Fairy chess is the area of
chess composition in which there are some changes to the
rules of chess. It may involve changes to the board, pieces, or rules to express an idea or theme impossible in orthodox chess. An altered piece used in fairy chess is known as a
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 unorthodox chess problems, known as fairy chess. Compar ...
. The term ''fairy chess'' was introduced by
Henry Tate
Sir Henry Tate, 1st Baronet (11 March 18195 December 1899) was an English merchant and philanthropist, noted for establishing the Tate Britain, Tate Gallery and the company that became Tate & Lyle.
Early life
Henry Tate was born in White Copp ...
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'' (1930–1951).
Although the term ''fairy chess'' is sometimes used for games, it is more usually applied in the context of problems.
Variations on chess intended to create complete, playable games are more typically referred to as ''
chess variant
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 ...
s''.
Types of fairy chess problems
Types of changed rules in fairy chess problems include:
* ''New stipulations:'' The alterations most used by fairy chess players, like Thomas Dawson, 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. Selfmates were once known as sui-mates.
Example
The problem shown is a relatively simple example. It is a sel ...
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'' m ...
s are, in the 21st century, often considered to be orthodox (not fairy) stipulations. Among others are
reflexmate
A reflexmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves against their will – with the added condition that if either player can give checkmate, they must. If this c ...
s and various types of
seriesmovers.
* ''New conditions:'' Encompassing all changes of rules including rules for captures, checks, checkmates, and general movement abilities. Many were invented; some became established, including
Circe chess,
Madrasi chess,
Andernach chess,
monochromatic chess,
patrol chess,
Einstein chess, 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 (ches ...
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 unorthodox chess problems, known as fairy chess. Compar ...
s, such as
grasshopper
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Grassh ...
,
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 during th ...
.
* ''Different boards:'' One can vary board size from 8×8 to other sizes (10×10, 8×10, or 8×8 unusual board shapes, etc.) or use different geometries:
cylinder
A cylinder () 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 infinite ...
(vertical and horizontal), anchor ring or
torus
In geometry, a torus (: tori or toruses) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space one full revolution about an axis that is coplanarity, coplanar with the circle. The main types of toruses inclu ...
and others.
There are fairy chess problems that combine some of these changed rules.
All entries in the world championships and in the
FIDE Albums are divided into eight sections: (, and ),
endgame studies
In the game of chess, an endgame study, or just study, is a type of chess problem that starts with a composed position—i.e. one that has been made up rather than played in an actual game—where the goal is to find the essentially unique way for ...
,
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'' m ...
s,
selfmate
A selfmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves. Selfmates were once known as sui-mates.
Example
The problem shown is a relatively simple example. It is a sel ...
s, fairy chess,
retros, and
mathematical problems
A mathematical problem is a problem that can be Representation (mathematics), represented, analyzed, and possibly solved, with the methods of mathematics. This can be a real-world problem, such as computing the Orbit#Planetary orbits, orbits of the ...
.
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
See also
*
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 unorthodox chess problems, known as fairy chess. Compar ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Fairy chessby Michael McDowell
by Otto Janko
MetaChess, an open source fairy chess engine
{{Chess variants
Chess variants