Ah-ha! Wikipedia is our friend. That's what it says:

When neither side has any pawns, the game must be completed within a certain number of moves or it is declared a draw. When a piece is captured the count starts again from scratch only if it is the last piece of one side in the game.

* When neither side has any pawns left, mate must be achieved in 64 moves. The disadvantaged player does the counting, and may at any time choose to stop counting. If the disadvantaged side checkmates the advantage side and did not stop counting, the game is declared a draw.

When the last piece (that is not the King) of the disadvantaged side is captured, the count may be started, or restarted from the aforementioned counting, by the weaker side, and the stronger side now has a maximum number of moves based on the pieces left:

* If there are two rooks left: 8 moves
* If there is one rook left: 16 moves
* If there are no rooks left, but there are two bishops: 22 moves
* If there are no rooks left, but there is one bishop: 44 moves
* If there are no rooks or bishops left, but there are two knights: 32 moves
* If there are no rooks or bishops left, but there is one knight: 64 moves
* If there are no rooks, bishops, or knights, but queens: 64 moves

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makruk

Ukimix: Ah, there seems to be a problem:

"Object of the game is to mate the opponents king. Stalemate is a draw. Also, when a player has no rook, bishop, or knight anymore, the other player must mate him within a certain number of moves, depending on how many `big' pieces the player has, otherwise the game is declared a draw. The precise numbers are omitted here (also, my sources on this seem to contradict - is there a native player of this game who can provide full information on this topic?). "

The rules at Chessvariants are not certain about this subject. Would you have any other source of reliable information?

Ukimix: I was thinking of than, along with Changgi (Korean Chess). Actually, I didn't want to release new games until BrainKing 3.0 is completed, but since Makruk seems to be easy to implement (and, unlike Changgi, does not require any new images of pieces), I can try to spend some time on it, heh. No promises, though.

What about Makruk or Thai Chess? It would be really nice to add it to BK, since we have already shogi (japanese chess), and xianqi (chinese chess), not to speak about go.

World Champion Vladimir Kramnik says about this variant: "Makruk Thai is more strategic than International Chess, [...] You have to plan your operations with total care since Makruk Thai can be compared to an anticipated endgame of International Chess."

Take a look of Kramnik playing makruk here:
http://www.chessvariants.org/oriental.dir/thaikramnik.html

AbigailII: It might add a lot being on a smaller board than those other games. The name lags in my opinion, but the game might be a good game. Lots of concentrated power and yet still a Chess game.

echec-et-mat: How much would TUTTI-FRUTTI chess add, given that BK already has Embassy chess, Grand Chess and Capablanca Random Chess which all three feature the same "new" pieces TUTTI-FRUTTI features, although with a different name. And one of the pieces also appears as a Janus in Janus Chess.

Yes. It is very similar. Do u think we could play a little test tourney here in BK?

agentofchaos: Hmmm, the rules say "The rules of Neutral King Chess are identical to those of International Chess, except when noted below.", and below it doesn't mention anything about pawns. Yet, in the initial configuration, each player has exactly one pawn on their second row, and one pawn on their first row. Which means the white player can play 'd2-d4' twice. But not as a first move. And as a second move for the pawn starting from the first row. It would have made more sense to limit the pawn movement and forbid a double step as the move from the second row.

And the unsymmetric starting position irks me.

(BTW, if Fencer is going to make new games, I'd prefer to see some Mancala variants instead of yet another chess variant.)

Ukimix: Ukimix: Actually, there is a variant called Nuclear chess aka Dead Square Chess that has identical rules to your proposed variant. Here is a link:
http://www.chessvariants.org/difftaking.dir/deadsquare.html

OLTI27: This does sound like an interesting variant. There is another variant called Cursed Chess, which is somewhat similar, although not exactly the same. When a piece is captured it curses the square it is on so that enemy pieces are unable to cross it once the capturing piece leaves. Friendly pieces can still use the square though. The full description is here:
http://www.chessvariants.org/difftaking.dir/cursed.html

Here's an interesting variant by the inventor of Racing Kings (Vernon Parton). The rules are described here:
http://www.chessvariants.org/winning.dir/neutral-king.html
Basically, neither player has a king of their own, but there is a neutral king that may be moved by either player. The object of the game is to checkmate the Neutral King and prevent your opponent from doing so. I don't think there are ANY websites that have it! (Although there is a java applet at pathguy.com where you can play against a computer. But there's nowhere you can play against real opponents.) Brainking could have a world first!

Hello,
I have thought about a new chess variant: "DOUBLE KING CHESS". It is played on a board 12x10.The pieces (letter from a to j) are so collocated:Rook, Horse, Bishop, chancellor, Queen, King, Amazon, Marshall, Big King (a Bigger King that can move even two squares in every direction with possible jump), Bishop, Horse, Rook. No en passant rule. Castling is allowed like standard chess. Big King can not be checkmated. If Big King reach the last row the colour that obtain it win the game. A pawn can promote even on 8t row.
Thanks in advance for attention.
Cheers.

Sounds interesting! I would take part in. But please no time control under 5 days with standard vacation if possible. :)

I´d try to ask FromHell ;-)

No answer from caissus < :-(

Well! We are ready: a tourney with OLTI, Egzot, Staigi and me. :-) Hope it would be possible.

I asked Staigi, he likes it and can play

I wrote Caissus, to see if it is possible.

I am ready too

Ukimix: For me it's fine.

Maybe we can play a test tourney. We could play it with four players, to see what opinions result. OLTI27 could played, maybe Egzot, and me (shame that nabla cant play it). We would need another one.

Ukimix: Well all I can say is that your variant deserves to be playtested ! My advice would be to start some unrated Atomic games here with players who are ready to play by those rules. It shouldn't be long to see whether the variant works well or not.
Unfortunately I can't be one of those players (at least not for now), I need a lot of IRL time right now.

Ukimix:
It will be very interesting to se how tha game evalve this way. Probably it will give to the game more strategy without losing the taktik and dynamicity that makes atomic chess so fun. I think to give it a try and test play it.

I would like to propose to add a new chess variant to the site. It is quite easy and it is really fun. I call it: "Atomic-x" or "Atomix".

You know, atomic is an explosive variant, cause, taking a piece is like let down a small bomb in the square whre the piece is taken: every piece one square arround disappears (with the exception for pawns).

Well Atomic-X chess is even a more explosive game. It is played with the same rules than Atomic Chess, but with this two additional rules:
1. when a piece is captured, not only disappear the pieces around the taken piece, but also the square in wich one the piece were taken. So, nobody can locate a piece in that square from now on.
2. Once a square has disappear (by some capture on it) no attacks are allowed trougth that square, neither a piece can pass trougth that square; i.e. if white takes Nc8, it will be impossible for black to do long castle (o-o-o), since rock can pass trougth c8 square.

That is all!

I think about this variant cause i used to play atomic chess. Atomic players can find it interesting, i guess.

What do u think about adding this new variant? :-)

Ukimix

so you guys think we can get ultima on here?...

Sir, You are kind to let me and others
have a go at this. Checkmating the
knight is easier than you think if
you can get bishops or the queen
to place pressure on the knight

dicepro: You can try it, I've just added this game to BrainKing.

Servant: Interesting ... but how to check mate such a jumper ?

My Proposal is Knightmate Chess:

It is the same as standard chess but the knights and kings swap places, meaning you start with two kings where the knights are and one knight where the king is. Castling is permitted with the knight and en passant is still available. A pawn can promote to a king but not a knight. Just like the king, a knight cannot move into check, and it must move out of check on the very next move. All other rules are the same as standard chess.
An intriguing game full of suprise moves!

Would anyone like to play Modern Chess? It's Chess on a 9x9 board with an extra Prime Minister (or Minister/Archbishop = B + N) and a 9th pawn. It looks like fun.

http://play.chessvariants.org/pbm/play.php?game%3DModern+Chess%26settings%3DModern+Chess


While in the original setup both Bishops start up in the dark squares, there is a "Bishop-Castling" rule in this game which allows a player to swap places for one (and only one) of the Bishops with the adjacent Knight, Queen or Minister, therefore ending up with a Bishop on the light squares, just like in normal chess. The Bishop castling is optional though, and if one feels that playing with both Bishops on the dark squares is better, they can do so.

If you are interested, send me a PM.

On the way to work today i came up with the idea for a "Tafl Chess" variant - basically the pieces have the same moves as in regular chess but capture is by flanking (like in Tablut) rather than substitution as in normal chess. I played a game out when I got home and it seems to work - any thoughts?

Haven't checked to see if this has been discussed before (apologies if so), but has anyone ever encountered Arimaa before? I just found it on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arimaa if you want to take a look). Interesting looking game - now I just have to find a way to play it!

Walter Montego: ok cool!

yaayy :]

ChessChampion: It's not unprogrammable. Zillions of Games has it. I think the Chess Variants site has it too, but I'm not sure of that. I and others have requested Ultima on BrainKing.

The dread Immobilizer is coming your way! :)

y is it unprogrammable? :[
dat variant is probly my favorite of all of them...

I play dice chess alot and came up with a idea...what if king is to move but will put him in check or if he is in check?...it would be nice to elimiate king move into check and also be able to roll only possible pieces to stop when you are in check...what do you think?

Mike

Dogod: I once played this game in a correspondence club, as you described, except that there was no restriction on how far a friendly piece could be repelled. One useful tactic was positioning a piece behind a passed pawn, thereby pushing to the eighth rank for an immediate promotion! It was especially effective by moving a Rook or Queen, so that the newly gained Queen was defended.

emmett: we already got something like this.. loop chess

Sibahi: Ultima? You mean the ''unprogrammable" chess game?

Also, I like the idea of Knightmating Chess. 8x8 board, exchange the knights for kings, exchange the kings on the E file for a knight, and checkmate the knight.

For short, knights play the king's role.

Ray Garrison: I totally agree

Pason69: In the rules the game ends as checkmate happens. There will be no ice age because there will not be a new move in the case of a checkmate.

kid_game_2001:
I meant if the wKing is on moved d3-d4, wPawn on e4 and bPawn on e5. Then he is in check, and as I see how Black can escape the check since Pawn e5 can't move... Sorry if I was confusing you!

Pason69: I'm not quite sure I understand that exactly. But if I am thinking about it correctly it would be like this

Pawns only move forward (of course)
If a pawn cant move because of any piece in front of it, then the pawn cant move. The piece blocking the pawn is safe
Pawns can only capture on diagonals. That would go for the king as well. The king would only be in danger if the pawn was on a diagonal.
If I understand your question right, nothing would happen. The king is safe as long as it is directly in front of the pawn

kid_game_2001:

Sound very different, but interesting, Just one question: What happens if you move into check, and the opponent can't stop the check, eg a pawn that cant move forward?

Alright here is a variant that I thought might be good for Brainking. I do remember reading about it on the internet somewhere so no idea if it is copyright or not.

It has the same standard chess setup. 8x8 board. Same usual pieces in chess.
It works like regular chess, in other words you have to checkmate the enemy king.
The difference, is that you CANT put the rival king in check. Check is an illegal move. You can only check the rival king if it is a checkmate.
This means that you can move your own king into a position where it is in check by another piece. In that case, your opponent must stop the check, either by blocking the check or moving away.
If you do move your king in check, you should NOT be allowed to move it to a spot where it is attacked by 2 or more pieces. As that way it would be a win if you moved your king to where it was attacked by 2 enemy pieces.

Basically,
Check is illegal
You can move your own king into check (only if the square is attacked by just one piece)
Opponent must stop the check (move or block)
You win when you checkmate the opposing king

Bughouse is an interesting type of chess where four players, two per team, play chess on two boards. When one member of a team takes a piece, his partner gets to drop that piece on his own board.

I know a lot of you know this, and I know bughouse chess has been suggested to Fencer.

Maybe we can have a variation on this, where only two opponents play (without teams), yet the players play simultaneously on two boards. The boards can be shown on the same screen. When a piece is taken off of one board, it can be dropped on the other board.

it is not checkmate imho if blacks can waits for ice blocks as a defence

I'm not sure if it's answered before somewhere, but here it comes: What is the purpose of IceAge chess, to mate the King or take the king? It is a difference if you put him checkmate as white in move 20, he makes his 20th move and then the ice stops the mate Eg backrank mate with wRe8, BKg8, Pf7,g7,h7: Blacks 20th move (he is mate) Kh8, and now the ice age comes...