Capablanca chess (or Capablancas chess) is a chess variant invented in the 1920s by former World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca. It incorporates two new pieces and is played on a 10×8 board. Capablanca proposed the variant while World Champion, and not as a sour grapes rationalization after losing his title as some critics have asserted. He believed that chess would be played out in a few decades and games between grandmasters would always end in draws. The threat of draw death for chess was his main motivation for creating a more complex and richer version of the game. Chancellor The chancellor combines powers of a rook and a knight. Archbishop The archbishop combines powers of a bishop and a knight. The new pieces have properties that enrich the game. For example, the archbishop by itself can checkmate a lone king (king in a corner, archbishop placed diagonally with one square in between). Piece setup[edit] Capablanca proposed two opening setups for Capablanca chess. In one opening setup, he proposed that the archbishop be placed between the bishop and the queen and that the chancellor be placed between the king and the kings bishop. This setup has the flaw that it leaves the pawn in front of the kings bishop undefended, allowing white to threaten mate on the first move. He subsequently revised the opening setup so that the archbishop was between the queens knight and bishop, and the chancellor was between the kings knight and bishop. He also experimented with 10×10 board sizes, where the pawns could move up to three squares on the initial move. In his book The Adventure of Chess, Edward Lasker writes (p. 39): ...I played many test games with Capablanca, and they rarely lasted more than twenty or twenty-five moves. We tried boards of 10×10 squares and 10×8 squares, and we concluded that the latter was preferable because hand-to-hand fights start earlier on it. Lasker was one of the few supporters. Hungarian grandmaster Géza Maróczy also played some games with Capablanca (who got the better of him). One of the few rational critics, British champion William Winter, thought that there were too many strong pieces, making the minor pieces less relevant. The names for new pieces, Archbishop and Chancellor, were introduced by Capablanca himself. These names are still used in most modern variants of Capablanca chess. Variants predating Capablanca chess[edit] Capablanca was not the first person to add the Chancellor and the Archbishop to the normal chess set, though he is the most famous. Other attempts mostly differ only by the arrangement of pieces and the castling rules. In 1617, Pietro Carrera published a book Il Gioco degli Scacchi, which contained a description of a chess variant played on 8×10 board. He placed new pieces between a rook and a knight. Chancellor was on the kings side and archbishop on the queens side. Carrera used names champion instead of chancellor and centaur instead of archbishop. The game was largely forgotten after the death of the inventor. In 1874, Henry Bird proposed a chess variant similar to Carreras variant. The only significant difference was the opening setup. The chancellor was placed between the queens bishop and queen and the archbishop was placed between the kings bishop and king. Bird used names guard instead of chancellor and equerry instead of archbishop. a b c d e f g h i j 8 a8 black rook b8 black archbishop c8 black knight d8 black bishop e8 black queen f8 black king g8 black bishop h8 black knight i8 black chancelor j8 black rook 8 7 a7 black pawn b7 black pawn c7 black pawn d7 black pawn e7 black pawn f7 black pawn g7 black pawn h7 black pawn i7 black pawn j7 black pawn 7 6 a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 h6 i6 j6 6 5 a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5 i5 j5 5 4 a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4 i4 j4 4 3 a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 h3 i3 j3 3 2 a2 white pawn b2 white pawn c2 white pawn d2 white pawn e2 white pawn f2 white pawn g2 white pawn h2 white pawn i2 white pawn j2 white pawn 2 1 a1 white rook b1 white archbishop c1 white knight d1 white bishop e1 white queen f1 white king g1 white bishop h1 white knight i1 white chancelor j1 white rook 1 a b c d e f g h i j Carrera chess. Earliest chess variant on 8×10 board with archbishop and chancellor. a b c d e f g h i j 8 a8 black rook b8 black knight c8 black bishop d8 black chancelor e8 black queen f8 black king g8 black archbishop h8 black bishop i8 black knight j8 black rook 8 7 a7 black pawn b7 black pawn c7 black pawn d7 black pawn e7 black pawn f7 black pawn g7 black pawn h7 black pawn i7 black pawn j7 black pawn 7 6 a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 h6 i6 j6 6 5 a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5 i5 j5 5 4 a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4 i4 j4 4 3 a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 h3 i3 j3 3 2 a2 white pawn b2 white pawn c2 white pawn d2 white pawn e2 white pawn f2 white pawn g2 white pawn h2 white pawn i2 white pawn j2 white pawn 2 1 a1 white rook b1 white knight c1 white bishop d1 white chancelor e1 white queen f1 white king g1 white archbishop h1 white bishop i1 white knight j1 white rook 1 a b c d e f g h i j Birds chess. Another predecessor of Capablanca chess. Variants postdating Capablanca chess[edit] Capablanca chess has inspired a number of chess variants: Grand chess (1984) by Christian Freeling Gothic Chess (2002) by Ed Trice Abergs variation (2003) by Hans Aberg Grotesque Chess (2004) by Fergus Duniho Paulovichs variation (2004) by David Paulovich Ladorean Chess (2005) by Bernhard U. Hermes Embassy Chess (2005) by Kevin Hill Univers Chess (2006) by Fergus Duniho Schoolbook chess (2006) by Sam Trenholme Modern Capablanca Random chess (2008) by José Carrillo It is noteworthy that Embassy Chess uses a starting position identical to Grand chess adapted to a 10×8 board. Another interesting recent development is Capablanca Random Chess, invented in 2004 by Reinhard Scharnagl. This game combines ideas of Fischer Random Chess and Capablanca chess. It also applies the sound principle which demands that in the starting position, all pawns are protected by at least one piece. Variants using a different board[edit] There are also variants of Capablanca chess that do not use the standard 10×8 board. Grand chess is a popular chess variant invented by Dutch game designer Christian Freeling in 1984. It uses Capablanca chess pieces upon a larger, 10×10 board. In 2007 Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan devised a variant (called Seirawan chess), which adds the two pieces to the standard game in a different manner. The player, after moving a piece (for example, a bishop) from the first rank, may immediately place either of the two pieces on the bishops square. If the player moves all his eight officers without placing the Hawk or the Elephant (Seirawans names for the Archbishop and the Chancellor, respectively), he forfeits his right to do so. a b c d e f g h i j 10 a10 black rook b10 c10 d10 e10 f10 g10 h10 i10 j10 black rook 10 9 a9 b9 black knight c9 black bishop d9 black queen e9 black king f9 black chancelor g9 black archbishop h9 black bishop i9 black knight j9 9 8 a8 black pawn b8 black pawn c8 black pawn d8 black pawn e8 black pawn f8 black pawn g8 black pawn h8 black pawn i8 black pawn j8 black pawn 8 7 a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7 i7 j7 7 6 a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 h6 i6 j6 6 5 a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5 i5 j5 5 4 a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4 i4 j4 4 3 a3 white pawn b3 white pawn c3 white pawn d3 white pawn e3 white pawn f3 white pawn g3 white pawn h3 white pawn i3 white pawn j3 white pawn 3 2 a2 b2 white knight c2 white bishop d2 white queen e2 white king f2 white chancelor g2 white archbishop h2 white bishop i2 white knight j2 2 1 a1 white rook b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1 i1 j1 white rook 1 a b c d e f g h i j Grand chess. The chancellor and archbishop are at right of the king. w4 wd Chess Omega ht440 44.png w3 wd Chess Omega vl44 440.png a9 zd b9 rd c9 nd d9 bd e9 qd f9 kd g9 bd h9 nd i9 rd j9 zd Chess Omega vr44 440.png a8 pd b8 pd c8 pd d8 pd e8 pd f8 pd g8 pd h8 pd i8 pd j8 pd a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7 i7 j7 a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 h6 i6 j6 a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5 i5 j5 a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4 i4 j4 a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 h3 i3 j3 a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 g2 h2 i2 j2 a1 pl b1 pl c1 pl d1 pl e1 pl f1 pl g1 pl h1 pl i1 pl j1 pl a0 zl b0 rl c0 nl d0 bl e0 ql f0 kl g0 bl h0 nl i0 rl j0 zl w1 wl Chess Omega hb440 44.png w2 wl Omega chess starting position Capablanca chess has inspired many chess variants, including Grand chess and Omega chess. See also[edit] ChessV - a program (licensed under the GPL) which plays Capablanca chess and all of the other proposed 10×8 setups, as well as several other chess variants against the computer. SMIRF - a program which plays all 12,118 Capablanca Random Chess variants except Gothic chess. References[edit] Notes ^ In Moscow. Time. 1925-12-07. Bibliography Pritchard, D. B. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Games & Puzzles Publications. pp. 38–40. ISBN 0-9524142-0-1. Edward Lasker (1959). The Adventure of Chess. ISBN 0-486-20510-X. External links[edit] Capablancas Chess by Hans Bodlaender, The Chess Variant Pages Capablanca Chess | material values of pieces Capablanca Chess at BoardGameGeek Play.Chessvariants.org the Capablanca Chess PBM Game Courier Pathguy a simple Capablanca Chess program by Ed Friedlander
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 20:15:27 +0000
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