"International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be considered variants of each other. Chess developed from chaturanga, from which other members of this family, such as shatranj, Tamerlane chess,shogi, and xiangqi also evolved.[2]
Encyclopedia Of Chess Variants Pdf Download
Many chess variants are designed to be played with the equipment of regular chess.[3] Most variants have a similar public-domain status as their parent game, but some have been made into commercial proprietary games. Just as in traditional chess, chess variants can be played over-the-board, by correspondence, or by computer. Some internet chess servers facilitate the play of some variants in addition to orthodox chess.
Other games in the chess family, such as shogi (Japan), and xiangqi (China), are also developments from chaturanga made in other regions. These related games are considered chess variants[citation needed], though the majority of variants are, expressly, modifications of chess. The basic rules of chess were not standardized until the 19th century, and the history of chess before this involves many variants, with the most popular modifications spreading and eventually forming the modern game.
While some regional variants have historical origins comparable to or even older than chess, the majority of variants are express attempts by individuals or small groups to create new games with chess as a starting point. In most cases the creators are attempting to create new games of interest to chess enthusiasts or a wider audience. Variants normally have the same public domain status as chess, though a few (such as Knightmare Chess) are proprietary, and the materials for play are released as commercial products.
The variations from chess may be done to address a perceived issue with the standard game. For example, Fischer random chess, which randomises the starting positions, was invented by Bobby Fischer to combat what he perceived to be the detrimental dominance of opening preparation in chess.[8] Several variants introduce complications to the standard game, providing an additional challenge for experienced players, for example in Kriegspiel, where players cannot see the pieces of their opponent.
Fairy chess gave rise to the term "fairy chess piece" which is used more broadly across writings about chess variants to describe chess pieces with movement rules other than those of the standard chess pieces. Forms of standardised notation have been devised to systematically describe the movement of these. A distinguishing feature of several chess variants is the presence of one or more fairy pieces. Physical models of common fairy pieces are sold by major chess set suppliers.[10]
A few variants have had significant tournaments. Several Gliński's hexagonal chess tournaments were played at the height of the variant's popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. Chess960 has also been the subject of tournaments, including in 2018 an "unofficial world championship" between reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen and fellow high-ranking Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.[11] Likewise Crazyhouse has seen prize-funded unofficial world championship tournaments with top grandmasters and experts of the game on chess.com and lichess.
Several internet chess servers facilitate live play of popular variants, including Chess.com,[12] Lichess,[13] and the Free Internet Chess Server.[14] The software packages Zillions of Games and Fairy-Max have been programmed to support many chess variants.[15][16]
Some chess engines are also able to play a handful of variants, for instance the version of Stockfish implemented on Lichess is able to play Crazyhouse, King-of-the-hill, Three-check chess, Atomic chess, Horde chess, and Racing Kings.[17] The AI included in Zillions of Games is able to play almost any variant correctly programmed within it to a reasonable standard.[16] Some variants, such as 5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel, are implausible or even impossible to play physically and exist primarily as video games.
Various publications have been written regarding chess variants. Variant Chess magazine was published from 1990 to 2010, being an official publication of the British Chess Variants Society from 1997. This outlined and introduced multiple variants, as well as containing in-depth analyses.[18]
A leading figure in the field was David Pritchard, who authored several books on the topic. Most significantly, he compiled an encyclopedia of variants which outlined thousands of different games. Following Pritchard's death in 2005, the second edition of the encyclopedia was completed and published by John Beasley under the title The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants.[19]
A few chess variants have been the subject of significant computational analysis. Los Alamos chess, a 66 variant, was created in 1956 expressly for computers, its simplicity meant that it was possible for the MANIAC I computer to play it, with a victory over a beginner player the first instance of a computer winning a chess-like game against human opposition.[21] Conversely, Arimaa was developed in 2003 to be deliberately resistant to computer analysis while easy for human players, though computers were able to comprehensively surpass human players by 2015.[22]
While solving chess has not yet been achieved, some variants have been found to be simple enough to be solved though computer analysis. The 55 Gardner's Minichess variant has been weakly solved as a draw,[23] and a lengthy analysis of losing chess managed to weakly solve this as a win for white.[24]
Chess variants have been invented in various fiction.[25] In The Chessmen of Mars author Edgar Rice Burroughs describes Jetan which depicts a war between two races of Martian. An appendix fully defines the rules of the game. More commonly specifics of fictional variants are not detailed in the original works, though several have been codified into playable games by fans. An example of this is Tri-Dimensional Chess from Star Trek. On-screen play was not conducted to any specific rules, but a comprehensive rulebook has been since developed.[2] Another well known example of fictional chess-like game are the Star Wars holochess, or dejarik.[26]
Fictional chess variants can involve fantastical or dangerous elements that cannot be implemented in real life. The Chessmen of Mars describes a form of Jetan where the pieces are human beings and captures are replaced by fights to the death between them. The Doctor Who episode "The Wedding of River Song" depicts "Live Chess", which introduces potentially lethal electric currents into the game.
This is a list of chess variants. Many thousands of variants exist. The 2007 catalogue The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants estimates that there are well over 2,000, and many more were considered too trivial for inclusion in the catalogue.[2]
Though nearly a million copies of his chess books have been sold, Pritchard is best known for authoring The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants, in which he describes more than 1400 different variants.
In the western world, we tend to think of one particular game as "chess" - played with sixteen pieces per side on a chequered board of 8x8 squares. But the original chess, chaturanga, was somewhat different, and modern western chess is just one of a number of games which are descended from it. Known as "chess variants", this page contains a selection of them.
Chaturaji is a four-handed dice chess variant from India. Four play in two partnerships, black and green against red and yellow. A die is used to decide which pieces can move at any given turn. This game differs from many other chess variants in that kings are not subject to check, but may be captured and ransomed. History of Chaturaji Once considered as the original game of chess, this four handed Indian variant is now thought to be a ... (read more...)
Chess is one of the best-known board games in the world. It is one of the most deeply-studied games, and the subject of serious competition and scholarly analysis. There are many different forms of chess, not only historical curiosities but surviving regional variants. The version described here is the modern game as played in the west. It is played on a chequered board of eight rows of eight squares. 32 pieces are used, sixteen per player, of six different ... (read more...)
These are just the more prominent regional or historical versions of chess, rather than variants. David Pritchard compiled a whole encyclopedia of chess variants. The magazine Variant Chess which I started in 1990, and which ran for 64 issues under various editors as the magazine of the British Chess Variants Society until 2010, is a source of hundreds. All issues are free to download in PDF form from my website.
Technological progress is the new driver of the evolutionary cycle. Chess engines increase in strength, and players have access to millions of computer games and volumes of opening theory. Consequently, the number of decisive games in super-tournaments has declined, and it takes longer for players to move from home preparation to playing original moves on the board.14 While classical chess remains a fascinating game and is unlikely to ever fall out of fashion, alternative variants provide an avenue for more creative play. In Fischer random chess, the brainchild of former world champion Bobby Fischer, the initial position is randomized to counter the dominance of opening preparation in a game.7 One could consider not only entirely new ideas, but also reassess some of the newer additions to the game. For example, the "castling" move was only introduced in its current form in the 17th century. What would chess have been like had castling not been incorporated into the rules? Without recourse to repeating history, we reimagine chess and address such questions in silico with AlphaZero.25
AlphaZero's ability to continually improve its understanding of the game, and reach superhuman playing strength in classical chess and Go,25 lends itself to the question of assessing chess variants and potential variants of other board games in the future. Provided only with the implementation of the rules, it is possible to effectively simulate decades of human experience in a day, opening a window into top-level play of each variant. In doing so, computer chess completes the circle, from the early days of pitting man vs. machine to a collaborative present of man with machine, where AI can empower players to explore what chess is and what it could become.11 2ff7e9595c
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