Fairy chess is the area of

chess composition A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a Chess puzzle, puzzle created by the composer using chess pieces on a chessboard, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction t ...

in which there are some changes to the

rules of chess The rules of chess (also known as the laws of chess) govern the play of the game of chess. Chess is a two-player Abstract strategy game, abstract strategy board game. Each player controls sixteen chess piece, pieces of six types on a chessboar ...

. It may involve changes to the board, pieces, or rules to express an idea or theme impossible in orthodox chess. An altered piece used in fairy chess is known as a

fairy chess piece A fairy chess piece, variant chess piece, unorthodox chess piece, or heterodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some unorthodox chess problems, known as fairy chess. Compar ...

. The term ''fairy chess'' was introduced by

Henry Tate Sir Henry Tate, 1st Baronet (11 March 18195 December 1899) was an English merchant and philanthropist, noted for establishing the Tate Britain, Tate Gallery and the company that became Tate & Lyle. Early life Henry Tate was born in White Copp ...

in 1914. Thomas R. Dawson (1889–1951), the "father of fairy chess", invented many fairy pieces and new conditions. He was also problem editor of ''

Fairy Chess Review ''Fairy Chess Review'' () was a magazine that was devoted principally to fairy chess problems, but also included extensive original results on related questions in mathematical recreations, such as knight's tour A knight's tour is a sequence o ...

'' (1930–1951). Although the term ''fairy chess'' is sometimes used for games, it is more usually applied in the context of problems. Variations on chess intended to create complete, playable games are more typically referred to as ''

chess variant 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 ...

s''.

Types of fairy chess problems

Types of changed rules in fairy chess problems include: * ''New stipulations:'' The alterations most used by fairy chess players, like Thomas Dawson, are new stipulations about mate instead of a direct mate stipulation. Many of them were invented and some became established.

Selfmate A selfmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves. Selfmates were once known as sui-mates. Example The problem shown is a relatively simple example. It is a sel ...

s and

helpmate A helpmate is a type of chess problem in which both sides cooperate in order to achieve the goal of checkmating Black. In a helpmate in ''n'' moves, Black moves first, then White, each side moving ''n'' times, to culminate in White's ''nth'' m ...

s are, in the 21st century, often considered to be orthodox (not fairy) stipulations. Among others are

reflexmate A reflexmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves against their will – with the added condition that if either player can give checkmate, they must. If this c ...

s and various types of

seriesmover A ''seriesmover'' is a chess problem in which one side makes a series of legal moves without reply at the end of which the other side makes a single move, giving checkmate or yielding stalemate, depending on the precise stipulation. Checks canno ...

s. * ''New conditions:'' Encompassing all changes of rules including rules for captures, checks, checkmates, and general movement abilities. Many were invented; some became established, including

Circe chess Circe chess (or just Circe) is a chess variant in which captured pieces return to their starting positions as soon as they are captured. The game was invented by French composer Pierre Monréal in 1967 and the rules of Circe chess were first deta ...

Madrasi chess Madrasi chess is a chess variant invented in 1979 by Indian Abdul Jabbar Karwatkar, who named the game after his home town. The game uses the conventional rules of chess with the addition that when a piece is attacked by a piece of the same typ ...

Andernach chess Andernach chess is a chess variant in which a piece making a capture (except kings) changes colour. For instance, if a white bishop on a2 were to capture a black knight on g8, the result would be a black bishop on g8. Non-capturing moves are playe ...

monochromatic chess Monochromatic chess is a chess variant with unknown origin. The initial board position and all rules are the same as in regular chess, except that pieces that begin on a black square must always stay on a black square and pieces that begin on a w ...

, patrol chess,

Einstein chess Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

, and Descartes chess. * ''New chess pieces:'' Conventional

chess piece A chess piece, or chessman, is a game piece that is placed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. It can be either White and Black in chess, white or black, and it can be one of six types: King (chess), king, Queen (chess), queen, Rook (ches ...

s are generalized in many ways into

s, such as

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

nightrider Night Rider, Nightrider, or variants thereof may refer to: Literature * ''Night Rider'' (novel), a 1939 novel by Robert Penn Warren * ''Night Rider'', a 2001 novel by W. A. Harbinson written under the Shaun Clarke pseudonym * Nightrider (DC C ...

, and

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

. * ''Different boards:'' One can vary board size from 8×8 to other sizes (10×10, 8×10, or 8×8 unusual board shapes, etc.) or use different geometries:

cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

(vertical and horizontal), anchor ring or

torus In geometry, a torus (: tori or toruses) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space one full revolution about an axis that is coplanarity, coplanar with the circle. The main types of toruses inclu ...

and others. There are fairy chess problems that combine some of these changed rules. All entries in the world championships and in the

FIDE Album The FIDE Albums are publications of the world chess governing body, FIDE, via the Permanent Commission of the FIDE for Chess Compositions (PCCC), containing the best chess problems and studies of a certain period (usually three years in length). ...

s are divided into eight sections: (, and ),

endgame studies In the game of chess, an endgame study, or just study, is a type of chess problem that starts with a composed position—i.e. one that has been made up rather than played in an actual game—where the goal is to find the essentially unique way for ...

selfmate A selfmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves. Selfmates were once known as sui-mates. Example The problem shown is a relatively simple example. It is a sel ...

s, fairy chess, retros, and

mathematical problems A mathematical problem is a problem that can be Representation (mathematics), represented, analyzed, and possibly solved, with the methods of mathematics. This can be a real-world problem, such as computing the Orbit#Planetary orbits, orbits of the ...

Fairy chess literature

Books and pamphlets devoted to fairy chess: Periodicals devoted to fairy chess: * ''The Problemist Fairy Supplement'' (August 1930 – June 1936) * ''Fairy Chess Review'' (August 1936 – April 1958) * ''Feenschach'', edited by W. Karsch

References

Bibliography *

External links

Fairy chess
by Michael McDowell

by Otto Janko
MetaChess, an open source fairy chess engine
{{Chess variants Chess variants

Types of fairy chess problems

Fairy chess literature

See also

References

External links