Checkless chess
Encyclopedia
Checkless Chess is a chess variant
where neither player is allowed to give a check, with the exception of checkmate
. All other rules are as in regular chess
. This change has a profound impact on the way the game is played.
In regular chess, the king
needs to be kept safe, since attacks on it need to be parried, and checks can be used to gain time or chase the king to an unsafe position. In checkless chess however, the king is immune from most attacks, as long as checkmates are avoided. In order to achieve checkmate the king must be encircled without checks.
Another impact of this rule is that the king, immune from attack, is now itself a powerful force. The king can defend pieces by placing itself so that capturing the piece would place the king in check. The king can advance into the enemy position, creating havoc in the enemy camp as they need to avoid squares where they would put the king under check. Such a plan may be risky however, since getting the king trapped in the enemy camp may subject it to an untimely checkmate.
Chess variant
A chess variant is a game related to, derived from or inspired by chess. The difference from chess might include one or more of the following:...
where neither player is allowed to give a check, with the exception of checkmate
Checkmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
. All other rules are as in regular chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
. This change has a profound impact on the way the game is played.
In regular chess, the king
King (chess)
In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
needs to be kept safe, since attacks on it need to be parried, and checks can be used to gain time or chase the king to an unsafe position. In checkless chess however, the king is immune from most attacks, as long as checkmates are avoided. In order to achieve checkmate the king must be encircled without checks.
Another impact of this rule is that the king, immune from attack, is now itself a powerful force. The king can defend pieces by placing itself so that capturing the piece would place the king in check. The king can advance into the enemy position, creating havoc in the enemy camp as they need to avoid squares where they would put the king under check. Such a plan may be risky however, since getting the king trapped in the enemy camp may subject it to an untimely checkmate.
External links
- Checkless chess by Hans Bodlaender.