Three Checks

Three Checks is a variation of chess in which the goal is -- you may be surprised to know -- to check the opponent's king three times. The most basic game of Three Checks goes like this:

Or, if you want White to win:

"It is said" that Anatoly Karpov excels at Three Checks. Interesting, right?

Once, Magnus Carlsen was asked whether or not he plays any variants of chess. He remarked that Jon Ludvig Hammer once tried teaching him some of the details of Three Checks -- "in vain".

I wonder when they will have tournaments for such a thing...