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Chess960x3

FISCHER has moved the orthodox chess from one position to 960 positions with new rules of castling, in order to allow better expression  of the talent and the creativity  instead of memorizing  heavy opening books.  In the same spirit, we want to go more away by extending the number of initial positions and defining complete rules for the castle which is an essential element. "Chess960" deals only with the  960 positions including the king between the rooks. Beside there are 960  positions with the rooks staying  at the left of the king and 960 other positions with the  rooks staying at the right of the king. "Chess960x3" contains all these positions reaching (960x3)2880 positions.

Setup

The pieces are  placed randomly in the chessboard. The bishops are put in the opposite colored squares.

Rules

"Chess960x3" uses the rules of "Chess960" except for the castle.

CASTLING RULES

a - Casling conditions
"Chess960x3" respects the conditions  of the castle applied in "Chess960".

b - Castling techniques
We distinguish 3 instances:
 * The king stays between the two  rooks;
 * The two rooks stay at the left of the king;
 * The two rooks stay at the right of the king.
The squares involved in the castle are :
 * C1 and d1 for the whites (a-castle),
 * C8 and d8 for the blacks (a-castle),
 * F1 and g1 for the whites (h-castle),
 * F8 and g8 for the blacks (h-castle).
 1-The king stays between the two  rooks:
  1-1-Castle with the rook at the left: -R-K-
   1-1-1- "a-castle":
     the white king goes to the c1 square: Kc1,
     the black king goes to the c8 square: Kc8,
     the white rook goes to the d1 square: Rd1,
     the black rook goes to the d8 square: Rd8.

   1-1-2-"h-castle":
     the white king goes to the f1 square : Kf1,
     the black king goes to the f8 square : Kf8,
     the white rook goes to the g1 square :Rg1,
     the black rook goes to the g8 square : Rg8.

  1-2-Castle with the rook at the right: -K-R-
   1-2-1-"a-castle":
     the white king goes to the  d1 square :Kd1,
     the black king goes to the d8 square :Kd8,
     the white rook goes to the c1 square :Rc1, 
     the black rook goes to the c8 square : Rc8.

   1-2-2-"h-castle":
     the white king goes to the g1 square :Kg1,
     the black king goes to the g8 square : Kg8,
     the white rook goes to the f1 square : Rf1,
     the black rook goes to the f8 square : Rf8.

 2-The two rooks stay at the left of the king : -RRK-

The castle can be performed  with  one of the two rooks following the same technique explained in (1-1) above.

 3-The two rooks stay at the right of the king :-KRR-
 
The castle can be performed  with one of the two rooks  following the same technique explained in (1-2) above.

Notes

Allowing the king  to castle at the a-side or the h-side with each rook, "chess960x3" gives the chess players more possibilities for showing their tactical and strategic knowledge using 2880 initial positions.


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By Hadi Aireche.
Web page created: 2007-12-16. Web page last updated: 2007-12-16