Non-Chaturaji Variants: Tips on how to be a better Atomic chess player.
Hey everyone. I am @Sharkbaithoohahahah. I am here to make you a better Atomic chess player. Let's start from the beginning, what is Atomic chess!? It is a chess variant where pieces explode when it captures another piece.
Another example is if the white knight takes the black pawn on g7, The black bishop, pawn, knight, and rook explode along with the white knight.
The only time you cannot explode another piece is if it explodes your own king. If you want a more in depth explanation on the rules of Atomic chess, you can check it out here. I am going to give you my top 5 tips for becoming a better atomic player.
Tip 1: Surviving the Opening
Most novice atomic players lose the game during the beginning. One mistake in the opening might result in you losing the entire game, when in ordinary chess you would only lose material, making it one of the most important phases of the game. The opening is the stage of the game I still practice the most. I'll show you a basic atomic chess opening that should bring you into the middle game safely. The opening I am going to show is Nf3 e3, which should look something like this when you start the game. In this opening, the majority of opponents under 1800 will be caught in a mating trap.
You will play e3 after your opponent plays f6, which creates a lot of space for your queen to enter and checkmate your opponent.
If your opponent plays Nf6, Nh6, Na6 or something on those lines, you can go Ne5 and bring your queen in and mate. But your opponent might think they are smart and not take your knight and instead play d5 or d6, then you go Nd7 and their bishop is trapped for mate. If you want to go more in depth, here is a good study to take a look at.
Tip 2: Surviving the Opening as Black
Surviving as black is harder than white because your opponent has 20 different moves he can do on the 1st move. However, only a small percentage of such openings are worthwhile to play. The most common opening you will see are probably Nf3, e3 and maybe Nc3. If your opponent plays Nf3 ALWAYS respond with f6, my reasoning for this is if you want to have a chance at winning, play f6 as black. After that you might see e3, e4, d4, or Nc3. For e3, e4 and d4, you can respond with the move e6 then threaten with nh6 and castle your king safely. Positions may differ, so be careful. If your opponent plays Nc3, then play either Nh6 or c6, I prefer playing Nh6 then c6, but that is just me.
If you have any questions regarding opening, feel free to DM me.
Tip 3: Common Tactics
Now we are going to go over common tactics. These are tactics that will either appear in the opening due to an error made by your opponent or will appear in the middle game, but you must take advantage of them. One of the most common tactics is the Qh5 Qd4 tactic (When I discuss tactics, I use the notation for white, but keep in mind that it also applies to playing as black.) which would look something like this.
The next tactic I am going to go over is the Qh5 Qh6 tactic, which I see a lot in games. You normally get it when black pins your c3 knight and your queen can sneak in with mate. It looks like this.
But remember, In this position, If black's F pawn was on f5 and not f6 after he plays g6 and white goes Qh6, black can play Qh4 which gets rid of the mate. Another tactics you might see looks a little like a sacrifice, until black falls for it 😈. It looks like this. If black takes your bishop, Qh5 is mate in 3 for white, so he will have to lose his rook and pawn. 
Remember, these aren't the only tactics available in atomic chess, but if you want to learn more, I recommend this website.
Tip 4: Practicing Endgames
Endgames are an essential component of the game, but as a novice, you won't see them as frequently as you would in later levels of play, so it's still a good idea to be familiar with them. You will need to know the 2 queens vs 1 king. To achieve this checkmate, place your king in a corner and black's king will follow, then place your queens on each side, driving black's king away, and checkmate as seen in the video below.
