My very own chess variant - Amram Random chess

In this article I will present the chess variant that I invented and named - Amram Random chess   (or AmRan chess for short).

I will also try to make the case for why it is, in my opinion, a unique variant, that would truly advance the world of chess .

The details of the variant themselves are simple:

1.Starting position: The starting position is a random position! - by that I mean not just a shuffling of the first rank of the traditional starting position like chess960, but a COMPLETELY RANDOM POSITION, with an also random set of pieces (yet equal for both players). This random position must not have one of the players in check/mate, nor white in stalemate, and not have a pawn on the 8th or 1st ranks.

2.Rules : exact same rules as regular chess with a few minor exceptions(: no castling, ...).

WHY IS THIS A GOOD IDEA ?

Bobby Fischer invented his variant - Fisher Random - in order to solve what he saw as a crysis in chess. The exponentional growth of opening theory, led to a situation (that only got worse since Fischer raised this issue) where most of the training of a high level player, and a decisive element in the game is prearrangement and memorization of opening lines. Indeed just as Fischer tried to expand the game of chess outside of opening theory with his variant, I hope to expand it even more with mine.

Immediate Advantages of Amram Random:

A. Fascinatingly Original - When was the last time you played an "ending" in which there were 12 pawns on the bard ? Or rather, 3 pawns each, all passed, on the same ranks ?  When was the last time where you got a position in a game, even 960 , that looked completely unfamiliar to you, that left you solely at the mercy of your creativity and calculation ablity.  I bet the answer is no for most of you (at least for those who are not fans of composed chess problems, and those of you who are, should read advantage C).

B. Explore Posibilities - some of the most beautifull, complex and interesting position, possible on a chess board with chess pieces, are simply IMPOSSIBLE to arrive at in a regular chess game, or chess 960. This prevents us from exploring strategic and tactical concepts that are inconcievable without AmRan chess .

C. Unification of Chess Compositions and Live chess - throughout the history of chess, there were two almost completely seperate fields, chess and chess problems (by problems i mean the kind in Solving competetions, that are impossible or highly unlikely to arrive at in a game).  Amram Random Chess unifies both - as it is a live game with the exact same rules as chess, but covers a much wider world of positions, that also includes those of Chess composed problems and studies.

D. Complete Allignment with Traditional Chess - unlike all other chess variants (: antichess, crazyhouse ....) with the exacption of chess960, AmRan is completely "backwards compatible"  with traditional chess. All skills of strategy and tactics of regular chess are applicable in AmRan. Moreover, becoming better in AmRan WILL MAKE YOU BETTER AT CHESS. It will pump up your calculation ability and analytical skills to a much higher level, giving you a deeper understanding of regular chess .

There is, of course,  one disadvantage, and I should address it. Here is one AmRan positon with all pieces on the board: 

You see the problem , there's mate in one for both players ....

Yes, indeed some AmRan starting positions, (almost exclusively when many pieces are present) extremly favor one player. This issue can be easily solved with playing several games, each player playing both colors of each position. Furthermore, it is important to note that this is also the case in regular ches. It unanimously agreed upon by top players, commentators and computer engines, that white has an advantage in traditional chess, and this of course is factored in computer "prescribed" opening lines, which at this point determines for the players, roughly speaking, the first 10 moves. With the exponential advances in technology, this will surely come to chess960 as well.

To conclude, I would emphasize, that I am not suggesting throwing away traditional chess or Fischer Random, but to put another link, in the long chain of ideas in the history of chess, one that hopefully has all the virtues of previous links, but none of their defects. I don't offer a revolution, but an evolution. Some of you, I'm sure, will find my variant, a grotesque (which is actually possible in AmRan ) version of chess that lacks the elegance of the traditional chess, much like most GMs view chess960. To you I would respecfully say, that in fact, more than any other variant or 'chess like' game, AmRan only intensify and elevate the meaning of chess, of which I will write in my next post.

It is often the case in history that novelties are met with much resistance by those who are already in comfortable positions in the institutions of old. My wish is not to hurt any of the great chess institutions, but to make them better, with my variant, among other things.

My hope is that one day in the future, chess.com, lichess or even fide will adopt AmRan. Until then, I would love to hear any of your thoughts !