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January March I99L VARIANT CHESS 5 page 49 @ Copyright. I99I. Publisher and Editor G. P. Jelliss 99 Bohemia Road St Leonards on Sea TN37 6RJ (U.K.) Games Consultant Malcolm Horne 108 Windsor Square Exmouth EX8 1JU Patt-Schach Game 159 o.t.b 4 ix 1960 by Erich BARTEL I".Qe8-f5 Qe1-a7 2.Qxc2+ Patt-Schach is one of a b3xc2 3.b6xa7 el=Q 4.e8=Q number of chess variants that I (these are the two Queens just played about 30 years ago that captured) Bd3 5.Nb6 Nb3 may be of interest to readers of 6.8b4 Ra1 7.Ra8 Nd4 Variant Chess. In the new 8.Bxd2?? Nc6 mate. opening position, both players begin stalemated! Game 16I o.t.b" 4 ix 1960 zL.Kxd7 d1=Q+ 22.Kc7 1.Nh8-d5 Qel -d4 2.Rh8 (22.Qxd1 cxdl=Q+) Qxhl Qxd5 3.g8=N (promotion to 23.Rxf3+ Qxf3 24.BxI3 Kxf3 Queen is not allowed, only a 25.Rf8+ Bf4+ 26.Kb6 cI"=Q Knight is available) QxbT 27.b8=Q Qe3+ 28.Kb7 Qe7+ 4.Rxb7 eL=Q 5.Ra7 Qe4 29.Ka8 Qe4+ 30.Qb7 QxbT+ 6.Rh6 Bd3 7.97 Ke1 8.8b7 31.Kxb7 Re1 32.g8=Q Re7+ QxbT 9.Rxb7 dl=Q (these 33.Ka8 bl=Q 34.Rxf4+ Kxf4 rapid sequence captures and 35.Qf8+ Kg4 36.Qxe7 Qhl+ reappearanccs give the game a 37.Ka7 QxhS 38.97 Qg8 character quite different from (Oh7!?) 39.Qf7 bZ 40.Qxg8 Since neither player can make any other) 10.c8=B Bxh6 bl=Q 41.Qe6+ Black Resigns. a legal move, therefore both 11.Nxh6 cl=B 12.g8=R lt{c2 begin with an illegal move! 13.Rc7 Ra1 L4.Bb7 I{d4 (but no capturing and no Upside-Down Chess! 15.Kc8 Be3 L6.BxgZ Rxg2 mating!). After the first Editor's Note L7.b7 Ba6 18.Rg6 BxbT+ (illegal) move both play "Patt-Schach" is of course 19.Kxb7 20.Rgc6 Nxc6 nonnal rules, except as regards Qf3+ "Stalemate-Chess", but this 21.Rxc6 Ra7+ 22.Kb8 Pawn promotion. Promotion Qxc6 suggests a game in which the White Resigns. aim is stalemate. "Stalemate- may only be made if there is a Start Chess" may perhaps be a captured piece (of the same Game 180 o.t.b. B iii 196I colour) to take the place of the more descriptive name. 1.Na8-f3 Qel 2.It{xgl game can be Pawn. If no such piece is -f4 A similar 3.Kxc7 f}xgl=Q available the Pawn has to wait, QxcT+ played from the usual opening 4.d8=N 5.Kxb6 gl=Q+ on the 7th or Znd rank. Qxb6+ positioil, using "Upside-Down 6.Kc7 e1=R 7.Qc6 8.8f5 Here are the moves of four 92 Pawns" i.e. the White Pawns 9.Kc8 10.Kxb8 games played at that time. The Qh2+ QxbS+ move down the board, and the gl=Q 11.e8=R Re2 12.8c5 first shows a danger to avoid. Black up. In this legal moves Qh2+ 13.Ka7 Kel 14.8d6 t.Na/clflh3 are available, but 15.Rx e2+ Bxe2 Game 160 o.t.b. 4 ix 1960 Qxd6 1.Nc3 forces 1...Nf6 and 2.Nb5 16.Qxh1+ Kfz 17.f8=R I".Nh8-c5?? Nhl-e5! White Qa6+ forces 2...Ne4 to stop 3.Nd6#. 18.Kb8 19.Kc8 Bf3 Resigns (2.Atry Nc6 mate). Qd6+ 1...Nh6? 2.Ne4 and 3.Nd/f6#. 20.8e4 Qd7+!! page 50 VARIANT CHESS 5 January March I99l Scotch Chess in Holland can be drawn about Scotch Chess; the most important one is that here too White has the by cM John vAN DER WIEL best chances. The reason for this I think is (from Schaaknieuws I94, L3 ix 1990) purely arithmetical. White is continuously the In general grandmasters abhor aberrant forms of tirst to take a lead of one extra move, which chess. So do I most of the time, but not in the can be seen as an average lead of half a tempo. case of Scotch Chess. The rules are not A simple addition illustrates what I mean: after difficult: everything is as usual, except that one move White has a lead of one move (w+1). White makes one move from the initial Then after Black's two moves, Black has a lead positiotr, then Black makes two moves, then of one move (b+1"). continues as follows: White three, Black four, and so on. When you It w+2, b+2, w+3, b+3, w+4, and so on. White is check your opponent this automatically becomes therefore always the first one to have the the last move of the series allowed to you. The greater lead. Horne, almost 1000 opponent has to get his King out of check with fMalcolm from .lfihite.) AISE 1988 games, only 53.27o to the first move of his series. Furthermore all finds Other conclusions about the game are moves must be legal, and if you mate on your concerned with opening theory. The first last move this means that you win the game. conclusion is that here also t.e4 is the best This Scotch Chess I consider to be a really opening move. White threatens mate on t7 and nice game, during which one can sometimes get this seriously limits Black in his responses. the most brilliant ideas. The game knows a About responses to L.e4 also a lot is known: number of very unusual motifs. The most (u) 2.e6 in combination with most moves is spectacular of these is the "Coup Royal". An bad because of 3.d4, Bg5, BxdS; in combination example: L.d4 2.f5, I{f6 3.895, Bxf6, Kdz with 2.Nf6 it's not so good on account of 3.Qf3, 4.exf6, Kf7, 5.d5, d6, dxc7, cxdS=Q, 85, 91 Qxf6, QxdB+ this may not be as strong as QxcB and Black strikes with 6.Ke6, Kd5, Kd4, fbut it M.H.l; in combination with 2.Ne7 or Bd6, RxcB, Bf4+ ! ! look Be7 it's at least passive. (b) 2.d5 in combination with most moves is weak due to 3.Qg4, QxcB, QxdB+; in combin- ation with 2.Nd7 or Bd7 it's quite passive; as to the combination 2.d5, f5 the followitrg example illustrates a general risk of f5, White answers 3.exf5 (ideas with e1-e5 are also strong), BeZ, Bh5+!?. Now 4.96, Bxf5, Bg1, Bxdl would lose to 5.Kxd1, Nf3, Nh4, Nxg6, Ne5 mate, amongst other things. The questiotr, though, is: how is White to meet 4.96, gxh5, Bxf5, Nh6? A curious situation. White must get his King Solution at the end of the article. out of check, but can only do so by immediate- ly checkitg, which ends his series of moves! Black then simply mates in eight. What is funny is that the White response 7.e3+ is most easily taken advantage of with B.Bxe3+!, which again forces White to check immediately, after which Black has no less than ten moves at his disposal. Note also that if on his fifth move White hadn't ended with QxcB but with QxfB+, Black would have won with another Coup Royal viz: 6.Ke6, Kd5, Kd4, Na6, Nc5, Ne4+! , (c) 2.f5 is probably best combined with Nh6 and then 7.Kc1+ B.Ke5, fxgl-B, Nd2, 93, ExZ, or Nf6 (not with 3.Qh5, mate; Be3, Nb3++ mate as the prettiest tinish (ot 96?: Qxh7, Q*96 after 2.f5, e5 3.d4, Bg5, BxdB is again 7.KeL+ 8.Ke5 , 83, gxn mate). awkward). As you can see, Black doesn't have After a little experience some conclusions January March I99I VARIANT CHESS 5 page 51 an easy game in Scotch Chess!. Scotch Chess in Germany (d) At this moment 2.Nh6 combined with "Schottisch" was one of the games that Erich Nc6, c5 or a5 seems to be Black's best choice. Bartel played nearly 30 years ago (see p49). lMalcolm Horne's statistics show that in fact 1.d4 has been far rnore successful than 7.e4: Game L95 15 iii T96L win draw /oss Toof pts won by W l-.e3 2.e6, Be7 3.Nh3, b3, d4 4.c6, Qb6, Qxd4, 7.e4 225 4 260 46.4 Qxdl+ 5.Kxd1, Ng5, Nxf7, Nxh8, g4 6.b6, 7.d4 242 5 135 64.0 Ba6, Bb4, Nf6, Ne4, Nxf2# others 35 2 46 43.4 Total 502 11 441 53.21 postal 1962 Scotch Chess is a difficult game, don't let 1.e3 2.Nf6, Nc6 3.8c4, Qh5 , BxfT#. This must yourself be fooled. It calls for great imagin- have been played by most beginners. ative powers (and may be a useful activity because of that) and continuously present is the In a notebook dated L962 shaky balance between the safety of one's own 1-.e3 2.Nc6, e6 3.Qg4, Qg5, QxdB+ 4.KxdB, d5, King and aggression or materialism. Here's an e5, Bd7! (Not Re7? 5.8b5, Bxc6, Nf3, Ng5, NxfT#) 5.Ba6, Bxb7, Bxa8, Bxc6, BxdT 6.d4, example game, which this balance is in d3, dxcZ, cxbl=Q, Qxa1, Kx'd7 7.Ne2, OO, b3, disturbed almost unnoticeably. BbZ, Bxa1, 93, KgZ 8.h5, h4, hxg3, gxhZ, l.e4 2.e6, Bb4!? in"order to protect Qd8 hL=R!, e4, Bd6, R8h2#. 3.d, cxb4, I{h3 dubious is 3.a3, axb4, Nh3 because of 4.a5, axb4, Rxa1, Qe7! Not however Game 223 postal 20 iv L9 vii 1963 Nh6 instead of because of 5.Qf3, d4, Qe7 Qf6, L.d4 2.d5,I.{f6 3.8f4, BxcT,BxdB 4.8f5, BxcZ, Bg5, QxdS mate! 4.Qf6, Qxb2, Qxcl, Qxdl+ Bxd1, KxdS 5.84, a5, e6, axb7, bxa8=Q 6.Ne4, 5.Kxd1, b5, b6, bxc7, KcZ probably not an BcZ, e6, Be7, Bh4, BxfZ# impressive idea by White 6.Na6, Nxc7, d5, Conti n uous Progress ive Che,ss dxe4, Ke7, e5 White now has all kinds of The Continuous Tourney proposed in VC3 p35 mating constructions in eight moves, such as f4, has resulted in a few pairings being arranged.
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  • Proposal to Encode Heterodox Chess Symbols in the UCS Source: Garth Wallace Status: Individual Contribution Date: 2016-10-25

    Proposal to Encode Heterodox Chess Symbols in the UCS Source: Garth Wallace Status: Individual Contribution Date: 2016-10-25

    Title: Proposal to Encode Heterodox Chess Symbols in the UCS Source: Garth Wallace Status: Individual Contribution Date: 2016-10-25 Introduction The UCS contains symbols for the game of chess in the Miscellaneous Symbols block. These are used in figurine notation, a common variation on algebraic notation in which pieces are represented in running text using the same symbols as are found in diagrams. While the symbols already encoded in Unicode are sufficient for use in the orthodox game, they are insufficient for many chess problems and variant games, which make use of extended sets. 1. Fairy chess problems The presentation of chess positions as puzzles to be solved predates the existence of the modern game, dating back to the mansūbāt composed for shatranj, the Muslim predecessor of chess. In modern chess problems, a position is provided along with a stipulation such as “white to move and mate in two”, and the solver is tasked with finding a move (called a “key”) that satisfies the stipulation regardless of a hypothetical opposing player’s moves in response. These solutions are given in the same notation as lines of play in over-the-board games: typically algebraic notation, using abbreviations for the names of pieces, or figurine algebraic notation. Problem composers have not limited themselves to the materials of the conventional game, but have experimented with different board sizes and geometries, altered rules, goals other than checkmate, and different pieces. Problems that diverge from the standard game comprise a genre called “fairy chess”. Thomas Rayner Dawson, known as the “father of fairy chess”, pop- ularized the genre in the early 20th century.