randomly placed back row pieces bring an exciting different dimension to the game of chess. The objective being the same as regular chess but with the essential tactical and strategic considerations being completely unknown until the games commence. there are many alternative variations on this theme but here we are inviting participants to take part in a quick knock out play all survivors tournament. The format is simply randomly placed back row pieces with no castling permitted either side of the board. All other chess rules being as in regular chess. Player pairings are unbiased and arranged by the date of rhp registration , oldest registrations playing next oldest rhp registration with no regard to rhp ratings until all 16 players are paired. Additional players are welcomed and invited to play after commencement of 16 player tournament. They will play in pairs in order of their request to join our tournament. All games are unrated. The time out settings are to be 3 days per move with a 7 day time bank. All players who lose a game are automatically knocked out of the tournament. All players who have 2 draw results are also knocked out but may be restored to the tournament depending on the number of moves made in the 2 combined draw games. Who the opponents are for each game depends upon the date of both players rhp registration, the 2 closest being paired off. This is an unlimited number unrated tournament and all players who have completed 20 rhp rated games are welcomed and cordially invited to participate. The name of the tournament is as the thread title. The following players are now included in the tournament first 16 play off- Grammy Bobby, Recuvic ,Sir Lurch, Skipstammy. More are very soon to sign up therefore please indicate your desire to participate as soon as possible to ensure a place in the first 16 player round. Failure to make a move by the time out limitations will of course lead to elimination from the tournament. Please enter our knockout random chess tournament by replying to this thread with 'yes please include me' with your date of rhp registration and your user name. If you do not make the first 16 no problem! You will still join the tournament! It is hoped to commence play as soon as possible after the initial 16 have been decided. Players of all ratings and abilities are all welcome to participate. No player will be required or asked to play more than one game at a time and non subscribers are equally welcome to join in, this is a non biased fun unrated tournament for all players who have completed their initial 20 rated games at rhp! The first 16 will be informed 1 to 3 days before commencement of the tournament. Any player deleting a game sent to them is eliminated from further participation. We look forward to receiving your entry! Random chess 960 has no absolutely preset theoretical opening themes or lines and the rapid development of Q and Rooks is normally highly recommended more so than in normal set up chess, as this can deliver big advantages very early on. Rapid careful forward advance of most pawns is also usually highly desirable with bishops and knights placed behind and among the pawns rather than in front of them, can also attach significant advantages in many positions. The dangers attached thereto are also of course significant. These are merely personal experiences but may be helpful in certain circumstances for players unfamiliar with random chess. Thank you for your interest and your eagerly awaited participation! Recuvic/ Grampy Bobby
tournament updates and final additional information
play to commence Monday-timing to send challenge games at players discretion! pairing arranged as follows-bobbyt65 v grampy bobby/recuvic v rene pogel/sirlurch v skipstammy/ pineapple42 is yet to be paired with a first opponent and will be so informed. Play is amended as follows- random back row chess piece set up. castling is not permitted either side of board and should be sent already disabled for the start of each game. All game unrated and one or both games may be sent to each player at both players mutual agreement and discrection. Accepting further requests to play from all players until commencement of first round this coming Monday! a failure to play within the 3 day move plus/7 day time bank allowance could result in players being timed out by their opponents. This too will be left to the discretion of each player! It is not a requirement to do so! After all players have played all other players 2 games each the top scoring 4 players proceed to the second round, or half the players which ever is the greater number. The second round is also all players play all other players 2 games each. The top 2 scoring players from this second round are the finalists. The final is a four game match winner being with highest score. If equal scores after 4 game final play will continue until one finalist wins a game thereafter. If some of the lowest scoring first or second round players have the same score after first or second round, a game play off match will be played by these players only, to decide which players proceed to the next round. Additional games may be necessary depending on play results? Any further details brought to attention will be posted here some time this Sunday-tomorrow. Players should ensure that their challenge acceptance setting are open for the acceptance of these games. Recuvic🙂😀🙂
additional update-
pineapple42 v doug989- completes 4 x 2 player random tournament starting this coming Monday . I personally thank all that are with us and very pleased that we have such a great set of players to commence. I usually personally play to win so my own 'niceness' may fade somewhat once play starts, but I do not expect any soft play from the rest of us either! I expect a lot more additional info being posted here in the coming times so keep an eye on this, or even both eyes if one is not watching your back!? Recuvic🙄
"Chess960" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Chess960 (or Fischer Random Chess) is a variant of chess invented
and advocated by former World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer, publicly announced on June 19, 1996 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It employs the same board and pieces as standard chess; however, the starting position of the pieces on the players' home ranks is randomized. The name "Chess960" is derived from the number of possible starting positions. The random setup renders the prospect of obtaining an advantage through the memorization of opening lines impracticable, compelling players to rely on their talent and creativity. Randomizing the main pieces had long been known as Shuffle Chess; however, Chess960 introduces restrictions on the randomization, "preserving the dynamic nature of the game by retaining bishops of opposite colours for each player and the right to castle for both sides", resulting in 960 unique starting positions. In 2008 FIDE added Chess960 to an appendix of the rules of chess.
Why 960 Each bishop can take one of four positions, the queen one of six, and the two knights can assume five or four possible positions respectively. This leaves three open squares which the king and rooks must occupy according to setup stipulations, without choice. This means there are 4×4×6×5×4 = 1920 possible starting positions if the two knights were different in some way. However, the two knights are indistinguishable during play (if swapped, there would be no difference), so the number of distinguishable possible positions is half of 1920, or 1920/2 = 960..."
"History Chess960 is a variant of Shuffle Chess, which had been suggested as early as 1792 with games played as early as 1842. Fischer's modification "imposes certain restrictions, arguably an improvement on the anarchy of the fully randomized game in which one player is almost certain to start at an advantage". Fischer started work on his new version of chess after the 1992 return match with Boris Spassky. The result was the formulation of the rules of Fischerandom Chess in September 1993, introduced formally to the chess public on June 19, 1996 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fischer's goal was to eliminate what he considered the complete dominance of openings preparation in chess today, replacing it with creativity and talent. His belief about Russians fixing all international games also provided motivation. In a situation where the starting position was random it would be impossible to fix every move of the game. Since the "opening book" for 960 possible opening systems would be too difficult to devote to memory, the players must create every move originally. From the first move, both players must devise original strategies and cannot use well-established patterns. Fischer believed that eliminating memorized book moves would level the playing field." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess960
Chess960 Quotes
"Teach people to play new chess, right away. Why do you offer them a black and white television set, when there is a set in color?" – Bobby Fischer, in the only meeting with FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, responding to the latter advocating "step by step" changes mindful of the heritage of chess
"Of course, if people do not want to do any work then it is better to start the game from a random position."
– Garry Kasparov
"Chess is already complicated enough." – Vassily Ivanchuk
"If accepted on a professional level, this innovation would mean a return to the golden age of chess: the age of innocence and creativity will return, without us losing any of the essential attractions of the game we love." –Valery Salov (italics mine)
"No more theory means more creativity." – Artur Yusupov
"[...] the play is much improved over traditional chess because you don't need to analyze or memorize any book openings. Therefore, your play becomes truly creative and real." – Svetozar Gligorić
"Finally, one is no longer obliged to spend the whole night long troubling oneself with the next opponent's opening moves. The best preparation consists just of sleeping well!" – Péter Lékó
"I tried many different starting positions and all these were somehow very unharmonious. And this is not surprising as in many of these positions there is immediate forced play: the pieces are placed so badly at the start that there is a need to improve their positions in one way only, which decreases the number of choices." – Vladimir Kramnik
"Both players have bad positions." – Helmut Pfleger, commentating on the game Lékó–Adams, Mainz 2001, game 4
"The changes in chess concern the perfection of computers and the breakthrough of high technology. Under this influence the game is losing its charm and reducing more and more the number of creative players. [...] I am a great advocate of Fischer's idea of completely changing the rules of chess, of creating a practically new game. It is the only way out, because then there would be no previous experience on which a machine could be programmed, at least until this new chess itself becomes exhausted. Fischer is a genius and I believe that his project would save the game." – Ljubomir Ljubojević
"I don't know when, but I think we are approaching that [the end of chess] very rapidly. I think we need a change in the rules of chess. For example, I think it would be a good idea to shuffle the first row of the pieces by computer ... and this way you will get rid of all the theory. One reason that computers are strong in chess is that they have access to enormous theory [...] I think if you can turn off the computer's book, which I've done when I've played the computer, they are still rather weak, at least at the opening part of the game, so I think this would be a good improvement, and also just for humans.
It is much better, I think, because chess is becoming more and more simply memorization, because the power of memorization is so tremendous in chess now. Theory is so advanced, it used to be theory to maybe 10 or 15 moves, 18 moves; now, theory is going to 30 moves, 40 moves. I think I saw one game in Informator, the Yugoslav chess publication, where they give an N [theoretical novelty] to a new move, and I recall this new move was around move 50. [...] I think it is true, we are coming to the end of the history of chess with the present rules, but I don't say we have to do away with the present rules. I mean, people can still play, but I think it's time for those who want to start playing on new rules that I think are better." – Bobby Fischer (September 1, 1992) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess960
just a late reminder that the mini tournament beginning Monday is unrated random piece placement and that no castling is allowed even where possible. These games should be sent to opponents with castling options disabled from the game set up interface. More information and news on the tournament as developments unfold! Recuvic