Fairytale chess
With fairy chess (also Feenschach or heterodox chess ) refers to a chess variant , be introduced in either new characters with different rules or even for conventional characters new game rules. Fairytale chess problems often arise , in which unconventional pieces and conditions are introduced without a complete chess variant being constructed.
General
Fairytale chess must be distinguished from chess variants such as tandem chess , 3D chess or flick chess (robber chess ). In contrast to these variants, a number of normal chess rules remain unchanged in fairytale chess, namely
- the mating of the opposing king (or another piece) as the goal of the game,
- (in principle) equal number of stones for
- two parties called black and white and
- the alternating pulling.
What differs significantly from standard chess is a modified set of pieces with arbitrarily modified move and / or stroke rules. In addition, in fairy tale chess, in contrast to 3D chess, the normal board (one, two-dimensional, 8 × 8 fields) remains at least physically OK. d. Usually obtained, although there are also variations of the playing field that transcend the 8 × 8 board, for example by imagining the edge of one side of the board as being continued on the opposite side of the board ( cylinder chess ).
The main attraction of fairy tale chess lies in the fact that thought patterns that have been learned over many years are broken and, for example, due to the lack of extensive pre-analyzed move sequences and strategies, the games become significantly more spontaneous . It has been shown that especially very good chess players in fairy tale chess often play below average, as their position analyzes, which often run automatically and unconsciously, can lead to completely wrong decisions in these special environments.
The rules of fairy tale chess listed below are neither complete nor final, but - like fairy tale chess as a whole - are subject to constant creative adaptations by player groups and clubs.
Classification of the additional figures
There are different types of figures.
- Amphibians are combination figures made up of two types of jumpers, whereby the two individual types can each reach different parts of the chessboard and only the combination of both can reach the whole chessboard. The simplest amphibian is the frog, a combination of the (1,1) jumper and (0,3) jumper. Amphibians are especially popular in chess math.
- Hoppers must first jump over an obstacle (friendly or hostile piece) before they can land on an open space or capture another piece. The obstacle remains unaffected. The cannon in Chinese chess beats like a rook hopper; the grasshopper is a ladyhopper that has to land immediately behind the obstacle.
- Hunters move forward and backward in various ways; a T / L hunter (tower runner hunter) moves forward as a tower and backward as a runner. In problem chess, the convention has prevailed that the direction "forward" is up in the diagram for both white and black pieces. This convention is unknown in chess variants.
- Marine pieces move without hitting like the basic piece and hit by jumping over the target piece and landing immediately behind it. They all have names alluding to the sea and related myths and are popular with problem composers. The Nereid is a marine runner, the Triton is a marine tower, the Siren is a marine lady, and the Poseidon is a marine king.
- Riders can repeat a basic step as often as they want, as long as there is no other figure in the way. The runner is a (1,1) rider or heel rider, the tower is a (0,1) rider or vizier rider. The night rider is a (1,2) rider.
- Dinosaurs are figures that can only perform punch moves, otherwise they are unable to move.
- Shooters (also split pieces or divergent pieces ) have different moves depending on whether they hit or not. The pawn in classical chess and the cannon in Chinese chess are marksmen. An S / L-shooter (jumper-runner-shooter) moves like a jumper and hits like a runner.
- Jumpers jump directly onto their target square, regardless of the pieces in between. Many fairytale chess pieces are new types of jumpers .
Special terms
Royal stones are pieces that are not allowed to be in check and can be checked. In problem chess there are royal jumpers and royal camels, among others.
Mounted figures are figures that, in addition to their normal gait, can also make jump moves. So the Chancellor is a mounted tower.
Crowned pieces are pieces that can move like a king in addition to their normal gait. A crowned knight and a mounted king have the same moves, this figure is also known as a centaur. Crowned characters are not automatically royal.
Additional figures
In the following, figures are listed that appear more frequently in chess variants or fairy tale chess problems. This list is inevitably incomplete - the program WinChloe for solving chess problems knows over 1200 different fairy tale chess figures .
Amazon
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The movement of the amazon
The amazon (or taxi ) is a fairytale chess figure that combines the moves of a queen and a knight, or in other words, a mounted lady. As "Almighty" or "absolute lady" even Empress , Super Lady or Maharaja called this figure has temporarily regularly exists in the Russian chess. However, this special form disappeared at the turn of the 19th century in the course of the standardization of the rules of chess. The Amazon is able to push the king to the edge or into the corner and checkmate him there. She is thus one of the most powerful figures.
Berolina farmer
Berolina pawns move forward diagonally and strike straight ahead, so they behave in exactly the opposite way to the usual pawns in chess. The figure was invented by Edmund Nebermann in 1926 and is one of the more popular figures in chess variants.
Dragon
The dragon is a combination figure of knight and pawn ("a mounted pawn"), but cannot transform itself on the opposing back row.
Dummy
A dummy , also known as a dummy builder or extra in German , is a stone without any possibility of moving. He can block other pieces, be beaten, serve as a jump goat for a cannon or a grasshopper, gain temporary moves through relay or be moved by other pieces (if moving pieces are in play). It must not be confused with the zero.
squirrel
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The movement of the squirrel
The squirrel (also known as centurion , castle or general ) combines the moves of jumper, elephant and fighting machine, so it can jump onto any square at a distance of 2. This figure was discovered independently several times in the course of chess history. It was given the name squirrel by N. Kovacs in 1937. The oldest description goes back to Francesco Piacenza (1683).
unicorn
The unicorn in room chess moves like a runner on the room diagonals. 4 unicorns are necessary to cover all fields in 3 dimensions.
The name unicorn has also been used to refer to a number of pieces on the normal chessboard, with no clear preference emerging.
elephant
The elephant or Alfil corresponds to a historical chess piece that was replaced by the modern bishop in the course of the reform of the chess game at the beginning of modern times . However, this figure is still used in fairytale chess. The elephant jumps two spaces diagonally. The elephant in Xiangqi , the Chinese chess game, on the other hand, cannot jump over a field if there is a piece in between. The elephant can also be used as a fairy tale figure in this form.
Heel
The Fers or Firzan is the historical predecessor of the lady. He moves a square in a diagonal direction and is therefore a very weak piece, especially suitable for defense. That changes z. B. with a mounted heel (heel + jumper). The gaits of most chess and fairy tale chess pieces can be traced back to those of Fers or Wesir , or a combination of both (which immediately results in the king).
giraffe
The Giraffe is a (1,4) -Springer and comes in ancient chess variants such as the Grande Acedrex of King Alfonso X before.
gnu
The gnu combines the moves of the knight and the camel and is therefore a pretty strong chess piece. It occurs in the chess variant "Wildebeest Chess" by game author R. Wayne Schmittberger .
grasshopper
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The grasshopper was invented by Thomas Rayner Dawson in 1912 . He can move in the same directions as a queen , but he must skip a stone. This can be your own stone or an opponent's stone. The grasshopper lands in the field immediately behind the jumped stone. If this field is occupied by an opponent's stone, it is captured. If, on the other hand, there is a stone of its own on this field, or if the figure to be skipped is on the edge, then the grasshopper cannot move there. The skipped stone remains on the board.
grasshopper
The grasshopper jumps over a stone and lands immediately behind it. The skipped stone is hit. The grasshopper can move horizontally, vertically and diagonally and must hit when it pulls, otherwise it is unable to move.
Janus
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The Janus (also Pegasus , Archbishop , Cardinal , Minister or princess called) can move like a knight or as a runner, so he is a mounted runner. Since a Janus changes the field color like a knight on a move, he can act alternately like a black or a white bishop. If the opposing king is in the corner, he can checkmate without the support of another stone. He is probably the most common figure in chess variants and appears in Janus chess and Capablanca chess , among others .
camel
A camel moves three spaces along a line and one space along another. The camel moves like a horse (jumper), only one space further. Like the runner, the camel is tied to a field color.
Camel rider
The camel rider can - similar to the night rider - perform several camel jumps one after the other in the same direction.
Fighting machine
The fighting machine or dabbaba jumps across a field in a straight line (forwards, backwards or sideways). This figure already appears in variants from the early days of chess.
kangaroo
A kangaroo jumps exactly two stones and lands immediately behind the second stone; any opposing stone that may be there is captured.
Chancellor
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The chancellor (or marshal , in problem chess also empress ) can move like a rook or a knight, so he is a mounted rook. After Janus, it is the second most common chess variant piece.
Leo
The Leo is one of the Chinese fairy tale chess pieces. He pulls like a lady without beating. To hit (orthogonally and diagonally) he needs a jumped stone, whereby the hit stone can be at any distance from the jumped stone. The striking therefore corresponds exactly to the lion's ability to move.
Lion
A lion pulls and hits like a grasshopper. The difference is that the target field does not have to be immediately behind the jumped stone. A Tower Lion or Rion only pulls and strikes in the directions of the tower, a Runner Lion or Bion only in the directions of the runner.
man
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The man , also known as the “fighting king”, is a piece that moves and captures like a king, but may be captured and is not subject to any chess rules. This figure appears in the starting position of the courier game . In some variants of Hexagonal Chess for three or more players, the kings act as a “man” until only two of them are left on the board; only then do they become conventional kings.
Mao
The Mao is one of the Chinese fairy chess figures. He pulls and hits like a knight, except that he doesn't jump, but pulls and, unlike the knight, needs a free orthogonal square. The orthogonal transition field seen from the original field must not be occupied. He first moves one square in the orthogonal direction (this must be free!) And then one square in the diagonal direction.
Moa
The moa moves analogously to the Mao. The only difference is the reversal of the order of the two individual steps: The Moa first moves diagonally and then orthogonally one field each. The diagonal field crossed here must be free. With Mao and Moa it should be noted that fields cannot be threatened by them that would be with a jumper. (see also: Moas were flightless ratites.)
Night rider
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The night rider was introduced by Thomas Rayner Dawson in 1925 in order to have a third line of action for clusters of intersections in addition to lines (or rows) and diagonals. He moves like a normal knight , but he may make several knight moves in a row. These must lie on a straight line, for example e4 → c5 → a6. He may only capture an opponent's stone in the last step, so he may not move any further after capturing.
Pao
The pao corresponds to the cannon in Chinese chess . He pulls like a tower without beating. To hit (also in an orthogonal direction) he needs a jumped stone, whereby the hit stone can be at any distance from the jumped stone.
scout
The boy scout zigzags diagonally. Like the runner, the boy scout is tied to a field color. Fields spaced 2, 4, 6, etc. can be reached in two different ways, which makes it difficult to block the pathfinder. The figure was probably invented by J. de A. Almay from Budapest in the first half of the 20th century and is described in Anthony Dickins ' A Guide to Fairy Chess .
Quintessence
The quintessence is a special night rider: after each jump she jumps in a zigzag at a 90 degree angle. This figure was first described by Jörg Knappen in 2001 and has since been used in a number of chess variants.
rose
The rose is a night rider who turns 45 degrees in the same direction with every jumper step. On a sufficiently large board, the rose can describe a full circle and return to its starting point. It gets its name from the superimposition of the step patterns, which are reminiscent of a rose blossom. The rose appears in the chess variant "Chess on a really big board" by the American FIDE master Ralph Betza .
Super builders
The super pawn is a step up of the pawn: he moves any number of squares straight forward without hitting and strikes forward diagonally like a bishop. When he reaches the 8th row he transforms like a pawn; but he can neither hit en passant nor be hit en passant. In problems it is permissible to also position super pawns in the first row. The Superbauer was published in 1967 by Werner Speckmann . 101 problems were submitted to a themed tournament, 22 of which were awarded in 1969.
Vao
The Vao is one of the Chinese fairy tale chess pieces . He pulls like a runner without beating. To hit (also in a diagonal direction) he needs a jumped stone, whereby the hit stone can be at any distance from the jumped stone.
vizier
The vizier is an old chess piece that has already been used in historical chess variants. He moves one square forwards, backwards or sideways, and is the counterpart of the heel . Although he is a very weak figure (but not, for example, in his mounted form), a camel, a vizier and a king are sufficient to checkmate the opposing king.
zebra
The zebra moves three spaces along one line and two spaces along another. The zebra moves like a jumper, only further. Like the knight, it changes the color of the field with each move.
centaur
The centaur combines the moves of king and jumper and thus corresponds to a mounted king or a crowned jumper. He is one of the strongest short-stepped figures.
zero
The zero is a (0,0) jumper. Your only move is to jump on the spot. This allows its owner to suspend a move; it can also break a stalemate, since jumping on the spot is always a legal move. The Zero can also be used as a component for combination figures.
New rules
In these variants of fairy tale chess, conventional pieces are played on conventional boards, only the move (and thus the stroke rules) and / or the goal of the game are changed.
One of the best-known of these variations is the robber's chess , in which the goal of the game is the complete annihilation of one's own pieces (with compulsion to strike ).
Then after
Capturing pieces (with the exception of the king) change their color.
Apartheid (racial segregation)
Pawns move and capture like kings, but only opposing pawns. Pieces can only capture pieces. There is no change of a pawn when reaching the opponent's baseline.
Circe
Captured pieces return to their original square with immediate effect, unless this original square is occupied by another piece. In this case the captured piece is removed from the board as in normal chess.
For pawns, the 2nd (white) or 7th (black) field of the respective line on which he was captured is the original field. For women it is d1 (white) or d8 (black). For all other figures it is the field of the same color on which the figure stood in the starting position; this means that you have to distinguish between rooks and knights depending on the starting square.
Resurrected towers get castling back.
Shotgun chess
Figures do not hit normally, but can “shoot” other figures from a distance. The hitting piece remains in its place and the captured piece is removed from the playing field, which counts as a move. A threatened piece cannot be covered in shotgun chess .
Grid chess
The chessboard is divided into 2 × 2 square cells by a grid. A grid line must be crossed with every move, otherwise the move is not allowed. Only allowed moves can offer check and mate. Kings cannot enter the corner squares a1, a8, h8 and h1 in grid chess.
equal rights
The game is only won when both the king and queen have been captured.
emancipation
The queen must be captured in place of the king.
Madrasi
Identical figures of different colors, threatening each other, paralyze each other. The paralysis can only be removed by moving another piece in between or by capturing one of the two pieces. Madrasi chess was invented in 1979 by Abdul Jabbar Karwatkar.
Mill opening
The figures are not set up in a fixed position, but alternately in any order on any position on their own half. During the deployment phase, there is no draw or capture.
musketeer
Once per game, the king can capture another piece (except the enemy king) like an ordinary queen.
Relay
If a piece is covered by another piece, it can temporarily move and capture like the covering piece.
Teleportation
In addition to (or, if agreed, instead of) castling, your own king can swap places with any other of your own pieces once per game.
Three check
In addition to regular mating, the player who offers the opposing king check for the third time wins. Especially when a rook, bishop or queen offers chess, placing your own piece between the king and the attacker is often a miserable move, as the chess bid can be repeated immediately. Double chess counts as a single chess law.
horde
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Possible starting line-up for a Horde game.
Also called the peasant uprising . A player, usually white, receives a large number of pawns, but no other pieces. The number and layout vary. Black then plays with a standard set of pieces in the standard formation. White wins by mating the king, black by capturing all white pawns. Depending on the variant, the pawns convert on the opposite side. Typically, the pawns on the baseline can also run two squares on the first step. Depending on the variant, these can then also be beaten en passant .
Crazy House
In normal play, a piece is taken out of play when it is captured; it clearly falls . In Crazy House she is vividly converted , so she goes over to the player who defeated her. It is removed from the field as usual, but also added to the player's reserve. The reserve is empty at the start of the game and is filled by capturing opposing pieces.
Instead of moving a figure on the field, a player can place a figure from the reserve on any free space. The only exception: a reserve pawn cannot be placed on lines 1 and 8. Pawns placed on lines 2 and 7 cannot take a double step. Depending on the variant, captured pieces that are converted pawns are added to the reserve as pawns.
It is allowed to checkmate the opponent with a placement and to answer a chess bid with a placement.
Placements make forks a lot easier .
New boards
The board shape can be varied by adding or leaving out fields or by changing the space (e.g. cylinder chess or torus chess by joining opposite board sides - horizontally and / or vertically). It is unclear whether game boards with additional dimensions (3D chess) or differently shaped fields (triangles, hexagons, ...) still count as fairy tale chess.
Changed board size
While new pieces and rules in chess compositions are mostly used on a normal 8 × 8 board, there are also attempts to use them for "improved" party chess on a larger playing field. This already began with Capablanca , who feared a draw for the usual chess.
10 × 8 board
10 × 10 board
Spatial change
Torus
→ Main article: Toroidal chess
The chessboard is thought to be periodically continued to the left and right as well as up and down, that is, a rook can e.g. B. “emigrate” to the left and “immigrate” again from the right. If a board limit is exceeded, however, it is not possible to capture immediately (otherwise the opposing king could be captured with the first move by crossing the baseline and the game would end immediately). There is no change of a pawn when reaching the opponent's baseline.
Cylinder chess
→ Main article: Cylinder chess
It is played as if the left side connects to the right. If you also think of half a turn of the board, it is called Möbius chess. For example, a tower can 'migrate' to the left and 'come in' again from the right. For more see section Torus.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/berolina.html Berolina-Bauer in the Piecoclopädia (English)
- ↑ http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/squirrel.html Squirrel in the Piecoclopädia (English)
- ↑ http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/gnus.html Gnu in the Piecoclopedia (English)
- ↑ http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/crookedbishop.html Pathfinder in the Piecoclopädia (English)
- ↑ http://www.chessvariants.org/other.dir/nachtmahr.html First description of the quintessence on chessvariants.org (English)
- ↑ http://www.chessvariants.org/d.betza/chessvar/16x16.html Chess on a really big board at chessvariants.org (English)
- ↑ Anti-Relay Chess by Peter Aronson contains a detailed discussion of possible relays and anti-relays
Web links
- fairy chess, magazine for fairy tale chess
- problemschachbuch.de under “Information” there is an introduction to the topic “Fairy tale characters and their basic types” (by Dr. Werner Speckmann )
- Detailed list of fairy tale characters and special conditions in fairy tale chess problems
- Overview of different fairy tale characters .
- Fairytale chess dictionary of the swallow
- Piececlopedia A detailed list of fairy tale chess figures with descriptions and further background information
- All the King's Men by George Jelliss, fairy tale chess characters in chess problems, in English.
- Who is Who on Eight by Eight Very detailed list, compiled by Ivan A Derzhanski, also gives the values of the various characters, in English
- Catégories de pièces - Types of pieces Types of chess pieces by Christian Poisson, bilingual French / English
- Pièces - Pieces fairy tale chess figures by Christian Poisson, bilingual French / English
- Jerome Grimbert's list of fairy tale chess figures ( Memento from July 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (French)