VChess

CHESS VARIANTS

OBJECTIVE:

                   Chess is a great traditional mind game, which is a good gym to keep the brain fit and agile. In this pandemic situation, such brain games to keep kids mentally engaged and active are priceless.

But Chess being an old game, has rules which have become over-played and somewhat boring to the younger generation, who expect fast paced actions. Conventional chess piece moves make the game very predictable and less interesting.

Hence there is a need to introduce new rules to the traditional chess game, to make it more interesting and fast paced to catch the interest of youngsters.

Following blog explains rules for a few interesting chess variants like Boomerang Chess, Xray chess etc.

Do go through the rules and try it out and share your feedbacks.

BOOMERANG CHESS RULES:

The rule is very simple, which makes it all the more easy to understand and start playing immediately.

  • Rule1: In this variant one or more of the pieces are equipped with a new power called the ‘Boomerang Power’. ie: A piece (piece1) equipped with boomerang powers, has the power to capture a piece2 at square2 and can come back to its original starting square1, provided square2 is legally reachable by piece1 on square1 in standard chess rules !
  • Rule2: Use of boomerang power is optional: ie: piece1 can choose to stay at square2 like in traditional chess or return to starting square1, this is the choice of the player.
  • Rule3: Pawns don’t have boomerang powers, but the pieces obtained by promoting the pawn can have boomerang powers.

That is all about the rules! Now let us see some examples to understand the rules better:

For Example,

In this position, the c4 bishop has the power to cut the f7 pawn and come back to its original square. i.e. c4.

FEW MORE EXAMPLES AND TIPS:

In this case a check has been given to the Black King by the e2 Queen, and the Black side has responded by shielding its King with Q e7. But this move is of no use in boomerang chess,  as the Queen on e2 simply captures Qe7 and moves back like a boomerang to its original square [e2].

But don’t be demoralized: The boomerang gives unique defensive powers also, which ensures this is not a one sided game, but an even contest between black and white. Take the game position below for example:

In normal chess this position is a checkmate. But in this variant, if the king is equipped with the boomerang power, the king can cut the e7 queen and return back to its original square e8 thereby avoiding a mate !

These are a few instances of the excitement involved in this chess variant proposed.

In the case of all pieces or the Queen having boomerang power, a good move for white would be to bring out the queen in the beginning so as to expand the range of possible squares that can be attacked.

A tip for black in this scenario is to somehow prevent white’s queen from advancing forward.

For Ex. 

Here, the best move for black will be to prevent the white queen from occupying powerful positions like h5 by pushing its pawn forward to g3 or by any other means thereof.

The boomerang rule can be manipulated in a few ways, to create sub-variants within the boomerang chess:

Rule4: Limiting the power to only a few pieces. Both players can agree at start of the game, which pieces will have boomerang powers. Only queen, Only rook, Queen+Rook,  All pieces etc.

Rule5: Scoring points to get equipped with this particular power, Using this power for a particular time frame etc.

Rule6: Combining this power with other powers in other chess variants like anti chess, Horde chess etc.

Please do try playing this exciting variant and Boomerang us with your Feedback through the Google Form Provided below!

X-RAY CHESS RULES:

The rule is very simple, which makes it all the more easy to understand and start playing immediately.

  • Rule1: In this variant the one or more of the pieces are equipped with a new power called the ‘X-RAY Power’. Ie: A piece (piece1) at square1 equipped with XRAY powers, has the power to capture a piece2 at square2, even though there is an obstacle piece3 in the path between square1 and square2 ! Xray power is useful only for Queen, rook and bishop ( as knights already have Xray like powers in chess (can jump over obstacles) and King can only move one square at a time, so Xray power is not useful for a King)
  • Rule2: Xray power is limited to jumping over a single piece ( cant jump through multiple pieces)
  • Rule3: No X-ray power for pawns also. 

Thats all about the rules! Now let us see some examples to understand the rules better:

ILLUSTRATIONS FOR X RAY CHESS 

Example 1:

This position here may be viewed as a great move from the white’s side, as it poses a check to the king [as the queen exercises X-Ray power] by developing the queen forward. But to this, black can give a hilarious counter attack, in which the black rook on h8 cuts Qh5 using the same X-ray power! Now this is an instance of the unpredictable fun involved in this variant.

Example 2:

The position shown above is a checkmate of white king in normal chess. But not in X-ray chess, as the a1 or h1 rook can capture the Queen at d1 !!

Pool Chess Rules: 

https://greamake.com/poolchess

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FHRptRmNMJAAHny2dW6J3zRKGQSi4RKW/view?usp=sharing

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