The Chess Variant Pages
Version with graphics

Petty Chess

According to Pritchard, Petty Chess was invented by B. Walker Watson in 1930, and first published in the September 1930 issue of the British Chess Magazine. The game has also been called Petite Chess, probably to avoid the negative connotation with the word Petty (which can mean small, but also mean-spirited in English, where the similar sounding French Petite means only small.

Rules

The game is played on a board of 5 by 6 squares. The opening setup is as follows: 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| q | k | b | n | r |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| p | p | p | p | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|   |   |   |   |   |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|   |   |   |   |   |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | P | P | P | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q | K | B | N | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
  1. Pawns can only advance one space on their first move. There is no en passant capturing.
  2. A pawn can only promote to a captured piece. (Optional: Pritchard does not mention this rule.)
  3. There is no castling.
Note: as in regular chess, the queen starts on her own color.
Text by Richard Sullivan and Hans Bodlaender. Information based on Pritchard's Encyclopedia of Chess Variants, and other sources.
Last modified: February 16, 1996.