspiel 2.1
Parton’s Game 9.1
Parton Chess 18.3
Pass-On Chess 36.1
Patricia Chess 18.2
Patt-Schach 9.1
Patzer Chess 4.1
Paul-Felisch-Schach 9.4
Paulovits’s Game 15.3
Paulus’s Game see Appendix(Patents)
Pawn Placing, Game of 9.4
Pawn-Snatcher’s Delight 9.1
Pawn-Two Captures 6.4
Pawns Game, The(endgame) 9.1, (Legal) 9.3
Pea-Counting Chess 31.4
Peasants’ Chess 26.3
Peasants’ Game, The 26.3
Peasants’ Revolt (Frey) 9.3,
(Koch) 33.6
Pentaplane Chess 33.2
Penultima 38.11
People’s Chess 10.12
Permutation Chess(Berthoumeau-Loiseau)
17.8, (Brunner) 9.4
Persian Chess 26.2 (fivegames)
Peruvian Army Chess 25.1
Petty Chess 13.3
Pferdeäppel 10.12
Phantom Chess (Boyer) 5.5,
(Montreal) 12.11
Pharaoh’s Quest 32.1
Phase Chess 36.2
Philidor 10.7
Philidor and Stamma’s 140square Game 21.12
Philosophers’ Game, The
33.5
Piacenza’s Chess 15.2
Pickle Pot 2.2
Piece and Pawn Marseillais
Chess 1.1
Piece-Eater Chess 30.2
Pin Chess 4.1
Pinochle Chess 31.3
Pinsard’s Chess 15.2
Pinwheel Chess 8.4
Pion Coiffé 10.3

Pirate Chess 31.4
Pivot Chess 8.4
Placement Chess (Jelliss) 9.4,
(Koskela) 9.4, (Lewin) 9.4,
(van Dien) 9.4
Plague Chess 3.3
Plaid Chess 4.5
Plex 38.4
Ploy 21.3
Pocket Chess 16.3
Pocket Knight Chess 5.1
Pocket Mutation Chess 18.2
Podionic Chess 25.3
Pole Chess 21.12
Polka Chess 22.4
Poloschach 3.3
Polyactive Transportation
Chess 12.7
Pool Chess 33.5
Power Chess 14.1
Power Pawn Chess 1.1
Power Realm Chess 1.7
Power-Schach 2000 19.2
Prairie 33.6
Pre-Chess 9.4
Pregnant Chess 12.4
Prepared Chess 9.4
Presto Chess 10.3
Primrose Dames 32.2
Prince Chess 19.6
Priséchec 17.12
Progression Chess 18.2
Progressive 007 7.3
Progressive Absorption Chess
18.1
Progressive Chess 1.5
Progressive Cyclical Chess
1.5
Progressive Forwards Chess
1.5
Progressive Kriegspiel 2.1
Progressive Losing Chess
10.9
Progressive Mutation Chess
18.1
Progressive Orthodox Chess
7.3
Progressive Take-All 10.4
Prohibition Chess 4.1
Projected Chess 23.7
Prokofiev’s Game 25.7
Proletarian Chess 31.4
Promethean Chess 12.4

Promotion only to Queen 6.1
Promotion-Demotion Chess
6.2
Proof Game 12.10
Prophet Chess 31.4
Protean King 18.1
Proteus 33.3
Proximity Chess 4.3
Proxy Chess 31.4
Prussian National Chess 15.1
Psycho Chess 31.4
Purist Chess 31.4
Push Chess 8.2
Put-Back Chess 5.4
Put-Back Transchess 12.7
Puzzo 19.4
Pyramid Chess 25.8
Quad Chess 35.3
Quadrachess 35.1
Quadrant Chess 14.2
Quadrivalent Total Chess
25.9
Quadruple 34.4
Quadular 38.10
Quangtrung Chess 17.1
Quantity Chess 10.6
Quantum Chess 20.1
Quantum Kriegsspiel 2.1
Quart’Echecs 35.1
Quasi-Shogi 28.3
QuatrArmes 33.1
Quatre Quest-Chess 34.4
Quatréchec 38.10
Quatrochess 34.4
Quattro-Schach 38.9
Quest-Chess 1.4
QuickChess 13.3
Racetrack Chess 13.4
Racing Kings 10.7
Radiation Chess 17.4
Rainbow Chess 12.11
Rampage Chess 18.5
Ramparts, The Game of 33.3
Randomized Rifle Chess 17.2
Rangers Chess 15.4
Ranson’s Game see Genius
Chess
Ratushky’s Game see Battle
Chess
Rapid-Fire Chess 3.1
Raum-Schach (Töttger) 25.3

Index 379
Raumschach (Maack)(5x5x5 board) 25.4,(original formulation) 25.6
Re 33.3
Re-2 33.3
Real Chess 9.4
Realm Chess 1.7
Recaptureless Chess 4.2
Reciprocal Chess 7.3
Recycle Chess 5.1
Reflection Chess(Billiards) 16.3,(fixed mirror) 8.4
Reflex Chess 10.9
Reform Chess (Békey) 9.4,
(Tabi) 3.7, (Voss) 6.5
Refusal Chess 7.2
Reincarnation Chess 5.5
Reinforcement Chess 5.2
Rejection Chess 7.2
Relativistic Chess 4.4
Relay Chess 18.5
Relief of Ladysmith, The 32.1
Removal Blitz Chess 3.5
Remy 38.8
Ren’e-Zans’ 18.4
Renaissance(Monchalin) 17.9
Rennchess 16.1
Renniassance Chess(Greenwood) 16.1
Repeating Chess 5.4
Replacement Chess 5.4
Restricted Chess 9.3
Restricted Rotation Chess 8.4
Retrograde Analysis 12.10
Retrogression Chess 18.2
Rettah Chess 19.1
Reversed Progressive Losing
Chess 10.9
Reversion Conversion Chess
12.7
Rhinoceros Beetle Chess
12.11
Rhombic Chess 23.2
Rhythmo 33.5
Rhythmomachia 33.5
Ricochet Chess 16.3
Rifle Chess 3.1
Riga Chess 32.1
Right-Angle Chess 16.4
Rithmomachy 33.5
Robber-Baron 19.3

Robertschach 5.1
Rococo 17.9
Rohr’s Three-dimensional
Chess 25.6
Role-Reversal Chess 19.1
Rollerball 16.3
Rolling Kings 19.1
Romanchenko’s Chess 13.4
Romulan Chess 12.11
Rooks and Bishops 9.1
Rose Chess 22.1
Rotary 21.3
Rotation Chess (Cohen) 8.4,
(turnabout) 12.3
Rotofile Chess 8.5
Round Chess(Byzantine) 26.2,(generic term) 23.5,(Schwind) 16.4,(St Alban’s) 22.4
Royal Chess 19.2
Royal Fury 17.9
Royal Scaci Partonici 3.5
Ruddigore Chess 21.12
Rugby Chess (Beasley) 33.6,(Sekatsky) 32.1
Russian Chess 26.3; see also
Military Chess (Grachev)
Russian Four-Handed Chess
35.4
Russian Symmetrical Chess
14.3
Rust’s Four-Handed Chess
35.1
S-Spirits 18.3
Sabbatical Chess 5.1
Salvadori’s Game 6.3
Samantsy 26.4
San-Guo-Qi 37.3
Sause’s Four-Handed Chess
35.1
Sava’s Game 14.1
Scacchetto 13.4
Scacchomacy 12.6
Scaci Partonici 3.5
Scacia 10.4
Sceptre 1027 A.D. 38.1
Schach 2000 22.3
Schach Plus 13.6
Schach-Kriegspiel 9.4
Schach3 25.3
Schach4 38.4

Schachdame 15.1
Schachett 31.2
SchachRevolution 38.4
Schess 21.10
Schoendorf’s Game see
Appendix (Patents)
Schooling Chess 18.2
Schulz’s Chess 14.2
Schwentzer’s Four-Handed
Chess 35.2
Scissors, Paper, Stone Chess
32.1
Scorpion Chess 19.1
Scotch Chess 1.5
Scotch Kriegspiel 2.1
Scottish Card Chess 31.2
Scottish Chess 1.5
Scottish Modern Chess 1.5
Screen Chess(generic term) 9.4,
(Kriegspiel) 2.1,
(Paletta) 16.5
Sea-Warfare Chess 3.2
Section Chess 13.6
Self’s Three-Handed Chess
37.3
Self-Mate Chess 10.9
Semi-Circle Chess 12.11
Semi-Kriegspiel 2.2
Semi-Queen Chess 14.4
Senterej 26.4
Separate Realms Chess 16.5
Series Must-Capture Chess
4.2
Seven-Handed Xiangqi 38.1
Shafran’s Hexagonal Chess
22.2
Shaft Chess 4.2
Shahmot 38.5
Shako 16.7
Shaolin Sovereign Chess 38.2
Shashmaty 17.1
Shatar 29.5
Shataranja 29.2
Shatra 29.5
Shatranj 26.1
Shazzan! 5.3
Shedding of a rook’s pawn
9.3
Sherwin’s Four-Handed
Chess 35.1
Shock Chess 3.6
Shogi 28.1

380 Index
Shogun 21.12
Shoot (Shooting) Chess 3.1
Short-Distance Chess 4.3
Shrink Chess 13.6
Shuffle Chess 9.1
Shuttle Chess 17.11
Sic ’Em Europe 19.6
Siege Chess (Hair) 12.11,(von Pillsach) 33.6
Siege d’Anvers 15.2
Silberschmidt’s Game 15.1
Simmons’ Game 21.8
Simo Pieces 21.10
Simochess 21.10
Simoco 21.10
Simpler Chess(Wardley) 13.2, 19.5
Simpleton Chess 4.6
Simpletonry 4.6
Simplified Chess(Fielder) 13.3
Single Box of Men 6.1
Sittuyin 29.3
Six-Handed Chess(Godneff) 34.3,(Lange) 34.3
Six-Way Brain Game 22.1
Sjakti 21.9, 22.1
Skateboard Chess 31.4
Skock 30.2
Slater’s Game 34.2
Slippery Centre Chess 8.7
Slow Progressive Chess 1.5
Small Shogi 28.3
Smess 18.4
Snooker Chess 16.3
Snowplow Chess 17.9
Sociable Chess 36.3
Social Chess(Cambridge) 36.3,(Head) 34.4
Socialist Chess 31.4
Soldier Chess 6.4
Space Chess(Maack) 25.4, 25.6,(Pacific Games) 25.2
Space Hexagonal Chess 25.8
Space Shogi 28.5
Spanish Chess 14.2
Special Move Chess 2.3
Speculator Chess 31.4
Spherical Chess 24.3
Spherical Shogi 28.5

Sphericalice Chess 24.3
Sphinx Chess 25.10
Spiral Chess(Hitchcock) 23.6,(Jensch) 25.4
Spirited Chess 12.9
Spirits of the Knight 18.3
Spite Chess 3.4
Sputnik Chess 1.7
Spy Chess (Kriegspiel) 2.1,
(O’Flyn) 15.2
Square Chess 18.4
Stacking Chess 12.1
Stakato 32.2
Star Chess 17.2
Star Trek Chess 25.2
Star Wars 17.10
Start-Again Chess 8.1
Static Chess 10.8
Stealth 21.12
Steeple Chess 38.9
Stereoschach 25.4
Stevens’ Principle 4.1
Sting 19.1
Stochastic Chess 13.6
Stranders’s Game 13.6
Strange Relay Chess 18.5
Strategem 23.5
Strategie 2000 17.12
Stratégie, Le Jeu de 33.2
Stratomic 17.4
Strix 37.5
Strozewski’s Hexagonal
Chess 22.5
Stupid House 36.1
Sub-Chess 21.11
Substitution Chess 7.2
Suction Chess 12.7
Sudanese Chess 26.4
Sui-Chess 30.1
Suicide Chess(Losing Game) 10.9,(piece removal) 3.7
Sultan’s Game, The 14.1
Super Chess (Fort) 21.12,(Ginsberg) 21.3,(Scorpion) 14.1; see also
Super-Chess, Superchess
Super Intense Chess 35.2
Super Queen Chess 8.1
Super-Charged Chess 1.1
....
....

Super-Chess(Lauterbach) 14.1; see also
Super Chess, Superchess
Supercapablanca Chess 14.1
Superchess (Bajon) 38.1,(Jacobson) 38.5,(Letmanji Stevan) 20.1,(Montagna) 18.3,(van Haeringen) 20.1,(Zaitsev) 14.3; see also
Super Chess, Super-Chess
Superknights 15.4
Superpawns Chess 6.5
Supers Echecs 21.12
Surge Chess 8.2
Surprise Chess 9.4
Survival of the Species 10.5
Swarm Chess 1.6
Switch Chess 12.7
Switchback Chess 1.5
Symmetric Fully Randomized
Chess 9.3
Synchronism 18.5
Synchronistic Chess 12.6
Synchronous Chess 12.6
Syrian Chess 26.2
Szenario 37.2
Tactical Chess 18.2
Tag Chess 3.4 (two games)
Tai Shogi 28.2
Tai-Kyoku Shogi 28.2
Take Me 10.9
Take The Brain 18.4
Take-All 10.4
Take-Back Kriegspiel 2.1
Takeover Chess 17.1
Taliesin 38.6
Talkhand’s Chess 26.2
Tamerlaine’s Progressive
Chess 24.1
Tandem Chess(alternation) 34.2,(Paletta) 19.6
Tandem Put-Back 36.1
Tank Chess (Drobnic) 15.2,(Paletta) 17.6,(Suttles) 17.6
Tao King, Board of the 35.1
Taxi Chess 6.5
TC 9.3
Team Dice Chess 30.1....

Index 381
Tedco Three-Dimensional
Chess 25.3
Telegraph Chess 4.6
Teleport Chess (Green) 8.1,
(Paletta) 8.1,
(Schmittberger) 8.1
Tempête sur L’Echiquier 31.2
Tenjiku Shogi 28.2
Tesche’s Three-Handed
Chess 37.6
Tetra-Schach 35.4
Thai Chess 29.3
Thinktank Chess 14.4
Third-World Chess 37.3
Threat Chess 4.6
Three Kingdoms, Game of
the 37.3
Three Kings Chess 10.2
Three-Check Chess 10.3
Three-Dimensional HookMove Chess 25.9
Three-Handed Hexagonal
Chess (Baxter) 37.2,(Wellisch) 37.2
Three-Handed Round Chess
37.4
Three-Handed Xiangqi 37.3
Three-Man Chess 37.3
Three-Player Chess 37.3
Threespace Chess 15.3
Threesum Chess 1.4
Thunder Chess 18.3
Thurrow Chess 18.3
Tibetan Chess 29.5
Tibetan Dice Chess 30.2
Tigerchess 21.12
Tile Chess 38.5
Time Travel Chess 25.8
Time Warp Chess 25.8
Timur’s Cubic Chess 25.5
Timur’s Great Chess 29.5
Tines and Barbs 21.3
Toe-to-Toe Chess 15.4
Toilet Roll Chess see Liar
Chess (Cleaton-Solomon)
Token Chess 5.2
Tombola Chess 5.1
Too Many Bishops 12.4
Toral Chess 24.2
Tori Shogi 28.2
Toroidal Chess 24.2
Torus Chess 24.2....

Toss For Next To Play Chess
30.2
Total Chess 25.9
Toulousain Chess 16.7
Tournoi, Jeu du 38.7
Trabue’s Four-Handed Chess
35.1
Trade-off 33.3
Traitor Chess 12.3
Transcendental Chess 9.3
Transfer Chess 5.4
Transition Chess 18.4
Transportation Chess(Transchess) 12.7
Transporter Chess 8.1
Trapdoor Chess (Betza) 12.4,(Hills and Bimler) 25.1
Treib Chess 10.12
Tressau’s Four-Handed Chess
35.1
Tressau’s Three-Handed
Chess 37.6
Treugut and Bottcher’s
Hexagonal Chess see
Appendix (Patents)
Tri-Chess (Dekle) 23.1, 37.1,(Patton) 37.2,(Preston) 37.4
Tri-Chez 37.4
Tri-King Chess 38.4
Triangular Chess(Dekle) 23.1,(Seaby and Lee) 37.1
Tridimensional Chess 25.2
Trinome 32.1
Trio-Chess 37.3
Triple Chess 37.6
Triplets 1.4
Triplex 37.5
Tripod Chess 2.1
Triscacia 37.6
Trischa 37.3
Triscia 37.2
Trishogi 28.5
Tritabula Chess 11.2
Troitsky Chess 13.4
Troja-Schach 18.3
Troy 22.1
Truce Chess 10.3
Truncated Pseudosphere(TPS) Chess see RightAngle Chess
Tshcach 31.2

Tugelia 32.1
Tula Chess 18.4
Turbo Chess 12.6
Turkish Chess 26.2
Turkish Great Chess 26.2
Turnabout Chess 12.3
Turnaround Chess 12.3
Turncoat Chess 30.2
Turntable Chess 30.2
Tutti-Frutti Chess 14.1
Tweedle Chess 19.6
Twenty-First Century Chess(Jelliss) 16.6, (Trone) 16.2
Twiknight 15.4
Twin Chess (Parton) 19.6,(Trouillon) 19.6
Twin Orthodox Chess 19.6
Twinkle Chess 12.4
Twist Chess 8.4
Twixt 33.4
Two-Level Chess(Curo) 11.1, (Miller) 25.1
U-Chess 4.6
Ulti-Matem 17.9
Ultima 17.9
Ultra Chess 13.3
Umpire Chess 37.7
Unachess 9.4 (three games)
Unambiguous Chess 4.6
Unambiguous Three-Symbol
Chess 4.6
Unashogi 28.3
Unified Chess 16.7
Union Chess 18.3
Unirexal Chess 10.10
Universal Chess 14.1
Unorthodox Ultima 17.9
Ur Chess 6.2
Valentine’s Chess 17.7
Van der Laken’s Tricorn
Board see Appendix(Patents)
Van der Linde’s Games 9.1(two entries), 9.3
Van der Linde’s Q+N Game
14.1
Vanishing Chess 12.11
Varichess 20.1
Vault Chess 16.5
Vegas Fun Chess 30.1
Vendetta Chess 38.4

382 Index
Verney’s Four-Handed Chess
35.1
Very Scottish Chess 1.5
Very Slippery Centre Chess
8.7
Vicente Aguado’s Chess 18.2
Victoire, La 19.1
Victrix 15.4
Viennese Kriegspiel 9.4
Vietnamese Chess 27.2
Vincere Mori 19.6
Virtual Chess 18.2
Voidrider Chess 13.6
Von Ranson’s Game 18.6
Wa Shogi 28.2
Waidder’s Four-Handed
Chess 35.1
Waidder’s Three-Handed
Chess 37.3
Waje’s Football Chess 32.3
Walnut Chess 22.1
War Chess (Richardson) 33.6
War, The Game of(Maxim) 32.1
War-Chess (Kriegspiel) 2.1
Warp Chess 21.12
Warrior Chess (Paletta) 16.1,(Stone) 17.2

Way of the Knight 19.5
Weak! 9.3
Weaver’s Military Game 25.1
Week 19.7
Wehr-Schach 15.4
Welbeck Chess 9.4
Welbeck Kriegsspiel 2.1
Wellisch’s Three-Handed
Hexagonal Chess 37.2
Welschen-Schach 26.3
Whale Shogi 28.4
White King and Queen
Interchanged 9.2
Whitney’s Four-Player Game
see Appendix (Patents)
Wildebeest Chess 15.3
Wildlife Great Chess 19.6
Wilkinson’s Four-Handed
Chess 35.1
Winchester 38.9
Withdrawer Chess 17.6
Wizard Chess 18.5
Wizard’s Game, The 38.6
Wolf Chess 16.2
WOTN 19.5
Wren’s Game 6.5
Wuterich’s Game 33.5
WWII Chess 28.6
Wyvern Chess 14.1

X-Ray Chess 16.5
Xiangqi 27.1
Xiangqi Cards 31.1
Xiangqi, indigenous variants
27.2
Xyrixa Chess 25.8
Yalta (Hegedus) 38.9,(Spindler) 37.3
Yari Shogi 28.4
Yaspan’s Spherical Chess
24.3
Yonin Shogi 38.1
Zany Chess 31.2
Zatrikion 26.2
Zeiger-Schach 30.2
Zen Chess 3.4
Zgome 15.2
Zip Chess 6.4
Zodiac Chess 32.1
Zombie Chess 5.5
Zonal Chess 16.4
Zoraabhaji 29.1
Zugzwang-Free Chess 12.5