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Relocation Chess. Swap a pair of your own pieces before you begin. With Fischer Random castling rules.[All Comments] [Add Comment or Rating]

💡📝M Winther wrote on Fri, May 1, 2009 02:16 PM UTC:

Reinhard,
Thanks for the comments.

a) I have clarified the 'swap bishops' statement. Swapping bishops in the Chess64 email preset is merely for technical reasons, in order to remain at the same positions whilst having performed a move. Chess64 is very different in that it produces positions that are not mirrored. In the following I discuss Chess20 and Placement Chess (simply because I mistakenly thought you meant this). Anyway, Placement Chess is perhaps what most chessplayers would regard as the more 'serious' variant since it is mirrored.
http://home7.swipnet.se/~w-73784/chess/placementchess.htm

b) My standpoint is that the standard position is advantageous to white while it is an ideal attacking position that is strategically ambiguous. (one doesn't know on which wing the bishops or the king will be placed, etc.). Therefore, it would generally be good for black to avoid this position. The least we can do is to let white have the final word about which position to choose. If the standard position hadn't given white a slight advantage, then grandmasters wouldn't bother to play against another grandmaster. So it is necessary that the initial position holds a slight advantage. I am concerned that the other positions among these 20 aren't advantageous enough, thus making it difficult to develop an initiative. So my concern is exactly the opposite of yours. I don't think that black needs to worry much.

c) I think that the standard position is optimal in a sense. Since all positions are mirrored they are equally good for both parties. So what counts is solely if you can develop an advantage from that very position. All the positions seem to be very stabile and promises no definitive advantage to any party. Some people would prefer to stash away the king at the g or b file, which obviously has some sense to it, while others would like to put it on the c file in order to have a bishop on the e file, from where it easily can be 'fianchettoed' on the c file. This could be a good defensive idea against a king pawn opening. I am very sceptical about the idea that black has an optimal relocation in the first move. I don't believe it.

d) The point I had was to avoid a randomization procedure in order to allow the players some control. I believe that chessplayers aren't very keen on Fischer Random simply because they are always in for a surprise. Chessplayers aren't used to this. They are used to taking measures and try to predict the future. Anyway, a randomization is easy to achieve, and I wrote a preset for Chess20 here:
http://play.chessvariants.org/pbm/play.php?game%3DChess20%26settings%3Dchess20

Diagrams of the 20 possible positions can be viewed here:
http://home7.swipnet.se/~w-73784/chess/placementpos.htm

/Mats