Hey Folks,

Medieval 960 Tournament!

I am very excited to announce our next tournament, and this is a variant that is very close to my heart - because I invented it!  Okay, okay, really I dug it up out of a Medieval grave, refurbished it with the modern piece movement rules, and then slapped some 960-style piece drafting onto the beginning of the game.  This variant is just the type of chaotic chess that we love here at Prospect Park Chess Club, and I hope that y'all will come out and let us know what you think of it!

What is Medieval 960?

While writing an article for this Club page, I was doing some research into how chess rules have changed over time.  While poking around a Medieval chess wiki page, I stumbled upon a variant from Medieval times call short assize, or short sitting.  This variant was created in response to how long and drawn out chess games could be during this time period (e.g. the queen moved 1 square, the bishops only hopped two squares at a time, no castling, no pawn double-move or en passant - these were truly dark times).  The mission of this variant was to speed up the game and get into the action as quickly as possible.  

I've brought the variant into the 21st century by modernizing the piece movements (only exception is pawn double move and castling, more on that in the rules breakdown below) and adding a drafting component to piece placement.  The result is games that very quickly devolve into very complicated tactics and then resolve in new and novel endgames. 

How to Play Medieval 960

The initial setup of Medieval 960 is to place the pawns on each player's 3rd rank (3rd rank for white; 6th rank for black).  Once this is done, the players will alternate drafting pieces into the 1st and 2nd ranks (behind their pawns). 

For example, if White uses their first draft pick to place his bishop on the f2 square, Black will mirror that placement by placing their bishop on the f7 square; then, Black is able to place any remaining piece into the remaining squares in the back 2 ranks.  The resulting "starting" position will be mirrored for each player, but each player will have equal say in how the board is constructed due to the snake-draft style of piece placement.

Once both players have placed all of their pieces, the game begins and usual.

A few rules / caveats to keep in mind:

1. Since the pawns start on the 3rd rank, pawns can only move 1 square at a time (e.g. no double move), and therefore no en passant.  

2. The bishops must be placed on opposite colors.

3. No castling.

How Do I Sign Up?

Click on the Google Form link below, provide your name and approx. blitz rating (for 1st round pairing purposes), and click Submit.:

https://forms.gle/iNZFccEDBXftTx9CA

Need more PPCC?  Click on the links below!

Discord: https://discord.gg/QrtV9D7ZaS

Website: https://www.prospectparkchess.club/    

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prospectparkchess/?hl=en   

Chess.com Club: Hey, you're already here! https://www.chess.com/club/prospect-park-chess-club