A Colorless Chessboard

A Colorless Chessboard

I saw a WGM teach children the basics of chess, stressing the importance of knowing the chessboard. She would ask them what color the c6 square is, light or dark. This got me thinking.

What if the chessboard were colorless, could you play the game? The board would have lines, but all the squares would be the same color. I suppose the game could be played without lines, but the players would need good spatial awareness.

Being on vacation and having too much time on my hands, I began playing blindfold chess against myself. Not having a firm grasp on which are the light and dark squares, I developed a few memory aids.

1.e4 – Best by test! That makes sense, since White sends his foot soldier into the light.

1.d4 – Said to be good, but White sends his foot soldier into the darkness and it does take longer to castle.

1.c4 – The English opening. This makes sense. It’s dark and gloomy in England, so I can see why White would send his foot soldier into the light. This foot soldier is a bit off center, which perhaps expains why the English drive on the wrong side of the road.

e1 – An excellent square for White’s king, kept hidden under the cover of dark. 

g1 – After short castling, this dark square is perfect for White’s king.

e8 –  Black’s king is exposed in the light.

g8 – After short castling, this light square gives away the location of Black’s king again.

No wonder it is said that White has a slight advantage in the beginning.
I fear I’ve gone bonkers after only one month of teacher vacation. Where will my mind be after the second month?

Some people prefer a colorless-chess-board.

What if the pieces were the came colour?

Is this colourful http://imaginepeace.com/archives/3962 or colourless http://www.colormatters.com/vis_bk_white.html?

Are the kids supposed to know it by rote or are they allowed to figure it out given that d1 is, as most chess players know, white? If it's the latter, it's easy to figure it out: d1 is white means that c1 is black. 6 is an even number therefore c6 must be white.

What if all the squares were the same color, and all the pieces were the same color and all the same shape and size?

And what if, you played from underneath, looking up through the colourless (glass) chessboard at the colourless (and shapeless) pieces?

but if the board was colorless and you were looking underneath you'd look through the chess board and pieces and not know they are their :)

If they were actually invisible - you could play blindfold chess with your eyes wide open.

 We'd call it Wrestling.