Modest Proposals - TURN Variants

White begins by making a single move and, on all subsequent turns, each player is obliged to make either a single capturing move or two non-capturing moves. A check on the first move of a turn is legal only if it involves a capture, while a check on the second move of a turn is legal only if it does not involve a capture.

A player in check must end the check with the first move of his or her turn. Stalemate occurs when a player who is not in check has no legal moves during a turn (i.e., no legal capturing or non-capturing move at the start of a turn; no legal non-capturing move after the first move of a turn). A stalemated player loses.

White begins by making one move and Black responds by making two moves. On subsequent turns, each player is obliged to make either two moves (at least one of which is a capture) or three moves (none of which are captures). A check may only be given with the final move of a turn, and players in check must terminate the check with their first move in reply.

Stalemate occurs when a player who is not in check has no legal moves — either at the beginning of a turn, after the first move of a turn (no legal move or capture) or after two non-capturing moves (no legal non-capturing move). A stalemated player loses.

White begins by making a single move; thereafter each player’s turn must consist of either (a) one move -- if the opponent made a capture on the immediately preceding turn or (b) two moves — if the opponent’s previous turn did not include a capture. There are no en passant captures.

Checks are only allowed on the final move of a turn, and a player beginning a turn in check must terminate the check with the first move of his or her turn. A player unable to complete a turn loses.

White begins by making a single move and Black responds by making two moves; thereafter each player’s turn must consist of either (a) two moves — if the opponent made a capture on the immediately preceding turn or (b) three moves — if the opponent’s previous turn did not include a capture. There are no en passant captures.

Checks are only permitted on the final move of a turn, and a player beginning a turn in check must terminate the check with the first move of his or her turn. A player unable to complete a turn loses.

White begins with a single move and each player is thereafter allowed one more move than the opponent was allowed on the preceding turn. Captures are not permitted during the first three moves of a turn unless a capture is required to remove a check. En passant captures are not allowed.

Checks are only permitted on the final move of a player’s turn. A player unable to remove a check with the first move of his or her turn is checkmated.

White begins with a single move, Black responds with two moves, White with three moves and each player thereafter has four moves per turn. A player may only move a chessman one space on the first move of a turn, up to two spaces on the second move of a turn, up to three spaces on the third move of a turn, or up to four spaces on the final move of a turn.

A Knight move or castling is considered a single-space move. En passant captures are only permitted on the first move of a player’s turn, and only if the pawn to be captured had made a double-step move to end the opponent’s preceding turn.

Checks are only permitted on the final move of a player’s turn, and a player’s King may not be in check after the first move of a turn.

If a player’s move is a capture, he or she must make a second move on the same turn. The second move must involve a different chessman and may not be a capture. There are no restrictions on when a player may check, but a player beginning a turn in check must terminate the check with the first move of his or her turn. A player unable to complete a turn (i.e., checkmated, stalemated at the start of the turn, or no non-capturing moves after capturing on the first move of a turn) loses.

Binary Chess

White begins by making a single move, Black answers with two moves, White then plays three moves and, on all subsequent turns, each player makes four moves. A player may not check until the final move of a turn and, if beginning a turn in check, must get out of check with the first move of his or her turn. There is no castling and pawns may not capture en passant.

On the first and fourth moves of a turn, all chessmen move as in standard chess. On the second or third moves of a turn the Kings and pawns move normally but (a) Rooks move like standard Bishops, (b) Bishops move like standard Rooks, (c) Knights move like standard Queens and (d) Queens move like standard Knights.

A King is checked by a piece's standard chess move only, and may not be captured on the second or third move of a turn using a piece's nonstandard move.

Example: (White's turns are odd-numbered, Black's even-numbered) 1 e4 2 d5 de and now best is 3 Bd3 Bxd8 Bxc8 — if instead 3 Nc3 Nd3 (Nc7 is an illegal check) Nxd8 or 3 Bc4 Bd4 Bxd8, for example, Black wins after 4 Bg4 e3 e2 exd1=Q (or R) mate.

White begins by making a single move and, on subsequent turns, each player makes two moves. En passant captures are not permitted. No chessman may move through both the 4th and 5th rank in a single move.

Checks are only permitted on the final move of a player’s turn, and a player in check must terminate the check with the first move of his or her turn.

Example: On an open d-file a Rook at d1 does not check an opposing King at d8; moving the Rook to d4 or d5 would check, and therefore could only be played on the final move of a turn.

White begins by making a single move, Black responds with two moves, White then makes three moves and, on all subsequent turns, each player makes four moves. Exactly one move per turn must be with one of the opponent’s chessmen other than the King, and a player may not capture later in a turn after moving an opposing chessman.

Checks are only permitted on the final move of a player’s own chessmen during a turn. Players must get out of check by moving their own chessmen, and a player’s King may not be in check after the first move of a player’s turn.

En passant captures are not allowed. If a player is not able to complete the required moves of a turn and is not in check, the game is drawn.

Compulsive Chess

White begins by making a single move, Black replies with two moves, White then makes three moves and, on subsequent turns, each player makes four moves. On each turn consisting of four moves, a player is required to either make a capture during the turn or to check on the final move of the turn.

Checks and checkmates are only permitted on the final move of a turn. A player wins if (a) the opposing King is checkmated or (b) the opponent is unable to make the required number of moves or (c) the opponent fails to capture or check during a four-move turn or (d) the opponent is forced to check before the final move of a turn.

White begins with a single move and thereafter each player must, if possible, make two moves per turn. Both moves of a turn must move a friendly unit into the same quadrant (16-square quarter-board areas bounded by: a1-a4-d4-d1, a5-a8-d8-d5, e1-e4-h4-h1 or e5-e8-h8-h1). If a player has no legal second move that places a chessman in the same quadrant, the turn ends after one move.

There are no en passant captures. Checks are only permitted on the second move of a turn, and a move that leaves or places a player’s own King in check is not permitted.

White begins with a single move, Black responds with two moves, White with three moves and each player thereafter makes four moves per turn. A player may only move a unit up to four spaces on the first move of a turn, up to three spaces on the second move of a turn, up to two spaces on the third move of a turn, and one space on the final move of a turn.

A Knight move or castling is considered a single-space move. There are no en passant captures. Checks are only permitted on the final move of a player’s turn, and a player’s King may not be in check after the first move of a turn.

Dichotomy Chess

SET-UP: The two players are "Same" and "Different". "Same" has White chessmen on light squares and Black chessmen on dark squares; "Different" has Black chessmen on light squares, White chessmen on dark squares. The starting array is as follows (a-to-h file, with uppercase = White, lowercase = Black, a1 a dark square): first rank - rNbQkBnR; second rank - PpPpPpPp, seventh rank - pPpPpPpP, eighth rank - rNbKqBnR.

MOVEMENT: All chessmen may only move to spaces of their starting color (i.e., they are color-bound) and none of the chessmen may leap over occupied squares. Rooks move either one space diagonally or an even number of spaces orthogonally (i.e., along either the rank or the file). Knights move either three spaces vertically followed by one space horizontally to their destination, or three spaces horizontally followed by one space vertically. Bishops move as in standard chess. Monarchs (Kings and Queens) move one space diagonally, while pawns always move and capture forward one space diagonally.

PLAY: "Same" begins by moving one of his/her White chessman, and on subsequent turns a player makes first one move with the player's own Black chessmen, followed by one move with the player's own White chessmen. A pawn moving to or reentered on the opponent's back rank does not promote, but is immediately replaced on any vacant square (of the appropriate color) on the player's half of the board A player unable to complete a turn (stalemate) loses. A captured piece switches sides and is reentered on the capturing player's next turn, on the square (of the appropriate color) vacated by a chessman that moves. The objective is to be the first player to capture one of the opponent's Monarchs.

White begins with a single move and, on all subsequent turns, a player must, if possible, make two moves. The first and second moves of a turn must move friendly units into different quadrants (16-square quarter-board area: a1-a4-d4-d1, a5-a8-d8-d5, e1-e4-h4-h1 or e5-e8-h8-h1). If a player has no legal second move that places a chessman in a different quadrant, the player’s turn ends after one move.

There are no en passant captures. A player may only check with the second move of a turn, and a move that leaves or places a player’s own King in check is not permitted.

White begins with a single move, and each player thereafter makes two moves per turn. There are no checks and the King has no special status (it may be captured like any other chessman). There is no castling and the chessmen are arrayed and move as in standard chess. Pawns promote to Queen, Rook, Knight or Bishop.

The objective is to be the first player to eliminate two types of opposing chessmen — the types consisting of Monarchs (King and all Queens), Rooks, Knights, Bishops and pawns.

White begins by making a single move, Black answers with two legal moves, and thereafter each player's turn consists of two moves (only the second of which may be a check). En passant captures are only permitted on the first move of a turn, and then only if the opponent's preceding turn ended with a double-step pawn move.

The object of play is to create a position which allows the opponent to checkmate on his or her next turn. The helpmate must be announced or otherwise indicated before the end of the winning player's turn. A player is checkmated (and therefore wins) if his/her King is in check and the check cannot be ended by the first move of a turn; a checkmate also occurs if the only move to get out of check would result in a check to the opposing King (since a check on the first move of a turn is not permitted).

Examples: White must begin with 1 f3, 1 Nf3 or 1 g4 (any other move loses to 1 ... f6/g5 allowing a mate by Qh5). If 1 f3 f6/e6?? White wins (e.g., 2 Nc3/g4 allowing 2 ... f5/Qh4); if 1 f3 f6/d5?? White wins (e.g., 2 Nc3/h3 allowing 2 ... Qd6/Qg3).

On each turn a player makes two moves if the opponent's immediately prior turn involved a capture, or one move if the opponent's turn did not involve a capture. A player may only check on the final move of his/her turn and, if beginning a turn in check, must get out of check with the first move of his/her turn. En passant captures are allowed only if no other moves have intervened after a double-step pawn move.

Example: 1 e4 d5 2 ed? Bg4-Bxd1 is a win for Black

White begins by making a single move and Black replies with two moves; on all subsequent turns a player makes three moves if the opponent captured on the prior turn or two moves if the opponent did not capture on the prior turn. En passant captures are only permitted if no moves have intervened after a double-step pawn move.

A player may only check with the final move of a turn, and a move that leaves or places a player’s own King in check is not permitted.

Extermination Chess

White begins by making two moves and, on all subsequent turns, each player makes three moves. A player may only check on the final move of a turn (if forced to check earlier, the player loses) and may not make a move that exposes his or her King to check. The objective is any of the following: (a) checkmate the opposing King or (b) eliminate both opposing Knights, Bishops or Rooks on a single turn or (c) eliminate the last two opposing pawns on a single turn.

If a player captures one opposing Knight, Bishop, Rook or only one of the last two opposing pawns on a turn, the captured units are released and are reentered by the opponent in (in any order) on the squares vacated by the first chessman moved on his/her next turn. If the opponent had three or four pawns remaining before the captures and all but one are captured, only one pawn is returned. Pawns may not be reentered on either player's back rank and regain the double-step option if reentered on the player's starting pawn rank.

Pawns promote upon reaching the opponent's back rank, but only to Queens. Neither of a player's last two pawns may advance to a promotion square.

White begins by making a single move, Black responds with two moves and White then makes three moves; on all subsequent turns, a player is required (except as noted below) to make four moves. A player beginning a turn in check must get out of check with the first move of his/her turn and the friendly King may not be placed in check by a player’s move. Additional rules vary for particular versions.

In "British Four-Move Chess" a player is not allowed to move the same type of chessman (i.e., King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight, pawn) twice until all types that can move have moved once — at which point the obligation to move different types of chessmen restarts. A check ends a player’s turn. Castling counts as one move, but is considered both a King and a Rook move. En passant captures are not allowed. If a player is stalemated after the first move of a turn, the game is drawn.

In "Italian Four-Move Chess" a player may only check on the final move (except for the start of play, the fourth move) of a turn, and if a player is forced to check in order to get out of check, the player is checkmated ("Italian mate"). En passant captures are only allowed if three conditions are met (a) the pawn to be captured made a double-step move, and no subsequent moves, on the previous turn, (b) the capture is made on the first move of a turn and (c) the capturing pawn arrives at an unoccupied square. If a player is not in check and has no legal moves during a turn, the game is drawn.

In "Scottish Four-Move Chess" a player may check before the end of a turn, but by doing so forfeits the remaining moves of the turn. The en passant and stalemate rules are as in Italian Four-Move Chess.

"Modern Four-Move Chess" follows the "Scottish" rules, but a player’s turn also ends if a chessman is moved to a space where it can be captured.

White begins with a single move, Black responds with two moves and, on all subsequent turns, each player is obliged to make moves which total exactly four points. Any move that checks, captures or exposes the moved chessmen to capture counts as two points; all other moves count as one point.

En passant captures are not permitted. A player may only check on the final move of a turn, and a player beginning a turn in check must terminate the check with the first move of the turn. A player unable to complete a turn valued at exactly four points loses.

Gridlock Chess

White begins by making a single move and, on all subsequent turns, each player makes two moves. Checks are permitted only on the second move of a turn, and a player beginning a turn in check must remove the check with the first move of a turn. Pawns begin on the third rank (for White) and sixth rank (for Black) and do not have a double-step option.

A player who ends any turn with three or more of his/her chessmen in any square 2x2 area of the board produces "gridlock" and those chessmen are removed. A King may not be located in such a gridlocked area after the first move of a player's turn, and a friendly King may not be exposed to a check resulting from the unblocking of the player's gridlocked area. A stalemated player loses.

Example: Ne2, Be2, Qe2, Bd2, Kd2, Ke2 and Kf2 are illegal first moves for White; 1 Bg2? (g3a1*) would cost White a Rook, Knight, Bishop and two pawns.

The chessmen are grouped into three categories: pawns, minor pieces (Bishops and Knights) and major pieces (Queens and Rooks, but also including Kings). On each turn a player may make up to three moves, provided (a) each move involves a different group of chessmen, (b) successive moves adhere to the cyclical sequence pawn-minor piece-major piece, beginning with the first category of chessman moved and skipping only those categories in which no legal move is available and (c) no move places or leaves the player's King in check.

A player may voluntarily end a turn rather than move the required category of chessman; a player's turn also ends if a move places the opposing King in check. En passant captures are only permitted on the first move of a player's turn.

Example: (White's turns are odd-numbered, Black's even-numbered) 1 Nc3 Rc1 e4 2 e5 Bc5 Qf6.

White begins by making a single move, Black responds with two moves, White with three moves and, on all subsequent turns, each player makes four moves. There are no en passant captures.

A player may not capture on the final move of a turn. Checks are only permitted on the final two moves of a player’s turn, and a player’s King may not be in check after the first move of the player’s turn.

Bishops move like either standard Bishop or standard Knight; In the starting array a1 and a8 are empty and back ranks (b-h files) have RNQKBNR.

The pawns initially on the a-file serve as markers, and each player moves his/her marker to any different and currently vacant space on the a-file before each move. Each turn consists of a move of the player’s marker followed by a conventional move, with conventional movement restricted to the b- through h-files (i.e., not to the a-file). In castling on the Queenside, the King moves to the c-file, the Rook to the d-file.

King moves are not restricted by the location of markers, but otherwise (a) players may not capture on the rank currently containing their own markers and (b) players may not move (or capture) on the rank currently containing the opponent’s marker.

A variant that starts and continues with twelve chessmen per side (no Kings or Queens and only six pawns), in which the objective is to promote a pawn to a King.

In the starting array White has Rb1, Nc1, Bd1, Be1, Nf1, Rg1 and pawns at b2-c2-d2-e2-f2-g2 and Black's arrangement mirrors that of White. White starts with a single move and each player thereafter makes two moves per turn. All chessmen move as in standard chess.

Captured units are immediately paroled and are reentered by their original owner, subject to the following restrictions: (a) reentry must occur on the player's next turn only; (b) the reentry square is the square vacated by a unit moved; (c) the reentered unit may not move on the turn it is reentered and (d) pawns may not be reentered on either back rank. Pawns that are reentered on a player's second rank have a double-step option when moving from the reentry square.

The first player to advance a pawn to the opponent's back rank wins.

A form of four-move chess in which a player may check during a four-move turn. White begins with a single move, Black responds with two moves, White then makes three moves, and on subsequent turns each player is required to make four moves. A player unable to complete a turn loses.

A check to the opposing King is permitted on the second move of a four-move turn or on the final move of a turn; if a check is on the second move, the player’s third move must be played with the opponent’s chessmen to remove the check. A player may only checkmate on the final move of a turn.

A player may not check on the first or third move of a four-move turn. If forced to do so (e.g., as the only way to get out of check) the player loses. There are no en passant captures.

Example: (White’s turns are odd numbered, Black’s even numbered) 1 d4 2 d5 e5 3 de f4 e4? (3 de Qd5 Qd8+ or 3 de Bg5 Bd8 would be OK) and now 4 de Qd1+ Kf2 Qf1+ illustrates a "Machiavellian" check during a turn, but 4 de Bg4 e3 Qd1 mates.

Monsoon Chess

On each turn a player must, if possible, (a) begin by moving a friendly pawn, (b) then follow by moving a friendly chessman other than a pawn and (c) then end by moving an opposing pawn. If one of the required move types is not available that portion of the player's turn is skipped.

A player beginning a turn in check must remove the check during his or her turn or lose by checkmate. A player not beginning a turn in check may not expose his/her King to check during a turn. Pawns may only advance one space at all times, and promotion is determined by the pawn's owner. Black's starting array has the King at d8 and Queen at e8.

Example: 1 d3 Bg5 e6+, f6 Bb4 f3+.

White begins with a single move, Black responds with two moves, White then makes three moves and, on all subsequent turns, each player makes four moves. There are no en passant captures.

Pieces generally move as in standard chess, except (a) Bishops, Rooks and Queens move like standard Knights on the first move of a turn, (b) Rooks and Queens move like standard Bishops on the second move of a turn and (c) Queens move like standard Rooks on the third move of a turn.

Checks and checkmates are always based on a unit’s standard chess move — a Bishop standing a Knight’s move away from the opposing King, for example, does not check and may not capture the opposing King. A player may only check on the final move of a turn, and a player may not be in check after the first move of his or her turn.

A form of three-move chess in which each player moves both the White and the Black forces and the objective is to checkmate either King during a player's turn.

Black begins by making one move with the White chessmen, and White responds by making first one move with the Black chessmen and then one move with the White chessmen. On all subsequent turns players make (a) a move with their own chessmen, then (b) a move with the opposing chessmen and then (c) a second move with their own chessmen. Each move played must be a legal chess move that might conceivably occur in a game of standard chess.

If a checkmate does not occur during a player's turn, then the player must complete all the moves of the turn; if this is not possible, the game is drawn by stalemate. A player wins if the first or last move of a turn checkmates the opposing King, or if the middle move checkmates the player's own King.

Example: The first turn for each player (Black's move with the White forces, followed by White's move with the Black forces and then with the White forces) may be recorded as turn 1. Thereafter even turns are B-W-B moves played by Black and odd turns are W-B-W moves played by White. Black wins by checkmating White after 1 e3 — Nc6 c4?? 2 Ne5 Ne2 Nd3.

White begins by making a single move, Blacks responds with two moves, White then makes three moves and Black responds with four moves. On subsequent turns a player makes four moves if his/her immediately preceding turn had consisted of three moves, or makes three moves if his/her immediately preceding turn had consisted of four moves.

There are no en passant captures. A player may only check on the final move of a turn and, if starting a turn in check, must get out of check with the first move of a turn.

White begins by making a single move and each player thereafter make either one, two or three moves per turn, depending on the actions taken on the opponent's most recent turn. A player makes one move if the opponent neither captured nor checked, two moves if the opponent either captured or checked, and three moves if the opponent both captured and checked.

A player may only check on the final move of a turn and, if in check at the beginning of a turn, must terminate the check with the first move of his/her turn. En passant captures are permitted only if there were no moves played by either side after a double-step pawn advance.

White begins by making a single move, Black responds with two moves and, on all subsequent turns, each player thereafter makes two, three or four moves, depending on the action taken on the opponent's most recent turn. A player makes two moves if the opponent neither captured nor checked, three moves if the opponent either captured or checked, or four moves if the opponent both captured and checked.

A player may only check on the final move of a turn and, if in check at the beginning of a turn, must terminate the check with the first move of the turn. En passant captures are only permitted if there were no moves played by either side following the double-step pawn advance.

White begins with a single move and, on all subsequent turns, a player is obligated to make two moves. Checks are only permitted on the second move of a turn, and a player in check at the start of a turn must terminate the check with the first move of the turn. En passant captures are only permitted if there were no moves played by either side following the double-step pawn advance.

The chessmen rank pawn (low)-Knight-Bishop-Rook-Queen-King. Only the lowest ranking unit captured on each turn is removed from play: if two captures are made the higher-ranking captive is returned to the opponent, who reenters it on the square vacated by either the first or second chessman moved on the next turn (reentry not counting as a move).

Players begin their turn by making a legal move with any of their chessman, and may then continue with as many as five additional chess moves, provided (a) each move involves a different type of chessman, (b) successive moves adhere to the cyclic sequence pawn - Knight - Bishop - Rook - Queen - King, beginning with the first type of unit moved and skipping only those unit types which cannot be legally moved or are no longer available, and (c) no move places in or leaves the player's King in check. A player may voluntarily end a turn rather than move the required type of piece; a player's turn also ends if a move places the opposing King in check.

Castling counts only as a King move; en passant captures are only permitted on the first move of a player's turn.

Example: (White’s turns are odd-numbered, Black’s even-numbered) 1 e4 Nh3 Bc4 Rf1 Qf3 (opting not to move the King); 2 e5 Nc6 Bc5 Rb8 Qe7 Kd8 3 Qf7 kd1 d3 Nc3 Bg5 Rb1.

White begins by moving a pawn a single space, Black responds by moving his/her chessmen a total of two spaces, White then moves a total of three spaces, Black four spaces, White five spaces and, on all subsequent turns, players are obligated to move their chessmen a total of six spaces. A player unable to move exactly the required number of spaces on a turn loses, as does a stalemated player.

For pawns, Rooks, Bishops and Queens the space count is the number of spaces the chessman moves (along the rank file or diagonal, based on standard chess piece movement) from its previous location. A Knight’s move always counts as a two-space move. Castling is not permitted. A specific pawn may not advance more than two spaces during a turn.

White begins by making a single move with a pawn or a non-pawn, and each player's turn thereafter consists of one move with a pawn and one move with a non-pawn. There are no checks or checkmates and the King has no special status. The last player able to complete a turn wins.

A triomino region is a set of three squares with each square sharing at least one edge with one of the others. These regions may have the shape of an "I" (e.g., b2-b3-b4 or c4-d4-e4) or a "V" (e.g., c3-c4-d4 or g3-h3-h4).

Before making a regular chess move, a player may rearrange any triomino provided (a) it contains at least one friendly chessman and no opposing chessmen, (b) the rearrangement does not place the player's King in check or leave it in check, (c) the rearrangement does not place a pawn on the first rank, the eighth rank, or advance a pawn two spaces on the file and (d) the rearrangement does not place the opposing King in check. Triomino rearrangements are optional.

Pawns have a double-step option whenever they occupy their starting rank.. Castling is not permitted.

Example: 1 (Nc1/Bd1/Qb1) c4 (Bc6//) d5.

A two-move chess variant in which each player first makes a move with their own chessmen, then moves one of the opponent's pawns one square, if possible (otherwise the opposing pawn move is skipped). White's pawns, however, begin at the sixth rank, while Black's begin at the third rank.

Pawns move and capture backward toward each player's home ranks, promoting when they reach their owner's back rank. White decides the promotion rank for a White pawn, Black decides the rank of promoted Black pawns. A pawn may only be captured after it has been moved, and pawns may only move a single step.