Grand Chess is a large-board chess variant invented by Dutch games designer Christian Freeling in 1984.[1][2] It is played on a 10×10 board, with each side having two additional pawns and two new pieces: the marshal and the cardinal.
Grand Chess starting setup. Marshals are on f2/f9; cardinals are on g2/g9.
Grand Chess uses the same pieces as the earlier variant Capablanca chess, but differs in board size, start position, rules governing pawn moves and promotion, and castling.
A series of Grand Chess Cyber World Championship matches was sponsored by the Dutch game site Mindsports.[a] Grand Chess tournaments were held annually beginning in 1998 by the (now defunct) correspondence game club NOST.[b]Larry Kaufman has written that Grand Chess "really is an excellent game and deserves a bigger following".[3]
Grand Chess set ordered from Christian Freeling's MindSports website
The pieces are placed on the players' first and second ranks, respectively, with the rooks alone on the players' first ranks. The pawns are placed on the players' third ranks. Since the rooks are not blocked as much by the other pieces as in standard chess, it is easier for them to activate earlier in the game.
A pawn that reaches a player's eighth or ninth ranks can elect to either promote or remain a pawn, but it must promote upon reaching the tenth rank. Unlike standard chess, a pawn may be promoted only to a captured piece of the same colour. (So, it is impossible for either side to own two queens, or two marshals, or three rooks, etc.) If, and for as long as, no captured piece is available to promote to, a pawn on a player's ninth rank must stay on the ninth rank, but it can still give check.
As in standard chess: pawns can move one or two squares on their first move; pawns can capture en passant; checkmate is a win; stalemate is a draw. There is no castling in Grand Chess.[c]
Play examplesedit
Vehre vs. Schmittberger, 2001edit
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Final position after 29.Mxe8
Played between John Vehre and R. Wayne Schmittberger at the 2001 Grand Chess Cyber Championship Final:[4]
Embassy chess is a variant of Grand Chess created in 2005 by Kevin Hill. It borrows the opening setup from Grand Chess and adapts it to the 10×8 board. Except for the setup, the rules are as per Capablanca chess.[5]
There are multiple chess engines that can play Embassy chess, including ChessV, Zillions of Games with a rules file, Sjaak 2,[6] and Fairy-Stockfish.[7]
Embassy chess can be played against other people on BrainKing and EvoChess.
^NOST (kNights of the Square Table), formed in 1960 by Bob Lauzon and Jim France, held an annual convention and enjoyed several hundred active members (Pritchard 1994:210).
^"We're so used to castling that we tend to forget that it is the weirdest move in Chess, implemented specifically to solve a problem. Chess turned out a great game despite its problem, but it needed an ad hoc fix to do so. In grand chess, pawns retain their usual distance and rooks are free from the onset, so the problem doesn't exist in the first place." (Freeling)
^Dylan Loeb McClain (2007-08-19). "Giraffes, Viziers and Wizards: Variations on the Old Game". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
^Kaufman, Larry. "No Subject". from the original on 2020-11-08. So Grand chess, despite its meager following, scores an amazing 6 1/4 out of 8 on my criteria, by far the best so far. It really is an excellent game and deserves a bigger following.
^Vehre, John (2001). "Vehre - Schmittberger 2001". www.samiam.org. Archived from the original on 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
Beasley, John D., ed. (January 2010). "Grand Chess". Variant Chess. Vol. 8, no. 63. British Chess Variants Society. pp. 142–44. ISSN 0958-8248.
Gardner, Tony (2000–2002). Handscomb, Kerry (ed.). "The Grand Chess Corner". Abstract Games. No. 3–12. Carpe Diem Publishing. ISSN 1492-0492.
Horne, Malcolm (Spring 1996). Wood, Peter C. (ed.). "Grand Chess". Variant Chess. Vol. 2, no. 19. British Chess Variants Society. pp. 181–82, 184. ISSN 0958-8248.
Horne, Malcolm (Summer 1997). Jelliss, George P. (ed.). "Grand Chess: The Yerevan Games". Variant Chess. Vol. 3, no. 24. British Chess Variants Society. pp. 71–72. ISSN 0958-8248.
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Not to be confused with Grant Acedrex Grand Chess is a large board chess variant invented by Dutch games designer Christian Freeling in 1984 1 2 It is played on a 10 10 board with each side having two additional pawns and two new pieces the marshal and the cardinal The marshal M combines powers of a rook and a knight The cardinal C combines powers of a bishop and a knight abcdefghij 1010998877665544332211abcdefghij Grand Chess starting setup Marshals are on f2 f9 cardinals are on g2 g9 Grand Chess uses the same pieces as the earlier variant Capablanca chess but differs in board size start position rules governing pawn moves and promotion and castling A series of Grand Chess Cyber World Championship matches was sponsored by the Dutch game site Mindsports a Grand Chess tournaments were held annually beginning in 1998 by the now defunct correspondence game club NOST b Larry Kaufman has written that Grand Chess really is an excellent game and deserves a bigger following 3 Contents 1 Rules 2 Play examples 2 1 Vehre vs Schmittberger 2001 2 2 Fool s mate 2 3 Composition 3 Embassy chess 4 Notes 5 References 5 1 Bibliography 6 Further reading 7 External linksThis article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves Rules edit nbsp Grand Chess set ordered from Christian Freeling s MindSports website The pieces are placed on the players first and second ranks respectively with the rooks alone on the players first ranks The pawns are placed on the players third ranks Since the rooks are not blocked as much by the other pieces as in standard chess it is easier for them to activate earlier in the game A pawn that reaches a player s eighth or ninth ranks can elect to either promote or remain a pawn but it must promote upon reaching the tenth rank Unlike standard chess a pawn may be promoted only to a captured piece of the same colour So it is impossible for either side to own two queens or two marshals or three rooks etc If and for as long as no captured piece is available to promote to a pawn on a player s ninth rank must stay on the ninth rank but it can still give check As in standard chess pawns can move one or two squares on their first move pawns can capture en passant checkmate is a win stalemate is a draw There is no castling in Grand Chess c Play examples editVehre vs Schmittberger 2001 edit abcdefghij 10 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 109 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 98 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 87 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 76 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 65 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 54 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 43 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 32 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 21 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 1abcdefghij Final position after 29 Mxe8 Played between John Vehre and R Wayne Schmittberger at the 2001 Grand Chess Cyber Championship Final 4 1 f5 f6 2 Nh4 Nh7 3 g4 g7 4 Nc4 Nc7 5 d4 d7 6 e5 Bd8 7 Rje1 Kd10 8 Kf1 fxe5 9 Ncxe5 Kc9 10 Re2 Kb9 11 Kg1 Rjf10 12 Bd3 e6 13 Rf1 Mh10 14 Nc4 Ci10 15 Nd6 exf5 16 Bxf5 Bd5 17 Ci1 Bxh4 18 ixh4 g6 19 Rfe1 gxf5 20 Nxf5 Qd8 21 Bxc7 Qxc7 22 Re9 Kc10 23 Cxc7 bxc7 24 Qf4 d6 25 Qe3 Mg8 26 Me2 Nf6 27 Qe7 Nd7 28 Qe8 Mxe8 29 Mxe8 1 0 Annotations by Vehre Fool s mate edit abcdefghij 10 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 109 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 98 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 87 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 76 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 65 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 54 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 43 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 32 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 21 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 1abcdefghij Position after 3 Cxc8 1 Cf4 Qd10 2 Ce6 Qf10 3 Cxc8 Composition edit abcdefghij 10 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 109 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 98 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 87 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 76 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 65 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 54 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 43 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 32 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 21 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 1abcdefghij Mate in 2by Pal BenkoSolution 1 Qj10 Kxj10 2 h8 C Embassy chess editabcdefghij 8 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 87 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 76 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 65 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 54 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 43 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 32 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 21 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 1abcdefghij Embassy chess starting position Embassy chess is a variant of Grand Chess created in 2005 by Kevin Hill It borrows the opening setup from Grand Chess and adapts it to the 10 8 board Except for the setup the rules are as per Capablanca chess 5 There are multiple chess engines that can play Embassy chess including ChessV Zillions of Games with a rules file Sjaak 2 6 and Fairy Stockfish 7 Embassy chess can be played against other people on BrainKing and EvoChess Notes edit Info NOST kNights of the Square Table formed in 1960 by Bob Lauzon and Jim France held an annual convention and enjoyed several hundred active members Pritchard 1994 210 We re so used to castling that we tend to forget that it is the weirdest move in Chess implemented specifically to solve a problem Chess turned out a great game despite its problem but it needed an ad hoc fix to do so In grand chess pawns retain their usual distance and rooks are free from the onset so the problem doesn t exist in the first place Freeling References edit Bodlaender Hans Brown John William Christian Freeling s Grand Chess The Chess Variant Pages Archived from the original on 2011 05 14 Retrieved 2008 12 13 Dylan Loeb McClain 2007 08 19 Giraffes Viziers and Wizards Variations on the Old Game The New York Times Retrieved 2008 12 07 Kaufman Larry No Subject Archived from the original on 2020 11 08 So Grand chess despite its meager following scores an amazing 6 1 4 out of 8 on my criteria by far the best so far It really is an excellent game and deserves a bigger following Vehre John 2001 Vehre Schmittberger 2001 www samiam org Archived from the original on 2022 03 29 Retrieved 2021 05 11 Duniho Fergus Embassy Chess The Chess Variant Pages Chess Jazz amp Sjaak home www eglebbk dds nl GitHub ianfab Fairy Stockfish chess variant engine supporting Grand Chess Embassy chess Xiangqi Shogi Janggi Makruk S Chess Crazyhouse Bughouse and many more GitHub Bibliography edit Hochberg Burt August 1997 Don t be Scared It s Still Chess PDF Chess Life pp 744 745 pp 48 49 in PDF Pritchard D B 1994 The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants Games amp Puzzles Publications ISBN 0 9524142 0 1 Further reading editBeasley John D ed January 2010 Grand Chess Variant Chess Vol 8 no 63 British Chess Variants Society pp 142 44 ISSN 0958 8248 Gardner Tony 2000 2002 Handscomb Kerry ed The Grand Chess Corner Abstract Games No 3 12 Carpe Diem Publishing ISSN 1492 0492 Horne Malcolm Spring 1996 Wood Peter C ed Grand Chess Variant Chess Vol 2 no 19 British Chess Variants Society pp 181 82 184 ISSN 0958 8248 Horne Malcolm Summer 1997 Jelliss George P ed Grand Chess The Yerevan Games Variant Chess Vol 3 no 24 British Chess Variants Society pp 71 72 ISSN 0958 8248 Pritchard D B 2007 Beasley John ed The Classified Encyclopedia of Chess Variants John Beasley ISBN 978 0 9555168 0 1 Schmittberger R Wayne 1992 New Rules for Classic Games John Wiley amp Sons Inc ISBN 978 0471536215 Vehre John 2003 Handscomb Kerry ed The Grand Chess Corner Abstract Games No 13 14 Carpe Diem Publishing ISSN 1492 0492 External links editOfficial website 2001 Cyber World Championship game annotated by John Vehre Grand Chess The Yerevan Games by Malcolm Horne Christian Freeling s Grand Chess by Hans Bodlaender The Chess Variant Pages Grand Chess at BoardGameGeek Grand Chess a simple program by Ed Friedlander Java Portal nbsp Chess Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Grand Chess amp oldid 1193045552, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
