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#Post#: 145--------------------------------------------------
One of my favorite Variants: Blank Chess
By: John_Lewis Date: January 20, 2018, 12:59 am
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The rules are deceptively simple and were invented by children
playing for the joy of playing.
HTML http://www.blankchess.com/
Rules in a nutshell:
1. Start with an empty board. The board is divided into two
sides of four rows.
2. Each player starts the game by placing their King on any
square on their side as their first move.
3. Play continues with the option to drop an unplayed piece on
your side of the board, move, or capture as in normal chess.
4. We played with King Capture as the victory condition, but
Checkmate works equally well.
The elegance of the game is obvious if you try a round (as with
all variants, you should try it before you make claims, right?)
I've played many games with my children and I've enjoyed it much
more than playing standard Chess with them. The games are
dynamic, fast paced and often surprising. It doesn't require
extra pieces or a special board!
For face to face Chess Variants, it's probably my favorite.
I'm curious if anyone else here has played and of course I'm
eager to hear people's thoughts on such a novel idea.
Two notes:
[list type=decimal]
[li]If you are not playing King Capture, the second player may
not place their King into check on their first move. This is
theoretically possible if a player placed their King on the far
edge of the board, giving them attacking squares on the
opponents half.[/li]
[li]The rules are a bit vague about placing Bishops on opposite
colors when you drop them. While it's not outright forbidden in
the rules, they seem to suggest it complicates things. We have
played hundreds of games and prefer allowing players to place on
any square, but that's our preference. [/li]
[/list]
#Post#: 146--------------------------------------------------
Re: One of my favorite Variants: Blank Chess
By: McGoohan Date: January 20, 2018, 6:12 am
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I really like the idea and will try this next Friday with a
friend OTB.
One question: May a Pawn be used on the baseline, even though he
can never be there in the FIDE Chess?
And what would be the rules for the pawn after that? d8-d7 and
then d7-d5 possible?
Or d8-d6?
#Post#: 147--------------------------------------------------
Re: One of my favorite Variants: Blank Chess
By: John_Lewis Date: January 20, 2018, 9:43 am
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[quote author=McGoohan link=topic=38.msg146#msg146
date=1516450362]
I really like the idea and will try this next Friday with a
friend OTB.
One question: May a Pawn be used on the baseline, even though he
can never be there in the FIDE Chess?
And what would be the rules for the pawn after that? d8-d7 and
then d7-d5 possible?
Or d8-d6?
[/quote]
[list type=decimal]
[li]Pawns can be placed on the first rank although this rarely
is required with the exception of a desperation block.[/li]
[li]You may not move your pawn two spaces and there is also,
therefore, no en passant. [/li]
[/list]
Would love to hear if you enjoy the game.
#Post#: 148--------------------------------------------------
Re: One of my favorite Variants: Blank Chess
By: McGoohan Date: January 20, 2018, 10:40 am
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A pawn inserted on the 2nd (or 7th line) can not move directly
to the 4th (or 5th) line either?
#Post#: 150--------------------------------------------------
Re: One of my favorite Variants: Blank Chess
By: John_Lewis Date: January 20, 2018, 1:30 pm
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[quote author=McGoohan link=topic=38.msg148#msg148
date=1516466423]
A pawn inserted on the 2nd (or 7th line) can not move directly
to the 4th (or 5th) line either?
[/quote]
Correct. No two space moves for pawns, regardless where they are
located or drop.
#Post#: 151--------------------------------------------------
Re: One of my favorite Variants: Blank Chess
By: elephant Date: January 20, 2018, 3:17 pm
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Have never heard of this variant, though does seem second player
has a big advantage i will have to try it out
#Post#: 152--------------------------------------------------
Re: One of my favorite Variants: Blank Chess
By: John_Lewis Date: January 20, 2018, 4:48 pm
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[quote author=elephant link=topic=38.msg151#msg151
date=1516483067]
Have never heard of this variant, though does seem second player
has a big advantage i will have to try it out
[/quote]
It seems paradoxical that this would give the second player
enough of an advantage, but it really depends on where the
players place their Kings and if they go for an attacking
strategy or a defensive strategy. A first player can immediately
put his opponent in check by placing a slider. Since you can't
capture the second dropped piece, you have to either move your
King or interpose by dropping something next to your King. The
interplay is interesting because there comes a moment where the
attacking can't be sustained and a counter attack can happen...
how the second player places their defending pieces shapes the
counter attack.
#Post#: 271--------------------------------------------------
Re: One of my favorite Variants: Blank Chess
By: Greg Strong Date: January 27, 2018, 8:48 pm
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Interesting. This game would be pretty resistant to computer
play at least in the opening because the branching factor is so
large. For white's first move, there are 40 options. For
white's second move, there are 195 options! It would require
some special techniques to achieve any respectable depth,
probably very similar to what is done in Shogi engines.
#Post#: 280--------------------------------------------------
Re: One of my favorite Variants: Blank Chess
By: John_Lewis Date: January 28, 2018, 9:14 pm
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Agreed! I think the fact that this game will likely not be
studied by computers any time soon and the branching structure
of the moves exploding so quickly in the early game probably
make it one of the most expansive variants around.
Now I have to check your math...
First move 32 moves.
Second move ~32 moves (it's possible that the opposing King was
placed on the 4th rank, removing up to 3 squares.)
[code]((3*8)*(4*8) + (6 * 5) + (2 * 6)) / 2 = 405[/code] (The
division by 2 is to remove mirrored positions.)
[code](((64/2)-1)*5) + 8[/code] (Half the board, minus one space
where the King sits, one of 5 pieces -OR- moving the King is
also still an option... in this case I didn't bother do go all
the way out to remove illegal moved for the King.) Maybe I'll do
that in the morning.
Slightly less than:
405 * 35 = 14175 moves for white on the third move.
Strangely, the number may narrow significantly for Black's
second move, based on if the placed piece by White put the Black
King in Check.
#Post#: 283--------------------------------------------------
Re: One of my favorite Variants: Blank Chess
By: Greg Strong Date: January 29, 2018, 10:51 am
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Yes, you are correct, for some reason I was thinking of an
80-square board
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