Dark chess

Dark chess

Dark chess is a chess variant with incomplete information, similar to Kriegspiel. It was invented by Jens Bæk Nielsen and Torben Osted in 1989. A player does not see the entire board, only their own pieces (including pawns), and squares where these pieces could move.

Solid white.svg a b c d e f g h Solid white.svg
8  cross  cross  cross  cross  cross  cross  black king  cross 8
7  cross  cross  black knight  cross  cross  cross  black king  cross 7
6  cross  cross  black king  black pawn  black king  black pawn  black king  black king 6
5  cross  cross  black king  black king  black king  white pawn  black king  cross 5
4  black pawn  black pawn  black king  white pawn  white knight  white bishop  black king  black king 4
3  black king  black king  black king  cross  black king  cross  black king  white pawn 3
2  white pawn  white pawn  black king  black king  black king  black king  black king  white queen 2
1  white king  black king  white rook  black king  black king  black king  white rook  black king 1
Solid white.svg a b c d e f g h Solid white.svg
A game of Dark chess in progress; squares indicated by "×" can not be seen by the white player.

Contents

Rules

The goal of this chess variant is not to checkmate the king, but to capture it. A player isn't told if their king is in check. Failing to move out of check, or moving into check, are both legal, and can obviously result in a capture and loss of the game.

En passant capture is allowed, even if you do not see that it is possible. Unlike standard chess, castling is allowed even out of check, into check and through the positions attacked by opponent pieces.

This chess variant is best played on one of the online chess servers. For playing over-the-board, three chess sets and a referee are needed, just as in Kriegspiel.

There are some minor differences in the rules on different servers:

  • BrainKing: pawn promotions remain unknown for the opponent.
  • ItsYourTurn: the opponent knows that a pawn was promoted, but does not know where.
  • SchemingMind: you do not see what is in front of your pawns, but know if the position is occupied or not.
  • AjaxPlay.Com: En passant capture is not allowed; pawn promotions remain unknown for the opponent.

Variations

SchemingMind also provides some more variations of dark chess:

  • Dark chess (checkmate) - you are notified that your king is in check and you can't move your king into check. The goal in this variation is the same as in standard chess - to checkmate the king.
  • Dark crazyhouse - combination of crazyhouse and dark chess.
  • Dark suicide - combination of suicide and dark chess.
  • Sun Tzu chess - combination of Double Fischer Random Chess (like Chess960, but with different positions for white and black), crazyhouse and dark chess. You can drop pieces you have in any possible square on the board (like crazyhouse). This chess variant was invented in 2005 by John Kipling Lewis.
  • Lao Tzu chess - like Sun Tzu, but you can only drop pieces on square you can see. Also invented in 2005 by John Kipling Lewis.
  • Generally, because basic Dark chess rules are universal with respect to its “parent” classical variant, any other 2-player chess variant like Omega Chess, Seirawan chess or others may be played “in dark”, for example - Dark Omega Chess.[1]

Gameplay

Dark chess has a strong strategic flavor. Planning and strategy, as well as some psychological reasoning, are very important; tactics and move searching are not.

In this chess variant a king should be carefully protected from very dangerous checks by invisible pieces. For a queen the most dangerous pieces are knights, which can attack it without becoming visible.

See also

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dark Chess — a b c d e f g h …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Chess variant — Gliński s hexagonal chess – one of many chess variants A chess variant is a game related to, derived from or inspired by chess.[1] The difference from chess might include one or more of the following: different board (larger or smaller, non… …   Wikipedia

  • Chess (musical) — Chess Concept Album Cover Music Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus Lyrics Tim Rice Björn Ulvaeus …   Wikipedia

  • Chess strategy — is the aspect of chess playing that is concerned with the evaluation of chess positions and the setting of goals and long term plans for future play. While evaluating a position strategically, a player must take into account such factors as the… …   Wikipedia

  • Chess Victoria — (CV) is a non profit organization dedicated to fostering and controlling the game of chess in Victoria, Australia. It is one of the seven State and Territory associations that comprise the Australian Chess Federation. The organization was founded …   Wikipedia

  • Dark Legions — Developer(s) Silicon Knights Publisher(s) Strategic Simulations, Inc. (S …   Wikipedia

  • Dark Calling (novel) — Dark Calling   Dark Calling s c …   Wikipedia

  • Chess — This article is about the Western board game. For other chess games or other uses, see Chess (disambiguation). Chess From left to right: a whit …   Wikipedia

  • chess — chess1 /ches/, n. a game played by two persons, each with 16 pieces, on a chessboard. [1150 1200; ME < OF esches, pl. of eschec CHECK1] chess2 /ches/, n., pl. chess, chesses. one of the planks forming the roadway of a floating bridge. [1425 75;… …   Universalium

  • Chess endgame — In chess and chess like games, the endgame (or end game or ending) is the stage of the game when there are few pieces left on the board. The line between middlegame and endgame is often not clear, and may occur gradually or with the quick… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”