Chess8400

Setup

All pieces are randomly placed in the player's first rank, with two restrictions:

-Bishops start in opposite color squares.
-The King must be between the two rooks.

The opponents' pieces are placed with direct symmetry across the board (White's piece at a1 is equivalent to Black's a9, White's b1 to Black's b9, White's c1 to Black's c9, and so on)

Pawns (9 of them) are placed on each player's 2nd rank.

There are 8,400 different legal starting positions in Chess8400.

Pieces

Approximate Value of the Pieces on a 9x9 board

• Queen - 11 points
• Minister - 10 points
• Rook - 7 points
• Bishop - 4 points
• Knight - 4 points
• Pawn - 1 points

Practical Value of the Pieces (adjusted to an 8x8 board)

• Queen - 9 points
• Minister - 8 points
• Rook - 5 points
• Bishop - 3 points
• Knight - 3 points
• Pawn - 1 points

Rules

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Castling

The Chess8400 castling is long to either side of the board and the rules are based on the Modern Random Chess rules.

In Chess8400, depending on the pre-castling position on the castling King and Rook, the castling manoeuvre is performed by one of these four methods:

• Double-move castling: By on one turn making a move with the king and a move with the rook.
• Transposition castling: By transposing the position of the king and the rook.
• King-move-only castling: By making only a move with the king.
• Rook-move-only castling: By making only a move with the rook.

• Unmoved: The King and the castling Rook must not have moved before in the game, including a previous castling or a Bishop Adjustment.
• Un-attacked: All of the squares between the king's initial and final squares (including the initial and final squares) must not be under attack by any opposing piece.
• Vacant: All the squares between the king's initial and final squares (including the final square), and all of the squares between the rook's initial and final squares (including the final square), must be vacant except for the king and castling rook.

• Castling cannot capture any pieces.
• The king and castling rook cannot "jump" over any pieces other than each other.
• A player may castle at most once in a game.
• If a player moves his king or both of his initial rooks without castling, he may not castle during the rest of the game.
• In some starting positions, some squares can stay filled during castling that would have to be vacant in Modern Chess. For example, after c-castling (O-O-Oc), it's possible for to have a, b, and/or e still filled, and after g-castling (O-O-Og), it's possible to have e, h and/or i filled.
• In some starting positions, the king or rook (but not both) do not move during castling.
• In some starting positions, castling can take place as early as the first move.
• The King may not be in check before or after castling.
• The King cannot move through check.
• The King cannot jump over his own rook if and when said rook stands on a 'checked' square. This point is best ilustrated by the sample Fischer Random Chess (Chess960) position below where it's illegal for White to g-castle (O-O) with it's e-Rook, as the King would need to jump over an attacked square. Even though the e-square is occupied by a Rook, it is under attack (or 'checked') by Black's Rook on e8.
  
  
  
  
• Castling in Chess8400 is symmetric to either side of the board. Chess8400 Castling is like the Orthodox long castling (O-O-O) but to either side.

Notes

Game Courier Preset

Game Courier Logs

Chess Variants by the Author:

• Modern Random Chess (9x9)
• Contemporary Random Chess (8x8)
• Prime Ministers Chess (9x8)
• Modern Capablanca Random Chess (10x8)
• Modern English Random Chess (10x10)
• Pseudo-Modern Random Chess (9x9)
• Chess8400 (9x9)
• Prime Ministers Contemporary Random Chess (8x8)
• Prime Ministers Random Chess (9x8)
• International Contemporary Random Chess (10x10)
• International Fischer Random Chess (10x10)
• Courier Chess Moderno (12x8)
• Mini Courier Chess Moderno (10x8)
• Silver Elephant Chess (10x8)
• Modern Ministers Courier Chess (11x8)
• Ajax Chess (10x10)
• Ajax-Capablanca Chess (10x8)
• Ajax Random Chess (8x8)
• Partnership Chaturanga (8x8)

Other Pages by the Author:

• How to Generate Random Positions
• The Bishop Adjustment Rule
• The Modern Principles
• Reverse Symmetry
• The Prime Minister
• The Courier Elephant
• The 10x8 Variants
• Modern Chess Preset
• Makruk (Thai Chess) Preset