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Chess Variants/Capablanca Chess

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abcdefghij
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black princessd8 black bishope8 black queenf8 black kingg8 black bishoph8 black empressi8 black knightj8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawni7 black pawnj7 black pawn7
6a6b6c6d6e6f6g6h6i6j66
5a5b5c5d5e5f5g5h5i5j55
4a4b4c4d4e4f4g4h4i4j44
3a3b3c3d3e3f3g3h3i3j33
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 white pawnf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawni2 white pawnj2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white princessd1 white bishope1 white queenf1 white kingg1 white bishoph1 white empressi1 white knightj1 white rook1
abcdefghij
Starting position of Capablanca chess

Introduction

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Capablanca Chess (also formatted as Capablanca's chess) is a term that refers to a family of chess variants played on a 10 by 8 board with two new pieces per player - the chancellor, which combines the powers of the rook and the knight, and the archbishop, which combines the powers of the bishop and the knight. The name refers to both the family as a whole and the family's most notable member.

History

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abcdefghij
8a8 black rookb8 black princessc8 black knightd8 black bishope8 black queenf8 black kingg8 black bishoph8 black knighti8 black empressj8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawni7 black pawnj7 black pawn7
6a6b6c6d6e6f6g6h6i6j66
5a5b5c5d5e5f5g5h5i5j55
4a4b4c4d4e4f4g4h4i4j44
3a3b3c3d3e3f3g3h3i3j33
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 white pawnf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawni2 white pawnj2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white princessc1 white knightd1 white bishope1 white queenf1 white kingg1 white bishoph1 white knighti1 white empressj1 white rook1
abcdefghij
Starting position of Carrera's chess

The basic idea of a 10 by 8 variant of chess with the chancellor and archbishop has a long history. The earliest such variant that we know of dates back to 1617, when the Italian chess player Pietro Carrera published a book called Il Gioco degli Scacchi (The Game of Chess), which contained a description of a 10 by 8 variant with two new pieces of his own creation - the champion, which combined the moves of the rook and the knight, and the centaur, which combined the moves of the bishop and the knight.

It is believed his primary motivation for the creation of this variant was the limitations of chess opening theory at the time. Carrera's chess placed the centaur between the queen's knight and queen's rook, and the champion between the king's knight and king's rook. He does not appear to have been concerned with structural weakness in the opening setup, since in Carerra's chess the pawn on the b-file, in front of the champion, is completely unprotected at game start.

abcdefghij
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black empresse8 black queenf8 black kingg8 black princessh8 black bishopi8 black knightj8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawni7 black pawnj7 black pawn7
6a6b6c6d6e6f6g6h6i6j66
5a5b5c5d5e5f5g5h5i5j55
4a4b4c4d4e4f4g4h4i4j44
3a3b3c3d3e3f3g3h3i3j33
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 white pawnf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawni2 white pawnj2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white empresse1 white queenf1 white kingg1 white princessh1 white bishopi1 white knightj1 white rook1
abcdefghij
Starting position of Bird's chess

Just over 250 years later, English player Henry Bird proposed his own 10 by 8 variant. This variant differed from Carrera's in the placement of the new pieces - the rook/knight combination, called the guard, was placed between the queen and queen's bishop, and the bishop/knight combination, called the equerry, between the king and king's bishop. The theoretical benefit of Bird's setup is that the new pieces' pawns are very important to the opening theory of Bird's chess, just as important as the pawns of the royal pieces, and leading to a more strategically oriented game.

Capablanca chess was created sometime in the 1920s by former World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca, from whom the variant gets its name. Capablanca feared that professional chess would eventually reach a state of draw death, meaning games between grandmasters would always end in draws. He looked to Bird's chess as a solution, and modified the opening setup. He proposed two opening setups - his final revision places the bishop/knight combination between the queen's knight and queen's bishop, and the rook/knight combination between the king's knight and king's bishop.

Concerning the new pieces, it was Capablanca himself who introduced the names chancellor and archbishop for the rook/knight and bishop/knight combinations respectively, and these names have since become the most common names for the two pieces.

One of the variant's most important supporters was German-American player Edward Lasker, who assisted in development of the rules. According to Lasker:

... I played many test games with Capablanca, and they rarely lasted more than twenty or twenty-five moves. We tried boards of 10×10 squares and 10×8 squares, and we concluded that the latter was preferable because hand-to-hand fights start earlier on it.

Rules

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Capablanca chess adds two new pieces to the game - the chancellor and the archbishop.

  • The chancellor () combines the powers of the rook and the knight. It may slide horizontally or vertically like a rook, or jump like a knight, but not both in one move.
  • The archbishop () combines the powers of the bishop and the knight. It may slide diagonally like a bishop, or jump like a knight, but not both in one move.


a b c d e f g h
8a8 black kingb8 black kingc8 black kingd8 crosse8 black kingf8 black kingg8 black kingh8 black king8
7a7 black kingb7 black kingc7 black circled7 crosse7 black circlef7 black kingg7 black kingh7 black king7
6a6 black kingb6 black circlec6 black kingd6 crosse6 black kingf6 black circleg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 crossb5 crossc5 crossd5 white chancelore5 crossf5 crossg5 crossh5 cross5
4a4 black kingb4 black circlec4 black kingd4 crosse4 black kingf4 black circleg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black circled3 crosse3 black circlef3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 black kingb2 black kingc2 black kingd2 crosse2 black kingf2 black kingg2 black kingh2 black king2
1a1 black kingb1 black kingc1 black kingd1 crosse1 black kingf1 black kingg1 black kingh1 black king1
a b c d e f g h
The chancellor may moves to any square marked with a cross, or jump to any square marked with a dot


a b c d e f g h
8a8 crossb8 black kingc8 black kingd8 black kinge8 black kingf8 black kingg8 crossh8 black king8
7a7 black kingb7 crossc7 black circled7 black kinge7 black circlef7 crossg7 black kingh7 black king7
6a6 black kingb6 black circlec6 crossd6 black kinge6 crossf6 black circleg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 white archbishope5 black kingf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black circlec4 crossd4 black kinge4 crossf4 black circleg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 crossc3 black circled3 black kinge3 black circlef3 crossg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 crossb2 black kingc2 black kingd2 black kinge2 black kingf2 black kingg2 crossh2 black king2
1a1 black kingb1 black kingc1 black kingd1 black kinge1 black kingf1 black kingg1 black kingh1 cross1
a b c d e f g h
The archbishop may moves to any square marked with a cross, or jump to any square marked with a dot


The other pieces all retain their normal moves.

When the king castles, it moves three squares towards the rook rather than two as in standard chess.

A pawn is allowed to promote to a chancellor or archbishop alongside the usual promotion options.

All other rules remain the same as in standard chess.

Sub-variants

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Capablanca chess has inspired a number of 10 by 8 variants that feature different opening setups. The most notable are:

  • Gothic chess (2000) by Ed Trice
a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white empressf1 white kingg1 white princessh1 white bishopi1 white knightj1 white rook


  • Grotesque chess (2004) by Fergus Duniho
a1 white rookb1 white bishopc1 white queend1 white knighte1 white kingf1 white empressg1 white knighth1 white princessi1 white bishopj1 white rook


  • Paulovich's chess (2004) by David Paulovich
a1 white empressb1 white rookc1 white knightd1 white bishope1 white princessf1 white kingg1 white bishoph1 white knighti1 white rookj1 white queen


  • Ladorean chess (2005) by Bernhard U. Hermes
a1 white rookb1 white bishopc1 white queend1 white knighte1 white kingf1 white princessg1 white knighth1 white empressi1 white bishopj1 white rook


  • Embassy chess (2005) by Kevin Hill
a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white empressg1 white princessh1 white bishopi1 white knightj1 white rook


  • Univers chess (2006) by Fergus Duniho
a1 white rookb1 white bishopc1 white knightd1 white empresse1 white queenf1 white kingg1 white princessh1 white knighti1 white bishopj1 white rook


  • Schoolbook chess (2006) by Sam Trenholme
a1 white rookb1 white queenc1 white knightd1 white bishope1 white princessf1 white kingg1 white bishoph1 white knighti1 white empressj1 white rook


abcdefghij
8a8 black rookb8 black queenc8 black bishopd8 black knighte8 black knightf8 black kingg8 black princessh8 black bishopi8 black empressj8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawni7 black pawnj7 black pawn7
6a6b6c6d6e6f6g6h6i6j66
5a5b5c5d5e5f5g5h5i5j55
4a4b4c4d4e4f4g4h4i4j44
3a3b3c3d3e3f3g3h3i3j33
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 white pawnd2 white pawne2 white pawnf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawni2 white pawnj2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white queenc1 white bishopd1 white knighte1 white knightf1 white kingg1 white princessh1 white bishopi1 white empressj1 white rook1
abcdefghij
One of the valid starting positions for Capablanca random chess

Another notable sub-variant of Capablanca chess is Capablanca random chess, created in 2005 by Reinhard Scharnagl, a user of the chess variant website The Chess Variant Pages, as part of a chess variant design competition for the website's tenth anniversary. The variant extends the random setup concept of Fischer Random Chess to Capablanca Chess, with the following restrictions for the setup:

  • The bishops must start on opposite colour squares.
  • The queen and archbishop must start on opposite colour squares.
  • The king must start between the two rooks to make castling possible.
  • All of the pawns must be protected.
  • The starting position cannot be the same as that of Gothic chess. This is to avoid violating any patents, as Gothic chess is protected by a patent in the United States.

There are 12,118 possible starting positions in Capablanca random chess.

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