The Many Variations of Chess

On March 7th , I helped supervise an event at my local library where almost every version of Chess imaginable was represented. The event was called "Chess Gone Nutty". This is the 2nd time we've held this program already (previously we had it on October 25th 2008). It was a huge hit! Over 40 people dropped in this time over a 3 hour period to try their hand at a game of chess, either a version they were familiar with, or something completely new to them.

There were over 10 different versions of chess on hand, and a few other strategy games as well. Included this time were: Chess (European/traditional), Stealth Chess, Strato-Chess, Chess4, Chess Empire, Noble Celts, Plunder Chess, Chaturanga, and Xiang-Qi (Chinese chess) as different variations of chess. A couple pop-culture themed traditional chess games: Star Wars Chess-Saga Edition, and Harry Potter-Wizard's Chess. And also a couple non-chess strategy games: Checkers4, and Davinci's Challenge.

Here's a quick look at each game we had on hand this time:

Chess:
Your regular, old game of chess. No twists or fancy rules with this one. Sit down, play a thought-provoking round of the classic strategy game. It's hard to top the mental challenges of the original game, or is it?...

Star Wars Chess-Saga Edition:
This game was easily the biggest hit of the event, particularly for the kids that showed up. It is a straight forward traditional chess set, with the pieces depicting all of the most popular characters from all 6 of the Star Wars films. You could tell that even if the kids were not totally into playing chess, they were willing to give it a try just to get to play with these cool pieces! There were always kids watching whoever happened to be playing this chess set, and eagerly awaiting their turn to play! And, okay, nobody could resist suggesting what they thought was the best next move... "Move Han Solo! Put him here!" ... "No you can't do that, see where Count Dooku is!?" ... "What about Obi-Wan? Move him, move him!"

Strato Chess (a 3-D version of chess):

This version is played with the traditional chess pieces, but the board is a 3-tier platform! One side begins play on the top tier, the other on the bottom. Your pieces move between the three levels throughout the game. This brings a whole new dimension to the strategy behind chess!

Xaing-Qi (Chinese Chess):

Chinese Chess or Xiang-Qi is a totally different game from the traditional, European chess. Although derived from a common ancestor, Xiang-Qi has evolved to quite a different game than the version you may be familiar with. The goal of the game may be the same (to check-mate the King), but the rules, pieces, and moves are very different. Perhaps the most fundamental difference is that this game is played on the intersections of a grid, not the spaces on a checkered board. And there are a few differences to the pieces. To start, there is no Queen in Xiang-Qi, but 2 additional pieces called Cannons or Artillery. There is a "box" of nine intersections which the King and his 2 Inner Guards (or Inner Bishops) must remain within for the whole game. There is also a "river" bisecting the center of the game board, across which only Pawns, Rooks, Cannons, and Knights can cross! Could you put the King in check-mate?

Plunder Chess:

This one is just a variation on the rules of traditional chess. (This is the first time we had this one at this event. We were lucky enough to find one around the holiday time.) The new rule with this version of chess? After you capture a piece, the piece that made the capture, gains the ability to move like the piece it captured! This is visually identified by slipping a collar around the enhanced piece that shows the symbol of the piece it recently captured. The enhanced piece still retains its original abilities... Imagine a Pawn that could move like a Knight! Or a Rook that can capture one diagonal space, simple because it has captured a Pawn!?! This game should be fun to try!

Noble Celts:
Again, more or less like traditional chess, except this one is played on a circular board. Imagine a regular chess board, stretched around in a circular fashion until the two edges are connected... This eliminates the 'edge' of the board! Although this makes the Rooks a bigger threat, the layout of the board is hard to get used to. Particularly the Bishops are hard to keep track of, because they move in a spiral fashion. A little confusing to begin with, but again it brings a new dimension to this classic game.

Stealth Chess:
The version of chess where only you can see what your pieces are! Within this game there are a couple different variations of rules. You can either play a straight Chess game, and simply have the headache of trying to remember which piece of your opponent's is which without seeing what they are, or you can really mix it up with a variety of bluff rules! Imagine your opponent moving 3 pieces like a Knight... could you call which one is the bluff? Or maybe you'd like to sneak your Queen up real close to your opponent's King moving it like a Pawn for much of the game, then make the surprise check-mate!

Chess4:
This is a 4-player version of Chess. Same pieces, same rules, just more opponents... unless you play as teams! The pieces are set 3 rows behind the edge of a standard chess board to make room for the 2 extra sets of pieces. There are a couple different variations of the rules when there are more than 2 players playing: does the player who forced a check-mate gain control of the defeated players pieces, or are they neutralized on the board? Either way it introduces some new strategies...

Chess Empire:
Another 4-player variant of Chess, except this one has more pieces! Chess Empire takes the 4-player variation of chess to a new level. To accommodate a larger board and the presence of 2 additional opponents, each set of pieces includes 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Bishops, 4 Knights, 4 Rooks, 2 Spies (new piece!), and 14 Pawns. The Spy is a new addition in this version of chess. Essentially the Spy is like a miniature Queen: it can move in any direction, only in increments of 2 spaces. With all the additional pieces, strategies in Chess Empire can take a few more minutes to hash out!

Harry Potter-Wizard Chess:
As with the Star Wars chess set, this it a standard chess set with pieces designed after the life-size Wizard Chess set portrayed in the first Harry Potter film- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Unfortunately the pieces don't move on their own, but it still makes for a fun Chess game for any Harry Potter fan. Think you could beat Ron Weasley?

Chaturanga:
This is the Indian ancestor of Chess. It is believed that all variations of modern chess are derived from this game. This game is also designed for 4 players. There are several differences to the rules though. Piece movement is determined by rolling 2 dice. By rule, 2 of the 4 sides are allied against the other pair of 2 armies. Once 2 players have been eliminated, the remaining 2 players then continue against each other, even if they had previously been allies, until a final winner is determined.

Checkers4:
This is a fun game that is often played by families with young children at these events. If the rules of Chess or its many variations are too complicated to grasp, then a spimple game of checkers usually satisfies. However, there is still the twist that this version is designed for 4 players!

DaVinci's Challenge:
Again, this is not a derivative of Chess, but rather a strategy game where 2 players (or teams) take alternate turns trying to build intricate patterns on a game board by placing one of 2 different shaped pieces. You can either focus on building your own patterns, or blocking the patterns your opponent is trying to build. As a result this game grows into a complicated pattern-seeing challenge, almost like a giant version of tic-tac-toe.

Knightmare Chess and Knightmare Chess II:
These variants of Chess were not present at this particular event, but we've had them at previous ones. Each of these games is composed of a deck of role-playing cards (like Magic-The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, or similar role-playing card games). These cards are specifically designed to enhance, hinder, or alternate the rules within a standard game of Chess. With these cards, many layers of new strategies are presented to the game of Chess. How would you play your cards to expedite a faster check-mate?





As mind-boggling as all these different versions of Chess may be if you haven't heard of them, there are still more out there that we have yet to add to our ever-growing collection. Just a few that we're looking to add at some point in the future: Shogi (Japanese Chess), Janggi (Korean Chess), Keht, Pi-Chess, Chess In The Round, and Omega Chess just to name a few. For now, I encourage you to go and find one of these games that intrigues you and bring it home for your family or friends to try! Most importantly, have fun!