C H E S S V A R I A N T S
Here is a description of some of the Chess Variants (CV) played in NOST. Unless otherwise
noted, the object is to checkmate the enemy King, and en passant capture is disallowed.
Avalanche Chess Magnetic
Chess Knight-Relay English-Progressive Other CV
Chess Variants Results 
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AVALANCHE CHESS is our most popular CV. A simple rule change
provides complex tactical ramifications. Each player's turn consists of two parts: First,
a normal, legal chess move is made; then an enemy pawn is moved one square forward toward
the moving player, hence the term "Avalanche".
In the event that all enemy pawns are blocked or captured, the second part of the turn is
bypassed; but if such pawns later become unblocked, they are again eligible for movement.
If you are compelled to pull your opponent's only unblocked pawn forward to a square that
checks your King, you automatically lose, even if you execute a checkmate in the first
part of your turn.
In spite of numerous wins by the Black player, controversy has raged over how to balance
the game by diminishing White's supposed opening move advantage.
A dramatic example of this advantage is 1.e4/f6 (Already threatening checkmate by
2.Qh5/h3) 1...h5/f3 2.Bb5/b6 Bb7/c3 3.f4/g6 Bxe4/g3? 4.Qxh5/d6+!! Kf7/a3 5.Be8/g5++.
A remarkable skewer check which wins by hunting down the Black King.
One idea is removing White's first pull in order to give each player the chance to move
out his Kingside Knight and impede the defensively vital f-pawn; another is switching the
positions of Black's King and Queen before play begins. NOST has adopted neither of these,
nor even formally declared that there is an insurmountable opening advantage to White.
Visit the Avalanche Chess Page.
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MAGNETIC CHESS is a short, sharp game which was introduced in early
1998 with great fanfare.
A move by any unit other than a King generates an imaginary magnetic impulse (a
"magnetism") along horizontal and vertical axes of the landing square that
repels friendly units (except the King) to the farthest open square on that axis and draws
in opposing units (except the King) to an adjacent square. For example, White could open
1.c4, which pulls Black's pawn to c5, written 1.c4(c7c5). Black could then move the Queen
to a5, creating two magnetic effects, 1. ... Qa5(a2a4,c5h5). In this way, each move
involves the rearrangement of anywhere from one to five units, but magnetism extends only
as far as open spaces allow.
King moves do not create magnetism, but during castling a Rook move does. A player may not
castle out of check, nor castle over and beyond a square controlled by opposition forces;
however, a player in check may make a move which does not nullify the check, so long as a
resulting magnetic effect does! It is illegal to make any move which generates a magnetic
effect putting your King in check.
A friendly Pawn on an unobstructed file may be propelled to the eighth rank and promoted
in the same turn; this is most effectively accomplished by moving a Queen or Rook behind
the Pawn.
Visit the Magnetic Chess Page.
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KNIGHT-RELAY CHESS is a very strategic game which has withstood the
test of time. Knights are endowed with special powers. They cannot be captured; they
cannot make captures, nor check the enemy King. Instead, they relay their moving power to
any friendly Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Pawn that is a Knight move away, making these units
"Knighted".
A Knighted unit may move under its ordinary power, or optionally as a Knight, but it does
not relay the moving power to other units. This option can only be exercised when the
moving unit is a Knight move away from a friendly Knight. For example, White may open with
moves such as 1.d2c4 or 1.e2g3; also 1.a3 followed by 2.a3c4 or 2.a3b5.
Naturally, Pawns stand the most to gain from relay power, but they cannot use it to move
to squares on either the first or eighth rank, nor threaten check via relay power on those
ranks. Otherwise, any Knighted
unit controls squares and threatens check just as if it were a Knight.
Provided there is open space, Pawns on the second rank may always make a two-step move
to the fourth rank, even if previously moved and relayed back to the second rank.
In promotion, a pawn promoted to a 'Knight' is always a 'Knight-Relay'. As such,
the 'real' chess Knight does not exist.
Here is the longest known correspondence game of Knight-Relay Chess on record, began in
1989 and concluded in 1991:
White -- John McCallion Black -- Tony Gardner
1.e4 f6, 2.c3 d7c5, 3.a3 Na6, 4.Qc2 e7f5, 5.Nh3 f6xe4, 6.d2xe4 Qe7, 7.Be2 Be6, 8.Bd2
O-O-O, 9.O-O f5xe4, 10.c3xe4 Bf5, 11.Re1 c5xe4, 12.Bd2xe4 Bxe4, 13.Bg4+ Kb8, 14.Rxe4
Qe7g6, 15.Nd2 c7d5, 16.Rc1 Nc7, 17.Re6 Qf7, 18.Nf4 Be7, 19.Rce1 Nf6, 20.Re6xd8+ Bxd8,
21.Qf5 Ne6, 22.Qxd5 Bc7, 23.Qb3 g5, 24.Ne4 Bb6, 25.g3 Rd8, 26.Be2 Qc7, 27.Nc5 Qc6, 28.a4
Bc7, 29.Nd5 a6, 30.Qc2 Ba5, 31.a4c3 Qd6, 32.Nb6 Qd2, 33.Qxd2 Rxd2, 34.b3 Rxe2, 35.Rxe2
Bxc3, 36.Re3 Bb4, 37.Rd3 a5, 38.b3xa5 Bxa5, 39.Rd8+ Kc7, 40.Ra8+ Kd6, 41.Rxa5 g5e4, 42.Nb3
h7g5, 43.Nd2 Nc5, 44.Ra4 Kd5, 45.f3 exf3, 46.Rg4 b7d6, 47.Rxg5+ Kd4, 48.Ne4 d5, 49.Rxf3
Kc4, 50.g4 Ne6, 51.g5 Nh7, 52.g5f7 Nef8, 53.h4 Nf6, 54.Nc3 Nh5, 55.Nd7 Kd4, 56.Ne5+ Kc5,
57.Kf2 Kb4, 58.Rf6 Kc5, 59.Nf3, Black Resigns.
John later wrote of this game, "an EPIC struggle .... which .... must be the most
bitterly contested and instructive battle of Kt.-Relay in the history of the known
universe!!! Dull of soul indeed would be someone who did not learn much from it."
Visit the Knight-Relay Chess Page.
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ENGLISH PROGRESSIVE CHESS, better known by its acronym
ENPR,
embraces the basic "Progressive" idea dictating that White moves once, followed
by two Black moves, then three White moves, etc. until conclusion; and in each successive
turn the number of possible moves increases by one.
In this refined English concept though, a restriction is added which prevents any unit
from moving more than once per turn, unless everything that can be moved has been and
moves remain in the turn, whereby the "first sequence" of the turn is complete,
and the moving player may then commence a second sequence, and extra sequences if
possible; but in each sequence, every mobile unit must move before another sequence can
begin. However, there is no restriction on order of movement within any sequence.
It is allowable to move in such a way as to block or pin one of more of your units to
exempt them from movement within a sequence. Pawns are most easily immobilized. Castling
is one move in a turn, but counts as a King and Rook move in a sequence.
Each move must be legal according to chess rules. A player in check following an
opponent's turn must use the first move of his turn to nullify check; if he cannot, he is
checkmated.
Any move creating a check truncates the turn, and any remaining moves are discarded
without affecting the number of moves on following turns. One ideal middlegame
tactic is lining up your King on a file adjacent to an unbridled enemy Pawn, thereby
limiting his next turn to one sequence; or compelling a Pawn to capture with a likewise
result. An even sharper maneuver is forcing your opponent to answer a check with a check;
this is known as the "ENPR Hat Trick", and usually puts the respondent at a
decided disadvantage. Here is an example from a 1989 game (a double slash denotes a
completed sequence):
White -- Joe McCarty Black -- Tony Gardner
1.e4, 2.g5 Bg7, 3.d4 c3 f4, 4.e6 b5 Nc6 Ba6, 5.Nf3 Be3 Nbd2 b4 a4, 6.Bf8 Nf6 Ne7 c6 Qc8
Rb8, 7.fxg5 axb5 Rxa6 Bd3 Kf2 Qb3 Rha1, 8.cxb5 Rb7 Qc7 Ng6 Bg7 O-O Ng4+, 9.Kf1 Bg1 e5 h3
Bxb5 c4 Rc1 Ne4 Qa4, 10.Rxb5 Rfb8 Qd8 d5 h5 Kh7 Bh8 Nf4 Nh2+, 11.Bxh2 cxb5 Kf2 Rac6 Nc5
Qb3 Rc2 g6+, 12.Kxg6 Qg5 Bxe5 h4 f6 Ne2 Re8 a5// Kf5 Qc1 Nc3 Bxd4+, 13.Nxd4+, 14.Kg5 a4 e5
f5 Qd1 Ne2 Re7// exd4 Ng3 Qf1#
Pawns may promote to Queen, Rook, Bishop or Knight, but the promoted piece may not move
again in the same sequence. A promotion creating a check ends the turn, so it is often
worthwhile to make a choice allowing for continued moving.
If a player is not checkmated, and cannot make a legal move during any move of his turn,
or can construct any position which exhausts his legal moves during play without executing
check or using all allotted moves, the game is drawn by stalemate. This is very rare and,
while there are examples of it occurring in other types of Progressive Chess, no known
record shows it ever happening in ENPR.
Tony Gardner issued an 18-page booklet in 1995 entitled "Tactics & Theory of
ENPR", providing an overview of the game, and highlighting nuances of play with
thirty actual correspondence games, some including diagrams, illustrations, and analyses.
- Visit the ENPR Page.
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OTHER CV offered by NOST:
TRIPLETS
BEROLINA CHESS
KRIEGSPIEL
U-CHESS
GRAND CHESS
OVERLOADER/RESTORER CHESS
CHESSPLEXITY
ALICE CHESS
- DYNAMO CHESS
This page last modified on 01/20/01
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