Chess 960

Man, that's harsh!

here is why we chose 960 (many reasons):

- it's shorter and easier to say/spell (is it Fischer-Random, FischerRandom, Fischer Random, Fischer Random Chess)

- Fischer didn't really invent the concept - it was shuffle chess before that

- Fischer is a legendary character, but in my mind did enough damage to himself and others and I feel he forfeits it. Just like Barry Bonds should have his records removed from baseball.

Sorry to disagree Rael! You are a passionate fellow. I'm more practical and perhaps less forgiving :(

i am happy now i like 960

Is mine the only computer screen where the new logo looks a bit like an odd little pineapple?

Maybe it's just me ;)

I have to agree that all of the reasons for refusing to call it Fischer Random are B.S. We name openings after grandmasters, why not variants? Who says random is "negative?" That's purely subjective. It's easier to spell? For what, all the idiots playing chess? And Fischer did invent the game. It didn't exist before he made the changes to shuffle chess, and it did afterwards, which pretty much seems to be invention to me. And comparing Fischer to Bonds is cheesy. Fischer may have been a jerk and a whacko, but he didn't cheat.

But in the end, it's just a name. Would a rose smell any different if you called it "plant 960?" Let it go. Those who would change the name will do more harm to themselves with their frustrations than they can do to you, unless you help them by getting all upset about it.

@ichabod801 - you may not agree with the reasons, but they are not BS. they are reasonable and sincere reasons with which you may or may not agree.

@paul211 - i know i said i would never again respond to one of your posts, but i can't help it. you are always hammering me on how cocky, immature, and naive i am and how when i grow up i'll see the world differently. that's very interesting coming from you. i would have guessed that at your age you would have learned to be less patronizing, rude, and judgemental. i guess age isn't always the great maturity-inducer you claim.

Yes. Simply put -- too many. No real ring to it. Think of the great titles throughout history: Catch-22, Slaughterhouse 5, Fahrenheit 451, Space 1999, Grease 2... now those are keen precedents!

Chess960 it is.

This is a bizarre thread.  If I refer to 1. e4 e5  2. Nf3 Nf6 as the "Russian Game," should I expect the Friends of Alexander Petrov Society (FAPS) to initiate a hate-mail campaign against me?

The only thing I've learned from this is that there is no significant correlation between the desire to see Fischer's name get its rightful place in history and the ability to actually spell Fischer's name. 

When you think about it, that fact alone explains quite a lot.

Guess we should be thankful Fischer wasn't born Ernie Lipschitz...

If I live to 130 I will remember Erik (and hopefully still be a member here assuming industrial civilization hasn't collapsed by then)! 

I have some compassion for Bobby (for such a genius he seemed very confused) but that doesn't mean I support naming the game after him.  I understand Erik's concerns & I, for one, don't judge him for them.  He's got a family to feed & an amazing game to popularize.  If the immortal soul exists I'm sure Fischer's isn't wringing it's "hands" over this issue.

When I was a kid I created a game called "Submarine 5" (funnily enough I'd just read Slaughterhouse 5).  It involved a grid with two sides battling it out, one had a battleship or a cruiser & the other had five subs.  The subs could not be seen by the player with the more powerful ship but he had a "fog of war" of 3x3 he could see on any side.  His goal was to capture the Sub side's flag without being anilhilated first!  The sub player also had 5 icebergs he could place randomly on his side of the board (similar to Bombs in Stratego) which were indestructable but he could not fully enclose his flag.

I'd explain the rules & exact powers of the ships in more detail but I don't want anyone stealing my idea!!

I invented this game at boarding school at 16 and I only played two full games of it (it seemed fairly balanced though I'm sure it would need some tweaking), ironically I lost both times (as the Cruiser & as the subs).

Impressive! You were a darned creative kid.

Thanks, actually I originally wanted to re-create a similar game to one my friend Yosuke & I made up in 2nd grade but I couldn't remember how it went & had long since lost touch with Yosuke (he moved back to Japan when we were in 4th grade) so I came up with the Sub5 game instead.

chess 960, why is it called that

No, I have that logo too when I am viewing Chess960 games.

i do

Before you guys jump all over erik for his decision to call it Chess960, you might want to have your beef with the Chess960 world championship, which calls it Chess960 :/

There are plenty of people who don't want their names attached to things. Fischer seemed pretty egotistical, so he's probably not one of those guys. The point here is, though, that this idea doesn't seem really strongly tied to Fischer, and if he didn't come up with it, somebody else would have fairly quickly. Besides, there are plenty of people still crooning over Fischer without having to name this variant after him.

Beyond Seirawan who doesn't want his variant named after him, there's Ivanchuk who calls his "Kiss the Queen" because of the gameplay. I generally prefer naming games with something descriptive and parts of games after their creators or popularizers (if that's a word). This is why I fully support the Fischer variation but give a slight preference to Chess960

 It should be called Chess 666 - it is the work of the devil

 bit late for that