Sharp Chess

There is a strong appeal to games that always end in a victory for one player or the other. While I don't mind draws in principle, I think the high frequency of them in high level chess is far from ideal. This game is my best effort to eliminate draws from chess without major changes to the rules.

Rules

The game is exactly like normal chess, except for the evaluation of otherwise drawn positions. For any position that would normally be counted as a draw, the last player to move wins. For matches or tournaments, this could be counted as a minor victory, worth half a checkmate.

Notes

Whether this is more fair than standard chess, I cannot say. I assume that the last-to-move winning condition would favor black slightly more than white, to balance the game better.

Last revised by Daniel Zacharias.