Equinox chess

Chess enthusiasts admit that with the advancement of computers and their super engines, the game of chess is being dried up very soon. The amount of creativity that a human brain can produce in the openings is being destroyed due to exhaustive knowledge.

It is for this very reason that the earliest chess masters suggested variants inorder to preserve the dynamic and live spirt of the game and to pass it on to the generations to come. Among them, the variant that almost matches with the traditional game is undoubtedly Fisher Random Chess (FRC)/Chess960. But sooner it was believed that some set-up postions gave an early advantage to white. Yet the the game is gaining popularity day by day inspite of it's critics.

Consider chess or FRC, players expect to get a kind of positions where the knowledge of chess could be easily applied. For e.g developing the Knight to f3 or Bishops to c4, g2 etc. But this is not possible everytime in FRC.

I myself am a player of both these games and I'm a huge of them. And here I would like to suggest a variant based on my past knowledge and experience, inorder to obtain such positions that there is little theory involved and the middle and endgame resembles those in chess. 

Setup

There is no set up of pieces. Pieces are placed/dropped alternately by players.

Pieces

All the pieces are same as in Chess.

Rules

1.The players are provided with a blank board with no pieces on it. The players are required in place the pieces alternately one after the other.

2. The rules for placing pieces are explained below. THE RULES ARE ON THE ASSUMPTION THAT THE PLAYER WITH WHITE PIECES IS PLACING. THE SAME APLLIES TO BLACK.

Rules:

A. For placing pawns

a) A maximum of two pawns may be placed anywhere on the fourth rank.

b) A maximum of three pawns may be placed anywhere on the third rank. 

c) Remaining pawns are placed on the second rank.

d) Two pawns cannot be placed on the same file (Doubled pawns cannot be placed)

B. For placing pieces

a) The King and the Queen shall always remain on the first rank. They can be placed anywhere on the first rank. (E.g Kg8, Qd1, Qe1 etc.)

b) In addition to the King and the Queen, atleast two OR more pieces must be placed on the first rank. If two rooks are placed, then they cannot be connected in any manner. That is, either the king or the queen or any other piece must remain in between the rooks, breaking their coordination. Again, two connected rooks cannot be palced on the same file. They must be separated by a piece or pawn or both.

c) A maximum of one piece can be placed on the fourth rank. (e.g usually Bc4 or Bf4)

d) Remaining pieces can be palced anywhere on the second and third rank.  (e.g Nf3, Nd2, Bd3 etc.)

3. Castling is allowed only if king is on e1 and Rooks are on a1 or g1.

 

Order of placing :

a) White places the first pawn or piece anywhere on the board (as per the rules mentioned above) followed by Black and this continues alternately until all the 32 pieces are placed.

b) There is no particular sequence in placing. Pawns and pieces can be placed simultaneously.

c) Once all the pieces are placed, White gets the first move to make. It could be a capture or some other move based on the position obtained.

 

Notes

A sample piece placement :

1. d4 Nc6 

2. e3 Nf6

3. c4 e6

4. Nc3 d6

5.  b2 f7

6. f3 c6

7. g2 Bd7

8. h2 Bg7

9. Nf2 g5

10. a3 a6

11. Rd1 Qe8

12. Qe1 b7

13. Bd3 Rc8

14. Bg3 h6

15. Kg1 Rf8

16. Rf1 Kg8

Obtained is a middle game with even chances for both sides.