Cheshire Cat Chess

V.R. Parton was the inventor of many different chess variants, and most probably a great lover of Lewis Caroll's book Alice in Wonderland. Many of his chess variants were named after figures from this book, and its followup Through the Looking-Glass. Most well known in this aspect is his Alice Chess, but this is another variant whose name is taken from the popular book for children of all ages. The game was invented in 1970. The description here is based on the account in Pritchard's Encyclopedia of Chess Variants.

Rules

Rules are as in orthodox chess, with the following additional rules. Every time a square is vacated, because a piece moves away from it, the square disappears. A piece cannot (obviously) move to a disappeared square, but pieces may move over disappeared squares, and also give check over disappeared squares. The first time a king moves, it may move as a queen. Note that castling is impossible.

Comment

Parton also recommended the variant of this game, played on a ten by ten board, with extra rooks placed on the new corner squares.