Check out Balbo's Chess, our featured variant for October, 2024.

This page is written by the game's inventor, Köksal Karakus.

Transpose Chess

Transpose Chess has something common with Upside-down Chess, since both games depend on quickly promotion of pawns and a fierce fight. In this variant pawns are put on columns instead of rows, just as the board is turned 90 degrees.
Note that, kings do not face each other, because in that case, as the white pawn promotes to queen it would make a pressure on g3, which would favor white indeed.

Rules

The first opening setup is as seen in the first picture.

Transpose Chess Setup (1)

Firstly white changes his/her pawn at b8 with a Queen (or Rook, Knight or Bishop) and black does the same thing for his/her pawn at g1. Then the game really begins.

Transpose Chess Setup (2)

Then the game continues. All the rules in FIDE chess, except castling and en passant, apply here as well. Do not forget that white pawns go upwards, black pawns go downwards.

(c) Köksal Karakus - 2000


Written by Köksal Karakus.
WWW page created: February 7, 2000.