Yes, its really Fischer Random Chess.
Chess 960
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Thanks but what is it?
It is where the pieces on the back ranks are randomly palced at the start of the game with both sides identical as to where they are placed. This kind of chess makes it even as openings are thrown out the window & you have to rely on good chess tactics to play the game, not memorized opening lines.
Thank you.
LinwoodMike wrote:
who cares
I do, if you like it, now is available here in chess.com so if you want to play 960Chess (or ramdon fisher chess) you can join this tournament:
I care as well. This is awesome! I can't wait to compete. Were there emails sent out? I just heard about this and the tourney already under way.
Reb wrote:
Yes, its really Fischer Random Chess.
I prefer this naming for it. It credits it's inventor, for one, something I think people are trying to deny in the recasting as Chess 960, which is unfair and rude. Yes, I get it, it has 960 starting positions or whatever, who cares - say what you mean - Fischer's comments scandalized you and now you wish to recast his own creation in a more friendly way.
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I just annotated the first game I finished! Have a look and comment, please!
http://blog.chess.com/Rael/an-exciting-fisherrandom-game
Bah, Fischer didn't invent it, he just altered a few minor rules of shuffle chess & popularized it.
Well, I think it's a wonderfully more red-blooded way to honor a man who dedicated his life to the game and left a lasting mark.
Fisher-Random sounds a whole bunch more poetic and wonderous than
the boring and clinical "Chess 960".
Fisher Random sounds human where Chess 960 sounds akin to some kind of "Formula 1" "Daytona Racetrack" kindof hyped-up thrill.
"Ooooh Chess 960, it's like chess pumped to the MAX" kindof idiocy.
Fischer Random has a kind of appropriate elegance - it honors at the same time as it preserves our class - chess 960 sounds juvenile where Fischer Random has the appropriate royalty.
I agree Chess960 sounds too clinical though I wouldn't say boring, the listener's interest is piqued immediately, wondering what 960 means.
That's true, Narz, for sure. I guess I just see an opportunity to honor a man's memory deeply, an opportunity wasted if we go with the 960.
Fisher Random Chess represents a lot of what the man himself argued for, loved, and believed about chess.
Chess is an aristocratic game, as far as I'm concerned. Part of that, I feel, involves honoring our predecessors in the right ways. As a tradition, we name all sorts of endings and openings after people who have contributed to the game.
Out of anyone, who gave his whole life, and I mean the entire thing, to chess?
Robert Fischer.
Do we honor him with any openings or endings? It seems like his name should be stamped somewhere.
Now - where better than this wonderful variant that he so virulently advocated? The very solution to the thing he loathed (the excessive preperation of the Russian chess machine)?
Fischer Random Chess is the honorable name for this variant.
Chess 960 seems... well, empty, like a movie title or a video game sequel. Fitting, I suppose, for this day and age of video game children, but, at least in my humble opinion, not befitting the Game of Kings.
For me, at least, this will always be Fischerrandom. That man is owed his stamp on the future of chess.
Chess 960 as a name is uninventive, dull, and lacks the red-blooded humanity that such an innovative and exhilarating variant deserves.
Does the number 960 pique someone's curiosity? Sure. Does the name of Fischer invoke real authority and prestige, does Fischer's name bestow that very authority onto the variant he so advocated? Yes.
I don't have much respect for Fischer personally. He refused to defend his title ever even though Karpov jumped thru hoops to try to arrange one. He let down the American public & then came back for a joke "World Championship" in 1992 against a guy who was no longer even in the top 100.
I feel for the guy don't get me wrong, he had his share of emotional problems just like the rest of us & he was certainly the best for a short time but he hasn't earned a fond place in my heart. What did the man ever do for humanity? I didn't see Fischer showing much honor to others in his lifetime.
But I don't care that much about the debate, I just think 960 is cleaner. I think attaching names to games (whether it be CapablancaChess, SeiriwanChess & FischerRandom) is a bit uncreative but again, it's not that much of a big deal. We don't need to re-dub chess FantasiChess to make it exciting, it is what it is.
Also, Fischer does have an opening named afer him, Fischer Defense as well as a sideline of the Nimzo Indian. Perhaps if he'd had it in him to not abandon chess he might have contributed more to theory.
Fair enough Narz, you have some points there. 960 is definitely cleaner in that it comes without baggage and gets to be it's own thing or whatever. I'm not interested in Fischer's contributions to humanity (and I'd wager that not many people from any profession ever get to claim that they have), I'm concerned about his contributions to chess.
I think it's romantic - that we, the chess world, would incorporate his name in this way, let it be stamped upon this variant.
960 as a name is PC. It's deliberately evasive from the man's legacy - something I think is downright slimey. I think people renamed it just to smear his rightful legacy.
Well you could always petetion Erik to redub it FischerRandom on this site. 
Nice pic, BTW, your girlfriend looks very devoted. 
I am very devoted ;)
Interestingly enough, Narz - I feel that Chess.com actually plays a pivitol role in determining which way the name falls in history - I'm not joking. Here we have this wonderfully front-running site (it's surpassing all the rest, and the staff has no intention of stopping now) - chess.com will literally be bringing the game of chess to millions(?) of people in this new millenia, and the name they bestow upon this wicked new variant (which has been known by two names with an AKA separating them) and the side that chess.com falls on will likely be decisive, interestingly enough.
I wish that Erik and Fischer's Ghost could have a chat about it. I fear that chess.com's underlying mentality is one of business, entrepreneurship and revenue. Rather, I'm sure of it.
Which would lead them to choose the ultimately more bland, banal and PC version of the name over the more romantic, daring, and human one.
Maybe that's my cynicism; I'd like to imagine in the 11th hour they might recognise their role in chess history and choose to honor Mr. Fisher in the right way rather than opting for the easier route, but I'm betting they will not.
It'll always be Fischerrandom to me, in any case.
p.s. Thanks for the compliment and healthy debate Narz.
p.p.s. my girl plays chess, and on this site, eh? Haha - she's a keeper for sure.
Thank you for that Teshuvah.
- It should not use parts of the name of any Grandmaster colleague
- It should not include negatively biased or "spongy" elements like "random" or "freestyle"
- It should be understood worldwide.
I disagree with Mr. Schmitt (who will be remembered for nothing, I might add) on all 3 parts of his criterion.
1. Why not?
2. Random is "spongy"? WTF?
3. Why? Because "Shak Mat" was?
He sounds like a typical beaurocrat to me. Just the kind of jerk you have sitting on some community council figuring out how to make things PC for everyone. An utter TOAD of a human. No adreniline, no thrust, no genius. Just a crusty croany trying to get his poor, muted "spongy" brain to fire some braincells - an utter fail of a human being.
Does anyone know what chess960 is. And is it the same as Fischer's random backrank ( I don't know what this is either so could someone please explain it too )
Moved to Chess960 and Other Variants - kohai