🎲 DICE CHESS! | Fun variant to play! | Chess Chats #14
#dicechess #variant #demonstration
As we’re moving towards the end of the year, I’ve had some opportunity to cover topics in my channel and blog that I just hadn’t gotten around to yet! 😊
One of these is Dice Chess, a rather cool chess variant, that now also has a free online service, dicechess.com. Earlier, I was contacted by the founder of dicechess.com, Latvian IM Vladimir Sveshnikov about his endeavour and the potential opportunity for a collaboration.
Hitherto, I hadn’t heard of Dice Chess before, but after trying it out for a little while, I was enamoured by what seemed like a fun variant, and potentially one that could be played against children and others where there is a large ability gap! Interestingly, Vladimir is the son of GM Evgeny Sveshnikov, who pioneered the opening that is now known as the Sveshnikov Sicilian!
But I digress!
There are many variants of dice chess with different number of dice. The version on dicechess.com uses three dice, and I really like it as it has a certain virtue of simplicity. With chess variants, I prefer it when the new mechanic is simple or self-explanatory, and the other usual rules of chess are either unchanged, or where the change is a natural consequence of the new mechanic.
Essentially, each turn we throw three special six-sided dice. Each die has the symbols of the six chess pieces (pawn, knight, bishop, rook, queen, and king) on the faces and we move the pieces rolled by the dice!
The website describes in some detail the rules of dice chess, but in brief, the main differences are:
- There is no “check”, and thus, no checkmate or stalemate. The king can remain in “check” at the end of the turn.
- The win condition is to capture the opponent’s king.
- The player makes up to three piece moves in a single turn, determined by the dice.
And there is one additional rule/principle: players must make the maximum number of moves (up to three) based on the dice role. In some situations, there may be an additional legal move if the player moves a specific piece in a particular way, for instance, opening a diagonal with a pawn move. In such a situation, the player is compelled to take the option(s) that allows the maximum number of moves.
Some tactical implications
- Traditional tactics that rely on checks, such as pins, skewers, double-checks, discovered checks, lose power as they are no longer forcing.
- Attacks that rely on a very specific sequence of moves, or precise timing are less reliable and can be difficult to pull off as there is no guarantee that a specific piece will be permitted to move. In fact, the probability that the dice will roll such that a specific piece can move in the turn is only 58% [P = 1 - (⅚)³].
- A completely new tactic that becomes available is that a single piece could potentially move twice, and even three times in a single turn! In fact, in a roll of three dice, the likelihood that at least two dice will roll the same piece is 44% [P = 1 - (⅚ × ⅔)], and three dice of the same piece is 3% [P = 1 × ⅙ × ⅙]. What does this imply? If a king could be captured by two consecutive moves by the same piece (e.g., a queen moves once, and then immediately a second time), that player is at risk of a next turn defeat!
Physical dice?
I found a seller of chess dice on Etsy though they only sell them in lots of two. I’ve purchased three lots (so, will have two sets of three) and when they arrive, I’m going to try this out with an over-the-board game!
What do you think of Dice Chess? Let me know in the comments below!
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Learn how to play the best chess opening attacks in the Romantic style with my new book, “Become a Chess Assassin!” available now on your local Amazon store!
