Displacement chess is a family of

chess variants A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways. "International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be co ...

in which a few pieces are transposed in the initial standard

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

position. The main goal of these variants is to negate players' knowledge of standard

chess openings The opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory. The other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences, known as ''openings'', have standard names such as " Sicilian Defense". ' ...

Variations

The following variations were tried in master or grandmaster tournaments: * In ''Il Gioco degli scacchi'', Pietro Carrera gives sample play at a handicap where the stronger player’s king and rook are transposed. He calls this handicap odds of the castled king based on a contemporary rule of free castling. Moreover, he considers it worth slightly less than two pawns when the king and king’s rook are transposed and worth slightly less than the knight when the king and queen’s rook are transposed. * White's king and queen are transposed. This arrangement was tried in a correspondence tournament in 1935 with the participation of grandmaster

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

. This creates a reverse symmetrical starting position like

Chaturanga Chaturanga (, , ) is an Traditional games of India, ancient Indian Strategy game, strategy board game. It is first known from India around the seventh century AD. While there is some uncertainty, the prevailing view among chess historians is t ...

is played from. In Chaturanga, this is done so the players’ starting generals, having only diagonals, will be able to attack each other. * The is transposed with the , so that both bishops are on the and both knights are on the , as shown in the diagram. This variant is sometimes called ''Mongredien chess'', after Augustus Mongredien, the sponsor of a tournament held in London during 1868 under the auspices of the

British Chess Association The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organisation in England. It is affiliated to Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE. The ECF was formed in 2004 as one of the more localised successors to the British Chess Federatio ...

, in which several strong British players took part, including

Joseph Henry Blackburne Joseph Henry Blackburne (10 December 1841 – 1 September 1924) was a British chess player. Nicknamed "The Black Death", he dominated the British scene during the latter part of the 19th century. Blackburne learned the game at the relatively late ...

. According to David Pritchard, this is one of the most popular forms of displacement chess. * The knights and bishops are transposed. This way a pawn move is necessary to free the edge square for the knight to develop to. * The rooks and bishops are transposed. This array was suggested by J. R. Capablanca after his match with

Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher. He was the second World Chess Champion, holding the title for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially ...

, but did not become popular. This variant is also called ''Fianchetto chess''.Fianchetto chess
/ref> * ''PP random chess'': the kings remain on e1 and e8, one of the rooks must remain on the a- or h-file, and the bishops are placed on opposite-colored squares. Proposed in computer chess-playing client Chess4Net by Pavel Perminov.

References

External links

D-Chess.com
*

by

Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was a Bohemian-Austrian, and later American, chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and c ...

", ''ChessCentral.com''. Blackburne–

Potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US *Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska *Potters, New Jerse ...

: Displacement chess game (knights and bishops are transposed) {{Chess variants, state=collapsed Chess variants