Check out Janggi (Korean Chess), our featured variant for December, 2024.

Center of Attention

By Johan Richter

 

Introduction

Years ago, when I was a little kid, I trained chess at a club. I can recall us playing three chessvariants when we took a break from solving mate-in-two problems. (Not counting the FIDE variant.) 

I have found descriptions of two of them on your website. They were Bughouse and Progressive chess. I have not managed to find a description of the third, however.

Setup

The initial position is that of orthodox Chess

Rules

1. All the Laws of FIDE chess apply. In particular, a move is legal if and only if it would have been legal in FIDE chess.

2. If you make a legal move that moves your King to one of the center squares (d4, d5, e4, e5) you win. 

Clarifications

The winning move has to be legal, e.g. you can not move into check. Checkmating your opponent is another legal way to win.

Notes

This variant is now widely known as 'King of the Hill'.