Could we please stop calling Chess960 a variant?

'Subsequently for the following FIVE HUNDRED YEARS the game's name, piece placement, piece movements stood the test of time.'

Until computers came along, when good old chess, weakened at the knees, started to stumble under the burden. I agree with the person who called chess960 a mutation. It's fortified chess, made to withstand the onslaught of the chess playing engines. It's an evolution of modern chess which was itself an evolution of medieval chess 500 years ago. Times change and things change with the times. - Mark

can batgirl give us the real history of Fischer Random Chess/Chess 960!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess960

Scroll down to History.

Wiki first sentence: "Chess960, or Fischer Random Chess, is a chess variant invented by former World Champion Bobby Fischer."

I guess he just was tired of being laughed at by the cool chess kids for setting up the Queen on the wrong square

 Pulling his leg, I assume?

I really like Khet, but I haven't played enough games to know if there is an obvious strategy that makes the game trivial to play.  If it had indeed been solved that would be interesting news to me, so in the event you didn't make this up, I would appreciate more information.

Meanwhile, it's fun to read a bunch of gaming geeks claim they aren't really gaming geeks because they only play one game, and they play it a LOT.  I had never been to khet.com before.  Their faq page had a couple of cute jabs at Chess players.

When I search "khet solved" all the pages are in Sumerian.

Come to think of it, it must be that Star Fleet built the pyramids after Spock solved khet. Then they asked the aliens to create chess for us.

'can batgirl give us the real history of Fischer Random Chess/Chess 960!'

Sarah Beth has recently taken an interest in chess960 (see Chess960) and, one of these days, might get around to to researching its history. I doubt that it would challenge her very much. Fifteen minutes on Google is enough to bring anyone up to date starting from the moment when Fischer formally announced it in 1996. - Mark

Uhm I have never claimed to be a gaming geek

According to David Bronstein, in 1945 or 1946 in British Chess Magazine, a letter was published wherein the author recommended that the pawns be set up as usual, and then white and black players take turns placing one of their pieces on the back rank.  Bronstein mentioned this idea to American GM Arthur Bisguier, and around 1978 Bisguier and Pal Benko played a four game match using this variant.  The games of the match were published in the November 1978 issue of Chess Life & Review, and also in Schaakbulletin.  This was probably one of the first publicized matches of a Chess960-like variant.

I am impressed by the depth of your research on the matter, however:

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/burt02.pdf

"In November 1978, as editor of Chess Life, I published a controversial article by

GM Pal Benko, entitled “Pre-Chess: Time for a Change,” and an accompanying

article by GM Arthur Bisguier. Benko described a chess variant in which the

pawns are set up on the second and seventh ranks as usual but the first and

eighth ranks are vacant. To begin each game, players place their pieces,

alternately one at a time, anywhere on their first rank (with bishops on opposite

colors). No piece or pawn may be moved until all the pieces are in place. In

file:///C|/cafe/fromarchive/fromarchive.htm (1 of 4) [7/28/2005 1:38:25 PM]

From the Archives

preparation for the articles, I had organized a short Pre-Chess match between

Benko and Bisguier in the Manhattan Chess Club (a few patrons of the

Manhattan and Marshall clubs provided a small prize fund) to demonstrate that,

despite the unorthodox opening array, all the principles of chess still applied.

“The continual refinement of technique and assimilation of knowledge,

particularly in the openings,” Benko wrote, “will gradually lead to the

extinction of the game – it will be solved, played out... Most of the blame – if

that is the word – must fall on the vast store of opening information that is

available to every player (and every computer). The amount of study a master

has to do to remain up to date in the openings would suffice for a college

education. If he neglects his studies his score suffers. I think this corrupts the

essential nature of chess, which is a fight between the creative ideas of two

individuals. The vast array of predetermined opening variations and theories is,

in my view, so much dead weight that should be discarded to save the true

values of chess... The task, then, is to find a minimal change in the rules that

would retain as much of the present game as possible and yet eliminate its worst

feature, the overanalyzed starting position.”

Benko’s solution was Pre-Chess. Although he credited the idea to David

Bronstein, I learned later that it dates back, in somewhat different form, to the

early 19th-century chess writer Aaron Alexandre (who, ironically, was the

compiler of one of the first systematic collections of chess openings, the

forerunner of such compendiums as Modern Chess Openings). Benko had

shown the variant to former world champion Max Euwe, who thought it was

“an interesting idea,” “very good,” and “worth considering.” Benko had also

played some games of Pre-Chess with the teenaged Joel Benjamin, a future GM

and U.S. Champion, who in 1979 won a Pre-Chess tournament."

 No, you certainly didn't.

 But "Chess geek", which you also didn't claim to be, is just a "variant" of "gaming geek".

I know lots of people who play Chess and aren't geeks.  I hope I am one such person, but let's be honest.  The stereotype exists for a reason.  Meanwhile, if you (in the generic sense, not directed specifically to heinzie) ever find yourself feeling superior to someone who enjoys a different game, that might be a sign that that stereotype might just be at work.  Game play in Khet depends on mirrors.  Even if you don't like the game, the components could come in handy.

Geek is descriptive, Nerd is derogatory. If you know opening theory you are a geek. If you wear your opening theory on a shirt and don't make eye contact with people when you talk, you are a nerd.

This puzzle is solved. Heinzie.. bring on another.

I would call it Chess 480 instead, and for the people on this forum, i would have to actully call this an "Variant" because there's others type of chess games. Chess 480 or 360 are not the only type of games here.

rigamagician: 'Bronstein ... Bisguier ... Benko ... This was probably one of the first publicized matches of a Chess960-like variant.'

Atos: '"Pre-Chess: Time for a Change"'

The history of shuffle chess goes back hundreds of years. Gligoric, in his book on chess960/FRC, dates the idea to 1792 and gives games from 1842 and 1851. The 1851 game has the Bishops for each side starting on the same color squares, which is not done in the better evolutions of shuffle chess.

Fischer added two important concepts to the earlier forms of shuffle chess. First, he specified that the King must start between the Rooks. Second, he defined castling to have the King & Rook end up on the same squares as in traditional chess (RNBQKBNR), for both O-O-O and O-O. That's what makes traditional chess a subset of chess960 and what gives the other 959 chess960 start positions the same feel (and appeal) of traditional chess.

Comparing chess960 to earlier forms of shuffle chess is like comparing the Wright brothers' invention to hot air balloons. They are not the same thing. - Mark

P.S. If you're interested, I have some background material here:-

Who Is the 'Father of Chess960'?
http://chess960frc.blogspot.com/2009/11/who-is-father-of-chess960.html

Mark, in the Bronstein book, he certainly does not claim to have invented shuffle chess, but rather says he got the idea from the BCM article I mentioned earlier.

Well, that seems rather like saying that traditional chess was invented by the people who introduced the rules for castling and en pass-ant. While these were undoubtedly improvements, they are not sufficient to claim that a completely new game was invented.

With that, can we say that there are chess geeks and chess nerds here in chess.com? You don't need to make eye contact playing chess over the Internet, so how else can you call each other out?

anyone wants to play a game of SP518 with me?

Or like saying that impressionism was invented by post-impressionists(!).