What's your favorite chess variant? I played myself fifteen times over the course of a week, knowing no one to play with (though that's not a problem anymore), and then I found this page with a list of variants to spice things up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_variant
I bought an Omega Chess set, and I like playing it a lot. In the words of International Master Brian Hartman,
"I examined and played an exciting new board game called Omega Chess. Although I was initially skeptical of a game that was essentially a new form of chess, I now believe it to be a potential remedy to what ails many chess players - 'With the advent of computer databases chess is no longer an art, but an exercise in memorization.', or 'Many openings lead to known, forced conclusions. Chess may lead to a similar fate to that of checkers, where certain openings are banned from competitive play.' "
Stanley Random Chess (SRC). Although, really this isn't a variant as it is, in fact, the predecessor of Simplified Stanley Random Chess (SSRC), otherwise known as Common Chess or Standard Chess.
Not so popular today, it may very well be the future of chess. After all, Common Chess is a "variant" of SRC. And it requires greater creativity and more imaginative play. SRC implements the extra rules governing move sequences and board patterns that were later lost when Standard Chess developed as a result of the Great SR Chess Purge in the nineteenth century.
I haven't the slightest idea what Stanley Random Chess is. I started playing chess in early May and have played a few hours a day on average since then. Most of it has been due to the help of Wikipedia, but there's no article on Stanley Random Chess.
In Omega and Grand Chess, the number of pieces that leap and the number of pieces that move in a straight line are somewhat equalized, so when promoting a pawn, you have to think more in some situations.
Originally posted by toothpasteStanley random chess is a hoax.
I haven't the slightest idea what Stanley Random Chess is. I started playing chess in early May and have played a few hours a day on average since then. Most of it has been due to the help of Wikipedia, but there's no article on Stanley Random Chess.
In Omega and Grand Chess, the number of pieces that leap and the number of pieces that move in a stra ...[text shortened]... ine are somewhat equalized, so when promoting a pawn, you have to think more in some situations.
I am not sure if you would call it a variant or not but I like to play a game called King's Table. It is similar in some ways to chess but it has different objectives for each side. I have also played a Byzantine chess a few times, the only difference it has to regular chess is that it is played on a donut-shaped board.
Originally posted by AmauroteWhat color square is the red queen on in that board you linked?
Just out of curiosity, has anyone played three-way chess using the circular board format? I play it, but using this set, which means rooks cannot circumnavigate the entire board in one move:
http://collectibledecor.com/PH2032.jpg
Black - placement is an issue for Red, clearly, and the rules enclosed by the Polish manufacturer are very sketchy to say the least. The main problem isn't the placement, though, it's the nature of mate - the rules aren't definitive, and problems arise in mated positions when one side has assisted (inadvertently) another to mate the third player: the winner is the first person to mate, but my own feeling is that it is more logical that the first person to win is the first person whose next move would remove the King from the board.
If anyone's interested, I started putting together a javascript three way chess board...
http://www.unfocused.net/three-person-chess/board.php
There's no move validation or anything, yet, it's just for messing about, and to my knowledge it works on IE and Mozilla Firebird so might well work on other browsers too.