Capablanca chess (or Capablanca's chess) is a chess variant invented in the 1920s by former World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca. It incorporates two new pieces and is played on a 10×8 board. Capablanca proposed the variant while World Champion, and not as a "sour grapes" rationalization after losing his title as some critics have asserted. He believed that chess would be played out in a few decades and games between grandmasters would always end in draws. The threat of "draw death" for chess was his main motivation for creating a more complex and richer version of the game.
- The chancellor combines powers of a rook and a knight.
- The archbishop combines powers of a bishop and a knight.
The new pieces have properties that enrich the game. For example, the archbishop by itself can checkmate a lone king (king in a corner, archbishop placed diagonally with one square in between).
Read more about Capablanca Chess: Setup of The Pieces
Famous quotes containing the word chess:
“Of all my Russian books, The Defense contains and diffuses the greatest warmthMwhich may seem odd seeing how supremely abstract chess is supposed to be.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (18991977)