Cylinder chess
Encyclopedia
Cylinder chess is a chess variant
with an unusual board. The game is played as if the board were a cylinder
, with the left side of the board joined to the right side. According to Bill Wall, in 947
in a history of chess in India and Persia, the Arabic historian Ali al-Masudi described six different variants of chess, including astrological chess, circular chess
and cylinder chess.
Cylindrical board is also used in chess problems.
It is legal to move a rook from a3 to h3, even if there is a piece on b3, since the rook can move left from a3. A bishop on c1 can go to h4, by moving from c1 to a3, and then going up and left from a3 to h4. Moves that do not change the position, like rook a3-a3 (assuming 3rd rank is empty), are usually not allowed, but sometimes they are in some problems
. It is allowed to capture en passant
over the board edge. For example, if white has a pawn on a5, black on h7 and black plays h7-h5, white can capture it: a5xh6.
Bishops are more valuable in this variant. And, unlike in standard chess, king and rook cannot enforce checkmate against the lone king on the cylindrical board.
The game is sometimes played with changed rules for castling
:
Some cylinder chess problems allow moves that don't change the position (null moves). At the right an example of such a problem is shown. The solution is to put black in a zugzwang
by playing 1.Rh4-h4 . Now, after any move by black white has a mate. The move 1.Rg4 doesn't work because of 1....Ka5 threatening to capture the rook.
. One can get a toroidal board by connecting first and last ranks of the cylindrical board. On the toroidal board, even king and queen can't checkmate the lone king.
See the Torus Chess link below for a toroidal variant that can be played, with an explanation of moves and strategy. The diagram on the right shows the starting position for play on a standard board, using toroidal geometry.
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:...
with an unusual board. The game is played as if the board were a cylinder
Cylinder (geometry)
A cylinder is one of the most basic curvilinear geometric shapes, the surface formed by the points at a fixed distance from a given line segment, the axis of the cylinder. The solid enclosed by this surface and by two planes perpendicular to the axis is also called a cylinder...
, with the left side of the board joined to the right side. According to Bill Wall, in 947
947
Year 947 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* The Later Jin Dynasty falls to the Later Han Dynasty in China....
in a history of chess in India and Persia, the Arabic historian Ali al-Masudi described six different variants of chess, including astrological chess, circular chess
Circular chess
Circular chess is a chess variant played using the standard set of pieces on a circular board consisting of four rings, each of sixteen squares. This is topologically equivalent to playing on the surface of a cylinder.- History :...
and cylinder chess.
Cylindrical board is also used in chess problems.
Rules and gameplay
The game is played as if there is no edge on the side of the board. When a piece goes off the right edge of the board in cylinder chess, it reappears on the left edge; when a piece goes off the left edge, it reappears on the right edge.It is legal to move a rook from a3 to h3, even if there is a piece on b3, since the rook can move left from a3. A bishop on c1 can go to h4, by moving from c1 to a3, and then going up and left from a3 to h4. Moves that do not change the position, like rook a3-a3 (assuming 3rd rank is empty), are usually not allowed, but sometimes they are in some problems
Chess problem
A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by somebody using chess pieces on a chess board, that presents the solver with a particular task to be achieved. For instance, a position might be given with the instruction that White is to move first, and checkmate Black in two...
. It is allowed to capture en passant
En passant
En passant is a move in the board game of chess . It is a special pawn capture which can occur immediately after a player moves a pawn two squares forward from its starting position, and an enemy pawn could have captured it had it moved only one square forward...
over the board edge. For example, if white has a pawn on a5, black on h7 and black plays h7-h5, white can capture it: a5xh6.
Bishops are more valuable in this variant. And, unlike in standard chess, king and rook cannot enforce checkmate against the lone king on the cylindrical board.
The game is sometimes played with changed rules for castling
Castling
Castling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of the original rooks of the same color. It is the only move in chess in which a player moves two pieces at the same time. Castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then...
:
- Castling is not allowed. Proponents of this convention argue that the purpose of castling is nullified by all files being equivalent, as they are on the cylinder.
- Additionally to normal castling, castling with the wrong rook (over the board edge) is also allowed. By such castling on the king side the king e1 moves to g1 and rook a1 moves to f1. This castling on the queen-side has the rook on h1 moving to d1, king moves to c1.
Some cylinder chess problems allow moves that don't change the position (null moves). At the right an example of such a problem is shown. The solution is to put black in a zugzwang
Zugzwang
Zugzwang is a term usually used in chess which also applies to various other games. The term finds its formal definition in combinatorial game theory, and it describes a situation where one player is put at a disadvantage because he has to make a move when he would prefer to pass and make no move...
by playing 1.Rh4-h4 . Now, after any move by black white has a mate. The move 1.Rg4 doesn't work because of 1....Ka5 threatening to capture the rook.
Horizontal cylinder chess and toroidal chess
In horizontal cylinder chess, first and last rank are connected. In toroidal chess the board has the form of a torusTorus
In geometry, a torus is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle...
. One can get a toroidal board by connecting first and last ranks of the cylindrical board. On the toroidal board, even king and queen can't checkmate the lone king.
See the Torus Chess link below for a toroidal variant that can be played, with an explanation of moves and strategy. The diagram on the right shows the starting position for play on a standard board, using toroidal geometry.
External links
- Cylinder chess by George Jelliss, Variant Chess, Volume 3, Issue 22, Winter 1996-7, pages 32–33.
- Cylindrical chess by Ron Porter and Cliff Lundberg.
- BrainKing.com - internet server to play Cylinder chess and many other chess variants
- Torus Chess by Karl Fischer, Torus Chess on a standard board - playable, if bloody.