Fairy chess is the area of

chess composition A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by the composer using chess pieces on a chess board, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White is to ...

in which there are some changes to the rules of chess. The term was introduced by

Henry Tate Sir Henry Tate, 1st Baronet (11 March 18195 December 1899) was an English sugar merchant and philanthropist, noted for establishing the Tate Gallery in London. Life and career Born in White Coppice, a hamlet near Chorley, Lancashire, Tate was ...

in 1914. Thomas R. Dawson (1889–1951), the "father of fairy chess", invented many fairy pieces and new conditions. He was also problem editor of ''

Fairy Chess Review ''Fairy Chess Review'' () was a magazine that was devoted principally to fairy chess problems, but also included extensive original results on related questions in mathematical recreations, such as knight's tours and polyominoes A polyomino ...

'' (1930–1951). Although the term "fairy chess" is sometimes used for games, it is more usually applied to problems where the board, pieces, or rules are changed to express an idea or theme impossible in orthodox chess. Variations on chess intended to create complete, playable games are more typically referred to as

chess variants A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways. "International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be co ...

Types of fairy chess problems

Types of changed rules in fairy chess problems include: * ''New stipulations:'' Probably the most-used alterations are new stipulations about mate instead of a direct mate stipulation. Many of them were invented and some became established.

Selfmate A selfmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves against their will. Selfmates were once known as sui-mates. Example The problem shown is a relatively simple examp ...

s and

helpmate A helpmate is a type of chess problem in which both sides cooperate in order to achieve the goal of checkmating Black. In a helpmate in ''n'' moves, Black moves first, then White, each side moving ''n'' times, to culminate in White's ''nth'' mov ...

s are nowadays often considered to be orthodox (not fairy) stipulations. Among others are

reflexmate The problem to the right is a fairly recent example, successful in the World Chess Composing Tournament despite only a single phase of play present. It is by Štefan Sovík and is a reflexmate in two moves. The key is 1.Qh5! and White threatens ...

s and various types of

seriesmover A ''seriesmover'' is a chess problem in which one side makes a series of legal moves without reply at the end of which the other side makes a single move, giving checkmate or yielding stalemate, depending on the precise stipulation. Checks canno ...

s. * ''New conditions:'' Encompassing all changes of rules including rules for captures, checks, checkmates, general movement abilities. Many were invented; some became established, including Circe chess, Madrasi chess,

Andernach chess Andernach chess is a chess variant in which a piece making a capture (except kings) changes colour. For instance, if a white bishop on a2 were to capture a black knight on g8, the end result would be a black bishop on g8. Non-capturing moves are p ...

monochromatic chess Monochromatic chess is a chess variant with unknown origin. The initial board position and all rules are the same as in regular chess, except that pieces that begin on a black square must always stay on a black square and pieces that begin on a ...

patrol chess Patrol chess is a chess variant in which captures can be made and checks given only if the capturing or checking piece is guarded (or ''patrolled'') by a friendly unit. Non-capturing and non-checking moves are played as normal. The variant was in ...

Einstein chess Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for d ...

, and Descartes chess. * ''New chess pieces:'' Conventional

chess piece A chess piece, or chessman, is a game piece that is placed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. It can be either White and Black in chess, white or black, and it can be one of six types: King (chess), king, Queen (chess), queen, Rook (chess ...

s are generalized in many ways into

fairy chess piece A fairy chess piece, variant chess piece, unorthodox chess piece, or heterodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some chess problems. Compared to conventional pieces, fair ...

s, such as

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

, nightrider, and

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

. * ''Different boards:'' One can vary board size from 8×8 to other sizes (10×10, 8×10, unusual board shapes, etc.) or use different geometries:

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

(vertical and horizontal), anchor ring or

torus In geometry, a torus (plural tori, colloquially donut or doughnut) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis that is coplanar with the circle. If the axis of revolution does not tou ...

and others. There are fairy chess problems that combine some of these changed rules. All entries in the world championships and in the

FIDE Album The FIDE Albums are publications of the world chess governing body, FIDE, via the Permanent Commission of the FIDE for Chess Compositions (PCCC), containing the best chess problems and studies of a certain period (usually three years in length). ...

s are divided into eight sections: (, and ),

endgame studies In the game of chess, an endgame study, or just study, is a composed position—that is, one that has been made up rather than played in an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find the essentially uniqu ...

selfmate A selfmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves against their will. Selfmates were once known as sui-mates. Example The problem shown is a relatively simple examp ...

s, fairy chess and retro and

mathematical problems A mathematical problem is a problem that can be represented, analyzed, and possibly solved, with the methods of mathematics. This can be a real-world problem, such as computing the orbits of the planets in the solar system, or a problem of a more ...

Fairy chess literature

Books and pamphlets devoted to fairy chess: Periodicals devoted to fairy chess: * ''The Problemist Fairy Supplement'' (August 1930 – June 1936) * ''Fairy Chess Review'' (August 1936 – April 1958) * ''Feenschach'', edited by W. Karsch

References

Bibliography *

External links

Fairy chess
by Michael McDowell

by Otto Janko
MetaChess, an open source fairy chess engine
{{Chess variants