CHESS GAMES BY CHRISTIAAN FREELING (CONGO ⌐ DEMIAN FREELING).
PART 00 - PART 12. THIS IS PART 12.
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General
Chess, in its recent form, dates back some 500 years. It was then, in the middle of the renaissance, that someone cared to take a less traditionally preoccupied look at the game of Shatranj, that had come from the Arabic world where it had been played for over a millennium.
The unknown inventor did good work: he liberated the Bishops, that with their two-square diagonal jump had till then led a crippled existence, and gave pawns the right to promote to any piece, where they had been restricted to the Firzan or Minister, a piece of pathetic weakness, able to move one square diagonally only. But he did more. He took this very Firzan and turned it into a piece of unprecedented strength: the Queen. This was a very bold step. We look upon the Queen as well within the boundaries of balance, but 500 years ago her power must have seemed unbridled.
Instead of shrinking back and giving the Firzan, say, the king's move (which would also have brought it back within the boundaries of balance), the unknown inventor decided to go all the way and gave it the combined powers of two of the three primary pieces (one of which he had just defined). The choice of Rook and Bishop is only natural since they follow the basic patterns of the board. Of course he must have been aware of the other combinations.
These other combinations, Rook & Knight and Bishop & Knight, have since then led a marginal existence throughout Chess history. They have been described under various names in various variants from as early as the end of the sixteenth century. Even in this century JosÄ Raoul Capablanca and Edward Lasker tried to reintroduce the pieces in 'Lasker-Capablanca Chess' which doesn't differ all that much from Grand Chess. What made me decide to implement the idea yet again was the fact that nobody did a particulary good job. Good players are not necessarily good inventors.
In Chess as it is played today, the castling rule derives from the fact that Rooks, in their development, are obstructed by their own pawns and pieces. Its easy to get Bishops and Knights out, but without castling Rooks would be troublesome. Grand Chess was invented a few minutes after I realized that putting all pieces except Rooks on the second rank would solve three problems simultaneously, see diagram 1.
First of all, the board is square. Capablanca and Lasker experimented with a 10x8 board, keeping pawns and pieces on their regular distance. They also tried 10x10, but with pieces on the back rank. To compensate for their lengthy track, pawns were given the option to move three squares initially. Of course they needed the castling rule in both variants, with the Rooks all tucked away.
The second problem concerns the pawns that now keep their regular distance and behaviour.
The third problem concerns the Rooks that are free from the onset.
Of course there's no need for a castling rule. The King's safety would hardly constitute a plausible argument in a Chess game.
From this point on everything followed naturally. I wanted to deviate as little as possible from orthodox Chess, so I 'inserted' the Marshall & Cardinal in the regular order of pieces. In diagrams 2 & 3 they are formally introduced.
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Note that the Cardinal, despite the fact that it is the weakest of the three major pieces, is the only piece that can checkmate a cornered King without support.
Rules
Since the rules, other than the very presence of the new pieces, deviate little from orthodox Chess, it will be sufficient to point out the differences.
>>> There is no castling rule.
>>> Pawns promote optionally on moving to the eighth or ninth rank, compulsory on moving to
the tenth.
>>> A pawn may only promote to a piece previously lost by its side. If no pieces are lost, the pawn
may not move to the tenth rank. However, if a pawn attacks a King on the tenth rank, no
piece being lost by its side, it nevertheless gives check.
That an option is beter than an obligation is beautifully shown in problem 1, by P.H. van den Muijzenberg. White mates in 2.
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That pawns only promote to a piece previously lost, not only satisfies a sense of completeness, but also marks the end of topsy turvy Rooks. Grand Chess can afford this rule because of the presence of three major pieces. It may, under circumstances, create the need for an exchange before promoting.
Balance
One does not have to be a genius to see that the internal balance of this game differs from Chess. This means, among other things, that the relative values of pieces must be established or adjusted. There exists an argument that the three major pieces would be 'too heavy' for proper internal balance. Doubtless this must have been the most frequent argument against the Queen too, 500 years ago. It is of course not true: if played on a regular basis by Chess-players worldwide, the wider alleys of opening play will be recognizable within a decade, and pieces will quickly adapt to their new roles. All pieces of course seem diminished by the sheer presence of two formidable new forces. The Queen suddenly finds herself between equals, one slightly stronger and one slightly weaker. The Rooks lose part of their dominance in this environment. Bishops are definitely light artillery, and Knights even more so, because their power decreases with increasing board-size.
But no piece will find itself outside the boundaries of balance once the outlines of opening play have been established. Moreover, there's some amount of counterbalance involved in the case of Rooks, because they may be employed from the onset, and pawns, because they may promote sooner and usually with a wider choice of heavy options. Endgames of course differ considerably from ortodox Chess.
Problems
The problems 2, 3 and 4 are by six times U.S. champion Pal BenkÜ, and have been published before in Games magazine (jan. 1987). Problems 5, 6 and 7 are by the inventor. With the exception of 3 and 6, all are featured in the Encyclopedia of Chess Variants.
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Solutions
Key moves: 1. i8 2. Q j10 + 3. Q a9 4. C a7 5. Q c8 6. R j2 7. C i6.
The one important game in this compilation is this one. Anyone who wrote a good Chess program and has half a mind to modify it into a Grand Chess program and put a demo on the Net on a fifty fifty basis regarding the codes, is welcome to contact me at the following address:
Christiaan Freeling
Pollenbrink 181
7544 AW Enschede
The Netherlands
+31 53 769075
Net: freeling@euronet.nl
All games: ⌐ Christiaan Freeling, except Congo: ⌐ Demian Freeling.
