Hand and brain is a variant of

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 ...

. It is a

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

variant featuring team play with teams featuring one "hand" and one "brain" player.

Overview and rules

The "hand and brain" multiplayer variant features pairs facing off; in each pair, one player is designated "hand" and the other "brain". The game features limited communication, with the "brain" player only able to call which piece to move. Aside from this, no other communication is permitted as the "hand" player then chooses which square to move the piece. Time controls can also be implemented for the variant.

Chess.com Chess.com is an internet chess server and social networking website. One of the largest chess platforms in the world, the site operates on a freemium model in which some features are available for free, and others are available via subscription ...

wrote that "usually, but mainly for entertainment value, the stronger player takes the brain role and the other one plays the hand."

History and presence in online streaming

Alexandra Kosteniuk Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk (; born 23 April 1984) is a Russian and Swiss chess grandmaster who was the Women's World Chess Champion from 2008 to 2010 and Women's World Rapid Chess Champion in 2021. She was European women's champion ...

blogged about the variant being played during the 2013

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Chess Open. In 2016, English grandmaster

Matthew Sadler Matthew David Sadler (born 15 May 1974) is an English chess grandmaster, chess writer and two-time British Chess Champion. Personal life Sadler has a French mother, speaks French perfectly and is also qualified to play in closed French events ...

wrote about playing the variant with Natasha Regan during a

4NCL The 4NCL, or Four Nations Chess League, is the national chess league of the British Isles. The league is named after the four constituent nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The league is played over five weekends, typically at Midl ...

weekend. Due to the multiplayer nature of the variant, it is often played by chess players on

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

. The variant is also common in matches featuring celebrities or figures popular outside of the chess world. Chess.com and

PokerStars PokerStars is an online poker cardroom. It is the largest real money online poker site in the world, controlling over two-thirds of the total online poker market, and can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for Windows, macOS, Androi ...

organized a joint event in 2019 featuring professional poker players playing the chess variant. Chess.com also organized hand and brain matches during their first ChessKid Games tournament in 2019. In the 2020s, the variant gained traction and its play in tournaments increased in coverage. In April 2020, Chess.com organized a Hand and Brain match on

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

under the theme "Zoomers Play Chess", highlighting top

Generation Z Generation Z (often shortened to Gen Z), also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2 ...

chess players. Popular Twitch streamer

Ludwig Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig von Koopa, a character in Mario (the game) Arts and entertai ...

and grandmaster Robert Hess were the winning team of the variant at the 2021 Twitch Rivals event. As part of the 2022 FTX Crypto Cup's opening ceremony,

Levon Aronian Levon Grigori Aronian (; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster who has represented the United States since 2021. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at the age of 17. He is a former world rapid and blit ...

and

FTX FTX Trading Ltd., trading as FTX (Futures Exchange), is a bankrupt company that formerly operated a cryptocurrency exchange and crypto hedge fund. The exchange was founded in 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang and collapsed in 2022 after ...

Vice President Avinash Dabir played against

Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...

and KidSuper founder Colm Dillane in a hand and brain match, with the former pair winning.

Notes

References

{{Chess variants, state=collapsed Chess variants

Overview and rules

History and presence in online streaming

See also

Notes

References