Synchronous Chess

Consider a chess variant in which rather than taking turns making a move, the moves of Black and White are played as if they were made simultaneously, meaning that White and Black both choose their first move before either makes the move, and both moves are played at the same time. Neither player knows what move the other is going to make, which eliminates the White advantage of first move and introduces an extra element of uncertainty, since one needs to decide on a move not only based on the current position but also on what one anticipates the opponent will choose as his move in the current position. Another benefit (imho) is that makes much of opening theory obsolete, so players can spend more time on chess and less on memorizing openings.

There would obviously be some issues to be worked through if anybody was to try this -- like how to deal with illegal moves (in online play, maybe the player could be informed that the move was illegal and that they have to choose a different move, without revealing why it is illegal) -- but this seems like an interesting idea.

Thoughts?

But after the first move, white knows what black has played, so black is guessing but white isn't, or have I missed something ?

After the first move, white knows what black has played and vice-versa, so it's even.

The first problem I see is that there would be so many illegal moves the whole thing would be a mess.

Yes, I don't think it could be entirely fair. The concept that both moves have to made at the same time is a little confusing - it would lead to effectively the White and Black moves being combined into a single move. But would that mean that any check would be impossible, since if the position after both Black and White's moves has been played were to contain a check, surely the player in check would be considered to have made an illegal move since it wasn't the other player that just gave check? If not, then both players could simultaneously be in check. And if the case is that White's move is still considered to have been "played before" Black's, then I think hicetnunc is correct.

What if one player wants to capture a piece and the other player wants to move the piece that is being captured? Which move will go first? 

If you dont want opening theory then go with 960 or some other random variant. In this variant there could exist opening theory, it'd probably be relatively more complex, however at least the first move or two would probably be theorized.

This is also a good example.

I don't have all the answers, but off the top of my head, for the two issues posed above:

If a player makes a check, and the other player's simultaneous move doesn't prevent the check in some way (interposing, moving king), then on the next move, the player giving check could take the king and win (or the player being checked could move the king). And maybe there are other options.

On the question of capturing a piece that is moved, the moves always happen simultaneously, so if a piece tries to capture another that simultaneously moved, then the piece wouldn't be captured. It would only be captured if the piece is still there. I guess you would also have to deal with how an interposition would work (would it block or not).

Maybe it won't work out in the end, but I think it's an interesting idea that eliminates the "perfect information" aspect of standard chess and adds an interesting new element of needing to move based on anticipation of what the other player is simultaneously doing (and anticipating what I am simultaneosly doing).

I think this was invented by Vitaliy Korolev in 1991.

There is a detailed implementation of rules which answer all the above points here http://www.hexenspiel.de/engl/synchronous-chess/

The game does work and has the advantages sapientdust suggests.

Regards

Bill

Sounds horrific.

Why does everyone feel like chess is ruined by opening theory. This enhances chess by making players stronger. It seems like you just want something to level the playing field, so that you are not trying so hard to catch up with the top grandmasters of the day. I suggest studying real chess and neglecting the variants for a while.

There was a great online site that had a game called Kung Fu Chess:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung-fu_chess

I used to play it -- it was seriously crazy and a lot of fun. There's a new site trying to replicate it (called Tempest Chess), but last I checked there weren't a lot of players yet. 

We used to play a game called (I think, it has been many tears) kriegspiel. In this game, each player could not see his opponent's pieces. White moved first, and players took turns as usual. And all normal chess rules applied. There was a referee who saw both boards, and informed players when there was a capture, piece taken, illegal move, etc. Somewhat similar to the original post.

Thanks for reading.

Thank you! That was a very interesting read.

I would love to try this- "kriegspiel" (WarGame)- perfect name. :)

IMHO, a referee is required- players would write down their moves and hand them to the referee, who would execute them on the board.

And it seems at first glance that the rules by Korolev are just fine.

Thanks so much!

This already exists

It's called bullet

I've thought of this idea before.  It's somewhat like Diplomacy where moves are secretly written down then executed at once with rules from conflicting moves.

The hard part is figuring out what to do if both move to the same square.  Is it a push and neither get the square, is it mutal destruction, or maybe rank should decide?

if u want opening theory out the window, use for e.g. from (10x10)to (20x20) board with other pieces such as EMPRESS (which has Rook and Knight abilities) and PRINCESS(Bishop and Knight) each player sets there Back Row one piece at a time. Then CHESS gets Some Extra Magic that the Original Game had,before all the Books were written. This Game would also be quite a good war with Long Time Controls.

A simple way of playing this game is that both players decide their move previously and simultaneously, but White moves first and Black follows.

Since White moves first it will never make an illegal move, but Black could.

The first illegal move made by black is canceled. Simultaneously both players will decide their next move again, but Black moves first this time, White follows.

Until White makes it's first illegal move (which will be canceled), then both players decide their next move, but White moves first and Black follows.

Rinse and repeat.

All games are legal FIDE Chess games.